graduate honors thesis

Honors Theses

What this handout is about.

Writing a senior honors thesis, or any major research essay, can seem daunting at first. A thesis requires a reflective, multi-stage writing process. This handout will walk you through those stages. It is targeted at students in the humanities and social sciences, since their theses tend to involve more writing than projects in the hard sciences. Yet all thesis writers may find the organizational strategies helpful.

Introduction

What is an honors thesis.

That depends quite a bit on your field of study. However, all honors theses have at least two things in common:

• They are based on students’ original research.
• They take the form of a written manuscript, which presents the findings of that research. In the humanities, theses average 50-75 pages in length and consist of two or more chapters. In the social sciences, the manuscript may be shorter, depending on whether the project involves more quantitative than qualitative research. In the hard sciences, the manuscript may be shorter still, often taking the form of a sophisticated laboratory report.

Who can write an honors thesis?

In general, students who are at the end of their junior year, have an overall 3.2 GPA, and meet their departmental requirements can write a senior thesis. For information about your eligibility, contact:

• UNC Honors Program
• Your departmental administrators of undergraduate studies/honors

Why write an honors thesis?

Satisfy your intellectual curiosity This is the most compelling reason to write a thesis. Whether it’s the short stories of Flannery O’Connor or the challenges of urban poverty, you’ve studied topics in college that really piqued your interest. Now’s your chance to follow your passions, explore further, and contribute some original ideas and research in your field.

Develop transferable skills Whether you choose to stay in your field of study or not, the process of developing and crafting a feasible research project will hone skills that will serve you well in almost any future job. After all, most jobs require some form of problem solving and oral and written communication. Writing an honors thesis requires that you:

• ask smart questions
• acquire the investigative instincts needed to find answers
• navigate libraries, laboratories, archives, databases, and other research venues
• develop the flexibility to redirect your research if your initial plan flops
• master the art of time management
• hone your argumentation skills
• organize a lengthy piece of writing
• polish your oral communication skills by presenting and defending your project to faculty and peers

Work closely with faculty mentors At large research universities like Carolina, you’ve likely taken classes where you barely got to know your instructor. Writing a thesis offers the opportunity to work one-on-one with a with faculty adviser. Such mentors can enrich your intellectual development and later serve as invaluable references for graduate school and employment.

Open windows into future professions An honors thesis will give you a taste of what it’s like to do research in your field. Even if you’re a sociology major, you may not really know what it’s like to be a sociologist. Writing a sociology thesis would open a window into that world. It also might help you decide whether to pursue that field in graduate school or in your future career.

How do you write an honors thesis?

Get an idea of what’s expected.

It’s a good idea to review some of the honors theses other students have submitted to get a sense of what an honors thesis might look like and what kinds of things might be appropriate topics. Look for examples from the previous year in the Carolina Digital Repository. You may also be able to find past theses collected in your major department or at the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library. Pay special attention to theses written by students who share your major.

Choose a topic

Ideally, you should start thinking about topics early in your junior year, so you can begin your research and writing quickly during your senior year. (Many departments require that you submit a proposal for an honors thesis project during the spring of your junior year.)

How should you choose a topic?

• Read widely in the fields that interest you. Make a habit of browsing professional journals to survey the “hot” areas of research and to familiarize yourself with your field’s stylistic conventions. (You’ll find the most recent issues of the major professional journals in the periodicals reading room on the first floor of Davis Library).
• Set up appointments to talk with faculty in your field. This is a good idea, since you’ll eventually need to select an advisor and a second reader. Faculty also can help you start narrowing down potential topics.
• Look at honors theses from the past. The North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library holds UNC honors theses. To get a sense of the typical scope of a thesis, take a look at a sampling from your field.

What makes a good topic?

• It’s fascinating. Above all, choose something that grips your imagination. If you don’t, the chances are good that you’ll struggle to finish.
• It’s doable. Even if a topic interests you, it won’t work out unless you have access to the materials you need to research it. Also be sure that your topic is narrow enough. Let’s take an example: Say you’re interested in the efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and early 1980s. That’s a big topic that probably can’t be adequately covered in a single thesis. You need to find a case study within that larger topic. For example, maybe you’re particularly interested in the states that did not ratify the ERA. Of those states, perhaps you’ll select North Carolina, since you’ll have ready access to local research materials. And maybe you want to focus primarily on the ERA’s opponents. Beyond that, maybe you’re particularly interested in female opponents of the ERA. Now you’ve got a much more manageable topic: Women in North Carolina Who Opposed the ERA in the 1970s and 1980s.
• It contains a question. There’s a big difference between having a topic and having a guiding research question. Taking the above topic, perhaps your main question is: Why did some women in North Carolina oppose the ERA? You will, of course, generate other questions: Who were the most outspoken opponents? White women? Middle-class women? How did they oppose the ERA? Public protests? Legislative petitions? etc. etc. Yet it’s good to start with a guiding question that will focus your research.

Goal-setting and time management

The senior year is an exceptionally busy time for college students. In addition to the usual load of courses and jobs, seniors have the daunting task of applying for jobs and/or graduate school. These demands are angst producing and time consuming If that scenario sounds familiar, don’t panic! Do start strategizing about how to make a time for your thesis. You may need to take a lighter course load or eliminate extracurricular activities. Even if the thesis is the only thing on your plate, you still need to make a systematic schedule for yourself. Most departments require that you take a class that guides you through the honors project, so deadlines likely will be set for you. Still, you should set your own goals for meeting those deadlines. Here are a few suggestions for goal setting and time management:

Start early. Keep in mind that many departments will require that you turn in your thesis sometime in early April, so don’t count on having the entire spring semester to finish your work. Ideally, you’ll start the research process the semester or summer before your senior year so that the writing process can begin early in the fall. Some goal-setting will be done for you if you are taking a required class that guides you through the honors project. But any substantive research project requires a clear timetable.

Set clear goals in making a timetable. Find out the final deadline for turning in your project to your department. Working backwards from that deadline, figure out how much time you can allow for the various stages of production.

Here is a sample timetable. Use it, however, with two caveats in mind:

• The timetable for your thesis might look very different depending on your departmental requirements.
• You may not wish to proceed through these stages in a linear fashion. You may want to revise chapter one before you write chapter two. Or you might want to write your introduction last, not first. This sample is designed simply to help you start thinking about how to customize your own schedule.

Sample timetable

Avoid falling into the trap of procrastination. Once you’ve set goals for yourself, stick to them! For some tips on how to do this, see our handout on procrastination .

Consistent production

It’s a good idea to try to squeeze in a bit of thesis work every day—even if it’s just fifteen minutes of journaling or brainstorming about your topic. Or maybe you’ll spend that fifteen minutes taking notes on a book. The important thing is to accomplish a bit of active production (i.e., putting words on paper) for your thesis every day. That way, you develop good writing habits that will help you keep your project moving forward.

Make yourself accountable to someone other than yourself

Since most of you will be taking a required thesis seminar, you will have deadlines. Yet you might want to form a writing group or enlist a peer reader, some person or people who can help you stick to your goals. Moreover, if your advisor encourages you to work mostly independently, don’t be afraid to ask them to set up periodic meetings at which you’ll turn in installments of your project.

