Research Proposals
Providing a good research proposal is very important for a PhD application because it gives us information relevant to all our selection criteria. You may find it useful to consult the academic literature to help you make the best of your research proposal. At the minimum, your research proposal should be no less than 600 words and include the following information:
- A working title
- Context: you need to explain the general legal issues in which your research will be located
- The research question(s) you intend to address: this shows how your precise area of research relates to the context
- The importance of your research: in what way does it address a real need for further study? You need to show that the precise area has not been studied before
- Research methods / methodology: will your work be library based or empirical? If the latter, then will it be (for example) quantitative or qualitative? Will you need any training in research methods?
- Timetable: you should aim to include a timetable for your proposed research