Teacher(s)
Language
English
Prerequisites
N/A
Main themes
This course introduces students to the essential stages of the research project lifecycle, from problem identification to project execution. It emphasizes how to formulate clear research questions, define objectives and hypotheses, and anchor them within theoretical frameworks.
Students will learn to design rigorous research protocols, select appropriate methodological approaches, and plan resources, timelines and milestones effectively. The course also covers project management tools - such as Gantt charts, risk assessment frameworks, and contingency planning, as well as good practices for collaboration, supervision and progress monitoring.
By the end of the seminar, students will be able to prepare a structured research plan, design a research project aligned with academic standards, and present their proposal with confidence and clarity.
Students will learn to design rigorous research protocols, select appropriate methodological approaches, and plan resources, timelines and milestones effectively. The course also covers project management tools - such as Gantt charts, risk assessment frameworks, and contingency planning, as well as good practices for collaboration, supervision and progress monitoring.
By the end of the seminar, students will be able to prepare a structured research plan, design a research project aligned with academic standards, and present their proposal with confidence and clarity.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
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Content
The different topics that will be covered in this course are the following ones:
- Framing a Research Problem
- Identifying gaps in the literature
- Defining research objectives and hypotheses
- Aligning research questions with theoretical frameworks
- Positioning a research project within an existing body of knowledge
- Structuring a Research Project
- Designing a research protocol
- Choosing qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methodologies
- Constructing variables and defining data needs
- Planning data collection and analysis strategies
- Project Management Tools
- Develop Gantt charts, milestones, and deliverables
- Resource allocation and timeline planning
- Risk assessment and contingency planning
- Collaboration and supervision dynamics
- Writing a doctoral admission file
- Gather and produce all the required materials to complete a doctoral admission application or a doctoral scholarship submission
Teaching methods
This course is built as a studio, not a lecture series. Students do not learn to design a project by being told what a good project looks like; they learn by building one under expert guidance and peer scrutiny, the way a doctoral candidate builds a fellowship proposal.
The course therefore has a single, cumulative spine: The Rolling Research Proposal. From the first session, every student develops one real research project of their own. Each session delivers a conceptual input, illustrates it across several management disciplines, then converts it into the next building block of that student's proposal.
Three pedagogical commitments run through every session:
The course therefore has a single, cumulative spine: The Rolling Research Proposal. From the first session, every student develops one real research project of their own. Each session delivers a conceptual input, illustrates it across several management disciplines, then converts it into the next building block of that student's proposal.
Three pedagogical commitments run through every session:
- Cross-disciplinary illustration. Every concept is shown working in different management disciplines.
- Make the criteria visible. Students see the real evaluation grid from Day 1 and are assessed, formatively, against it throughout.
- Feedback as the engine, peer review or instructor critique. Students must learn to give and receive structured criticism.
Evaluation methods
Student assessment is based on three main components:
Second session: Continuous assessment components (the rolling proposal building blocks and peer-review contributions, and the article/project analysis & presentation) cannot be resubmitted or redone in the second session — their weight is not recoverable. Students who do not validate the course in the first session will only be able to resubmit the final written file (FNRS format) and/or repeat the oral defense, for the components not yet validated, under the same evaluation criteria described above.
- Exercises and class participation (50%), includes progressive in-class deliverables built throughout the semester, peer-review contributions on classmates' work, and the critique and presentation of assigned papers.
- Individual written production - final FRESH file, FNRS format (30%), evaluated on the quality of the project's framing and contribution, its methodological design, the feasibility of the work plan, and the overall command and fit demonstrated by the applicant.
- Oral pitch (20%), a short individual presentation followed by a question-and-answer session.
Second session: Continuous assessment components (the rolling proposal building blocks and peer-review contributions, and the article/project analysis & presentation) cannot be resubmitted or redone in the second session — their weight is not recoverable. Students who do not validate the course in the first session will only be able to resubmit the final written file (FNRS format) and/or repeat the oral defense, for the components not yet validated, under the same evaluation criteria described above.
Online resources
Bibliography
All teaching materials are available on Moodle, including:
- PowerPoint slides and/or screencasts
- Scientific articles
- Templates for research plans, Gantt charts, and project management tools
Faculty or entity
Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)
Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Learning outcomes
Master [120] in Management