Brainstorming and freewriting

One of the biggest challenges of a lengthy writing project is keeping the creative juices flowing. Here’s where freewriting can help. Try keeping a small notebook handy where you jot down stray ideas that pop into your head. Or schedule time to freewrite. You may find that such exercises “free” you up to articulate your argument and generate new ideas. Here are some questions to stimulate freewriting.

Questions for basic brainstorming at the beginning of your project:

• What do I already know about this topic?
• Why do I care about this topic?
• Why is this topic important to people other than myself
• What more do I want to learn about this topic?
• What is the main question that I am trying to answer?
• Where can I look for additional information?
• Who is my audience and how can I reach them?
• How will my work inform my larger field of study?
• What’s the main goal of my research project?

Questions for reflection throughout your project:

• What’s my main argument? How has it changed since I began the project?
• What’s the most important evidence that I have in support of my “big point”?
• What questions do my sources not answer?
• How does my case study inform or challenge my field writ large?
• Does my project reinforce or contradict noted scholars in my field? How?
• What is the most surprising finding of my research?
• What is the most frustrating part of this project?
• What is the most rewarding part of this project?
• What will be my work’s most important contribution?

Research and note-taking

In conducting research, you will need to find both primary sources (“firsthand” sources that come directly from the period/events/people you are studying) and secondary sources (“secondhand” sources that are filtered through the interpretations of experts in your field.) The nature of your research will vary tremendously, depending on what field you’re in. For some general suggestions on finding sources, consult the UNC Libraries tutorials . Whatever the exact nature of the research you’re conducting, you’ll be taking lots of notes and should reflect critically on how you do that. Too often it’s assumed that the research phase of a project involves very little substantive writing (i.e., writing that involves thinking). We sit down with our research materials and plunder them for basic facts and useful quotations. That mechanical type of information-recording is important. But a more thoughtful type of writing and analytical thinking is also essential at this stage. Some general guidelines for note-taking:

First of all, develop a research system. There are lots of ways to take and organize your notes. Whether you choose to use note cards, computer databases, or notebooks, follow two cardinal rules:

• Make careful distinctions between direct quotations and your paraphrasing! This is critical if you want to be sure to avoid accidentally plagiarizing someone else’s work. For more on this, see our handout on plagiarism .
• Record full citations for each source. Don’t get lazy here! It will be far more difficult to find the proper citation later than to write it down now.

Keeping those rules in mind, here’s a template for the types of information that your note cards/legal pad sheets/computer files should include for each of your sources:

Abbreviated subject heading: Include two or three words to remind you of what this sources is about (this shorthand categorization is essential for the later sorting of your sources).

Complete bibliographic citation:

• author, title, publisher, copyright date, and page numbers for published works
• box and folder numbers and document descriptions for archival sources
• complete web page title, author, address, and date accessed for online sources

Notes on facts, quotations, and arguments: Depending on the type of source you’re using, the content of your notes will vary. If, for example, you’re using US Census data, then you’ll mainly be writing down statistics and numbers. If you’re looking at someone else’s diary, you might jot down a number of quotations that illustrate the subject’s feelings and perspectives. If you’re looking at a secondary source, you’ll want to make note not just of factual information provided by the author but also of their key arguments.

Your interpretation of the source: This is the most important part of note-taking. Don’t just record facts. Go ahead and take a stab at interpreting them. As historians Jacques Barzun and Henry F. Graff insist, “A note is a thought.” So what do these thoughts entail? Ask yourself questions about the context and significance of each source.

Interpreting the context of a source:

• Who wrote/created the source?
• When, and under what circumstances, was it written/created?
• Why was it written/created? What was the agenda behind the source?
• How was it written/created?
• If using a secondary source: How does it speak to other scholarship in the field?

Interpreting the significance of a source:

• How does this source answer (or complicate) my guiding research questions?
• Does it pose new questions for my project? What are they?
• Does it challenge my fundamental argument? If so, how?
• Given the source’s context, how reliable is it?

You don’t need to answer all of these questions for each source, but you should set a goal of engaging in at least one or two sentences of thoughtful, interpretative writing for each source. If you do so, you’ll make much easier the next task that awaits you: drafting.

The dread of drafting

Why do we often dread drafting? We dread drafting because it requires synthesis, one of the more difficult forms of thinking and interpretation. If you’ve been free-writing and taking thoughtful notes during the research phase of your project, then the drafting should be far less painful. Here are some tips on how to get started:

Sort your “evidence” or research into analytical categories:

• Some people file note cards into categories.
• The technologically-oriented among us take notes using computer database programs that have built-in sorting mechanisms.
• Others cut and paste evidence into detailed outlines on their computer.
• Still others stack books, notes, and photocopies into topically-arranged piles.There is not a single right way, but this step—in some form or fashion—is essential!

If you’ve been forcing yourself to put subject headings on your notes as you go along, you’ll have generated a number of important analytical categories. Now, you need to refine those categories and sort your evidence. Everyone has a different “sorting style.”

Formulate working arguments for your entire thesis and individual chapters. Once you’ve sorted your evidence, you need to spend some time thinking about your project’s “big picture.” You need to be able to answer two questions in specific terms:

• What is the overall argument of my thesis?
• What are the sub-arguments of each chapter and how do they relate to my main argument?

Keep in mind that “working arguments” may change after you start writing. But a senior thesis is big and potentially unwieldy. If you leave this business of argument to chance, you may end up with a tangle of ideas. See our handout on arguments and handout on thesis statements for some general advice on formulating arguments.

Divide your thesis into manageable chunks. The surest road to frustration at this stage is getting obsessed with the big picture. What? Didn’t we just say that you needed to focus on the big picture? Yes, by all means, yes. You do need to focus on the big picture in order to get a conceptual handle on your project, but you also need to break your thesis down into manageable chunks of writing. For example, take a small stack of note cards and flesh them out on paper. Or write through one point on a chapter outline. Those small bits of prose will add up quickly.

Just start! Even if it’s not at the beginning. Are you having trouble writing those first few pages of your chapter? Sometimes the introduction is the toughest place to start. You should have a rough idea of your overall argument before you begin writing one of the main chapters, but you might find it easier to start writing in the middle of a chapter of somewhere other than word one. Grab hold where you evidence is strongest and your ideas are clearest.

Keep up the momentum! Assuming the first draft won’t be your last draft, try to get your thoughts on paper without spending too much time fussing over minor stylistic concerns. At the drafting stage, it’s all about getting those ideas on paper. Once that task is done, you can turn your attention to revising.

Peter Elbow, in Writing With Power, suggests that writing is difficult because it requires two conflicting tasks: creating and criticizing. While these two tasks are intimately intertwined, the drafting stage focuses on creating, while revising requires criticizing. If you leave your revising to the last minute, then you’ve left out a crucial stage of the writing process. See our handout for some general tips on revising . The challenges of revising an honors thesis may include:

Juggling feedback from multiple readers

A senior thesis may mark the first time that you have had to juggle feedback from a wide range of readers:

• your adviser
• a second (and sometimes third) faculty reader
• the professor and students in your honors thesis seminar

You may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of incorporating all this advice. Keep in mind that some advice is better than others. You will probably want to take most seriously the advice of your adviser since they carry the most weight in giving your project a stamp of approval. But sometimes your adviser may give you more advice than you can digest. If so, don’t be afraid to approach them—in a polite and cooperative spirit, of course—and ask for some help in prioritizing that advice. See our handout for some tips on getting and receiving feedback .

