Salale university

College of Natural Science

Department of Computer Science

Final Year Project Proposal Writing Guidelines

Academic Year 2022/23
Table of Contents
Project work Writing Styles and Formatting .................................................................................. 2

Components of Proposal ................................................................................................................. 4

Proposal Writing ............................................................................................................................. 6

Proposal Oral Presentation .............................................................................................................. 8

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Project Proposal Writing Guideline
Important note about writing a proposal: Proposals are informative and persuasive writing because they
attempt to educate the reader and to convince the reader the importance of the project to be conducted.
The goal of the writer is to make the reader believe that the provided solution is practical and appropriate.
In persuasive proposal writing, the case is built by demonstration of logic and reason in the approach taken
in the solution. The effectiveness of your proposal will depend on your ability to explain the nature,
context and scope of your project.
All proposals should have all of the following sections, it is recommended that you must follow the listed
order, it ensures logical flow to your writing. It is also recommended that all proposals use headers for
each section. When writing your proposal, take care to explain your rationale and justify your choice by
applying in text citation and any major alternatives you are discarding.

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 Project work Writing Styles and Formatting

It is known that there are various styles and formats in scientific project writing. What is important is;
however, being consistent in using styles and formatting. This means that rules need to be followed
consistently in writing a proposal and project. The following rules are selected for simplicity and
formality, and students should follow them strictly in preparing a proposal and project.
Font Type and Size
Texts for both the proposal and project should be presented with font size 12 and Times New Roman font
face except the texts for the title/cover page, headings, sub-headings, and caption labels for figures, tables,
and graphs where different line spacing and font size are used. The first-level heading (Heading 1) in the
proposal and project are written in bold, upper case and 16 font size. Second-level headings (Heading 2)
are written in bold title case with 14-point font size, and the first letter of each major word of the heading
(except particles) is written in uppercase letters. The third level headings (Heading 3) are written in bold
title case in 12-point font size. The fourth level and all remaining lower-level headings are written in 12-
point font size in sentence case unless required by grammatical or nomenclatural rules.
Apart from this variation in font size and formatting, all caption labels, column headings of tables are
written in the same way with heading 3. For headings 1-3, the texts should be aligned at the center. The
entire text in the research proposal and thesis are written in 12-point font size with justified alignment.
Underlining of headings, sub-headings, or captions of tables or figures is not necessary.
Margins
One by one inch (top, bottom, and left) but the right margin shall be 0.75 inches. The same margins should
be applied to all pages including those of the figures and tables.

Headings and Sub-headings

The texts for each title of the preliminary sections and the chapters are written in 16-point bold uppercase
letters and are aligned at the center. Texts for second and third-level headings are written in bold with 14
and 12 font sizes respectively and are aligned at the center. The chapter headings should be placed without
a number. The second-level headings are numbered consecutively with Arabic numbers in an outline
numbering system (e.g. 1.1., 1.2 and the like for subheading of chapter one and 2.1., 2.2 and the like for
subheadings of chapter two and the like) to have a numbered subheading, there ought to be at least two
subheadings (Heading 2 and Heading 3) under a higher level heading.
Line Spacing and Paragraph Format
Line spacing for the text should be 1.5. There must be (auto) line spacing between paragraphs and above
and below all headings, subheadings, and caption labels. All paragraphs of the text should be in block
paragraph format. This means, starting new paragraphs with indention is not necessary.
Page Numbering and Setup
Each component of the preliminary section, each chapter of the thesis, the references, and the appendices
must start on the new page. Except for the cover page of the proposal and the title page of the project,
every page is assigned a page number.
Page number of the main body of the thesis, references, and appendices should be in Arabic number (1,
2, 3, and the like) and that of prefaces should be in lower case Roman numbers (i, ii, iii, and the like).

