Pre-Proposals
A LaTeX pre-proposal template is available
here. Headings are used to identify key requirements, but are not required for the final pre-proposal submission.
By their nature, research projects involve uncertainty.
A pre-proposal is a tool for identifying and thinking about the key elements of your project or thesis. This will allow you to identify underspecified or overly complex topics, identify challenges and uncertainties associated with a project, and ultimately help you complete your capstone in a timely fashion. You will refine a number of versions of your pre-proposal over the quarter.
A pre-proposal briefly identifies the following in no more than 2 pages:
- A research problem or task, including a hypothesis (testable assertion) for theses. This needs to include key references (3-5) on current work related to the project/thesis, which establish the context and foundation for the proposed project.
- The intended approach (i.e. methodology) to be used in devising a solution. For a project, this may detail the libraries and/or tools to be used, and the high-level architecture of the system. For theses, this also commonly involves algorithm(s) to be modified or developed.
- The means by which the outcome of the research project will be evaluated. For projects, what are the inputs and outputs for the system, and how will quality be measured (e.g. correctness, integration, time, space)? For theses, the evaluation will be an experiment (empirical) or proofs (theoretical) comparing existing and devised solutions, with the ultimate goal of testing the hypothesis.
- An analysis of the potential outcomes: under what evaluation outcomes are the project aims achieved, or the hypothesis confirmed or rejected? Under what conditions might other things be observed and/or learnt?
Project/Thesis Web Pages
Project/Thesis web pages should include a link to the pre-proposal, proposal, and final report/thesis at the time a student defends. A summary of the project or abstract should also be provided. In some cases faculty prefer that the abstract not be provided in detail until the student defends - please check with your advisor. For this course, the project web page should at least identify the area and possibly problem that you are working on, with slots in which to add the necessary documents when it is time for you to defend.
Student Project/Thesis Web Pages (Winter 2012-2013)
Student Project/Thesis Web Pages (Spring 2012)
Project/Thesis Web Pages for Winter 2011-2012 (Section 2)
Other Pre-proposal and Web Page Examples