Refining your argument

It’s especially easy in writing a lengthy work to lose sight of your main ideas. So spend some time after you’ve drafted to go back and clarify your overall argument and the individual chapter arguments and make sure they match the evidence you present.

Organizing and reorganizing

Again, in writing a 50-75 page thesis, things can get jumbled. You may find it particularly helpful to make a “reverse outline” of each of your chapters. That will help you to see the big sections in your work and move things around so there’s a logical flow of ideas. See our handout on  organization  for more organizational suggestions and tips on making a reverse outline

Plugging in holes in your evidence

It’s unlikely that you anticipated everything you needed to look up before you drafted your thesis. Save some time at the revising stage to plug in the holes in your research. Make sure that you have both primary and secondary evidence to support and contextualize your main ideas.

Saving time for the small stuff

Even though your argument, evidence, and organization are most important, leave plenty of time to polish your prose. At this point, you’ve spent a very long time on your thesis. Don’t let minor blemishes (misspellings and incorrect grammar) distract your readers!

Formatting and final touches

You’re almost done! You’ve researched, drafted, and revised your thesis; now you need to take care of those pesky little formatting matters. An honors thesis should replicate—on a smaller scale—the appearance of a dissertation or master’s thesis. So, you need to include the “trappings” of a formal piece of academic work. For specific questions on formatting matters, check with your department to see if it has a style guide that you should use. For general formatting guidelines, consult the Graduate School’s Guide to Dissertations and Theses . Keeping in mind the caveat that you should always check with your department first about its stylistic guidelines, here’s a brief overview of the final “finishing touches” that you’ll need to put on your honors thesis:

• Honors Thesis
• Name of Department
• University of North Carolina
• These parts of the thesis will vary in format depending on whether your discipline uses MLA, APA, CBE, or Chicago (also known in its shortened version as Turabian) style. Whichever style you’re using, stick to the rules and be consistent. It might be helpful to buy an appropriate style guide. Or consult the UNC LibrariesYear Citations/footnotes and works cited/reference pages  citation tutorial
• In addition, in the bottom left corner, you need to leave space for your adviser and faculty readers to sign their names. For example:

Approved by: _____________________

Adviser: Prof. Jane Doe

• This is not a required component of an honors thesis. However, if you want to thank particular librarians, archivists, interviewees, and advisers, here’s the place to do it. You should include an acknowledgments page if you received a grant from the university or an outside agency that supported your research. It’s a good idea to acknowledge folks who helped you with a major project, but do not feel the need to go overboard with copious and flowery expressions of gratitude. You can—and should—always write additional thank-you notes to people who gave you assistance.
• Formatted much like the table of contents.
• You’ll need to save this until the end, because it needs to reflect your final pagination. Once you’ve made all changes to the body of the thesis, then type up your table of contents with the titles of each section aligned on the left and the page numbers on which those sections begin flush right.
• Each page of your thesis needs a number, although not all page numbers are displayed. All pages that precede the first page of the main text (i.e., your introduction or chapter one) are numbered with small roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, etc.). All pages thereafter use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.).
• Your text should be double spaced (except, in some cases, long excerpts of quoted material), in a 12 point font and a standard font style (e.g., Times New Roman). An honors thesis isn’t the place to experiment with funky fonts—they won’t enhance your work, they’ll only distract your readers.
• In general, leave a one-inch inch margin on all sides. However, for the copy of your thesis that will be bound by the library, you need to leave a 1.25-inch margin on the left.

How do I defend my honors thesis?

Graciously, enthusiastically, and confidently. The term defense is scary and misleading—it conjures up images of a military exercise or an athletic maneuver. An academic defense ideally shouldn’t be a combative scene but a congenial conversation about the work’s merits and weaknesses. That said, the defense probably won’t be like the average conversation that you have with your friends. You’ll be the center of attention. And you may get some challenging questions. Thus, it’s a good idea to spend some time preparing yourself. First of all, you’ll want to prepare 5-10 minutes of opening comments. Here’s a good time to preempt some criticisms by frankly acknowledging what you think your work’s greatest strengths and weaknesses are. Then you may be asked some typical questions:

• What is the main argument of your thesis?
• How does it fit in with the work of Ms. Famous Scholar?
• Have you read the work of Mr. Important Author?

NOTE: Don’t get too flustered if you haven’t! Most scholars have their favorite authors and books and may bring one or more of them up, even if the person or book is only tangentially related to the topic at hand. Should you get this question, answer honestly and simply jot down the title or the author’s name for future reference. No one expects you to have read everything that’s out there.

• Why did you choose this particular case study to explore your topic?
• If you were to expand this project in graduate school, how would you do so?

Should you get some biting criticism of your work, try not to get defensive. Yes, this is a defense, but you’ll probably only fan the flames if you lose your cool. Keep in mind that all academic work has flaws or weaknesses, and you can be sure that your professors have received criticisms of their own work. It’s part of the academic enterprise. Accept criticism graciously and learn from it. If you receive criticism that is unfair, stand up for yourself confidently, but in a good spirit. Above all, try to have fun! A defense is a rare opportunity to have eminent scholars in your field focus on YOU and your ideas and work. And the defense marks the end of a long and arduous journey. You have every right to be proud of your accomplishments!

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Atchity, Kenneth. 1986. A Writer’s Time: A Guide to the Creative Process from Vision Through Revision . New York: W.W. Norton.

Barzun, Jacques, and Henry F. Graff. 2012. The Modern Researcher , 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Elbow, Peter. 1998. Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process . New York: Oxford University Press.

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. 2014. “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing , 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Lamott, Anne. 1994. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life . New York: Pantheon.

Lasch, Christopher. 2002. Plain Style: A Guide to Written English. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Turabian, Kate. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, Dissertations , 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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A Distinctive Achievement Honors Thesis

As a Schreyer Scholar, you are required to complete an undergraduate honors thesis as the culmination of your honors experience. The goal of the thesis is to demonstrate a command of relevant scholastic work and to make a personal contribution to that scholarship.

Your thesis project can take many forms — from laboratory experiments all the way to artistic creations. Your thesis document captures the relevant background, methods, and techniques and describes the details of the completion of the individual project.

Two Penn State faculty members evaluate and approve your thesis — a thesis supervisor and an honors adviser in your area of honors.

Planning is Key Project Guide

The thesis is, by design, your most ambitious undertaking as a Scholar.

A successful thesis requires a viable proposal, goal-setting, time management, and interpersonal skills on top of the disciplinary skills associated with your intended area of honors. This guide will walk you through the thesis process. Keep in mind, though, that your honors adviser and thesis supervisor are your key resources.

Planning A Thesis

An ideal thesis project should:

• Satisfy your intellectual curiosity
• Give you the opportunity to work closely with faculty
• Develop transferable skills
• Clarify your post-graduation plans

The single biggest factor in determining thesis quality is your level of interest in and engagement with the topic, so consider multiple possibilities rather than selecting the first one that seems attractive to you.

