Research Proposal Guideline

GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING RESEARCH PROPOSALS FOR CANDIDATES IN RESEARCH HIGHER DEGREES IN THE SCHOOL OF HUMAN MOVEMENT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE

This web page describes the requirements for developing a Research Proposal for candidates in Research Higher Degrees in the School of Human Movement and Exercise Science (HMES). This encompasses Honours thesis or dissertation, Masters thesis or dissertation, and PhD thesis.

The student cannot start their research until both the Research Proposal and Ethics Application have been approved.

If you have any questions regarding the Higher Degrees and Research Proposal procedures for the School of Human Movement and Exercise Science please contact Dr David Lloyd on 6488 3919 or by email at dlloyd@cyllene.uwa.edu.au.

Steps in the Process

1. Determining Submission Time Lines for Research Proposals
   
   
2. Formal Confirmation of Candidature (PhD students only)
   
   
3. Developing the Research Proposal
   • Ethics Applications and Approvals
   • Clinical Trials Insurance
   • Assessment of subjects at risk of cardiovascular incidents
     
     
4. Submitting Research Proposals to the HMES Higher Degrees and Human Ethics Committee
   
   
5. Submitting Masters and PhD Research Proposals to the Postgraduate Research School

(1) Determining Submission Time Lines for Research Proposals

The approval of a candidate's enrolment is dependent on the acceptance both a research proposal and Ethics Application prepared by the candidate and endorsed by the supervisor(s) and the head(s) of the appropriate School(s). Late submission of the Research Proposal may result in suspension of candidature.

• PhD candidates are required to submit a Research Proposal within six months of the commencement of candidature for full-time students and within nine months for part-time students.
  
  
• Masters candidates are required to submit a Research Proposal within four months of the commencement of candidature for full-time students and within eight months for part-time students.
  
  
• Honours Candidates need to submit a Research Proposal before week 7 of the first semester of enrolment.
  
  
• For those candidates who are applying to upgrade (transfer) from a Masters degree (at UWA) to a PhD (at UWA) a Research Proposal must be supplied along with appropriate application material when changing the enrolment.
  
  
• For those candidates who have partially completed a PhD programme at another institution, a Research Proposal must be supplied along with application material as submitted by new applicants for the PhD.

(2) Formal Confirmation of Candidature

The University of Western Australia requires a process for the Formal Confirmation of Candidature for all PhD students. Formal Confirmation of Candidature after first year will be conditional on the candidate completing the agreed tasks within an agreed time. The tasks and timeframe will be agreed between the candidate, supervisor(s) and School’s Higher Degrees and Human Ethics Committee, with the agreed tasks and timeframe being listed in the research proposal and thereby approved. The student’s first Annual Progress Report will include a report of progress on these tasks. The HMES has a form of agreed tasks that can be found at the following web page.

(3) Developing the Research Proposal

All research plans and proposals need to be developed with the student’s supervisor(s). This is an iterative and sometimes tedious process, but it is very important to define and refine the research aims and questions, and develop a research plan that can address these aims. Once you, with your supervisor(s) help, have “fleshed out” your research then you have to develop a Research Proposal which consists of a written document and oral presentation. The Research Proposal document and oral presentation has to be presented to, and approved by, the HMES Higher Degrees and Human Ethics committee. The written proposal is then submitted to the UWA Postgraduate Research School for final approval. This process is set in place to ensure very high standards of research.

The approval of Research Proposals is based on four criteria

1. Scientific Quality of the Research
   1. Importance of the Research
   2. Theoretical Basis of the Research
      
      
2. Existence of the Supervisory Expertise to Perform the Research
   1. PhD should have at least 2 supervisors
      
      
3. Existence of the Facilities to Perform the Research
   
   
4. The Cost of Research is set within Limits for the various Research Degrees. Following are the approximate maximum expenditures for different postgraduate research programmes
   1. Honours - $750
   2. Masters - $2000
   3. PhD - $6000 (i.e. $2000 per year for 3 years for full time degrees)

All Research Proposals should be developed as per the requirements of the UWA Postgraduate Research School and HMES Higher Degrees and Human Ethics committee. The requirements for both of these have been synthesised to one format which can be found at this web page.

All research plans and proposals need to be developed to adhere to national Ethical Standards for Human and/or Animal Research. In addition, if your proposed research involves some form of human intervention then the project plan and proposal has to address a) Clinical trials insurance, and b) Assessment of subjects at risk of cardiovascular incidents. These are important to ensure that the subjects and you are covered by insurance in-case of an incident occurring, and that you have taken due care to ensure that the participants are not at undue risk of suffering cardiovascular incident as a result of your intervention(s). Following is a discussion and links to address these issues.

