This research proposal template is a fill-in outline for students and early-career researchers writing a thesis, dissertation or small-grant proposal. Copy the block below, replace each prompt with your own text and keep the word counts in mind. It follows the structure most universities and funders use, with a filled example and APA formatting notes underneath.
The research proposal template (copy this)
Select the block, copy it, and paste it into your document. Square brackets are the parts you replace. Word counts assume a 3,000-word proposal; scale them to your limit.
[TITLE: intervention or topic + outcome + population + design, 10 to 20 words]
[Your name] | [Degree and program] | [Supervisor] | [Date]
ABSTRACT (150 to 250 words)
Background in one sentence. The gap. The question. Design, sample and
analysis in two sentences. What the study will produce.
1. INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEM STATEMENT (about 300 words)
1.1 The problem: [what is wrong or unknown, with one number or case]
1.2 Why it matters now: [who is affected, what decision depends on it]
1.3 The gap: [what earlier studies have not done, in one sentence]
2. RESEARCH QUESTION, AIM AND OBJECTIVES (about 150 words)
Research question: [one question, answerable with your design]
Aim: [the overall purpose in one sentence]
Objectives:
O1. [measurable step, starts with a verb: estimate, compare, describe]
O2. [...]
O3. [...]
Hypotheses (quantitative studies only): H1 [...]; H0 [...]
3. LITERATURE REVIEW (about 750 words)
3.1 Theme 1: [what studies agree on, cited]
3.2 Theme 2: [where they disagree or differ in method]
3.3 Theme 3: [the closest studies to yours]
3.4 Summary of the gap and how this study addresses it
Theoretical or conceptual framework: [name it, one paragraph]
4. METHODS (about 950 words)
4.1 Design: [e.g. cross-sectional survey, RCT, case study] and why
4.2 Setting and participants: [where, who, inclusion and exclusion]
4.3 Sampling and sample size: [method; number and how you got it]
4.4 Data collection: [instruments, sources, when, by whom]
4.5 Variables or concepts: [outcome, exposure, covariates; or themes]
4.6 Analysis: [named tests or analytic approach, software]
4.7 Validity and reliability (or trustworthiness)
4.8 Limitations of the design and how you reduce them
5. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS (about 150 words)
Approval needed from: [committee]. Consent: [how]. Risks: [list].
Data protection: [storage, access, retention, anonymization].
6. TIMELINE (table)
Phase | Months | Tasks | Milestone
7. BUDGET (funded proposals only, table)
Item | Cost | Justification
8. EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND SIGNIFICANCE (about 150 words)
What you will deliver, who uses it, how it adds to the field.
REFERENCES (style required by your department, e.g. APA 7)
APPENDICES (optional): instruments, consent form, letters of support
Notes on each section
The table says what a reader looks for in each part. If your guidelines merge two parts, keep both jobs.
| Section | What the reader checks | Common fault |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Can I tell the topic, outcome and design? | A topic with no question in it |
| Abstract | Could I fund or approve this from the abstract alone? | Written first and never revised |
| Introduction | Is the problem real and current? | Three pages of background before the gap |
| Question and objectives | Is the question answerable with this design? | Objectives that restate the aim |
| Literature review | Is the gap real, and do you know the closest work? | A list of summaries, one paper per paragraph |
| Methods | Can this method answer this question, with this sample, in this time? | No sample size reason, no named analysis |
| Ethics | Who could be harmed, and how is that prevented? | "No ethical issues" |
| Timeline | Is it realistic, with time for approval and writing? | Ethics approval missing from month one |
| Budget | Is each cost needed and justified? | Round numbers with no reason |
| Outcomes | What exists at the end that did not before? | Promises the design cannot deliver |
For the reasoning behind each section and a longer walk-through, read how to write a research proposal.
A filled example (invented)
Example only. The project, numbers and setting are invented to show the level of detail each section needs. Citations are left as (Author, Year) placeholders.
Title: Street Tree Canopy and Summer Indoor Temperatures in Social Housing: A Cross-Sectional Study in One Mid-Sized City
Research question: In social-housing apartments, is higher street tree canopy within 50 m associated with lower indoor temperatures on summer afternoons, after adjusting for floor level and building age?
