Hi everyone,

I am applying for this scholarship which is due very soon. I have to answer the following prompt within 500 words maximum. Here's the prompt:

- details of the aims and objectives of the PhD
- details of why the research is appropriate
-a timetable for the programme of work.
-You should summarise the hypotheses or questions to be used and the research methods you intend to use.

I just got a good feeling for my topic, so I am actually nervous about how to get all of this done in 500 words. And what do they mean by the aims and objectives of the PhD? I am sure if they are asking the aims and objective of the PhD programme overall or just my research objective. I would really be grateful for any help you can help me with! Also, I am a first-year student who has started their PhD already, and this scholarship is very important for me. I knew about this scholarship recently, so I am very sorry for the last minute to ask for help.

Simm

Hello...

It sounds like you have it all there you just need to get it down on paper. Think of it as an abstract, as it is pretty short.

In terms of what they want...
- details of the aims and objectives of the PhD - I interpret this narrowly as in the research aims/questions - what you aim to find out (as opposed to your personal aims of doing a PhD/what you'll get out of it)
- details of why the research is appropriate - again - what will finding this out actually add - does it have some theoretical or practical implications or both - and what are they? Actually I find the word appropriate a little odd. I'm used to seeing words like what is the "impact" and what are the "implications" of the research, as opposed to why it is appropriate.
-a timetable for the programme of work. - this is easy... you can make a table, write a list on a few lines or with each item on a separate line... something like this: Year 1: review literature and finalise research questions (months 1-3); obtain ethics approval for study 1 (month 4); develop materials for the intervention and recruit participants (month 5-6)........ Year 2...... Year 3..... etc

In terms of structure, after summarising the aims and objectives of the PhD, I would then have a section on method (i.e., how I will carry it out and test x, y hypotheses), then a section on impact/implications of the findings, and then a timetable.

This is just how I would approach it and it probably depends on your field. I was assuming science of some sort.

Good luck!

Hi Tudor_Queen, Thank you so much for helping me with this! This is super helpful. You have given me hope and really good ideas on how I can write. Thank you again!

Regards,
Simm

You're welcome - I hope you got something written that you're happy with. When I was doing this I was able to send it to my supervisor and another academic for feedback, which helped a lot. Maybe you can do that too.

Best
Tudor