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Tables and Figures
Tables should be used when displaying exact values is important or when clear patterns are not apparent
in the numerical values. Figures should be used to indicate trends and patterns of given facts, models, or
theories. However, it is not acceptable to use both tables and figures to present the same data. Tables and
figures should be single-line spaced. Tables and figures should be consistent in format throughout the
document. Tables and figures which are more than one-page length are discouraged. If a table and figure
continue to the next page, the word table or figure with its number and the word “continued” should head
the table or figure. But the column heading should appear on the continued page.
List of Acronyms and/or Abbreviations
This is a complete list of acronyms and abbreviations used in the report. Acronyms and abbreviations are
written in alphabetical order of the words when written in full. Standard International (SI) units and
elementary or obvious abbreviations and acronyms such as et al., and the like, e.g., Ph.D. and prof. should
not be listed.

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 Components of Proposal

 Preliminaries
 Cover page
 Acknowledgment (optional)
 Table of contents
 List of tables (if any)
 List of figures (if any)
 List of acronyms/abbreviations (if any)
 Abstract (Optional)
 Main body
 Introduction
 Description of the existing system
 Statement of the Problem
 Objectives of the Study
 Significance of the project
 Methodology
 Proposed solution and anticipated results
 Feasibility of the project
 Schedule of activities and Gantt chart

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Cover Page
SALALE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
<16pts, upper case, bold>

Project Title
<14pts, 1st Letter of each word upper case, bold>

By

Full name of the student

< 14pts, 1st Letter of each word upper case, bold>

Month, year
Fiche Ethiopia
< 14pts, 1st Letter of each word upper case, bold>

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 Proposal Writing
Table of content
<The word “TABLE OF CONTENT” is in capital letters and bold print and centered on top of the
page. The word “Page” is aligned to the right. This part shows the list of headings, subheadings and
their corresponding page numbers. It must include all sections and subsections of the report, starting
with the declaration and ending with a list of appendices. Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 in the
main body of the project/proposal must be included in this part.>

Abstract (optional)
<Provide a brief summary of the project and the main points>

Introduction

Background Information
<Introduce the project and explain the context. What is background to the project? What are the
problems experienced by the client, what does the client want to achieve? You need to demonstrate your
understanding of the practical problem of the sponsor/client on your hand and your ability to select a
topic that matches with the sponsor/client and the problem they are facing and for which it is possible
to do a meaningful project that has the potential to yield results. It should state the key decisions that
you will have to make and/or the main technical or other problems that you expect to have to solve.>

Description of the existing system

<If the project is to be conducted in a given area, the main features of the area have to be defined.
Remember: In this subsection, the student should support its descriptions with the fitting map of the
study area.>

Statement of the Problem

<Under the Statement of the problem, the student should clearly and precisely define the problem,
showing the severity of the problem, presenting the extent of the problem and figuring out the gaps in
the past project. (if)>

Objectives of the Study

<The goal of the project and main focused objectives of the project are discussed in this section>

 General Objectives
 Specific Objectives

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Scope of the Project
<Scope defines what needs to be achieved and the work that must be done to deliver a project. It includes
specific project goals, deliverables, features, functions, tasks, deadlines, and ultimately costs.>

Significance of the project

<Under the significance of the study, the student should focus on the contribution of the project to the
society, who are going to be benefited from the study, the contribution of the project to the existing
knowledge in the area, and the like.>

Methodology
<This section provides insight on what methodology you will employ in the development of the
envisioned system. It is the systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods applied to yours of study. It
can comprise of step by step procedures, flowcharts, block diagrams or algorithms of the proposed
system.>

 Method of data collection

 Methods of systems design and development
Proposed solution and anticipated results
<This section describes what your envisioned system is supposed to achieve. You can give your system’s
functional requirements in this section.>

Feasibility of the project

<A feasibility study—sometimes called a feasibility analysis or feasibility report—is a way to evaluate
whether or not a project plan could be successful. A feasibility study evaluates the practicality of your
project plan in order to judge whether or not you're able to move forward with the project.>