Objectives:
- O1. Measure indoor temperature hourly in 120 apartments from June to August.
- O2. Estimate tree canopy cover within 50 m of each building from public aerial imagery.
- O3. Model the association between canopy and mean afternoon temperature, adjusting for floor, orientation and building age.
Methods in brief: Cross-sectional design. Apartments sampled from the housing provider's list, stratified by building age. Loggers record temperature hourly. Analysis: linear mixed model with apartments nested in buildings. A sample of 120 apartments in 30 buildings was chosen to detect a 0.5°C difference (to be confirmed with a power calculation in the final proposal).
| Phase | Months | Tasks | Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approval and access | 1 to 2 | Ethics, provider agreement, logger purchase | Approval letter |
| Recruitment | 3 to 4 | Letters, consent visits | 120 apartments enrolled |
| Data collection | 5 to 7 | Loggers in place, canopy mapping | Complete dataset |
| Analysis and writing | 8 to 12 | Models, chapters, submission | Thesis submitted |
For two complete proposals with notes on every section, see the research proposal example post.
APA formatting notes for this template
If your department asks for APA 7, a student proposal needs a title page (title, name, affiliation, course, instructor, date), page numbers, and APA heading levels in place of the numbered headings above. Write the methods in the future tense, since the study has not happened yet. Check whether your department wants an abstract. The research proposal APA format post covers the title page, heading levels and reference list in detail.
How to fill this template in AI for Research
You can fill the template by hand, open it blank in the editor, or have Proposal Studio draft it from your topic.
- Open Proposal Studio and choose Research proposal.
- Enter the topic or working title and pick the degree: Master's, PhD, Honours or Undergraduate.
- Under Write, pick The whole proposal or one part: title, aims and objectives; background and significance; literature review; methods; timeline; budget outline; or ethical considerations. Add notes such as your design or word limit.
- The draft comes back with headings for title, aims and objectives, background and significance, literature review, methods, a timeline table, a budget table with [placeholder] amounts, ethical considerations and expected outcomes. Background and literature sections cite real papers.
- Open the draft in the editor, where citations stay live in your chosen style, then export to Word or PDF (LaTeX on paid plans).
- Optional: run the Reviewer with document type set to proposal, which scores each criterion out of 10 and quotes passages with a suggested fix.
| Way to fill it | What you get | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Copy the block above | The outline as text | 0 |
| Editor, blank research proposal | Headings with a hint under each | 0 |
| Proposal Studio, one section | One section, cited where relevant | 3 |
| Proposal Studio, whole proposal | A full first draft | 15 |
| Thesis Suite, Autonomous proposal | Refines your question, searches, writes the proposal | 15 |
| Reviewer, proposal | Scores and quoted comments | 10 per 10,000 words (3 for a preview of the first 3,000) |
The free plan has 45 credits a month, enough for one whole draft and several section rewrites. See pricing for paid plans. Without an account, the research proposal generator runs 3 times a day.
What this research proposal template and the AI do not do
- There is no Word or PDF download of the template. Copy it, or open it in the editor and export from there.
- Neither the template nor the AI can tell you whether your idea is new or feasible at your institution. Your supervisor can.
- The AI does not know your data access, budget figures or approval timelines. It leaves them as placeholders.
- Your department's form wins. If it has different headings or limits, follow it and use this template as a checklist.
- An ethics section is not ethics approval. See the ethics approval statement template for the wording you add once you have it.
Who it is for
The research proposal template suits master's and PhD students writing a thesis proposal, honours and undergraduate students with a capstone project, and researchers applying for small internal grants. If you are on a master's program, see AI for master's thesis work; for doctoral work, AI tools for PhD students. For funder formats (NIH, NSF, ERC, Wellcome), use the grant proposal writer or Proposal Studio.
Learn more
- How to write a research proposal, section by section
- A research proposal example, with notes on every section
- Research proposal APA style
- How to write a research question
Last updated 2026-11-12