MASTERING THE ART

OF WRITING A CANCER

BIOLOGY RESEARCH

PROPOSAL

A presentation by Dr. Nancy Agens, Head, Technical Operationsinfo@pubrica.com

Outline of Topics

TODAY'S DISCUSSION

• Need for a Cancer Research Proposal

• Opportunities in Cancer Research

• Sample Research Proposal

• Five Secrets to Write an Effective Cancer Biology

Research Proposal

• Essential Ingredients of the Cancer Research Proposal

• Common Pitfalls

In the event that you are keen and desirous execute a cancer biology research for your

PhD, It is necessary that you create a cancer biology research proposal.

The research proposal would be the initial step in the direction of your PhD.

The research proposal pertaining to your topic would lay down and map everything that

you are supposed to execute at the time when you execute the actual research.

An excellent cancer biology research proposal would necessarily meet the below

mentioned general requirements.

NEED FOR A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

CANCER BIOLOGY RESEARCH AREAS

Molecular biology

Cell biology Carcinogenesis

Immunology BiostatisticsClinical

genetics and genomics

Epidemiology

OPPORTUNITIES IN CANCER BIOLOGY

• How the normal biological programs of cell proliferation and

death are altered during cancer & how the immune system

responds to tumors.

• Researchers are now studying the molecular mechanisms and

signaling pathways of cancer cell development, proliferation,

and metastasis.

• The discovery of tumor stem cells in a range of cancers

created opportunity

• To identify these rare cells in both solid tumors &

hematologic cancers, as well as to investigate the role of

these cells at different stages of disease.

• The recognition that the cancer cell is in a symbiotic

relationship with the tumor microenvironment has created

opportunities

• to study the interactions of cancer cells within the tumor or

the host microenvironment.

CONTD.

• Researchers are also investigating the role of the human microbiome—the community of

microorganisms that inhabit the human body—in the initiation and progression of

tumors.

• New genetic technologies developed over the past decade have helped researchers

examine the functional effects of genetic alterations that underlie the development of

cancer. These tools have also been used to study epigenetic changes associated with

cancer, mechanisms of DNA damage and repair, and gene regulation in cancer cells.

• The introduction of increasingly powerful structural biology approaches has allowed

researchers

• to characterize the structures of mutant proteins involved in cancer, such as RAS,

and other molecules in greater detail than had been possible previously.

• Through approaches that allow the characterization of the entire proteome,

researchers are integrating genomic analysis with the analysis of the proteins in

tumor cells to learn, in detail, how cancer-associated mutant proteins affect other

proteins.

FIVE SECRETS TO WRITE AN EFFECTIVE

CANCER BIOLOGY RESEARCH PROPOSAL

COMMENCING EARLY:

Time is a major factor within the

process of writing a research proposal.

Effective management of time could

play a vital role when you write a

cancer biology research proposal.

Every aspect needs to be planned

and allocated a time frame.

You have to factor in time

taking procedures over which

you have no control.

Acquiring feedback or

discussing some aspect of your

research with your guide, can

be time-consuming.

READING SAMPLE PAPERS:

• Check your university library or online electronic

databases to find samples of cancer biology PhD

thesis.

• You can only consult such papers to acquire

an understanding of how it is done.

• At no time should you resort to

plagiarizing contents from the sample

thesis.

SAMPLE FORMAT

Title of the Project

Why you should investigate ?

Short title

Research Problem or need for the study

SAMPLE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Aim of the study

Objectives

FIND LITERATURE:

• Literature review is important when you are

writing the research proposal.

• When you are writing the cancer biology

research proposal, make sure that you

accord due importance to the literature

review. You should use PubMed, a website

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/) that

provides free access to biomedical journal

citations and abstracts mainly indexed by

Medline.

Literature to Support Your Statement

SPECIFY METHODS:

How you wanted to conduct your

study. Methods specifications

Methods specifications

SPECIFY ORIGINALITY

Outcome of the study

GIVE THOUGHT TO AVAILABLE RESOURCES

• At the t ime when you commence

writing your proposal, you have to

first inventorize your resources.

• Resources would include; the

libraries that you would be having

access to, access to research

facilities for facil itating the research

• It would be wise here to stray

away from cancer biology topics

for which you lack resources.

SEEKING PROFESSIONAL

ASSISTANCE:

• It is not at all easy to write a cancer biology research proposal,so

it is better to seek professional assistance as and when the need

arises.

• You can certainly avail assistance from your professors, but if you

are confused about the whole process, you can always seek

professional assistance.

5

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You should ensure that your research proposal in cancer biology is created

meticulously if you intend to get your proposal approved and proceed

further with your PhDthesis.

Your actual PhD research on cancer biology largely relies on the provision

of a research proposal that clearly convinces a panel of experts with

regards to the significance of the research to the domain.

The proposal would also clearly project that you are in a position to justify

the research and execute it as per the necessary standards.

You should make sure that you cover the below mentioned points within

your proposal on cancerbiology.

Contd..

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Exemplify the problem that you are attempting resolve through your research

and emphasize its significance in your domain within your introduction.

Provide an extensive review of existing literature to indicate that you have a

thorough command on the research that has already been executed in

your domain.

Clearly indicate your choice of research methodology and also justify why

you have chosen the said methodology as this will provide a clear picture

to the reader.

Present a clear, realistic timeline and the resources that you would require

to complete the research.

Offer a crystal clear hypothesis or research question to your reader.

COMMON PITFALLS

At the time of selecting

the topic, it isimperative

to deliberate about the

research methodology

with your guide.

Plan your proposal,

create an outline and

then commence the

writing work.

Conduct extensive

literature review in your

domain to understand the

current gaps in cancer

biology. Choose a unique

and previously not

researched topic.

Methodology: Sequence of Work: Originality:

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