--- name: research-proposal description: >- Draft a PhD research proposal or research plan aligned to a specific lab's current and future agenda. Use this whenever the user needs a research proposal, project proposal, research statement, or research plan for a PhD application or a particular professor — e.g. "write a research proposal for the Smith lab", "I need a 2-page research plan for my Cambridge application", "draft a PhD proposal on diffusion models for this professor", or "help me turn my interests into a proposal that fits her work". Builds a concrete, feasible project at the intersection of the lab's open problems and the applicant's strengths, grounded in real prior work, as a draft the applicant authors and refines. Trigger whenever the intent is to produce a research proposal tied to a PhD opportunity. --- # Research proposal A PhD research proposal does two jobs at once: it shows the applicant can think like a researcher (frame a real problem, propose a credible approach, see the obstacles), and it demonstrates *specific* fit with the target lab. A proposal that could be sent to any lab in the field fails the second job. The aim here is a proposal that sits precisely at the intersection of where the lab is heading and what the applicant can credibly do — concrete enough to be evaluated, modest enough to be feasible in a PhD, and clearly the applicant's own thinking. ## Step 1 — Load the lab and the applicant Read the professor's profile at `knowledge-base/professors/.md`, focusing on **Research agenda & open problems** and recent publications — the proposal must connect to the lab's *trajectory*, not its past. Read the applicant's `profile/profile.md`, `profile/research-statement.md` (if present), and `profile/cv-master.md` for the methods and results they can credibly build on. If no professor profile exists, run **professor-analyzer** first; a proposal not anchored in the lab's real open problems is just a generic essay. Note any program constraints the user gives (page/word limit, required structure) and follow them. ## Step 2 — Find the intersection The core intellectual work: identify a problem that is (a) genuinely open in the lab's agenda, (b) something the applicant's background gives them a credible angle on, and (c) scoped to a PhD. Avoid both extremes — a problem the lab has already solved, or a moonshot no student could make progress on. Prefer a specific, well-motivated question over a broad theme. It's fine to propose one main thrust with one or two extensions rather than a sprawl. ## Step 3 — Draft the proposal Use this structure unless the program specifies otherwise. Keep it tight; most PhD proposals are 1–3 pages. ```markdown # ## Motivation & problem The specific problem, why it matters, and the gap in current work (cite real papers — the lab's and the field's). 1–2 paragraphs. ## Background & related work What's been done, including the lab's relevant work, and what's still open. Show you've read the literature, including the professor's. Cite specific real papers. ## Proposed research The core idea and approach. Concrete enough to picture the first experiments. Break into 1–3 aims/phases. State hypotheses and what success would look like. ## Methods & feasibility How you'd actually do it, what you'd build on (your own skills/results + the lab's resources), and why it's achievable in a PhD timeframe. ## Risks & alternatives The main ways it could go wrong and your fallback directions. Including this signals research maturity — proposals that pretend nothing can fail read as naive. ## Fit with the lab Why *this* lab: the specific resources, datasets, methods, or expertise that make the project viable here and not just anywhere. Tie to the professor's open problems by name. ## References Real citations only. ``` ## Step 4 — Keep it honest and the applicant's own Cite only real papers, and never claim preliminary results the applicant doesn't have — "preliminary experiments show X" is a fabrication unless X actually happened. Where the proposal would benefit from a specific the applicant must supply (a dataset they have, a result from their MS thesis, a concrete prior finding), mark it with `[brackets]` rather than inventing it. The proposal should read as the applicant's thinking sharpened, not as generic AI prose — match the voice in their research statement. ## Step 5 — Save and hand off Write the proposal to `knowledge-base/applications//proposal.md`. Summarize for the user the core idea, why it fits this lab, and which `[brackets]` they need to fill. For a submission-grade document (PDF/Word with formatting), hand off to the `pdf` or `docx` skill. If the proposal surfaces a strong angle, suggest it can seed the **outreach-email** hook or the **application-materials** SOP so the application tells one coherent story. ## Guardrails Follow `shared/references/ethics.md`. The proposal represents the applicant's research judgment to people deciding whether to mentor them for years — fabricated results or a misrepresented grasp of the literature are both dishonest and easily caught in interview. Aim for a strong, real, feasible draft the applicant can stand behind and defend.