Outline-Proposal

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Abstract: (50-100 words)

a. Mention previous studies results and how it led to this research
i. Cognitive function decreases with age
ii. Aerobic exercise can prevent the decline through increase in BDNF levels
b. Bring up purpose of the study
i. Measuring BDNF levels and see if has relationship with exercise and
cognitive function
c. Briefly mention some methods and results you hope to achieve
d. If have enough room, mention the broader impact of how it promotes the well-being
of elderly
e. Keywords: are taken from the article itself
Project Description: (3-4 pages)
a. Background
i. Provide clear statement of work, and the objectives of the research.
ii. Provide some background information on other clinical trials that leads up to
your study or the methods that are planned to be used in the study.
b. Objective
i. Clearly state the objectives of the research in a separate paragraph for the
NSF to see the plan of the research
c. Methods
i. Explain each step in the process of the research
ii. Begin with the selection of participants (criteria needed to participate)
iii. Follow with the two groups used for exercise, mention rationale for the two
groups studied
1. Walking exercise group
2. Stretching-toning group
iv. Blood collection is used to measure BDNF levels
v. Cognitive assessment: Task-switch performance and importance of it.
d. Broader Impacts: (separate paragraph in project description section)
i. Talk about the long term goals and how they may have an impact on society.
ii. Highlight the idea that it will improve the well-being of individuals in
society!
References
a. Use references throughout the proposal
b. Remember to put list of references after you finish the project description
Biographical Sketch (100-150 words)
a. Talk about yourself, your major, year, research you are doing, expected graduation
date, things like that.

Reflection
My homework after the conference was to type up and refine my outline for my proposal. This prewrite
has helped me organize my thoughts and list the main points I wanted to mention in my proposal in order.
I am glad that I was able to refine my main points because it helped me stay within the page requirements
of the proposal and taught me how to be more concrete with my writing. Furthermore, the outline helped
me organize my thoughts in a way that I wanted to write them in the proposal. While I was working on
the outline I played around with the order of things and eventually saw what order of my thoughts would
allow for the proposal to flow better. Overall, the outline has been useful in refining and organizing my
thoughts but also helped me write my proposal because I was able to refer back to the outline and see
where I was and what I still needed to do.