Herchel Smith Awards Research Proposal Outline
Please note the deadline for applications for this award is Friday 1st June 2012.
All applicants must have completed the full application process, including the
submission of all supporting documentation, prior to the deadline.
In approximately two pages, please address the following points:
Aims
Identify the primary aim and no more than three secondary aims of your research.
Background and significance
Describe the background to your research and its significance to the field of
knowledge. Does this proposal address an important problem? If the aim of the
proposal is achieved, how will knowledge of the field be advanced?
Hypothesis
Your research proposal should present a hypothesis (assumption in ancient Greek),
that is a provisional idea whose merit is to be evaluated.
Methodology
In achieving your aims and testing your hypothesis, describe the method of inquiry,
including the questions being posed.
Scope
Explain the scope and limitations of the proposal.
Structure
Outline the proposed organization or structure of the work either generally, describing
the introduction, development and conclusion or; specifically, explaining the chapter
breakdown.
Note: We ask for this summary outline as many applicants’ research proposals run to
twenty or more pages. Staff reviewing applications for awards need to be able to
quickly identify strong, well considered research projects.
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Note on Selection Criteria
The Herchel Smith PhD Scholarship Programme recognises and supports exceptional
students who show the potential to make an outstanding contribution to intellectual
property law. This programme supports PhD students in intellectual property law and
those working at the intersection of intellectual property law and other areas of
sciences and humanities.
(a) Essential selection criteria:
The entry requirement for the award of a Herchel Smith Scholarship is a distinction
on an LLM or equivalent qualification. Exceptions will be made in very rare
circumstances.
Applicants whose first language is not English are required to provide proof of
proficiency in English as part of the application process (as required under the School
of Law entry criteria for the PhD programme).
(b) Research Proposal
The research proposal should clearly identify the following elements:
i. a coherent and viable research project, based on the research topics
indicated below in (e);
ii. a primary aim or hypothesis;
iii. research methodology to be adopted;
iv. a short bibliography of the key relevant literature in the area;
Please see Guidelines for Writing a Research Proposal at
http://www.law.qmul.ac.uk/docs/postgrad/50379.pdf )
(c) Scholarships will be made available on applicants fulfilling at least three of
the following criteria:
 Shows clear potential to proceed to the next stage of the PhD programme;
 Past academic and research record of the applicant showing promise (such
consideration will include recent research activities and achievements,
publications and other outputs);
 Excellence of the proposal, in particular its degree of focus and the inclusion of
field / empirical research;
 The proposed research is likely to lead to a significant conceptual advance in the
understanding and knowledge of a topic/subject.
(d) The research topic should focus on one of the following themes:
IPRs and public international law/private international law; IPRs and intangible
cultural/scientific heritage; IPRs and human rights; Doctrine of functionality; The role
of intellectual property law in promoting and regulating art; intersection of
international trade and intellectual property law (e.g. Patents and Trade in Stem Cells;
Trade Marks and Tobacco Plain Packaging); intellectual property transactions (e.g.
Licensing of Broadcasting Rights for Premier League matches); interrelationship of
TRIPS with regional and national Law (e.g. TRIPS and the European Patent
Convention); philosophy of intellectual property; primary and secondary markets in
IP; Art 102 TFEU applied to "double identity" TM cases; property rights in persona;
enforcement of IP; exhaustion and licensing.
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