 Technical Feasibility
 Operational feasibility
 Political feasibility
 Economic feasibility
 Legal feasibility
Schedule of activities and Gantt chart
<Provide schedule as per following format>
<Also provide Gantt chart to clearly illustrate the project schedule>
 Budget breakdown
 Work plan
Reference
<You must use references (IEEE style) when appropriate to justify your project >

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 Proposal Oral Presentation
Stylistic Issues: The Slide

Even though it is commonly called “oral presentation” An oral presentation is equally visual as it is an
auditory medium. Therefore, emphasis should also be given to the way the slides are designed and
presented. The slide should be visible and legible to the audience members sitting at the very back of the
room. Therefore, there are certain points to consider:

Layout: The background color of the slide and the color of the text should have a sharp contrast. If the
background of the slide is dark, then the text should be light in color and provide ample contrast (“light”
does not necessarily mean “bright
Background: After you have chosen an appropriate background for your slides. Stick to your choice and
use the same background throughout the presentation. Also, particularly for scientific presentations, a
plain background is preferred (a gradient of the shades of the same color is also acceptable). If you are
inclined to add a graphic, picture, and the like and the like in your background, make sure that it is subject-
appropriate and does not draw attention away from the text and figures that you are attempting to
communicate. Party balloons, a motorcycle flying off a cliff, and the like are not deemed appropriate.

Recommended Fonts and Sizes: The type and size of the font are equally important. Do not use script
fonts; they may seem fancy on an invitation card but are unsuitable for professional/ scientific
presentations. Select a font type that is easily legible and has sufficient spacing between letters (do not
use condensed fonts, where one letter appears to overlap with the next). Using standard fonts, such as
Arial, Tahoma, Gill Sans and Garamond are recommendable for effective slides. As to the font size, Titles
36 pt, Main bullets 28 pt, Sub-bullets 28 pt if room, otherwise 24 pt is recommendable. There is also a
strong inclination to use bold font types throughout. A student should have to Keep text/title size
consistent across slides.

Effective text slides: As stated earlier, the oral presentation is a visual as well as an auditory medium.
Most of your slides should contain figures (whether images, graphs, or tables) whenever possible. You
should limit the use of text-only to state the problem, frame the problem in the appropriate context, and
summarize results, and state major conclusions. Even in cases where you need to use text, a slide with
more than a few lines of text will bore your audience. The number of lines per slide should not be more
than 6-8. State key concepts in bulleted phrases or short declarative statements and cover the details
verbally.

The Presenter

An oral presentation is not only a presentation of the body of the students' work, but students are also
presenting them as the person who conducted the project. So students should pay attention to their
preventability as they do their work.

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There are accepted norms that a presenter should generally follow. Primary among these is physical

appearance. Try and dress appropriately. There is no defined dress code, but there are certain “don’ts”

that you should always follow.

 Do not dress shabbily.

 Do not come with unkempt hair
 Do not wear slippers
 Do not wear jeans and a T-shirt, or other extremely casual clothing
Contents of the Oral Presentation

The presentation should include a short introduction, problems, project objectives, Scope and limitation,
significance of a brief description of the methodology. The presentations schedule should be no more than
15 minutes long. That’s not much time. Plan how many minutes you are going to spend per slide. The
trick to giving good presentations is distilling your information down into a few bulleted lists, diagrams,
tables, and graphs. You don’t want to be rushed while presenting.

Title slide (1 slide). One the title of the slide student will include the topic of the project, the names of
students and advisors, degrees, department, the college and university names, etc.

Introduction: Under introduction, the undergraduate students are expected to brief orally present:

• Background of the study (1-3 slides)

• Statement of the problem (1-2 slides)
• The objective of the study (1-2 slide)
• Scope of the project (1 slide)
• Significance of the project (1 slide)
• Methodology (typically 3-5 slides)

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