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- Research Project Plan
Research project Gantt chart template
A research timeline you can put straight into a proposal or a thesis plan. Six phases from the first literature search to submission, with the two things that actually derail research schedules drawn as real bars: waiting for ethics approval, and writing up.
- 6 phases
- 23 tasks
- 6 milestones
- 31 dependencies
- About 11 months
What is in this template?
| Phase | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Literature review | Scoping the topic, a systematic search, reading, and writing the review. |
| Proposal and ethics | Research questions, methodology, the proposal itself, then the ethics approval wait. |
| Data collection | Instruments built during the ethics wait, then pilot, recruitment and the main collection period. |
| Analysis | Cleaning and coding, the analysis itself, and interpreting the findings. |
| Writing | Methods drafted while the analysis runs, then results, discussion and the full draft. |
| Submission | Supervisor review, revisions, proofreading and submission. |
The two waits that break research timelines
Most research plans fail in the same two places, and both are visible on this chart as long bars you cannot compress by working harder.
Ethics approval runs for five weeks and nothing in the field can start until it clears. The template does two things about that: it submits as early as the methodology allows, and it builds the data collection instruments during the wait rather than after it. That single overlap saves about three weeks.
Supervisor review is another queue. Two to three weeks is normal, not pessimistic, and it lands right at the end when there is least room. Planning it honestly is better than discovering it in month ten.
Write while you analyse
The methods chapter is drafted alongside the analysis, not after it. Methods do not change once the data is in, so there is no reason to wait — and it means the writing phase starts with one chapter already done, which matters a great deal when the deadline arrives.
How do you adapt it?
Click Use template and the whole timeline is copied into your account starting on the coming Monday. Then stretch each phase to your own project: a full doctorate multiplies these durations rather than adding phases. If your ethics process is faster or slower than five weeks, that is the first bar to change, because everything downstream is linked to it.
When it looks right, export the chart as an image or a PDF and put it in the proposal.
Common questions
Can I use this Gantt chart in a research proposal?
Yes, that is what it is built for. Many funders and supervisors ask for a timeline as an appendix. Adjust the durations, then export the chart and drop it in.
How long should a thesis timeline be?
This one runs about eleven months, which suits a masters dissertation or a taught doctorate year. For a full PhD, stretch each phase rather than adding more of them.
Why is ethics approval such a long bar?
Because it is a queue you do not control, and it is the most common reason research timelines slip. Showing it honestly is how you avoid running out of time to write.
Do I need to include the writing phase?
Yes, and generously. Writing up is roughly a third of this timeline, plus supervisor review and revisions.
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