Hi, I have been nominated for an ESRC Open Competition place and am filling in my J-es form at the moment.

On the form it has a 'Project Summary' section, which allows 4,000 characters. I was wondering what needs to be included in this?

Also, does the 2 page limit for the attached proposal include references?

Any insights will be very gratefully appreciated. Thanks

The project summary should basically be like an abstract of your proposal but framed in language that would be understandable to a non-expert. Focus on the overall goals and timeline of the project. It really needs to be very clear, so get someone critical to read it.

Last year references were not included in the 2 page limit but this is something I'd double check with your supervisor, if reliable on such matters, or your dept. postgrad administrator if not... Last year they only clarified this and a few other things very late in the day, so it's worth keeping an eye on the website in case they post a FAQs document. Have you got the guidelines for completion?
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/Studentship%20proposal%20guidance%20notes%202009%20(4)_tcm6-25861.pdf