How to write PhD synopsis

A PhD Synopsis is a brief outline for your research in a proposed subject area. It aims to let the review committee be aware and judge whether a thorough research on the proposed issue is worth or not, and the thesis should be accepted for the award of PhD degree. It is recommended by the universities to include the account the previous researches done, your research question, and the importance of your research in the particular area to demonstrate that your work can advance the knowledge of your research.

A well-defined PhD synopsis should answer the following questions:

• Why should a research be undertaken on the chosen topic?
• What research work has been done in the field of investigation?
• What is the research question and literature gap in this research area?
• What are the aims of proposed research and how will the goals be achieved?
• What are the aims of proposed research and how will the goals be achieved?

Where the details can vary with the disciplines, synopsis should be constituted of the following components:

• Title Page: It is the first page of your synopsis which would describe the credentials of the research project, that is, title of the research, student’s name, supervisor’s name, the place and date of your research project. Your research topic should be presented as specific and concise words yet conveying the nature of your research.
• Introduction: This section deals with the discussion of the research problem and fit into the context of the main subject area. Adequate information should be provided to justify the problem and relevance of the proposed research.
• Literature Review: It demonstrates that your research makes a significant contribution to the research field and that you are well versed with the previous researches done altogether. You can cite the examples of relevant researches and discuss the literature gap if fits into the context of your own research. It should be focused, evaluative, and specific instead of being general.
• Objectives: This section defines the expectations or hypothesis that you will try to validate by the end of the research. It should be exploratory since it will guide you to conduct the research in adequate.