Brandeis University
Undergraduate Research Program
Summer 2007

1. The URP Committee includes faculty members representing various disciplines and departments. Therefore, your proposal must be readable to persons outside your area of expertise. Your writing should be clear and concise and free of jargon. Imagine explaining your project to someone who knows nothing of your discipline. You should not simply submit a copy of a departmental thesis proposal.
2. Your proposal must begin with an abstract, which should be short (one hundred words or so) and should highlight the major area, issue, or theme of your research.
3. The body of your proposal should address three fundamental questions:
   1. WHAT do you want to do? Explain your project or idea. What are the critical issues or central themes? What makes your project unique? Original?
   2. HOW do you want to do it? Describe your methodology or procedures.
   3. WHY do you want to do it? Justify the importance of this project or research with respect to your discipline as if you were addressing this section to other experts in your field. What is likely to be achieved, demonstrated, or discovered? Secondly, discuss how this project will contribute to your intellectual/academic development. Third, make the case for receiving funding for your project.
4. You should attach a relevant bibliography.
5. Neatness counts! Pay attention to organization, sentence structure, grammar, and spelling.
6. Your proposal should be no more than five pages in length, double-spaced.

HANDWRITTEN APPLICATIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTED. PAGES MUST BE NUMBERED.

Brandeis Faculty Research Advisors

The role of your advisor is critical. Although your proposal must be your original work, you are strongly encouraged to consult your advisor regularly. Your advisor is a valuable resource for discussing the abstract, methodology, research design, and overall organization and presentation. The Committee recommends that you show a draft of your proposal to your advisor and encourage her/him to suggest changes or revisions. If your research requires supervision by someone other than a Brandeis faculty member, you should submit 2 references, one from a Brandeis faculty sponsor and the other from your direct supervisor.

Rating Proposals

The URP Committee uses the following criteria to rate proposals:

1. Clarity and feasibility of project;
2. Student's preparation as pertinent to the project;
3. Contribution to the student's intellectual growth;
4. Research Advisor's availability to direct the project;
5. Attention to procedural detail;
6. Absence of typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors.