Synopsis "Research Project Management: The Research Proposal (in English)"
Research projects require a different type of management than traditional construction projects because they have different processes, organization, deliverables and customers. Or in other words, management of a process to learn something is different from management of a process to build something. If you want to understand how our world works, if you want to capture a business opportunity, if you want to improve people's lives, cure a disease, prevent starvation, or if you want to do something more efficiently, at a lower cost, with less environmental impact, then you want to innovate. Your innovation will require specialized knowledge. Your research projects will explore the unknown to acquire that knowledge. Your research projects will seek to solve problems.Your vision of a solution will be based on a scientific model that serves as a roadmap. You may have sufficient knowledge to proceed immediately. But, gaps in your knowledge, assumptions that have not been validated, predictions that have not been tested, prototypes that have not been built may impede you. To successfully innovate, you will need to conduct a research project to acquire knowledge that others do not have. Your research project needs funding. You need to find a sponsor. This book will help you to identify problems, visions and scientific models that will enable you to implement your creative ideas. The chapters sequentially walk you through the process of creating a proposal that can be submitted to decision-makers and potential sponsors.The proposal of any research project includes a description of a problem that needs to be solved, a vision of a potential solution and a scientific model predicting how to implement the solution. The creation of a research proposal requires creativity, skill and experience. To some, the concept may come as an inspiration. To most of us, inspiration only comes from hard work, rigorous analysis and dedication. Turning inspiration into reality requires significant decisions, effective communication and efficient management.Traditional project management practices were designed to control schedules and costs. The research project management practices that are described here are designed to facilitate communication and decision-making. The 12 research project management tools in The Scientist's Toolbox are written as recipes, step-by-step, that guide you through a process to analyze problems, create solutions, conceive scientific models and hypotheses, and propose projects to potential sponsors. Several skills merge in this toolbox. Creative thinking techniques ask critical scientific questions, identify problems and visualize solutions. Leadership and teamworking skills enable a team of independently-minded scientists to cooperate, to coordinate, to make joint decisions and to act on those decisions. The philosophy of the scientific method molds knowledge into concepts that predict creative solutions. Project management techniques from the traditional, extreme, adaptive and agile approaches enable planning, scheduling, monitoring and controlling of the experiments in a research project. Your skill in communication holds all of these pieces together as you propose a research project successfully.
