HST6027: Ph.D. Proposal
15 credits (semester 1)
2012-13 Module Leaders: Dr Holger Nehring and Professor Phil Withington (Professor Phil Withington and TBC 2013-14)
| Module Summary |
This module is designed primarily for students who intend to go on beyond the MA to study for a research degree and hope to apply for external funding. It introduces students to the essential skills of devising, contextualising and organising a research project, including the identification of appropriate source material. Students are given advice on how to present the originality, intellectual purpose and research context of their project and shown how to present their ideas to best effect by writing proposals in the formats required by the major UK funding bodies for the humanities.
| Aims |
This module aims to prepare students to write funding applications for doctoral study. It will provide training on preparing full written proposals and summaries of potential study topics suitable for assessment for AHRC support. It will also provide advice on how to present the originality, intellectual purpose and research context of their project and also how to frame their approach and rationale for undertaking it.
| Teaching |
There will be five – two hour seminars to introduce students to good practice in developing and writing up research proposals. Students will, in addition, have individual tutorial contact with the module leader(s) in order to discuss their written work for this module.
The module is designed to give students practice in making a case for support by presenting their research ideas to groups of peers. Students will be expected to present their work in written and oral forms and also to provide constructive criticism on the work of others. We will also critically examine some examples of previous funding applications that have been successful. Students will need to come to the first class with at least some broad topic ideas in mind, with the aim of refining these over the course of the module.
| Assessment |
The assessment methods relate directly to the objective of the module by mirroring the requirements of an application for AHRC/ESRC funding and will comprise a 2,500 word proposal and a 500 word summary.
