Third Year Milestone
section III, article 6-B
Proposal development is a critical skill for scholars. Success in research and teaching arises from the ability to recognize problems and creatively address them. In the process of creating research proposals, scholars practice critical thinking, evaluate the work of others, and become more familiar with the scientific literature.
In the Third Year Milestone, scholars will prepare three one-page research pre-proposals. Pre-proposals are not full proposals or completely-researched proposals. The pre-proposals provide an opportunity for faculty to coach scholars to successfully prepare an original research proposal for the Fourth Year Milestone.
Topic
- One pre-proposal may describe the scholar’s short-term proposed research activities specific to the research agenda of their primary research mentor’s laboratory.
- Two pre-proposals must describe a scholar’s research idea that is independent of the specific research aims of their primary research mentor’s laboratory.
Format and Content
Scholars should prepare each pre-proposal using the “quad sheet” format taught in the proposal course (CHEM 597R). A quad sheet format template is available.
- Objective and Motivation
Identify the gap in knowledge, and its importance. - Hypothesis
What must be tested to achieve the objective? - Scientific / Technical Approach
Concisely describe a proof-of-principle experiment. - Impact
Describe expected outcomes and new knowledge arising from the proposed research.
Ideally, each quadrant will include a descriptive graphic and one or a few sentences of relevant text.
Assessment Criteria
Faculty will provide feedback on the following criteria:
- Importance of the problem, and necessity for a new approach;
- Novelty of the hypothesis;
- Creativity and practicality of the scholar’s approach to the problem;
- Quality of the quadrant chart presentation.
Scholars are required to enroll in CHEM 798C to receive course credit for proposal preparation and presentation. Scholars should enroll in the semester in which they plan to complete the requirement.
Assessment Timeline
- January 1: Scholar submits pre-proposal drafts to the committee.
- By February 1 of the third year: Scholar submits final versions of all three pre-proposals to the committee.
- During the third year annual report (between February-April 30): In an open presentation, the scholar will share highlights of their research progress (25 minutes), followed by short presentations of the pre-proposals (5 minutes each). In a subsequent closed session, the committee will discuss each pre-proposal and assign an S/U grade to each pre-proposal. Committee members may signal their preference for one of the independent pre-proposals to undergo further development for the Fourth Year Milestone. If three “S” grades are achieved, the milestone is passed.
- Prior to April 30: The scholar may revise or replace any individual pre-proposals that did not initially pass assessment to earn three “S” grades. This will require a second committee meeting, which may be waived if each committee member individually approves three pre-proposals with an “S” grade.
- April 30: Pre-proposals must be completed and three “S” grades achieved by this date to remain in good standing. Scholars are required to record their grades by submitting the Third Year Milestone Proposal Form to the graduate program coordinator on or before this date.
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