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Writing Effective

Research Project Proposals:


Perspective and Process

N. H. Rao

Learning Objectives
Public research in agriculture investments and performance
What is a research project proposal ?
Understanding the context:

Science context : scientific method and scientific paradigm

Funding organization context: mission, priorities

Scientist Institutional context : mission, priorities, support

Project proposal review: criteria and process


Research project proposal development: components, structure
and core skills for writing
Winning reviewers confidence

Agricultural research: Investment and output


Public Investment
Global (2008): US $ 31.7 b;
Indias share: 7%; ICAR ~ 60%

India - Cost to Country of a Professor as ratio of per capita GDP


is one of the highest in the world (DST, Ramasamy, 2014)
Figs source : ASTI Global report, 2012; IFPRI-NAARM, 2016

Research Outputs - publications


Global share of Indias research publications
in agricultural sciences, 1993-2012

BUT:
Acceptance rate : <20% &
declining;
Global: ~ 40%
lowest 3 in world
Share of citations
India:
3% ; papers not cited
even once: 61%
China: 15%
USA:

Source: Sagar et al 2015; IFPRI-NAARM 2016, DST, 2015

32%

Research Outputs - patents

ICAR patents : 42
Source: Ankita, etal, 2015 (AERR)

Research outputs: Products declining share of


public research in crop hybrids

Source; IFPRI (India), 2014; Pal et al, 2014

Research outcome
1960-2014

Food grain production 51 to 265 mt (5.5X)

Horticultural production 268 mt (7X)

Milk production 17 to 136 mt (9X; World No. 1)

Fish production 0.75 to 10 mt (12X)

Egg production 27 times

Poverty and hunger percentages more than halved


BUT .
Yields below world average for most crops
Only 3 major crops have yields > 1 ton/ha
Yield of pulses, oilseeds, cotton 0.5 to 1 ton/ha
Limited value addition for farmer in non-MSP crops

Strategic challenges of agricultural research : sustainable food


security for growing population with rising incomes
Growing population and rapidly rising middle class (<10% in 2015 to >75% by 2030)

Middle class: households with daily expenditures between $10 and $100 per
person in PPP terms
Increased food demand :

50-60% from rising population

40-50% from rising incomes

emphasis on food quality, health, safety and well being

Fig Source: Global Harvest GAP report, 2014

Strategic challenges of agricultural research : technology,


sustainability, climate resilience, farmer prosperity
Technology (TFP
growth)

Sustainability of
Natural Resources
By 2050: increase
land productivity: 4x
water productivity: 3x
Energy efficiency : 2x
labour productivity: 6x

Only 59% of food demand in


India can be met in 2030 at
present TFP growth

While enhancing
natural capital:
Sustainable
intensification of
agriculture

Climate Smart
Agriculture
Integrate climate change
into agriculture :
Increase farm
productivity &
profitability
Increase adaptive
capacity at multiple
levels (adaptation)
Reduce GHG
emissions; (mitigation)

Farmer prosperity: Leverage agri-value chain in farmers favour

Innovations to add and accumulate value at each link

Project
One-time endeavour to create a unique product or service for beneficial
change or added value
Involves using inputs to carry out planned activities in specified ways
and time schedules to achieve desired outputs and outcomes/impacts

Research Project Proposal


Research: Original and disciplined attempt to address questions
or solve problems through collection and analysis of data for the
purpose of description, explanation, generalization and prediction
(Anderson 1998)
Research project: project designed to answer focused research
questions that address a particular problem, a gap in knowledge,
a pragmatic need, etc.
Research project proposal : Structured document developed
according to a protocol for seeking support of a research project
a basic mechanism of doing science
Support can be from scientists organization or external sponsor

Research Project - Concept Note

Some funding organizations seek a Concept Note before


assessing a full proposal
Concept Note: summary of the proposed projects
significance, innovation, objectives, methods, budget and
expected outputs and outcomes (for preliminary
assessment and short listing)

Research Project Proposal : purpose


All research requires funding
The proposal's purpose is to convince a committee of
scholars to fund the research project by showing that it has
three kinds of merit all disciplines value:
conceptual innovation
methodological rigor
substantive content

rooted in the
culture of science

Scientific method
Scientific
paradigm

Scientific Method the way science works


Scientific method: Iterative process of how
scientists ask and answer questions (based
on evidence, logical reasoning, skepticism):
1. Identify significant problem from
observations and raise a meaningful
research question
2. Develop a predictive and testable
hypothesis - tentative answer to the
question
3. Design experiments to generate data to
test the hypothesis
4. Analyze data and Accept/Reject /Modify
Hypothesis
5. Publish after peer review
6. Repeat from 1

Built on a foundation of trust


and interactions within
scientific community

Research questions get deeper with each iteration .