From the perspective of the Schreyer Honors College, the purpose of the thesis experience is to develop your intellectual and professional identity in the field and to help you think about your future.

Once complete, the purpose of the thesis is to advance knowledge, understanding, or creative value in its field.

Lab-Based Research Fields

We recommend avoiding the temptation to stick with your first lab placement merely out of convenience if the topic is not interesting to you. The quality of your thesis is truly dependent on the depth of your interest and the energy behind your curiosity. Your intellectual engagement is the thing that will carry you through what may at times feel like a long and sometimes difficult process.

A Thesis Needs A Thesis

A thesis is problem-oriented and identifies something of importance whose answer or best interpretation is not fully known or agreed-upon by people who make their careers in the field, and it proceeds towards the answer or best interpretation. Even with a creative or performance thesis, the purpose is not to demonstrate technical ability (writing, painting, acting, composing, etc.), but to express something you think is worth expressing and hasn't been fully expressed already.

Identifying a Topic

An interest can come from anywhere, but the problem that defines a thesis can only come from a thorough acquaintance with "the literature," the accumulated knowledge or creative value in your field.

By speaking with faculty (preferably more than one) and reading professional journals (again, more than one), you not only get a "crowd-sourced" sense of what is important, you also get a sense of what the open questions are. This is where you start to strike a balance between ambition and feasibility.

Feasibility & Realistic Ambition

You might want to come up with the definitive explanation for Rome's decline and fall, or the cure for cancer. There is strong evidence — several thousand prior theses — that your honors thesis will not accomplish anything on that scale. This realization might be disheartening, but it is an introduction to the reality of modern scholarship: Knowledge almost always moves incrementally and the individual units of knowledge production and dissemination (theses, journal articles, books, etc.) are only rarely revolutionary in isolation. This is part of what the thesis experience will test for you — whether or not you want to continue via graduate school in that kind of slow-moving enterprise.

The feasibility of a given thesis problem is bounded, as mathematicians might say, by several factors.

The honors thesis should not extend your time at Penn State by design. There are circumstances where you might defer graduation to complete your thesis, but that should not be your initial plan.

Resources are a potential issue in that even a comprehensive and well-funded university like Penn State does not have the physical infrastructure for every possible kind of research. The expense of ambitious off-campus research, such as a comparative study requiring visits to several countries, can easily exceed our funding abilities. If you expect to incur more than $300 in expenses, you should get commitments from your department and academic college before proceeding.

Proposal, Supervisor & Area of Honors

Thesis proposal.

The thesis proposal is due at the end of your third year, assuming you're on a four-year path to graduation. File your Thesis Proposal with the Schreyer Honors College via the Student Records System (SRS) . The end-of-third-year requirement is from the Honors College, but your major may expect a much earlier commitment so be sure to talk to your honors adviser as early as your second year about this. The thesis proposal needs the following things:

• Supervision
• A Working Title
• Purpose/Objective
• Intended Outcome
• How do you intend to earn honors credit?
• How often do you plan to meet with your supervisor?
• Will your thesis satisfy other requirements?
• Does your thesis involve working with human, animals, or biohazardous materials or radioactive isotopes?

The Honors College staff does not review the content of the proposal, so the intended audience is your thesis supervisor and the honors adviser in your intended area of honors.

Thesis Supervisor

Your thesis supervisor is the professor who has primary responsibility for supervising your thesis.

Ideally your thesis supervisor will be the single most appropriate person for your thesis in the whole university, or at least at your whole campus, in terms of specialization and, where relevant, resources. How far you can stray from that ideal depends on the nature of the thesis. If specific lab resources are needed then you cannot stray too far, but if general intellectual mentoring is the extent of the required supervision then you have more flexibility, including the flexibility to choose a topic that does not align closely with the supervisor's specialization.

Apart from a professor being unavailable for or declining your project, the biggest reason to consider bypassing the "single most appropriate person" is that you have doubts about whether you would get along with them. Do not put too much stock in second-hand information about a professor, but if after meeting him or her you have concerns then you should certainly consider continuing your search.

Area of Honors

Thesis honors adviser.

An honors adviser from the area in which you are pursuing honors must read and approve your thesis. If the thesis supervisor and thesis honors adviser are the same person, you must find a second eligible faculty member from your area of honors to read and approve your thesis.

Multiple Majors

If you have more than one major, you can do the following:

• Pick one major and write a thesis for honors solely in that major
• Pick a topic that can legitimately earn honors in both majors. This will be considered interdisciplinary .
• Write multiple theses, one for honors in each major

The first scenario is the most common, followed by the second depending on how closely related the majors are. You can also pick a non-major area of honors.

Second- and Third-Year Entrants (including Paterno Fellows)

If you were admitted to the Honors College after your first year or via the Liberal Arts Paterno Fellows program, you are expected to write your thesis for honors in your entrance major. You do have the right to pursue honors elsewhere, for instance in a concurrent major for which you were not admitted to the Honors College, but there is no guarantee of approval.

Topic, Not Professor

Typically, the area of honors suggested by the topic aligns with the professor's affiliation, as when you seek honors in history based on a history thesis supervised by a professor of history. But if the supervisor happens to be a professor of literature, you are still able to pursue honors in history based on the substance and methodology of the thesis.

This is especially worth remembering in the life sciences, where faculty expertise is spread among many different departments and colleges. As always, the honors adviser in the intended area of honors is the gatekeeper for whether a given thesis topic and supervisor are acceptable.

From Proposal to Thesis

Timetable & benchmarks.

The thesis proposal does not require a timetable, but you and your supervisor should have a clear idea of how much you should accomplish on a monthly basis all the way through completion. Not all of those monthly benchmarks will be actual written work; for many Schreyer Scholars the write-up will not come until toward the end. If you fall behind during the earlier part of the thesis timeline, it will be difficult if not impossible to make up that ground later.

Regular Meetings with Your Thesis Supervisor

You should take proactive steps against procrastination by making yourself accountable to someone other than yourself. Scheduling regular meetings (or e-mailing regular updates) with your thesis supervisor — even if you are working in the same lab routinely — is the best way to do that. You should also regularly update your thesis honors adviser.

Think ahead, preferably well before the time of your thesis proposal, about what your thesis work will mean for your fourth-year schedule. This is especially important if you have a significant capstone requirement like student teaching for education majors, or if you expect to do a lot of job interviews or graduate/professional school visits.

There are many reasons to plan to include the summer between third and fourth year in your research timeline: those mentioned above, plus the benefit of devoting yourself full-time to the thesis, whether it is in a lab on campus or in the field. Funding opportunities for full-time summer thesis research include Schreyer Honors College grants , the Erickson Undergraduate Education Discovery Grant , and funding via your thesis supervisor (especially in the sciences and engineering).

Department & College Thesis Guides

In addition to this guide, many departments and colleges have thesis guides with important information about their deadlines and expectations. If you do not see your college or department listed, consult with your honors adviser.

