Research proposal

40% of your grade!

• Pmag topic• NWO-ALW format• Written proposal & presentation

NWO-ALW format1. Details of proposal2. Summary for the general public3. Highlights4. Top-5 publications5. Description of the proposed research6. Timetable7. Scientific embedding8. Societal significance9. Legal requirements10. Budget11. Financial assistance

Presenting a proposal

‘‘Every day, $252 million is lost due to bad PowerPoint presentations’’

Wall Street Journal, Nov. 2006

PowerPoint ‘rules’

• Do you remember the ‘rule’?• Seven lines per slide or less• Seven words per line or less

• It is a bit plain, isn’t it?• If you follow this ‘rule’…• …you get a slide like this

Be creative!

PowerPoint helps to…

• Visualize ideas• Highlight key points• Impress

PowerPoint is not for…

• Auto-cue / prompter• Handouts• Data dumps

Structure

Dare to surprise!

• Problem – pathway – solution• Problem – solution – reasoning• …

Tweak your figures!

SiberiaMoscow

‘Free’ internet access in Russia

What you want to tell…

• That you have a great idea

• What you are going to do

• How you are going to do it

• That you save the world by doing so

…is not what they want to hear!

What is the problem you are going to solve?

Why does the problem needs to be solved?

Can you do it?

Why should YOU do it?

To conclude:

• Be prepared• Be pro-active• Keep your audience in mind

Important dates:• Wednesday 28 March:

Start hands-on projects

• Monday 2 April:

Abstract research proposal

• Wednesday 11 April• Monday 16 April• Wednesday 18 April

Proposal presentations