Mid 1800s Mendel


Early 1900s Sutton
Avery

The scientific community


helps ensure sciences
accuracy by scrutinizing
ideas, and weighing the
evidence for and against
them in the framework of
a scientific paradigm

1950s
Watson & Crick
encodes proteins
1960s Nirenberg
2000s genome sequencing,
bioinformatics, genome editing,
synthetic biology

Fig adapted from :


http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/0_0_0/howscienceworks_02

Scientific paradigm the way the scientific community


works
Scientific Paradigm: Frame of reference for scientific thinking - sets of
assumptions, laws, theories, methods, techniques and applications tested
for their validity and reliability and accepted by scientific community in the
specific area to form a scientific research tradition
Paradigms help scientific communities to bound their discipline and help
the scientist to systematically :
1. create avenues of inquiry (research area, problem)
2. formulate research questions
3. select methods with which to examine questions
4. establish/create meaning for the research
A paradigm is essential to scientific inquiry for selection, evaluation, and
criticism ; makes organized and systematic research possible.
(Kuhn)

The Paradigms of agricultural science


1. Leibig: chemical constituents of plant food
2. Mendel: laws of heredity
3. Lawes/Fisher: Long term field trials and experimental designs
which enabled transfer of results to farmer
4. Sustainability: focus on externalities and integrating with natural
biocycles input to knowledge intensive agriculture
5. Big data: data intensive science - the fourth paradigm of science
6. Climate smart agriculture: combines 4 and 5

Characteristics of Good Research Questions


Significance/importance does this question matter; to whom
Clarity answerable; intelligible to non-expert; precise
Empirical focus point to data and methods of their generation
Generalizable not limited to sample; enrich understanding
Practical use - relevant
Manageable with available resources
Related to previous research
Awareness of assumptions are they explicit
Fun interesting to you
Ethical

Proposal writing: organizational context (ICAR)


Priorities vary with
organization, changing
needs of society,
changing nature of
science, eg:

Food security raising


TFP
Farmer first leverage
agri-value chain in
favour of farmer
Sustainability of natural
resources increase
value of natural capital
CSA (adaptive capacity,
mitigation)
Nation/state/region
specific challenges

Building national
competence in
identified areas
Contribute to broad
societal goals
Other specified
interests

Proposal evaluation
Fair, competitive, transparent evaluation based on metrics of research
proposal quality:
Quality of proposed study: Research question
does it need to be done ? significance and novelty
Quality of proposal: Research design
can it be done and in the way proposed ?
Do-able: can this team do it? (collaboration; resources)
Quality of presentation: clarity and organization
Principal Investigator (PI) accountability
Adherence to research ethics and regulatory systems

Proposal Review: criteria and rating (indicative)


Two broad criteria:
1. Intellectual Merit/Quality of proposal: 85%
Problem definition and research design (50%)

Problem definition: research relevance, importance, novelty

Research design :
Technical

soundness of objectives

Well

formulated research questions and hypotheses based on current


knowledge and science

logically

sound design of experiments, and relevant current methods


for measurements and analysis

Clear writing

PI/Team qualifications; Time (20%)


Feasibility - budget, resources, institution (10%)
Probability of success (5%)
2. Broader outcomes/Impacts: 15%
potential to advance knowledge/technology transfer, benefit society (15%)

Proposal Review: process (indicative)

Three stages of review


Individual scores through single blind review by experts
(6-10)
expert panel peer committee
apex committee of funding agency

Research Project Proposal Format


Highly structured
written in academic language:
dispassionate
precise
consistent
Standalone
Do not assume any prior
knowledge about the proposed
project
structure is usually imposed by the
funding agency/institution

Typical structure:
Title (short, informative)
Project Summary
Key words (enable search)
Table of contents
Project Description
Work Plan (schedule of activities
+ who will do what)
Expected outputs/outcomes
Budget
Biographical sketches of the
investigator(s)
Description of facilities,
equipment, and other resources
available

Project Description
Statement of the problem
Introduction/Background/Rationale problem significance and
definition
Objectives and research questions
Relevant literature review identify research gaps
Research design
Objectives - research questions - hypotheses
Methods - justification of approach or novel methods
Analysis and expected results

Statement of the problem - What it is and why


the research should be done
Origin: observations, literature, discussions, practical problems, new
technologies, serendipity, outliers
Problem definition:
Clear, concise description of research topic/problem (not project): Connect
to big problems (example: top questions of importance to agriculture,
millennium goals, national/organizational goals)
link to priorities (of organization / sponsor)
Indicate value to stakeholders likely outcome/s
Briefly Identify knowledge gaps leading to proposed research Demonstrate knowledge and awareness of current issues
Express as a general statement (1-2 pages)
Write simple; write positive
Acknowledge prior work

The literature review


Your research is informed by your readings
Critical reading of the literature is a major part of good research:
what is already known
gaps in current knowledge
discrepancies in methods
inconsistent results from previous studies

Show reviewers that you understand the field and have


a balanced and adequate knowledge of it
Use it to lead logically to research design objectives,
questions, hypothesis, methods

Research Design - Objectives, Questions, Hypotheses

Objectives are specific statements of why the research is being done and what
are the expected outcomes (identifies the variables being investigated)

Research questions specify what the research actually addresses (a research


question follows from the objectives and must be answered at the end of the
project what are the relationships among identified variables)

Hypotheses are tentative intelligent guesses to answer the research questions


based on assumptions of relationships between independent and dependent
variables that can be identified from the questions. They are statements that can
be tested/disproved by the research

Writing style
Look
facilitate
skimming;
search reading

Fonts
White space (between paragraphs) (enables skimming)
short even sized paragraphs ( 8-10 sentences)
Organized in subheadings (facilitates search reading)

Style:
Simple, short sentences
clear, concise, Transition words/phrases between sentences, paragraphs:
complete
eg: and, also, again, in addition, moreover, besides, next,
Facilitate
further, because, then, furthermore, equally important,
critical
finally, likewise, first, second, third, last, for example, for
reading by use
instance, thus, as an illustration, namely, specifically, in
of transition
particular, that is, despite, therefore, thus, consequently,
words/
so, accordingly, as a result, hence, otherwise, then,
phrases
because, in short, in conclusion, as a consequence, finally,
to sum up, therefore, in summary, at last

Research project - Example


Project
Enhancing use efficiency of micronutrients novel delivery
systems
Problem definition
The WHO estimates that globally three billion people are affected
by iron deficiency; zinc deficiency is also increasingly becoming
a public health problem. Increasing the content of micronutrients
particularly iron and zinc in edible portion of crops for improving
human health is a global challenge.
Nutrient efficiency of crops for soil applied micronutrients
through conventional sources is only about 2%. Nanoscale
nutrient carriers can enhance NUE of plants and transport more
micronutrients to edible parts. Nanoclay composites offer one
potentially safe source of nanoparticle carriers of micronutrients
from soil to plant edible parts.

Big
problem

Specific
problem
leading to
hypotheses

Research Project example (contd..)


Research Objective

Research questions

Research hypothesis

To evaluate the efficiency of


uptake of nano-based
micronutrient formulations
against standard micronutrient
fertilizers in wheat, chickpea
and pigeon pea in different
soils

Are there differences


between nanobased
micronutrients and
standard
micronutrient
fertilizers in
transport in soils
and plant uptake ?

Nanobased formulations more


efficiently fix, transform and
transport micronutrients in soils
compared to standard
formulations

To evaluate bioavailability of
zinc, iron and boron applied
through nano-based fertilizer
formulations

Does bioavailability
increase with
nanobased delivery
of micronutrients ?

Nanobased formulations
increase availability of
micronutrients in edible parts
compared to standard
formulations

To assess the impact of nano


micronutrient formulations on
root characteristics, nitrogen
fixation and soil biota
(biosafety)

Do nano
formulations impact
the root microbial
environment?

Nano based formulations


enhance the root microbial
environment compared to
standard formulations

Nanobased formulations
increase plant uptake of
micronutrients compared to
standard formulations.

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Research Project example (contd..)


