Most science departments/programs at the University of Arkansas (and most all grad universities, in fact) require 2nd year grad students to defend a formal research proposal to a committee of faculty from relevant departments. Most science grad students have a lot of anxiety about this portion of their program. The style of these proposals and presentations differs from one program to another with regards to the formality of the event, the overall purpose of the proposal, the expected length of the document and presentation, etc.
For example, in the Chemistry department at UA, this 2nd year meeting is an in-person presentation over (mostly introductory material about) your dissertation project, and the audience is the faculty committee that will one day award you your degree (or not). The accompanying document (the project proposal) might not be completely fleshed out, since you are likely just beginning your studies of the [topic]. Most of the time, many details about the project or topic are given to the student by the P.I., since he/she must be an expert in that field in order to advise you well in your research. The student is required to update and expand upon this document each year until graduation.
By way of contrast, in the Cellular and Molecular Biology program, students are required to give a similar presentation in their 2nd year, accompanied by a proposal document, but the purpose is very different. In this program, the proposal is more of an exercise in scientific critical thinking and planning, and the topic must explicitly be one that is not your dissertation topic. You receive little to no help in this process, and the topic is likely very unfamiliar to both you and your P.I. After this 2nd year, you will not be required to return to the proposal you wrote.
Speak to senior grad students in your program to learn about their experiences on how these proposals are written, and how they are received by the faculty committees. From the discussion in this METHODS meeting however, it seemed like 10-20 pages (when single-spaced, including figures/tables) and at least 15-20 references may be acceptable.
Whatever you do, don’t rely on your lab mates to review your slides for your presentation…
