I created this template from my PhD proposal, it can be used for an MSc or PhD research proposal. The logo of Utrecht University can easily be changed with the one from own university.
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{article}
\setlength{\parskip}{0.5pt}%
\setlength{\parindent}{20pt}%
%preamble: style and/or packages
\author{Michele Magni}
\title{PhD research proposal}
\date{January 2023}
%\usepackage{package}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{titlesec}
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{3}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{varwidth}
\usepackage{tasks}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{siunitx}
%colors, boxes
\usepackage[dvipsnames]{xcolor}
\usepackage[most]{tcolorbox}
\tcbuselibrary{fitting}
\definecolor{columbiablue}{rgb}{0.61, 0.87, 1.0}
\definecolor{mossgreen}{rgb}{0.68, 0.87, 0.68}
\usepackage[super,sort&compress,comma]{natbib}
\bibliographystyle{naturemag}
%indent first line
\usepackage{indentfirst}
\setlength{\parindent}{30pt}
%captions
\usepackage[font=footnotesize,labelfont={bf,it}, textfont=it]{caption}
\usepackage[labelsep=period]{caption}
%landscape pages
\usepackage{pdflscape}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
%page number at bottom in landscape
\fancypagestyle{mylandscape}{
\fancyhf{} %Clears the header/footer
\fancyfoot{% Footer
\makebox[\textwidth][r]{% Right
\rlap{\hspace{.75cm}% Push out of margin by \footskip
\smash{% Remove vertical height
\raisebox{4.87in}{% Raise vertically
\rotatebox{90}{\thepage}}}}}}% Rotate counter-clockwise
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}% No header rule
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}% No footer rule
}
%temporarily disable superscript
\DeclareRobustCommand*{\citen}[1]{%
\begingroup
\romannumeral-`\x % remove space at the beginning of \setcitestyle
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\cite{#1}%
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}
\begin{document}
% cover page
\begin{center}
\thispagestyle{empty}
\begin{LARGE}
Title \\[1 cm] \vfill
\end{LARGE}
\begin{Large}
PhD research proposal \\ [1 cm]\vfill
Author \\
\href{mailto:<email>}{$<$email$>$} \\[1 cm]\vfill
Month Year\\[1 cm]\vfill
1st supervisor: $<$1st supervisor$>$ \\
2nd supervisor: $<$2nd supervisor$>$ \\[1 cm]\vfill
Department of $<$Department$>$ \\
Faculty of $<$Faculty$>$ \\
%choose between bnw or rgb logo
\centerline{
\includegraphics[trim={0cm 1cm 2.1cm 0.5cm},clip]{../figures/UU_logo_2021_NL_RGB.jpg}
}
\end{Large}
\end{center}
% document begins
\newpage
%%table of contents
{\setlength\parskip{\fill}
\tableofcontents
}
%you can start a new page anytime with \newpage
\newpage
%Abstract
\section*{Abstract}
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{\protect\numberline{}Abstract}
%%Introduction
\newpage
\section{Introduction}
\subsection{Background}
\subsubsection{An additional subsection}
The most cited paper \citep{lowry1951protein}.
You can reference a figure like this (fig.~\ref{fig:mandelbrot}). Upload your own figures in the /figures/ folder.
%figure template
\begin{figure}[ht]
\centerline{
\includegraphics[scale=1.2]{../figures/mandelbrot.jpg}
}
\caption{A caption \citep{mandelbrot1982fractal} or non-superscripted reference [\citen{mandelbrot1982fractal}]}
\label{fig:mandelbrot}
\end{figure}
\newpage
\subsection{State of the art}
%make a list
\begin{enumerate}
\item
First item;
\item
Second item;
\item
Third item.
\end{enumerate}
\subsection{Knowledge gaps}
\begin{itemize}
\item
First item;
\item
Second item;
\item
Third item.
\end{itemize}
%Add extra space
\vspace*{5mm}
%Objective and research questions
\newpage
\section{Objective and research questions}
\begin{tcolorbox}[minipage,colback=Goldenrod,arc=0pt,outer arc=0pt]
\centering
\textbf{An overarching objective.}
\end{tcolorbox}
\textbf{RQ 1.} \emph{First research question?}\\
\textbf{RQ 2.} \emph{Second research question?}\\
\textbf{RQ 3.} \emph{Et cetera...}\\
%Methods
\newpage
\section{Methods}
\subsection{Methods tackling the first research question}
\vspace*{10mm}
\begin{tcolorbox}[minipage,colback=columbiablue,arc=10pt,outer arc=10pt]
\centering
\textbf{RQ 1.} \emph{First research question}
\end{tcolorbox}
\vspace*{10mm}
\noindent \textbf{a. Methodology}\\ [0.1 cm]
\textbf{i. First step}
\textbf{ii. Second step}
\vspace*{5mm}
%example of equation
An equation (eq. \ref{eq:euler}):
\begin{equation} \label{eq:euler}
e^{ \pm i\theta } = \cos \theta \pm i\sin \theta
\end{equation}
\textbf{iii. Third step}
\vspace*{5mm}
\noindent \textbf{b. Novelty}\\ [0.1 cm]
\begin{tcolorbox}[minipage,colback=mossgreen,arc=10pt,outer arc=10pt]
\centering
\textbf{Paper 1. \emph{First paper}}
\end{tcolorbox}
\vspace*{5mm}
\noindent \textbf{c. Risks and feasibility}\\ [0.1 cm]
\noindent \textbf{d. Outcomes} \vspace*{5mm}
\textbf{Outcome 1.1.} Outcome 1.1\\
\textbf{Outcome 1.2.} Outcome 1.2.
% you can find the template for this gantt chart in /figures/gantt_template.pptx, convert it to pdf and then to png to upload it on the document
%example of a temporarily horizontal page
\newpage
\begin{landscape}
\thispagestyle{mylandscape}
\vspace*{-3cm}
\section{Timetable}
\begin{figure}[!htb]\vspace*{-0.4cm}
\centerline{
\includegraphics[scale=0.67]{../figures/gantt_template.png}
}
\caption{Gantt chart of the PhD project.}
\label{fig:gantt}
\end{figure}
\end{landscape}
\newpage
\section{Collaborations}
\vspace*{1 cm}
\noindent \textbf{University - Department}\\
\noindent University address\\
\textbf{Theme}
Person 1 - \href{mailto:<email>}{$<$email$>$} \\ \vspace*{-5.5mm}
Person 2 – \href{mailto:<email>}{$<$email$>$} \\
\textbf{Theme 2}
Person 1 - \href{mailto:<email>}{$<$email$>$} \\ \vspace*{-5.5mm}
Person 2 – \href{mailto:<email>}{$<$email$>$} \\\\
\section{Data management plan}
\newpage
% references
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{References}
\bibliography{references.bib}
\end{document}