As a guide, research proposals should be around 2,000-3,000 words (about 8 pages)and contain:
A title – this is just tentative and can be revised over the course of your research
An abstract – a concise statement of your intended research
Context – a brief overview of the general area of study within which your proposed research falls, summarising the current state of knowledge and recent debates on the topic
Research questions – central aims and questions that will guide your research
Research methods – outline of how you are going to conduct your research, for example, visiting particular libraries or archives, field work or interviews
Research significance – demonstrate the originality of your intended research
A bibliography-a preliminary reading list of the main reference to be explored.
If/when a proposal is accepted, the candidate will be assigned a supervising and advisory team to help them carry their research/project. Typically, a PhD candidate will sit an examination -end-of-year presentation- following a completion of a set section of the project.
To be accepted on a PhD programme, the candidate is required to show evidence of a successful completion of a Bachelor degree with at least an upper second-class score (talk to us about what this means in your country), as well as a completed Masters’ degree.
Some candidate might be considered for a PhD programme based on their professional experience but this will depend on decision made by research board of the university applied to.