Is a study plan mere formality to gauge your merit?

hiverloon · 18 Oct 2015

When you have to write a study plan or a research proposal either for a uni entrance or scholarship application, does the research plan you propose have to be really carried out after you are accepted, or is it just a matter of formality and assessment? I mean it is not easy to write out a research plan without going directly to the school you are aiming and see which instruments they are having, as the facility will determine which kind of researches can be done there.

madphysicist · 21 Oct 2015

I guess you are studying science since you talk about the instruments available. I have no direct experience as to whether they would ever check that you are carrying out the kind of research you said you would in the plan. Since research in science is unpredictable, I doubt they would penalise you (or even notice) unless you suddenly decide to change field completely.

However, what you can do is get in touch with professors to ask them what projects you could work on, and discuss your research plan with them. This is what I am doing to get the basis of my research plan. Obviously in science you can't just "do your own thing" independently of others in your group, so I can't see any other way to get a vaguely feasible plan. You can write a briliant proposal but if there is no supervisor for you to work with, you will not be accepted by the university!

Glenski · 21 Oct 2015

Assume you must do what you propose, but keep in mind that they may reject you if the plan is too bizarre or if it contains equipment out of the ordinary.

hiverloon · 22 Oct 2015

I have asked the administration office and they said that asking the prof to help decide your plan is not allowed.
Well I guess I just need to look at their publication list and infer from them what else can be done.

madphysicist · 22 Oct 2015

hiverloon said:
I have asked the administration office and they said that asking the prof to help decide your plan is not allowed.
Well I guess I just need to look at their publication list and infer from them what else can be done.

Which university is this? and in what sense? Are you not allowed to contact the professor at all to ask what experiments you could work on?

If you are studying science, this is a ridiculous policy. No one completely devises their own masters or PhD projects without consulting a professor. If the university is serious about you not being able to ask the professors about their research at all, you can only a) make up a plan and hope for the best, although this is rather risky or b) find a more reasonable department to apply to.

Or is it just that you are not allowed to let them "write your plan for you?" In this case, you can still contact them to ask what kind of projects they work on and use that as a basis for the plan.

hiverloon · 23 Oct 2015

madphysicist said:
Which university is this? and in what sense? Are you not allowed to contact the professor at all to ask what experiments you could work on?

It's UTokyo. Let me literally quote what the reply e-mail said:
"Advice on the content of study plans will not be provided."
They said that applicants should outline their proposed research. I am not required to write an elaborate official research proposal which typically would use up multiple pages, instead the proposed research should be written concisely in the statement of purpose. Which means, it will be in the same essay writing (which is limited to 1000 words) as the motivation and background. Based on this, I presume that the proposed research need not be conducted exactly as it was written in the statement of purpose in case I am accepted, as such research plan is too terse to be used as a basis for an actual research.

madphysicist · 23 Oct 2015

hiverloon said:
It's UTokyo. Let me literally quote what the reply e-mail said:
"Advice on the content of study plans will not be provided."

That doesn't sound as if they are forbidding you from contacting an advisor and discussing what research you could do. Rather, that if you ask "what should I write in my study plan?" they're not allowed to tell you.

hiverloon said:
I am not required to write an elaborate official research proposal which typically would use up multiple pages, instead the proposed research should be written concisely in the statement of purpose. Which means, it will be in the same essay writing (which is limited to 1000 words) as the motivation and background.

Okay, I thought you were talking about something like the "research proposal" needed for the MEXT research scholarship. But in that case, it sounds like you don't need to be very precise about what you're going to do. I think actually it would be easier to stick to a research proposal that was that short and vague, rather than a detailed one!

Regarding your original question, I still don't know whether they would care if you deviated from the study plan (I would guess not). But if you will be doing actual research rather than taught courses, I still think it's best to contact a professor beforehand, because you probably don't want to work for an extended time with some random person you've never talked to (I certainly wouldn't...)

Glenski · 23 Oct 2015

1000 words is only 2 pages, so you realistically aren't going to have that much detail in the proposal. Figure that you need some paragraph or two just to lay the foundation and background, and that'll be about 1/3 to 1/2 of the proposal. Perhaps a more direct question we should ask you is whether you have any clue whatsoever about what kind of research you would like to conduct.

hiverloon · 23 Oct 2015

madphysicist said:
But if you will be doing actual research rather than taught courses, I still think it's best to contact a professor beforehand, because you probably don't want to work for an extended time with some random person you've never talked to (I certainly wouldn't...)

We did exchanged e-mails to talk about my task in my future research and he merely said that he is going to assign me with simulation related tasks aside from the experiments.

Glenski said:
Perhaps a more direct question we should ask you is whether you have any clue whatsoever about what kind of research you would like to conduct.

Yes, I do. In fact, the laboratory I apply to has research highlight which coincides with my current research for my master degree.

Glenski · 23 Oct 2015

Then just outline it as directed. You clearly realize that you can't put in a lot of detail, so I don't see why you worry about this. They don't want to know the brand of pH meter, type of HPLC column, components of growth medium, etc. that you might foresee necessary. If some small part of it changes, fine. I don't think it will be a major problem. You are not committing to a grant description here. Just an outline. Don't worry about equipment, either. That's what research funds are for.

Is a study plan mere formality to gauge your merit?

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