Write an Outline

Thesis proposal outline

Writing an outline will help you to structure your  thesis proposal and, in a more general sense, your work on the senior thesis  project. Another purpose is to show us that you have identified a project that makes sense to you (and us) and that you have a clear plan of attack.

Some guidelines:

  • follow the structure of the thesis proposal
  • you may replace section titles by more specific ones and  include sub headers
  • fill in complete sentences or fractions of sentences, or keywords
  • refer to at least 5 key references in your introduction (8-10 recommended)
  • length of outline should be at least 2 pages
  • if you want to fill in more details in any of the sections, please feel free to do so, this will have the advantage that you will get another round of feedback from you research mentor and seminar advisor

The following elements need to be present (also available as template) 

  1. Title
  2. Your name, affiliation, email
  3. Research mentor: name, affiliation, email
  4. Seminar advisor: name, affiliation, email
  5. Date of delivery
  6. Introduction
  7. Thesis statement
  8. Approach/methods
  9. Preliminary results and discussion
  10. Rough work plan including time table for both semesters (and summer, i.a.)
  11. Implications of research
  12. List of references

Here are a few examples of outlines, from very short and compact to more fleshed out (and not necessarily perfect):

  • Example 1: Factors influencing the concentrations of particulate matter in a New York City apartment
  • Example 2: New Policies that Can Protect and Restore the Right Whale Population Based on Acoustic Detection of the Species
  • Example 3: Share Specifics or #TagResponsibly? : Exploring the Motivations Behind Geotagging in Wilderness Spaces