This project is modeled after the DePaul's University Research Council Competitive Research Grant  Program. In the case of CSC 426, the Competitive Research Grants provide imaginary funding of up to $5000 to defray expenses associated with research projects or creative endeavors likely to result in some form of scholarly publication or artistic presentation, lead to external funding, or directly foster further inquiry. The program exists to encourage 426 students to engage in scholarly and creative activities that enhance their professional growth in their fields.  Funding is assumed to be for eighteen months after class approval of the grant. Funding for travel to present a paper or only to attend a conference or meeting is not available from the 426 Research Grant Program.

See the Assignments Section for due dates. Also, Pleae review these examples of past research proposals.

REVIEW CRITERIA

In general, the CSC Research Council supports applications for projects that

• are based on a clear and concise research statement and hypothesis;
• clearly demonstrate the impact and significance of the research activity proposed;
• are clearly situated in, and build on, prior related research;
• provide a detailed description of research objectives and proposed solutions;
• detailed experimental design and methodology;
• contain well justified and supported arguments;
• are likely to result in some form of scholarly or creative product;
• are part of a long-range plan of professional development that may include consideration for future funding, and further extension of the proposed work (for example into a PhD Dissertation Proposal);
• contain well justified budgets

FORMATING AND STRUCTURE

Please take the following guidelines into account in preparing your research proposals.

1. The body of the proposal must be between 5 and 7 single-spaced pages in 11 point font and one inch margins on all sides (the 7 pages do not include the title/abstract page, the list of references, and the budget).

2. The title page must include the title of the research proposal, the author's name and contact information, and a revised, final version of the abstract describing the research problem and summarizing the proposed activity). This information must be limited to one single-spaced page.

3. The body of the proposal (up to 7 pages) must contain the introduction or background information; related works and literature review; detailed description of the research proposed and the research objectives; a description of the research design and research methodologies to achieve the objectives; and a detailed plan of work. The suggested organization of the proposal is as follows (including suggested page limits in various sections):

Section 1: Introduction and Overview (1 to 2 pages)

• Background information and more detailed discussion of the research problem and the proposed solution;
• Hypotheses and research objectives
• Assumptions and delimitations of the research proposed
• Importance and benefits of the proposed research

Section 2: Related Work (1 page)

• Literature Review
• Relationship to prior research

Section 3: Research Design and Methodology (2  to 3 pages)

• Detailed description of the proposed research activity and research methodologies used to achieve the objectives
• Technical description of a proposed solution if one is specified in the hypothesis
• Description of the evaluation approach to verify the hypothesis, including types of data used, data collection, metrics used for evaluation, methods used for data analysis, etc.

Section 4: Plan of Work and Outcomes (1 page)

• Description of how the activities will meet the goals and objectives outlined;
• Description of the outcomes deliverables from the completed project.

Section 5. Conclusions and Future Work (1-2 paragraphs)

Section 6: References (not included in the 7 pages).

Appendix: Budget and Budget Narrative (Max. 1 page; not included in the 7 pages)

• An itemized budget supporting the research activities proposed
• A justification of the line items in the budget
• Budgets must be limited to $5,000.
  

USEFUL EXAMPLES

See: Examples of past research proposals