Tips For Choosing a Research Topic for Grad School Application

Not everyone on the verge of applying for grad school knows exactly what they want to do in their research. The first time I started looking for grad school admissions, I had no definite research interest, let alone the research topic. 

By topic, I am talking about the high-level definition of the research you will conduct. There are key reasons you should have a topic in mind for your research. The topic is one you will further develop into a research proposal. 

It will help you streamline the positions you will apply for and the academics you will contact. I will share tips to guide you on how to choose a research topic from scratch. 

Can you connect it to your previous research or projects?

Life many times works in building blocks. While thinking of what to do in your grad program, you might not need to think too far from what you are currently doing or have done in the past. Having continuity can also boost your application and motivation for the research. 

The selection committee likes to know you have the requisite background and skills for the research of interest. They like this because they do not want you to struggle in your new quest, trying to learn every skill from scratch. Some students and supervisors get frustrated by this learning curve. 

Looking back, I remember my bachelor’s project was on how to remotely control household appliances using SMS messages. Today I am doing research related to applying artificial intelligence algorithms on the internet of things systems, one example being the smart home system.

Is the project advertised or are you proposing a research topic yourself?

Projects that are advertised on job boards like jobs.ac.The UK will mostly come with a defined topic and brief description of the project. In such a case, you don’t need to rack your brain to choose a specific topic for your research. All you need to do is to understand the project description and develop it further into a research proposal. 

It might help you check out the research papers of any faculty that were mentioned in the advert as potential supervisors or those to direct informal inquiries. 

Except you are bent on doing a specific kind of research, it is better to stay high level and broad about your research topic at this stage and keep an open mind. That means there will be minor to major modifications to your research proposal as you apply for different positions.

Are you going to be sponsoring yourself or the research will be funded by your supervisor, an industry, or an institution?

You will have more flexibility to choose topics if you are self-funded than if your funding is coming from a source. That does not mean there is no flexibility with a funded position, it only depends. 

Some funding comes with a particular scope of research that must be done. Hence, your topic will have to revolve around the research scope of your funder. If the funding is from the research grant of your supervisor, it is more likely that they will want you to work on an area they are currently exploring or even a new interest for which they want to delve into with the grant. 

Whichever is the case, it is still equally important that you choose supervisors who are well knowledgeable in that research area.

What if you need to change the research topic in the future?

You may worry that if you choose a topic, you may later not be able to make adjustments to it. It is not unusual for research topics to change by small or wide margins as you progress with your research. 

This also depends on who sponsors the project and how many external factors are tied to the project. Writing a research proposal helps the selection committee to know how well-versed you are with the problem and the background for that research area. 

It also gives you a road map of what you will work on for the length of your program. So the focus at this stage will be to know enough to define a relevant problem, identify the research gaps, and how your research will address those gaps.

These are some things to consider as you think about your research topic for grad school. Remember that this will encompass the research proposal you will eventually write, but the topic gives you a high-level understanding of what you want to investigate in your research. 

Best wishes!