Hi All
Need to ask or a bit of advice.
Have finished writing my dissertation Proposal and am just getting ready to send it out to institution + the AHRC/ ESRC etc.

At the very end of my proposal I have a little section on my proposed research timeline (Year One, Year Two, Year Three etc) but need to fill it in a little bit.
I get that the bsic timeline should be Year One Research and Reading
Year Two Writing it up and Year Three finishing and doing some teaching (deending on the institution) but need something to fill in the gaps.
Anyone know of any good templates I canuse as a base??

Also do they want it broken down into semesters or into years?

Anyone??

I'd use a gant chart for each year. THink about when you are going to start data collection (if applicable) and write it up etc. I think my first year one inlcuded reading, writing literature review, developing research questions, accessing data, collecting data, analysing data, providing feeback to data providers, writing up findings, writing up chapter etc etc.

Didn't do any of it of course :p

That time line looks a bit unrealistic to me.

The first year is more likely to be literature survey and starting to do research, generally feeling your way.

Most of the research would be done in the second year.

If you're very lucky you'll be able to concentrate on writing up in the third year, but you might still be finishing research.

When I applied to AHRC back in 2004 I just gave a very rough outline of what would be done i.e.

"The research will start with a ..., surveying developments in .... This will provide the basis for a detailed study of sources for .... Throughout there will be an emphasis on sources directly linking .... The final phase will review the ... results, including comparing them with results from other countries."

ah yes, sorry, should have said that my timeline in my post below, was only in relation to my first study, I had another 2 years of collecting, analysing and writing up data as I went, and then I'm still writing now.

Gantt chart is a great idea.
Only problem I can think of is that a Gantt chart by its very nature is detailed but the advice I am getting is to keep the timeline slightly vague.

Any thoughts anyone?

Just make the blocks bigger on the chart e.g. so lit review starts in novemeber and finishes in october lol.

Sorry I didn't make it clearer. I was referring to the original poster's timeline. Year 3 writing up is more normal. Actually Year 4 as well :)

Do you need to give an actual timeline? I set my research out in phases as well. One followed on from the previous one and so on. But I didn't pin down how long anything would take. I couldn't do that at such an early stage. PhD research is very unpredictable.

Hi Williambriggs79
It might be worth adding in the few fixed points that you can research in advance, according to the requirements of the research organisation: ie. Registration 6 months after enrolment, 1st Progress Report approx 10 months after enrolment etc., as that would indicate your awareness of the accountability timeframe.

Btw, anyone got any expectations of the impact of the CSR on AHRC awards for current holders?

Hi there, would anyone be willing to share their PhD Gantt chart detailing work to be completed over three years, thanks in advance Britt