• College of Agricultural Sciences
• Smeal College of Business
• Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications
• Aerospace Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Biobehavioral Health
• Communication Sciences and Disorders
• Hospitality Management
• Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management
• College of Information Sciences and Technology
• Comparative Literature
• Germanic & Slavic Languages and Literatures
• Global & International Studies
• Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
• College of Nursing
• Astronomy & Astrophysics: Thesis 1
• Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
• Chemistry: Thesis 1 | Thesis 2 | Thesis 3
• Mathematics: Thesis 1 | Thesis 2 | Thesis 3 | Thesis 4 | Thesis 5 | Thesis 6

Follow the Template Formatting Guide

The formatting requirements in this guide apply to all Schreyer Honors theses. Please follow the thesis templates provided below:

Information about using LaTeX is available from the University Libraries .

Formatting Requirements

Fonts & color.

All text should use the Times New Roman font.

Reduced type may be used within tables, figures, and appendices, but font size should be at least 11-point in size and must be completely legible.

The majority of your thesis document should be in black font, however, color is permissible in figures, tables, links, etc.

Organization

Begin each section on a new page. Do the same with each element of the front matter, the reference section, and the appendix.

Try to avoid typing a heading near the bottom of a page unless there is room for at least two lines of text following the heading. Instead you should simply leave a little extra space on the page and begin the heading on the next page.

If you wish you use a "display" page (a page that shows only the chapter title) at the beginning of chapters or appendices, be sure to do so consistently and to count the display page when numbering the pages.

Page Numbers

Excluding the title page and signatory page, every page in the document, including those with tables and figures, must be counted. Use lower case Roman numerals for the front matter and Arabic numbers for the text. The text (or body) of the thesis must begin on page 1. Follow the template provided at the top of this section.

Use the template provided as a pattern for creating your title page. Be sure all faculty members are identified by their correct professional titles. Check with the department for current information. Do not use such designations as "PhD" or "Dr." on the title page. (Ex. John Smith, Professor of English, Thesis Supervisor).

Electronic Approvals

Please submit your final thesis to your Thesis Supervisor and Honors Adviser at least two weeks prior to the final submission due date to allow them ample time for review and suggested changes. Also, please communicate with your professors to find out their schedule and preferred amount of time to review your thesis. Once your thesis is submitted, your committee will review the thesis one last time before giving their final approval.

Number of Approvals

A minimum of two approvals is required on each thesis. If one of the approvers has a dual role (e.g. Thesis Supervisor and Honors Adviser), then list both roles under the professional title. Do not list the same person twice. If the sharing of roles leaves you with fewer than the required number of approvals, an additional approver must be added (Faculty Reader).

Professional Titles

Be sure to identify all faculty by their correct professional titles. Check with the department for current information. Do not use such designations as "PhD" or "Dr." on the title page.

This is a one-paragraph summary of the content of your thesis that identifies concisely the content of the thesis manuscript and important results of your project. Some students like to think of it as an advertisement — i.e., when someone finishes reading it, they should want to examine the rest of your work. Keep it short and include the most interesting points.

The abstract follows the title page, must have the heading ABSTRACT at the top, and is always page Roman number i. There is no restriction on the length of the abstract, but it is usually no longer than one page.

Table of Contents

The table of contents is essentially a topic outline of the thesis and it is compiled by listing the headings in the thesis. You may choose to include first-level headings, first- and second-levels, or all levels. Keep in mind there usually is no index in a thesis, and thus a fairly detailed table of contents can serve as a useful guide for the reader. The table of contents must appear immediately after the abstract and should not list the abstract, the table of contents itself, or the vita.

Be sure the headings listed in the table of contents match word-for-word the headings in the text. Double check to be sure the page numbers are shown. In listing appendices, indicate the title of each appendix. If using display pages, the number of the display page should appear in the table of contents.

Formatting Final Touches

An honors thesis manuscript should replicate the appearance of professional writing in your discipline. Include the elements of a formal piece of academic work accordingly. For specific questions on organization or labeling, check with your thesis supervisor to see if there is a style guide you should use.

Acknowledgements (Optional)

Acknowledgements are not a required component of an honors thesis, but if you want to thank particular colleagues, faculty, librarians, archivists, interviewees, and advisers, here's the place to do it. You should include an acknowledgements page if you received a grant from the University or an outside agency that supported your research.

Tables & Figures

A table is a columnar arrangement of information, often numbers, organized to save space and convey relationships at a glance. A rule of thumb to use in deciding whether given materials are tables or figures is that tables can be typed, but figures must be drawn.

A figure is a graphic illustration such as a chart, graph, diagram, map, or photograph.

Please be sure to insert your table or figure. Do not copy and paste. Once the figure or table is inserted, you right click on it to apply the appropriate label. Afterwards, return to the list of tables or list of figures page, right click on the list, and "update table (entire table)" and the page will automatically hyperlink.

Captions & Numbering

Each table and each figure in the text must have a number and caption. Number them consecutively throughout, beginning with 1, or by chapter using a decimal system.

Style Guides

These parts of the thesis will vary in format depending on the style guide you are following. Your discipline will use a consistent style guide, such as MLA, APA, CBE, or Chicago. Whichever style you are using, stick to the rules and be consistent.

Appendices (Optional)

Material that is pertinent but is somewhat tangential or very detailed (raw data, procedural explanations, etc.) may be placed in an appendix. Appendices should be designated A, B, C (not 1, 2, 3 or I, II, III). If there is only one appendix, call it simply Appendix, not Appendix A. Titles of appendices must be listed in the table of contents. Appendix pages must be numbered consecutively with the text of the thesis (do not number the page A-1, A-2, etc.).

Bibliography/References (Optional)

A thesis can include a bibliography or reference section listing all works that are referred to in the text, and in some cases other works also consulted in the course of research and writing. This section may either precede or follow the appendices (if any), or may appear at the end of each chapter. Usually a single section is more convenient and useful for both author and reader.

The forms used for listing sources in the bibliography/reference section are detailed and complicated, and they vary considerably among academic disciplines. For this reason, you will need to follow a scholarly style manual in your field or perhaps a recent issue of a leading journal as a guide in compiling this section of the thesis.

Academic Vita (Optional)

The academic vita is optional, must be the last page of the document, and is not given a page number or listed in the table of contents. The title — Academic Vita — and the author's name should appear at the top. A standard outline style or a prose form may be used. The vita should be similar to a resume. Do not include your GPA and personal information.

The Final Step Submission Guide

Once your final thesis is approved by your thesis supervisor and honors adviser, you may submit the thesis electronically. This guide will provide the details on how to submit your thesis.

Public Access to Honors Thesis

Open access.

Your electronic thesis is available to anyone who wishes to access it on the web unless you request restricted access. Open access distribution makes the work more widely available than a bound copy on a library shelf.

Restricted Access (Penn State Only)

Access restricted to individuals having a valid Penn State Access Account, for a period of two years. Allows restricted access of the entire work beginning immediately after degree conferral. At the end of the two-year period, the status will automatically change to Open Access. Intended for use by authors in cases where prior public release of the work may compromise its acceptance for publication.

This option secures the body of the thesis for a period of two years. Selection of this option required that an invention disclosure (ID) be filed with the Office of Technology Management (OTM) prior to submission of the final honors thesis and confirmed by OTM. At the end of the two-year period, the work will be released automatically for Open Access unless a written request is made to extend this option for an additional year. The written request for an extension should be sent 30 days prior to the end of the two-year period to the Schreyer Honors College, 10 Schreyer Honors College, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, or by e-mail to [email protected] . Please note: No one will be able to view your work under this option.

