THE THESIS/DISSERTATION GRANT PROPOSAL

The thesis/dissertation grant proposal to be submitted by a RAP applicant must be no more than 15 pages long (A4 size paper, double-spaced, font size 12). This must be based on the thesis/dissertation proposal, which has been approved by the applicant’s panel of critics and advisers. The grant proposal must include a description of the following:

Statement of the Problem

This should be concise and to the point. It must indicate that the applicant has gone beyond having a general area of interest (e.g., gender, kinship, environment, governance, sustainable development etc.), and has now formulated a focused question/problem worth researching. The statement of the problem must inform readers what new knowledge they are going to gain from the thesis/dissertation research that they do not already know.  Along with the statement of the problem is the articulation of the rationale and significance of the research.

Literature Review 

The statement of the problem must be embedded within a given field of inquiry. Hence, the applicant must provide a summary of the relevant literature and theoretical framework/s informing his/her thesis/dissertation problem. A good grant proposal demonstrates not only an awareness of relevant literature and previous scholarly arguments, but locates the thesis/dissertation problem within the intersections of on-going debates and theoretical currents. 

Theoretical Framework/s

The research should be guided by social science theories that will frame the study and provide the parameters of the research.  It would be best to show how theoretical frameworks are operationalized in relation to the topic being studied. The framework may also be used as analytical tool of the study.

Methodology

The grant proposal must specify the research approach, procedures  and activities that the applicant will undertake, and how the results from these research operations will be analyzed and interpreted in terms of the thesis/dissertation problem and objectives. Research operations and  methods  (i.e., archival work, surveys, interviews, observation and testing statistical patterns etc.) vary by discipline, but the applicant must be able to argue why his/her choice of methodology is the best approach to answering the thesis/dissertation’s central problem.

Timetable and Activities for the Grant Period

The applicant must indicate the remaining activities he/she needs to do to complete the thesis/dissertation, bearing in mind that the RAP grant period is for one year only.