Graduate Application Requirements
Personal Statement
- Up to 1,000 words outlining prior study, work experience, and motivation to undertake the program
- Academic references need to be included
- Certified copies of relevant academic transcripts together with a grading scale used by that University (or Faculty/Department)
Design Portfolio
No more than 5 x A3 pages presented in hard copy, not on CD, by email or other electronic formats.
Applicants to the PhD and MPhil
How to Write a Research Proposal
The Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning requires that all applications for research degrees include a research proposal. In some universities, research postgraduates do not need to provide a research proposal because the candidate’s supervisor may provide the student with a topic. However, at the University of Melbourne, a research proposal is viewed as being as significant as your academic marks; a research degree application cannot be assessed without a research proposal, even if your marks are high. Surveys of postgraduates at the University of Melbourne demonstrate that students value selecting their own research topic and are more successful when they pursue their own research questions.
A research proposal is not a statement of your beliefs or of something you want to prove, it is a topic or question that you wish to examine objectively. It must focus on a particular issue or research question, it must be something within your capacity and experience and it should not rely on a discipline in which you are not trained. The proposal is the starting point for your thesis.
You will need to think about what you want to study and do some preliminary reading to put together a research proposal. If you are an international applicant and are proposing a topic related to your home country, it is important also to think about what material can be collected, and what contacts you might establish, prior to coming to Melbourne, as funding to support data collection is limited.
Your proposal will provide us with an indication of your field of interest and level of research aptitude. If you meet our entry criteria for the PhD and MPhil, we will then match you with a suitable supervisor and supervisory panel. If you are not sure what you would like to study, you may wish to contact one of our academic staff in the Faculty to discuss your interests and the type of research you would like to pursue.
For applicants to the PhD and MPhil programs, your research proposal should be approximately two to three pages in length and address the following:
- the research question, expressed briefly and in simple English (it can include necessary technical terms);
- an explanation of the problem(s) to be explored, or hypotheses to be tested (aims and background);
- the significance of the research;
- the sources or information to be used, including a preliminary bibliography;
- a suggested work plan, including stages of research and a timeline;
- an indication of potential problems; and
- personal experience in the proposed area of study, and reasons for wishing to undertake such study.
Applicants wishing to include a creative component, e.g. design work, as part of their thesis should, in addition to the above points, include a statement explaining the nature of the creative work, how it will be integrated with the dissertation, and why the different format is an appropriate means of investigating the research question.
Research proposals will be assessed on the quality and clarity of your response to the points listed above.
For information about application processes and deadlines, please contact us at: msd-info@unimelb.edu.au.