Submission Requirements

Electronic submission of the final honors thesis became a requirement in spring semester of 2010. Both the mandatory draft submission and the final copy must be submitted online.

The "official" copy of the honors thesis is the electronic file (eHT), and this is the copy that will be on file with the University Libraries. Electronic submission does not prevent the author from producing hard copies for the department or for personal use. All copies are the responsibility of the author and should be made prior to submission. The Schreyer Honors College does not provide copies.

How to Submit

In order to submit your thesis, you must upload a draft in PDF format to the Electronic Honors Thesis (eHT) website .

What/When to Upload

• The initial submission, the Thesis Format Review, should be the textual thesis only and should be in a single PDF file (it may include image files such as TIFFs or JPEGs)
• The recommended file naming convention is Last_First_Title.pdf
• Failure to submit the Format Review by the deadline will result in removal from the honors graduation checklist. If this occurs, you must either defer graduation or withdraw/be dismissed from the Honors College

Uploading Video, Audio or Large Images

If your thesis content is such that you feel you need to upload content other than text to properly represent your work, upload the textual portion of your thesis first as a single, standalone PDF file. Then, add additional files for any other content as separate uploads.

If the majority of your thesis work is a multimedia presentation (video, slideshow, audio recording, etc.) you are required to upload these files in addition to your PDF.

Acceptable formats include:

Please do not upload any ZIP files. If uploading more than one file, keep individual file sizes for the supplementary material under 50 MB where possible. Large files will upload, but it may take a long time to download for future use.

Final Submission & Approval

Final submission.

In order to submit your final thesis:

• Refer to the thesis templates above to create your title page (no page number).
• Make sure you have correctly spelled "Schreyer Honors College".
• Be sure to include the department in which you are earning honors, your semester and year of graduation (Ex. Spring 2024, not May 2024), your thesis title and your name.
• List the name and professional title of your thesis supervisor and honors adviser (in the department granting honors). If your honors adviser and thesis supervisor are the same person, a second faculty reader signature from the department granting honors is required.
• Include your abstract following your title page (Roman numeral i).
• Make sure your thesis is saved in PDF format.
• Upload your final thesis on the eHT website .

Final Approval

When the final thesis is approved, the author and all committee members will be notified via e-mail of the approval. Your thesis will then be accessible on the eHT website within a month after graduation unless you have specified restricted access.

I really enjoy being around other Scholars and focusing on things that don’t necessarily get brought up on a daily basis. For example, we’ve talked about Afghanistan and refugees and mental illness. It’s really nice how Scholars come together and talk about ideas. Everyone just respects each other. Everyone just wants to support each other and push each other, making sure everyone is doing their best. Jackie Zheng ' 24 Architecture

Lee Honors College

Honors thesis handbook.

The honors thesis is a long-standing tradition in honors programs and colleges, including the Lee Honors College at Western Michigan University. An honors thesis is defined as an original work of undergraduate research or creative scholarship completed by an undergraduate honors student. Completing an honors thesis is required in order to graduate from the Lee Honors College. More importantly, your honors thesis is an opportunity to demonstrate what you are capable of contributing to your chosen field rather than just what you know. Examples of honors theses include senior engineering design projects, creative works of fiction, original documentaries, novel educational curricula, original performances or works of art, and traditional research papers. 

Your honors thesis will be published online in ScholarWorks alongside your fellow Lee Honors College graduates dating back to the 1960s. Publication allows you to use this accomplishment to market yourself to future employers and graduate schools. Your thesis title and thesis mentor will be listed on your official university transcript. 

Please note that this handbook is a generalized overview designed to support honors students enrolled in all majors at the university. More detailed information may always be obtained by attending a thesis workshop and/or meeting with an honors advisor. 

PLEASE NOTE: Students with majors in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (except for graphic and printing sciences), graphic design, product design and data science may use their senior design projects for their honors theses. Applicable students will need to refer to specific instructions received via email during their senior year to count their projects as their honors theses. Please also see the ‘creative works and group projects’ section below in Step 9. 

Steps and Timeline

Step 1: Attend a thesis information workshop (during sophomore year) 

Workshops are facilitated by honors advisors and designed to help you learn the process of completing an honors thesis specific to your major and help you begin thinking about potential topics and faculty mentors. 

Step 2: Enroll in your thesis preparation course (varies by major)

Most honors students will enroll in HNRS 4980: How and Why to Write an Honors Thesis, but some academic programs have approved substitutions for HNRS 4980. A full list can be found on the honors college requirements page of the website. Students required to enroll in HNRS 4980 should complete the course by the end of their junior year. This course is designed to prepare you to begin your thesis and counts toward your honors course credit hour requirement. 

Step 3: Select a thesis topic (during the junior year)

It is never too early to begin thinking about a thesis topic! Ideally, the thesis topic should be chosen early in the junior year for most majors. Please note that students majoring in biology, biomedical sciences, chemistry, physics and psychology should meet with faculty in their department about gaining access to a research lab to complete their thesis and NOT select a topic on their own. 

When thinking about potential thesis topics, ask yourself: 

What interests me about my major?

What areas of expertise do my department’s faculty have?

What project will most effectively demonstrate my education, skills and abilities to future employers and/or graduate schools?

What skills do I possess (e.g., bilingualism, video editing, graphic design) that could help make my project more unique?

What project is robust enough to help leverage it as an honors graduate AND practical to complete within my degree plan?

What projects are published in ScholarWorks written by students in my or similar majors?

If I plan to pursue a career or graduate school outside of my major, what thesis project could allow me to demonstrate my ability to successfully transition outside my major?

What experiences have I had in classes, internships, study abroad, etc., that I can incorporate into my thesis?

Do not worry if your ideas are still a bit nebulous when you proceed to step three. It may be helpful to schedule an appointment to discuss your ideas and questions with an honors college administrator or advisor. 

Step 4: Choose your thesis committee chair (in your junior year)

With a thesis topic in mind, the next step is to find a thesis committee chair (also referred to as the thesis mentor or advisor). The thesis chair should have significant expertise not just in your general program of study, but in an area closely related to the topic you have chosen for your honors thesis.

*Note: The thesis chair must be a full-time faculty member at WMU, and may not be a family member, even if they are full-time WMU faculty.

There are many ways to find a thesis chair. It may be a faculty member from a course you took; or it may be a professor you identify through looking up their research interests, work, and publications that align with your interests (look at their profiles on departmental websites). Also check ScholarWorks to see which faculty have served as chairs for prior students. Another option is to schedule an appointment with an honors advisor to see if they can help you find an appropriate honors thesis chair or introduce you to a faculty member you found by searching the internet. Hint: Faculty will be the most receptive to students who are professional and well prepared.

How to reach out to a faculty member:

Office hours.

After or before class if you are currently one of their students.

Networking – use connections such as peers, graduate students, or individuals in the honors college to help introduce you to a faculty member.

When deciding on a thesis committee chair remember that this is a long-term professional working relationship. Below are some things to consider when choosing a thesis committee chair:

Expertise/Knowledge: a faculty member need not be the world’s expert on the exact topic of all aspects of your thesis. Below are some areas of expertise that a chair could help with.

