The effects of vitamin D on beta cells (secrition)

Elements of the proposal and how they will be marked

Title:

Concise and conveys the essence of the research question
Lay summary (no more than 150 words not included in the overall 2000‐word limit; 10% of marks):
A description of the research you propose, how you will do it, and why it is important, written in non‐technical language (no references should be included in this section, as everything you write here will be formally laid out in your main proposal)

Note: The exact proportion of the word count to be devoted to each of the following sections will vary according to the content of each proposal; the figures given below are a rough guide.

Background (≈ 40% = 800 words, 35% of marks):

Set out clearly the background to your research proposal
Explain the significance of your specific research area in relation to fundamental questions

in basic biosciences and/or human health
· Summarise any prior research related to the specific question that you propose to

investigate

Identify an area of controversy or uncertainty in which your proposal will add to existing knowledge, or a need for exploration of an entirely novel aspect

i.e., justify the research question which your proposal will address

Identify relevant gaps in knowledge and/or limitations of previous work, including any

limitations of earlier study designs or statistical analyses

Should be extensively referenced

Research question/Aim/Hypothesis (no more than 5% = 100 words, 15% of marks):

Clear, concise, and quantitative

Supervisors can advise as to whether formulation as a research question, aim or hypothesis is most appropriate

A null hypothesis is not necessary to spell out here (but might be stated in the Data Analysis section if your statistical approach involves testing of a null hypothesis)

Amenable to systematic investigation by experiment, computation, observation, or survey methodology
A single aim/question/hypothesis, well thought out, is generally better than a scattershot approach

Addressing your aim/question/hypothesis should offer insights into previous controversies, address limitations emerging from earlier studies, or enter novel territory (as justified by the material in the Background section)
Be sure you do not propose research which has already been done!

Methods and data analysis (40% = 800 words, 30% of marks):

Describe the study design that will be used (distinguishing between observational,

interventional, computational studies, for example)

Identify a specific study setting (field site, study population, in vitro or in vivo model, in

silico) in which the research question will be addressed

Specify which investigative techniques will be used to obtain the data (one or more).

Descriptions should include:

The scientific principles underpinning the technique
Step‐by‐step instructions should not be given – but do use a paragraph of prose to describe what you will do. Use Methods sections of primary research papers as a model
Explanation of how the data will address the research question/aim/hypothesis
This section should be referenced
Describe how the data will be analysed – generally using statistics :

o Identify dependent and independent variables that will be determined

o Be clear about categorical, ordinal, continuous variables

o Identify/discuss any extraneous or confounding variables to be considered

o Identify the statistical test(s) you will perform to address your research question/aim/hypothesis

o Explain how blinding, randomisation, or measurement will be used to address confounding variables

o If the study involves biological variation between individual study subjects or technical variation of measurements, or both, the study group size and the degree of measurement replication should be specified

o Group size and degree of replication should be justified:
o How much variation in your measures is expected from the literature?

o What effect size would represent a meaningful effect in the context of your study?

o What group size would be required to see an effect of this magnitude?

o Some studies, e.g. in computational chemistry, will use non‐statistical calculations, and outputs may take other forms, such as 3D structures – specify the details of these analyses instead

o In any case, explain the use of any software in your data acquisition and analysis

3 Ethics, risk assessment, and feasibility (15% = 300 words, 10% of marks) Under Ethics, briefly describe how your study will address, as applicable:

o Issues related to working with human subjects, including any consideration of vulnerable populations, institutional ethical approval (at Roehampton and at any additional study sites), informed consent, deception, sensitivity and confidentiality of data, risks vs. benefit, and the use of human tissue samples

o Issues related to working with research animals, including the balance of benefit to suffering of animals, animal welfare, use of study design to reduce, refine, or replace the use of animals in research, regulatory matters

o Ethical and regulatory issues related to working with genetically modified organisms
o Ethical and regulatory issues related to possible harm to the environment from your study

Under Risk Assessment, discuss the major hazards to which you and others working near you will be exposed as a result of carrying out your study, the level of risk associated with these hazards, and precautions that may be taken to minimise the risk. Include physical, chemical, and biological hazards.

Under Feasibility, discuss the factors that influence whether your study will be feasible as a 3rd year undergraduate research project, such as time, cost, need for facilities and equipment, need for research consumables, need for technical training and technician support, need for collaborations to enable access to resources not available at Roehampton (clinical or animal research facilities, specialised equipment or expertise).

Note: As explained earlier, you need to show awareness of any feasibility issues, but there is no requirement that your project be feasible as a 3rd year undergraduate research project.

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