Griffith School of Engineering Griffith University COURSE CODE – COURSE NAME Your Title Goes Here Research Team Members First Student (Include Full Name, Student Number and Major) Second Student (Include Full Name, Student Number and Major) Third Student (Include Full Name, Student Number and Major) Fourth Student (Include Full Name, Student Number and Major) Gold Coast, Date DECLARATION I/we declare that this research proposal contains no material which has been submitted for assessment in any other subject at Griffith University. To the best of my/our knowledge and belief, this research proposal contains no material that has been previously published by any other person, except where due acknowledgement has been made. Student ID Family Name Other Names Signature XXXXX Student#1 Other Names#1 XXXXX Student#2 Other Names#2 XXXXX Student#3 Other Names#3 XXXXX Student#3 Other Names#4 NOTE: Only students who sign the declaration page will be awarded marks for this proposal. PROJECT SUMMARY These instructions have been prepared in the format that should be used for the Research Proposal, which are to be submitted as part of the assessment for 4000ENG – Research Methods and Statistics and 7001ENG – Research Methods for Engineers. The instructions are designed to help you provide a proposal that will comply with the recommended format. Proposals should be between 4000-5000 words (not including the reference list and any appendices). A project summary between 200-300 words is mandatory. The main text of your proposal should be logically subdivided into sections, e.g. introduction, methodology, etc., and contain all the essential elements of a research proposal as described in the document “Research Proposal Instructions”, available on Learning@Griffith. Format using 2.5 cm margins, 12pt Times Roman typeface and 1.5 line spacing. KEYWORDS Provide 3 to 5 keywords related to your study. 1 HEADINGS AND LAYOUT Major headings like the one above are typed bold in 14pt upper case (capital letters), with one line space above and none below. The essential headings of your proposal should be: INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY, ESTIMATED PROJECT TIMELINE, DISSEMINATION OF FINDINGS and LIST OF REFERENCES. Please use 12pt Times Roman typeface and 1.5 line spacing for the normal paragraphs. Paragraphs should be justified (aligned on both margins). New paragraphs are not indented, but are preceded by a line of space. 1.1 Minor Headings Minor headings are in 12pt bold type, with one line of space above and none below. 1.1.1 Sub-headings Sub-headings are typed in 12pt type, with one line of space above and none below. 1.2 Page Layout All text should be word-processed using the A4 page size, with the following layout requirements: • Proposals must be formatted using 2.5 cm margins. • Please use a 12pt Times New Roman typeface and 1.5 line spacing. • Include a running heading at the top of each page, 1.25 cm from the paper edge, 12 pt Times New Roman typeface, right justified, indicating the course code, course name and trimester. For example: “4000ENG Research Methods and Statistics, Trimester 1, 2017”. • Place the page number at the bottom of the page, at the right margin. Use Arabic numerals for page numbers. • Normal paragraph text should be justified (aligned on both margins). Do not indent the text paragraphs. New paragraphs are not indented, but are preceded by a line of space. • Avoid using footnotes or splitting tables over two (or more) pages. 1.3 Figures and Tables Figures and tables should be numbered consecutively as they are presented (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc. and Table 1, Table 2, etc.). A descriptive caption, including the figure or table number in boldface followed by a full stop, should be placed directly above tables and below figures. References to each figure and table should appear in the text, and each figure and table should be positioned close to where they are first cited and discussed. Allow two line spaces above/below tables/figures and make sure they are centred in the page. Make sure that you cite the source for any figures or tables that you copy from a reference, and include this document in your reference list. Table 1 is an example of a table layout. It shows the basic information related to page size and margin settings of this template. Table 1. Example of table layout. It shows the dimensions of the text area to be used for international (A4) paper size. The table caption should appear above the table. Text area A4 paper (mm) (mm) (in) Depth 247 297 11.69 Top/bottom margin - 25 1.0 With 160 210 8.27 Left/right margin - 25 1.0 Keep figures as simple as possible for clarity: avoid unnecessary complexity, colouring and excessive details. Beware of figures with extensive amounts of detail which are unreadable when reduced to fit on the A4 page. You should also be careful when copying figures found on web pages, which often are too pixilated to read. Illustrations should be clear and text in illustrations should not be written with less than 10pt font size. Figure 1 is an example of figure layout. Figure 1. Example of figure layout. Note figure caption is placed below figures. 1.4 Mathematics, Nomenclature and Units All mathematics included in the text should be typed using an appropriate equation editor. Equations should be numbered, with the number shown in Arabic numerals within left and right hand brackets, as shown below. The equation number should be placed to the right of the equation, and right justified with the right hand margin. (1) Make sure you describe all the variables shown in the equations, and provide the units for each variable. SI units are required in ALL cases. If non-SI units are necessary, SI equivalents must also be given bracketed beside the non SI unit. Units should have a single space between the number and the unit. Thousands should be separated by commas (e.g. 1,000). The decimal separator is a full stop (e.g. g = 9.80 m/s2). Please take care that all terminology and notations used will be widely understood. Abbreviations and acronyms should be spelled out in full at their first occurrence in the text. 1.5 Direct Use of this Template This template may be used directly when typing the research proposal. In that case you may use the pre-defined styles for Title, Headings, etc. 2 LANGUAGE Papers should be in good, grammatically correct English. Have your typescript read by at least two other persons to avoid typing errors. It is strongly recommended that you use the Griffith University EnglishHELP service to check your research proposal for grammar and readability. https://www.griffith.edu.au/international/englishhelp The essential main headings of your proposal should be: 1 INTRODUCTION 2 METHODOLOGY 3 ESTIMATED PROJECT TIMELINE 4 DISSEMINATION OF FINDINGS 5 LIST OF REFERENCES Please refer to the document “Research Proposal Instructions” for further advice on how to prepare each of the above sections. Note: Although mandatory, the list of references will not count towards the word limit. 6 OTHER ELEMENTS Some other elements of a research proposal that may be included in your assignment but will not be assessed are: “Expected outcomes”, “Experience of the researchers”, “Role of the researchers”, “Budget”, “Facilities”, “Limitations”, “Management plan”, and “Feasibility of the project”. If you decide to include some of these elements in your research proposal, be aware that these will not count towards the word limit and towards your mark.