Hi all,

I am applying for a couple of academic scholarships which are open across all disciplines with very vague and broad goals (like a better society blah blah etc) as themes of the funders.

My point is they ask for the research proposal. Now as I am sure all of us know, our subjects are pretty jargon laden beyond a point, even in the arts and social sciences. The board I see has lots of people from law and other related fields, but no one really from my field.

Would you suggest I try to make my proposal a little less techincal and write in forms that are more easy for non disciplined folk to get? My only worry is if it does go to a 'field' person it then may seem a bit too kiddish if you know what I mean.

Also, in these cases how long do you think the proposal should be? My final 10000 proposal is not due till end of this academic yr, so I dont think I can manage a lot right now.

Any advice would be really helpful

best

Ok well firstly with the jargon business, I think being able to present work in a non jargon form for those not in your discipline illustrates both ability and understanding. I know many people who when asked to summarise their work in 'general terms' say the same jargon laden thing only shorter. The AHRC on their documents demand a summary section in 'real terms' and I don't know about you but I think its a tool to hide behind jargon when you're a bit insecure and want to sound really intelligent.

I wouldnt worry about seeming kiddish, as quite a few people have told me, proposals that are easy to read, get read and understood. If someone on the board is able to understand clearly what u want to do, its going to stay with them and be remembered.

Have you not been offered any guidelines for the length of your proposal? Is there anyone you can email to ask? I can't see the wordcount being as high as 10,000 words though. Sorry I cant help more but I would suggest emailing someone about it.