Research roadmaps for a thesis or proposal, from template or AI, to black-and-white print

What a research roadmap looks like

Most departments expect a roadmap in phases and steps: preparation → theory and method → implementation and validation → conclusion, with a few steps in each. In Mermaid that is one subgraph per phase, direction LR inside each so the steps run left to right, and arrows only between the phases themselves.

flowchart TB
    subgraph S1[Preparation]
        direction LR
        A[Background and problem statement] --> B[Literature review] --> C[Research objectives and scope]
    end
    subgraph S2[Theory and method]
        direction LR
        D[Theoretical framework] --> E[Methods and tools] --> F[Research design]
    end
    subgraph S3[Implementation and validation]
        direction LR
        G[Data collection and processing] --> H[Modelling / experiments] --> I[Results and discussion]
    end
    subgraph S4[Conclusion]
        direction LR
        J[Conclusions] --> K[Contributions and limitations] --> L[Future work]
    end
    S1 --> S2 --> S3 --> S4

This is the general research roadmap from the template library; the same category has algorithm research, survey research and system development variants. Starting from a template is the fastest way to a diagram; generating with an AI fits your topic more closely.

Generate one for your research

Give the assistant your phases and steps, and spell out the structure:

Draw a research roadmap in Mermaid using flowchart TB for the thesis: “…”. Use four phases (preparation, theory and method, implementation and validation, conclusion), one subgraph per phase, with these steps in order: …. Put direction LR inside each subgraph so the steps run left to right, and connect the phases by their subgraph ids (S1 --> S2). Reply with the mermaid code block only.

Paste the whole reply into the editor. If it connected individual nodes across phases (C --> D), the horizontal layout collapses into a column; change those arrows to link the groups (S1 --> S2).

Make it yours

• Phase names are in the square brackets after subgraph S1; step text is edited by double-clicking in the preview.
• Parallel work (theoretical analysis alongside an empirical study) goes into one subgraph as two chains that merge into the next phase.
• To mark each phase's deliverable (“proposal”, “interim report”), add a rounded node (Proposal) at the end of the phase.
• Too many phases for one page: reduce rank spacing under “Layout”.

Theme and printing

The code blocks on this page open with the Ink Teal theme (off-white with teal-grey), which suits academic documents. When the department wants black and white: switch to Light, export PNG with “Solid” background, and it prints as black text and grey lines on white; or “Export SVG” and insert it into Word (2016 and later) for print resolution without limits.

Export and edit later

“Export Word (docx)” gives a file with a 3x image and the original code at the end; when the plan changes before the defence, copy the code back, edit and export again. When the proposal wants the figure as a separate file, export PNG at ×3.

Related

• Gantt charts: thesis timelines
• Flowcharts from an AI reply
• Export to Word, PowerPoint and PDF