---
id: 20250826111220
title: Quad Charts
type: permanent
created: 2025-08-26T15:12:20Z
modified: 2025-08-26T15:20:50Z
tags: []
---

# Quad Charts

Quad charts are the briefest of research proposals, and are
a way of conveying a research idea in just one
slide. 

The audience for a quad chart is usually non-technical. The
content should reflect this.

Quad charts consist of quadrants:

## Quadrant 1 (Upper Left): Goals and Objectives

This quadrant states the goal of the research in a single
sentence, and lists the outcomes underneath it. Often you
can start with "The goal of this research is to..."

Then, the outcomes follow: "If this research is
successful, we should be able to do the following:

1. ...
2. ...
3. ...
(4.?)

It is critical that no jargon is used here. It is very
tempting to do so.

## Quadrant 2 (Bottom Left): Research Approach

This quadrant answers the question: "What's new in your
approach?"

## Quadrant 3 (Top Right): Pretty Picture

This is a break for the reader, and likely the first thing
they'll actually look at on the chart. This figure should
illustrate a key idea about the work that you want the
reader to take away.

No personal information should be included.

## Quadrant 4 (Bottom Right): Impact and Contact Info

This quadrant answers the question of "Who cares? What
difference will it make if you're successful?"

This quadrant should also contain contact info of the
principal investigator, and if applicable, their advisor.