Discipline expertise – familiarity with the discipline, ideas, theories, or concepts you are using.

Area/Location/Population expertise – familiarity with the place and people you may work with.

Methods/Skills – familiarity with how you will go about doing your thesis.

Availability: how available do you need your chair to be for you?

Busy – faculty can often be quite busy. If they are up for tenure, in demand for guest lectures, or travel often, these can limit the amount of time they have available for you.

Graduate and honors students – if a faculty has a large number of graduate or honors students, that they have already agreed to work with, this will also cut into the amount of time they are available.

Communication/Working Relationship:

Hard to know beforehand but knowing what type of working relationship you want with your committee chair may help you decide.

A good working relationship or ability to communicate will make the whole thesis process much smoother.

Note: a good working relationship is also important as your thesis committee chair will be a prime candidate to write you letters of recommendation for future endeavors (graduate school or job applications).

Make sure that your first contact, whether by email, or an in-person appointment, leaves a good impression. Be on time for your appointment, and if you must reschedule, do so early - do not be a no-show! Keep in mind that faculty are very busy, and certain times of the semester may not be ideal to set up a meeting with them, especially if they do not know you.

Prepare to demonstrate that you have done preliminary research on your topic by reading some textbooks, journal articles or other scholarly or artistic materials. Be ready to discuss what you are interested in and why you think this faculty member would be a good fit. The more prepared and enthusiastic you are about your potential project, the more likely it is that a busy faculty member will want to take the time to serve as your thesis chair! Also, be open-minded in your discussions. It may be that your topic will be difficult to research, or that there is already a great deal of work that has been done in that area. A potential thesis chair might suggest some other ideas for a thesis topic – listen to these and consider them carefully (you are coming to them for their expertise, after all), but do make sure that you settle on a topic that is interesting to you, as well as to your thesis chair.

Step 5: Submit your thesis declaration form (in your junior year)

Ideally, you should submit this form at least three semesters before you intend to graduate. You can find it in the forms section of the honors college website. 

To submit your declaration form, you will need a less-than-one-page description of your project that has been approved by a full-time faculty member who has agreed to serve as your thesis chair. Your thesis declaration form will either be approved or recommended for amendment by the honors college; this decision will be communicated to you and your thesis chair via WMU email.  

Recommendation for amendment usually occurs for one of three reasons: (1) questions or concerns exist regarding institutional compliance; (2) the proposed thesis chair is not a full-time WMU faculty member, or is ineligible to serve as chair for some other reason; or (3) the thesis topic is not sufficient in scope with respect to your field of study and/or honors standards. You will be informed what the problems are that must be addressed before the proposal can be reconsidered and are encouraged to make an appointment to come in to the honors college if you need more information.  

On the declaration form, you will be asked four compliance questions relating to the following: 1) will you be collecting data from humans; 2) will you be using vertebrate animals; 3) will you be using recombinant DNA; and 4) will your project be funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) or National Institutes of Health (NIH). Below is more information on each.   

The WMU Institutional Review Board (IRB) is responsible for oversight of all research related to human subjects. This includes the use of surveys, even if they are completely anonymous. If you write a thesis that needs WMU-IRB approval, and you have not received it before you begin your research, the study is invalid and the thesis must be destroyed. This is also a research ethics violation which may subject you to discipline by The Office of Student Conduct. This is a federal, not a University or honors college regulation. Only the WMU-IRB can determine whether approval is required, and only the WMU-IRB can grant approval for research that involves people. If there is any question that your proposed research might need WMU-IRB approval, you should check with your thesis chair, an honors advisor, or directly contact the WMU-IRB before you proceed with your work. CITI training is a required set of modules that all researchers must complete before beginning IRB-approved research and will be extremely helpful to prepare you for the IRB process. Depending on the population you would like to study and the methodology you have chosen there are varying levels of IRB review, so please be sure to submit early in the process and not collect ANY data prior to approval. If your research changes after you have received IRB approval, you may need to update your IRB protocol or submit a new one. More information is available on the WMU-IRB website .

If your project involves animals, you must contact the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at (269) 387-4484.  Only the IACUC can grant approval for research that involves animals. Further information on conducting research with animals is available on the animal care website . 

If your project involves the use of recombinant or synthetic DNA, or microbiological agents and their products, or life sciences research, you must contact the Institutional Biosafety Committee (WMU-IBC) at (269) 387-8293. Further information on conducting research with any of the materials listed above can be found on the biosafety website .

Check with your thesis chair to make sure you are aware if your project will receive any funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) or the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

When you complete your thesis declaration form, you will answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the above questions. You do NOT have to be approved by the respective compliance offices prior to submitting the thesis declaration form.  

Step 6: Choose additional committee members (in your junior year)

In addition to the honors thesis chair, you must select at least one, ideally two, other expert(s) to serve on your committee. You should consult with your thesis chair regarding possible members of your committee soon after you choose a topic. The committee members need not be WMU faculty but should have expertise relevant to your topic of study. When deciding who will be a good committee member, discuss with your thesis chair how the potential member would add to your project, provide diversity of thought, or provide expertise outside of that possessed by your chair. The committee could include faculty from the same or another department or college at WMU, faculty from another institution, graduate students, WMU staff, or members of the broader community. Note that your committee may NOT be comprised of only a faculty member and a graduate student who is advised or supervised by that faculty member. Also note that you may NOT include family members, partners or significant others on your committee. If you wish to include a graduate student advised or supervised by your thesis chair, you may do so, but you must then select an additional committee member who does not work in the research group of your thesis chair. 

Step 7: Register for HNRS 4990: Honors College Thesis (for the semester you plan to defend your thesis)

Most honors students will enroll in HNRS 4990: Honors College Thesis, but some academic programs have approved substitutions for HNRS 4990. A full list can be found on the honors college requirements page . Honors students must enroll in and complete at least one credit (up to a maximum of three credits) of HNRS 4990: Honors College Thesis, or an approved substitute, prior to graduation. This course must be completed the semester you plan to defend your thesis, and not before. This course counts toward the Experiential portion of the honors credit hour requirement. The thesis chair serves as instructor of record for your credit(s), which means that the thesis chair will be responsible for assigning the grade for your work on your honors thesis. 

In order to be registered for HNRS 4990, you must complete and submit the HNRS 4990 registration form at least one week prior to the semester in which you wish to enroll in the course . 

Please note! If HNRS 4990 credits are being used to meet your minimum credits required for university graduation, you must successfully complete and defend your thesis by commencement to graduate on time. Be sure to discuss HNRS 4990 credits with your academic college advisor when applying for your graduation audit. 

Step 8: Submit your thesis defense certificate request form (at least one month before thesis defense)

Once you have decided on a thesis defense date, you should submit your thesis defense certificate request form . This form must be filed at least 30 days before your thesis defense. This form includes your final thesis title as you would like it to appear on graduation materials, your intended date of graduation, the date you will defend your thesis and names of your committee members. We strongly encourage all students to defend during Thesis Celebration Days, which are held in the honors college at the end of each fall and spring semester. The defense request form will be used by the honors college staff to record your thesis title for graduation, to advertise your thesis defense and to generate a packet of materials for your thesis committee. Your packet will be delivered to you via email and should be taken to your defense to be completed by your committee members, and then returned to the honors college according to the instructions included in the packet.

