As we all know, you need an impressively written research proposal for the Chinese university's application submission purposes for master’s and doctoral. There are over 600 Chinese Universities that open admissions for international students and all of them ask for one common thing from candidates, and that is a well-written research proposal. In this article, we will guide you on how to write an impressive research proposal for your Chinese university application submission(How to Write an Academic Research Proposal /Study Plan).

A research proposal provides you with an opportunity to showcase your abilities for graduate-level research work and convince the admission authority for your selection, such as it gives you a chance to demonstrate that you have the skills to communicate your ideas effectively, and critically. Generally, a research proposal consists of approximately 1500-2000 words.

Questions need to address in the research proposal

l  What do you want to achieve? Clearly state your research question, goals, and methods you will use to achieve your goals.

l  Why do you want to do it? What gives you motivation towards your interest in the topic?

l  How are you going to do it? Provide about how the research design will improve or contribute to innovation in your field by keeping in mind that what you are proposing is important to society and mankind. 

Key Elements in Research Proposal

Your research proposal may differ depending upon the field of your study. Usually, a research proposal for arts or social sciences will have different requirements as compared to a research proposal for engineering or health sciences.

No matter if you’re applying for a master's program study or a Ph.D. program research, your research proposal should generally incorporate the following sections.

1. Title

This is only a title for your proposed research. In case you’re admitted, you may be able to change, or revise your research title.

The title of the research proposal is very important, the topic needs to be attractive, not too long, concise, generous, and also needs a little literary beauty.

2. Abstract

This portion must consist of a 100-word statement of your proposed research. It may include the problem you’re trying to examine or the primary questions that you want to address.

3. Research Context

In this portion, describe the background against which you intend to conduct your proposed research. Include a comprehensive overview of the area of study. Summarize current literature in the field or any recent debates.

4. Research Questions

This portion must contain your central objective and the questions around which you’re going to conduct your research. Before you start writing your research proposal, take some time out to reflect on certain critical questions that you’re keen to answer.

First, the research question should be of interest to your intended supervisor, and that is compatible with your research background.

Second, a good research topic should be a specific problem, not too big a problem. It needs to be precise and focused.

Finally, our research questions need to have some depth.

5. Research Methods

This portion must outline and explain the methods you’ve used to carry out your research. Your research methods may incorporate fieldwork, visiting certain libraries or bookstores, sampling, or interviews.

In case you’re planning to gather empirical data or conduct fieldwork, you must give appropriate details regarding this (such as where are you going to conduct your research? Who will you interview? How many interviews are you looking forward to conducting? Will you face any complications? etc.)

6. Significance of Research

This portion must express the originality of your ideas, and ultimately your research work. This is why you must describe why exactly is your research work significant (such as by describing how your work adds to or develops the already available literature in the field or by pointing out why is this the time to carry out your suggested research).

7. Bibliography

This portion must include a brief bibliography recognizing the most significant works regarding your research.

A qualified research plan should have about 20 references. Except for the literature that needs to be cited for the research background and importance, it is necessary to find about 10 references to support the reference part. Among these 10 kinds of literature, there should be at least 3-5 literature from your target supervisor, and the other 5-7 should be refined and selected through databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, etc., generally citing literature and citations from the last five years Classic literature with high frequency.

What should avoid in a research proposal

l  Poor writing skills and grammatical mistakes.

l  Do not start your statement without a plan.

l  Never exceed the outlined length.

l  Over expressive

Successful research proposal

A successful research proposal must:

l  Define your proposed topic

l  Showcase that you have a grasp on your area of research

l  Demonstrate that you’ve developed original research questions

l  Indicate that you know how to conduct good research

l  Look professional

l  Make sure that your proposal is legible and clear

l  Have no spelling or grammatical mistakes

l  Define quality, and not quantity

If you are a master’s student and want to apply for Ph.D. in China then you must have a research proposal. But some universities also demand research proposals for master’s students as well (which means those who want to apply for a master’s degree in China.) Most students who want to apply for a master’s study in China don’t have any idea about the research proposal. Hope this article teaches you how to write a research proposal and more importantly, successfully apply to the Chinese university you want to go to.