Ethics Applications and Approvals

The candidates´ research cannot commence until the Ethics for the whole project has been approved. Ethics approvals will be required prior to the use of animals, the participation of human subjects, genetic manipulation, potentially biohazardous procedures and situations, the use and disposal of potent teratogens and carcinogens, the use of ionising radiation, or other matters of a hazardous nature. It is the responsibility of the candidate, the supervisor and the Head of School to ensure that appropriate approvals have been obtained. Similarly, it is essential that all required safety and other training is complete prior to the commencement of research.

A human research ethics proposal must be submitted at the same time as, or immediately after, the Research Proposal has been submitted to the HMES HDEC. Please use the HMES Human Research Ethics procedures on the HMES web site. The address for this is http://www.hmes.uwa.edu.au/for/current_students/ethics.

All work to be carried on animals needs ethical approval from the UWA Animal Ethics Committee. The procedures for these are accessed on the UWA Animal Ethics web site.

Clinical Trials Insurance

If your research involves any intervention being trialled on subjects (be it exercise, training - physical or psychological, drug or oral supplementation therapy) then the study is generally classed as being a clinical trial. As such it is required that the study be registered with Clinical Trials Insurance Program. To do this the academic in charge of the study needs to fill out the Clinical Trials questionnaire located at this web site. If you have any questions regarding whether your study is classified as a clinical trial contact Mr Grant Wallace, the UWA Insurance and Risk Management Officer.

Assessment of subjects at risk of cardiovascular incidents

If your research involves an exercise intervention for people who are at risk of suffering a cardiovascular incident or have had history of cardiovascular disease then your subjects may need to have a medical examination and exercise testing prior to participation in regular exercise. To assess whether your subjects require these tests depends on whether the exercise is classified as moderate or vigorous. If your study involves exercise that is moderate then go to this web page for the algorithm to assess whether subjects require medical examination and exercise testing for moderate exercise. If the exercise is vigorous then go to this web page for the algorithm to assess whether subjects require medical examination and exercise testing for vigorous exercise. (Thanks to A/Prof Danny Green for developing these algorithms.)

(4) Approval of the Research Proposal by the HMES Higher Degrees and Human Ethics Committee

Honours, Masters and PhD research proposals have to be submitted to the HMES Higher Degrees and Ethics committee for approval. The submission comprises of a Research Proposal, Laboratory Usage Form, Thesis Budget Form and Ethics Application.

All students are required to orally present their proposed research to the School Higher Degrees and Human Ethics committee. The candidate should arrange the time and date of the presentation with the School Administrative Secretary. Time limits for the oral presentation are:

• Honours: 10 minutes Presentation and 10 minutes Questions
  
  
• Masters:  10 minutes Presentation and 10 minutes Questions
  
  
• PhD:        20 minutes Presentation and 10 minutes Questions

Candidates preparing Research Proposals should give their full Research Proposal, along with an electronic copy in Rich Text Format to the School Administrative Secretary one week before the oral presentation is to be held. All graphics should be saved in GIF; BMP or JPG format. The proposal should follow the guidelines found at this web page and all proposals must be approved in the first instance by the candidate's supervisor(s).

(5) Submitting Masters and PhD Research Proposals to the Postgraduate Research School

For Masters and PhD students, once the proposal is passed by the HMES Higher Degrees and Human Ethics committee, the Research Proposal document is submitted to the UWA Postgraduate Research School. The format of the Research Proposal for HMES and Postgraduate Research School are the same.

The following must be submitted to the UWA Postgraduate Research School.

• A Research Proposal Coversheet is submitted along with TWO copies of the proposal, coversheet AND accepted ethics application through the supervisor and Head of School to the Administrative Officer (Postgraduate Research).
  
  
• Prospective candidates applying on the basis of an incomplete PhD from another institution should complete the Application Form and submit TWO copies of the Details of Proposed Research, application form (plus other supporting documentation as required) AND accepted ethics application through the proposed supervisor and Head of School to the Administrative Officer (Postgraduate Research).
  
  
• Applicants applying to transfer (upgrade) from a Masters programme at UWA to the PhD should complete the Application to Upgrade Form and submit TWO copies of the Details of Proposed Research, Upgrade form AND accepted ethics application through the proposed supervisor and Head of School to the Administrative Officer (Postgraduate Research).

Candidates, supervisors and Heads of School must ensure that the coversheet is completed and signed, as it certifies that the assurances made therein have been made to the Board. No Research Proposal or Application for Candidature can be considered without these assurances.