Research Proposal Requirements


  • Submit and present a dissertation research proposal to the student’s Dissertation Committee of which the committee approves. The Dissertation Committee must consist of a minimum of five members, at least three of whom must be Regular Members of the UMCP Graduate Faculty who are on tenured or tenure-track appointments. Each Dissertation Examining Committee will have a chair, who must be a Regular Member of Graduate Faculty. Each Dissertation Examining Committee must also have appointed to it a representative of the Dean of the Graduate School. The Dean’s Representative should have some background or interest related to the student’s research; be from a department other than the students’, and must be a tenured Member of the Graduate Faculty. Each member of the Committee must be a member of the Graduate Faculty of UMCP.
  • The student will complete a written proposal consisting of a well-formulated problem statement, literature review, and outline of the research approach. The written proposal should be presented to the dissertation committee within two semesters after advancing to candidacy.
  • Students are encouraged to review the proposal writing guidelines set out by the National Science Foundation (www.nsf.gov) but should still work closely with his/her advisor to make sure that the proposal meets the advisor’s specifications.
  • The student is also required to complete an oral examination consisting of presenting/defending the research proposal to the dissertation committee. During the oral proposal defense, a majority of the committee members (3/5) must be physically present.
  • The student will be granted a pass, fail or a conditional pass. In this case the condition may be additional courses, re-writing or defending the proposal again.
  • The chair of the graduate committee will collect all the information from the committee members and compile the assessment rubric required by the Graduate School.