Expected output
Data/Information on feasibility of the nano based formulations as
micronutrient carriers
Information on potential of new nano based products in enriching edible
portions of wheat, pigeon pea and chickpea with micronutrients for
enhanced bioavailability to human/animal systems
Data on biosafety of the developed products (and their doses) with respect to
soil biota and plants
Publications/patents

Project Budget
Realistic - ensure sufficient resources to carry out project activities
Transparent relation between activities and resources (justification)
Conformity with Formats and guidelines of funding institutions
Provide enough detail that the reviewers/finance departments can easily see
the way the different items were calculated :
Personnel (contractual staff) RA/RF, skilled/unskilled support
Travel
Operational costs (contingencies)
Consumables glassware, chemicals, stationery
Services used communications, documentation
miscellaneous
Non-recurring costs: equipment; vehicles; works; furniture, books, etc.
Use foot notes for: indicating unit costs, other details
Should be stand alone as budgets are also scrutinized independently by
Finance Departments

Project Budgeting - example


Round off figures to the nearest 000
S.No

Budget Item

Year 1
(Rs)

Year 2
(Rs)

Year 3
(Rs)

Total
(Rs)

1.

Salaries for
staff1

6,87,000

6,87,000

6,87,000

13,74,000

2.

Travel (TA)2

75,000

75,000

75,000

2,25,000

3.

Operational
costs3

50,000

50,000

80,000

1,80,000

4.

Non-recurring
Contingencies

2,00,000

2,00,000

Total

19,79,000

Salaries for two Research Associates @Rs 22000/- per month and HRA at 30%.
2
For travel expenditure of the PI and staff
3
Stationery, maintenance, report printing, internet connectivity, etc.
1

Project Outputs
Directly relate to project activities
Outputs may include
- intangible things knowledge,
knowhow
- tangible things publications,
patents/IP, products, databases
- information for action
Intermediate deliverables that add
up to outputs

Project Outcomes example: NAIP component 2

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Proposal review criteria and common mistakes


Review criteria Common mistakes
significance

Not significant, exciting or new research


Lack of compelling rationale
Incremental and low impact research

approach

Too ambitious - too much work proposed


Unfocused objectives, unclear goals
Limited aims and uncertain future directions

Innovation

Inappropriate level of experimental detail


Feasibility of each objective not shown
Little or no expertise with approach
Lack of appropriate controls
Not directly testing hypothesis
Correlated data

The five review criteria


for most grant of
applications
Investigator
No demonstration
expertise are:
or publications in approaches
Low productivity, few recent papers
No collaborators or no letters from collaborators

Source: NIH, 2011


environment
Inadequate institutional support
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Winning the confidence of Project Reviewers


Reviewers are peers, knowledgeable about the research area of the proposal
Consider the reviewers to be "informed strangers"
A reviewer typically forms an opinion in the first 30 minutes
In initial sections of the proposal demonstrate to the reviewers:
problem significance, novelty of research questions, methods
awareness of project field's directions and knowledge gaps in current
research (ensure References are cutting edge and review reflects updated
knowledge of the field)
In later sections, include enough detail to convince reviewers that :
hypothesis is sound and important
methods and analysis are appropriate for the research questions
potential problems are understood
If you do not have expertise in specific methods or techniques, include an
experienced collaborator
Demonstrate clarity, rigour and organization- in general increase the reviewer's
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confidence that you can carry out the project

Summary: 12 Steps to a Winning Proposal


1. Know yourself : expertise, strengths, weaknesses; for a new area prepare adequately;
research previous work extensively; be a scholar
2. Know your institution: vision, mission, priorities, strategic focus
3. Know the source providing support: Read programme announcements: note specific
goals; fit project to goals; submit to appropriate programme
4. Know the review process
5. State research objective clearly and early in the proposal: first sentence is a good place
6. Frame the project around the work of others: standing on the shoulders of giants
acknowledge current limits of knowledge and clarify your contribution; include
references to others; include broader impacts of benefits on field/society
7. Make sure that the proposal is clear and well organized - use subheadings
8. Format and brevity: Follow the format and make reading the proposal a pleasure; keep
within prescribed page limits and follow funding agency guidelines meticulously
9. Use correct grammar and spelling incorrect grammar leads to ambiguities
10. Proof read before submission
11. Plan ahead
12. Submit on time

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Adapted from : Twelve steps to a winning research


proposal, George A. Hazelrigg, National Science

Finally, note ..

No research project proposal can be perfect


Research rigour is about clarity of research process state-of
art, questions, design, data, and analysis
Be prepared with persuasive arguments regarding original
contribution and research process design
Be aware of strengths & limitations of the proposal
Explain how your research fits into existing body of knowledge
and organization
Demonstrate understanding of Implications for policy, practice,
and future directions for research

Thank You

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