Writing the proposal
When writing your proposal, bear in mind that individuals reviewing your application will often have to read a large
number of proposals/applications. So, well-presented and clearly written proposals are more likely to stick in the
reviewer’s mind. Avoid long and convoluted titles. You will get an opportunity to give more detail in your introduction. If
applying to an external funding agency, remember that the reviewer may not be an expert in your field of research.
Plagiarism and Generative AI
You must ensure that the application constitutes your own original work. It is anticipated that you will have received
feedback from supervisors and/or other academic staff on drafts of your research proposal.
Make sure that you acknowledge the authors of ALL publications you use to write your proposal. Failure to do so will be
considered as plagiarism. Do not copy word for word what an author has said. You may think that the original author has
presented the information using the best possible words in the best format. However, it is best to analyse the information
presented and re-write it in your own words. If you absolutely have to quote an author ad verbatim, then make sure that
you use quotation marks and italics to indicate it.
In recent years the use of generative AI tools has sparked numerous inquiries related to research and scholarly practices.
The University of Edinburgh’s strategy is to embrace curiosity and to pursue knowledge. As one of the first to teach and
research in the field of Artificial Intelligence over 60 years ago we have set an ambition to be a global leader in Artificial
Intelligence (AI) with integrity. Saying this, all work submitted to the University should be your own original work. It is
not appropriate to misrepresent AI generated content as your own work. Copying information from elsewhere or asking
someone else to write your proposal, including the use of AI apps such as Chat GPT, could be considered fraud. Be aware
that if you use AI tools (such as ChatGPT or others) to generate your submission and submit this as if it were your own
work, this will be regarded as academic misconduct and treated as such.



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