The research proposal is an outline of your doctoral project. The research proposal and the topic are the main part of your application, and a bad or unfocused title or a research question can be crucial for the review process. The outline of your proposed dissertation project should have a maximum of six pages and should include the following ideas. This is only an outline of what you should think about when writing your proposal.  Keep in mind that this proposal reflects your personal style as well as your research interest and potential.

Please use a common citation style and do not write more than 5,000 words. Please do not just copy and paste this outline as a framework for your research proposal in the application.

• 1. Context, research questions and objectives of your research project
  • Describe the context of your research proposal.
  • Pose a central research question you aim to answer in your thesis and explain its academic relevance.
  • Explain the hypotheses relevant to answering your question.
• 2. Current state of research and most relevant literature
  • Place your topic in the current academic debate
  • literature review
• 3. Tentative theoretical framework and research methods
  • Address the methodology and theoretical framework you want to use and explain why this framework was chosen.
  • Explain the relevant sources of information (sources, archives, interviews, databases) and explain how your fieldwork will be conducted.
• 4. Source material (6th page in general, not counting within the 5,000-word limit)
  • References and Bibliography
• 5. Time schedule (not counting within the limit)
  • A detailed schedule with milestones and fieldwork plan