Are there any epidemiologists on the forum who could help me out?

I'm just completing an application for an MSc +PhD in epidemiology. The advertisement was geared towards any students with a science degree and so didn't require any prior epidemiology training- however you need to write a research proposal as part of your application.

I've chosen the area I want to research into and confirmed with supervisors they are happy for me to apply. I am now stuck- while I know the disorder I have chosen extremely well, I have very limited knowledge of epidemiology and the techniques/analyses/data programmes people use. I was hoping to learn all this on the MSc if I got a place!

Rather frustratingly the supervisor is on leave so cannot read a draft or make any suggestions on the proposal- I didn't know this when I chose the subject area...

Would anyone be up for helping out a complete novice? :)

I did a Masters and PhD in Epidemiology, though as separate programmes at different institutions.

It's quite unusual for advertised science programmes to ask for a research proposal at the point of application. May I ask which country the programme is based in and whether you are applying for a clinical or non-clinical funding pathway?

Thanks for your reply!

Of course- this is at a UK university and is funded by the Medical Research Council (although the programme is non-clinical). They generally do applications for this students in the autumn, for the following September.

I was also very surprised that they asked for a research proposal- it is limited to 2 pages which I think is relatively short? It does seems unusual seeing as the programme is aimed at students with little background in epidemiology- I really dislike writing things when I know I'm not confident in the area, so haven't been enjoying this application very much.

Also a little concerned students who have studied epidemiology will apply- my proposal will look very shoddy in comparison!

Happy to PM the general idea of the project (outlined by the supervisor I chose) if you did think you could offer some advice.

Forgot to add- this is for September 2015 entry with the deadline next week, so I think some extra funding must have become available!

It is a bit odd (and a bit unfair in my view) to be expecting people to be able to do this *prior* to the MSc but it is what it is.

I'm afraid I'm not able to give extensive advice at the moment due to circumstances, but if I were you I would liaise with the named supervisor as much as you can - phone if they don't reply to email within 24 hours as the timeline is so tight.

Probably the two things to focus on here are making sure that the study design is appropriate for the research question, and making sure that the proposal is appropriate for the time/resources available to an MSc student. The latter you will probably need a steer on from the supervisor.

Good luck!