Step 9: Defend your thesis (before you graduate)

We recommend that you defend your thesis at least one semester before you intend to graduate, but most honors graduates defend during their final semester. You MUST defend before you graduate, or you will not graduate from the Lee Honors College.

You should make sure that your whole committee has a final version of your written thesis at least one week, (preferably two), before your defense so that they have plenty of time to review it. You should plan for your defense to take about an hour– check with your thesis committee in advance. Rooms are reserved for one hour during the Thesis Celebration Days at the honors college. If your committee anticipates that more than one hour will be needed for your defense, please make certain that your room is available or make plans to continue the closed-door portion of your defense in another location.

The defense consists of three parts: 

An oral presentation of your work, open to the public; 

A public question and answer session; 

A closed-door oral examination with your thesis committee. 

The oral presentation typically consists of a 15-20 minute overview of your thesis work. In the sciences, social sciences, business and education, this is generally a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation including a description of the motivation for your work, a summary of related work, the approach you used, the results obtained, your conclusions and their significance. In the humanities, this might include a reading from your original paper. Engineering and the fine arts defenses are typically handled a little differently (see below). 

After you complete your presentation, allow 5-15 minutes for questions from the public audience. Following this period, your committee (at a minimum, your thesis chair and one committee member must be present for the exam) will conduct a closed-door oral examination. Many students are very worried about the oral exam – don’t be! This is your chance to show off your knowledge, discuss what you might have done differently in retrospect and what you would do if you were to continue this project, for example, as a graduate student. 

Engineering Students: College of Engineering and Applied Sciences students typically use their senior design project as the honors thesis and the presentation given at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Senior Design Day will serve as a substitute for the oral defense. Engineering students may also choose to present their work during the Thesis Celebration Days. In this case, the committee does not need to be present and no oral examination follows the presentation.

Fine Arts Students: BFA students in curricula in the College of Fine Arts typically review their creative work and artifacts such as portfolios and/or recordings with their committee during their oral defense because their public portion is typically a recital, performance or exhibit that occurs at a separate time. 

Creative Works and Group Projects: A brief reflection paper is required for creative works and group projects. For creative works, this paper should address why you made the choices you made for your creative project and a self-evaluation of the final product along with any other information you wish to include, as well as any additional writing required by your thesis advisor. For group projects, this paper should address the role you played in the group project, how your own education, experiences and contributions are demonstrated in the final copy, as well as any additional writing required by your thesis advisor.

Step 10: Submit your final approved thesis

After your successful thesis defense, your committee may recommend some further revisions to your written thesis. You have 30 days after you graduate to turn in your final, revised and approved thesis. The thesis and the abstract should be submitted electronically as a PDF or MP3, MP4 or WAV file, together with a signed copy of each of the documents in your thesis packet (completed and signed ScholarWorks agreement and signed defense certificate). For detailed instructions on the submission of your final thesis project, please read carefully the instruction sheet included in your defense packet. 

Note: For some students, research conducted for the honors thesis contains proprietary information that cannot be released to the general public. In that case, the final thesis should be submitted via the regular process laid out above, but students should select the appropriate level of publication visibility as described in the ScholarWorks agreement included in the thesis packet. If you have questions about the ScholarWorks form, please contact Jennifer Townsend . 

A cautionary note! Please consult with your thesis chair before responding to any requests from publishers or conferences regarding your honors thesis. Predatory publishers send unsolicited requests for articles, may send false information about their journals and typically charge large fees to authors. Likewise, sham conference organizers will send targeted emails asking for abstract or article contributions with substantial submission fees. 

Questions? Schedule an honors thesis advising appointment . 

Thesis Checklist

Now that you've carefully and thoroughly read through the thesis handbook, bookmark or print out this handy thesis checklist to help keep you on track during your thesis process!

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Undergraduate Thesis Leading to Graduation with Honors Research Distinction

There are three options for honors students in the College of Arts and Sciences (ASC) interested in pursuing graduation with honors research distinction or with honors distinction :

• The graduation honor with honors research distinction in [the major field] recognizes those students who demonstrate excellence in the study of a discipline both through major course work and by completing an independent research project culminating in an undergraduate thesis.
• Students majoring in mathematics may choose the graduate-level course work option to graduate with honors distinction in Mathematics .
• The graduation honor with honors research distinction recognizes those students who complete and successfully defend an undergraduate thesis in a discipline other than the major.

Students majoring in the arts may pursue a creative project or thesis that leads to graduation with distinction .

For information about the thesis option for students not in an honors program, please see the Research Thesis web site .

To graduate with honors research distinction , you must satisfy the following requirements:

• Identify an Ohio State faculty member to serve as your project advisor. The project advisor will provide guidance to you throughout the research process.
• Submit the Thesis Application to the ASC Honors Office by the deadline noted below.
• Students must register for at least 4 credit hours of thesis research from the College of the Arts and Sciences, using course number 4999H. (Note: Psychology requires enrollment in a 4999H course sequence.) These 4 credit hours may be divided and taken over the course of multiple semesters. 
• Successfully defend the thesis during an oral examination.
• Meet any department-specific requirements, which may include honors course work and/or a minimum grade point average within the field of distinction.
• Graduate with a minimum 3.4 cumulative grade point average on at least 60 graded Ohio State semester credit hours. 
• In order to graduate with honors research distinction , you must be enrolled in the ASC Honors Program , which requires completion of the honors course work requirement (fulfilled by completion of an approved Honors Curriculum ).

*** Thesis Option for students not in the ASC Honors Program ***

If you are planning to graduate with honors research distinction , you should submit the Thesis Application to the ASC Honors Office upon enrolling in 4999H research credit and no later than the following deadlines:

• Students defending  Spring 2024 :    Applications were due to  ASC Honors  by Friday,  September 8, 2023
• Students defending  Autumn 2024 : Applications are due to  Rebecca Sallade  by Friday,  January 26, 2024

Questions about the application may be directed to Rebecca Sallade, the Undergraduate Research, Honors Thesis, and Honors Project Coordinator.

• If you are working toward a thesis, it is your responsibility to register for 4999H . In some cases (e.g., in the Department of Psychology), the 4999H research hours are actual courses in a sequence and will require prior planning to make sure you are able to register in a timely fashion.
• The number of research credit hours you take in a given semester will depend on the amount of time you plan to spend on your research during that term. You should plan to discuss this with your thesis project advisor.  Keep in mind that you will need to take at least 4 credit hours of 4999H to meet the requirements for a thesis.
• Your thesis project advisor will need to provide written permission for you to register for 4999H. Permission to enroll in 4999H can be documented on a Course Enrollment Permission form [pdf] . You should submit the signed form to the Arts and Sciences Honors Office no later than the second Friday of the semester to have the hours added to your schedule.  (Late registration for research hours will result in a $100 Late Course Add Fee and may only be added by petition.)
• Students must register for at least 4 credit hours of thesis research from the College of the Arts and Sciences, using course number 4999H. (Note: Psychology requires enrollment in a 4999H course sequence.) These 4 credit hours may be divided and taken over the course of multiple semesters.

Students who have submitted a Thesis Application for approval will be contacted by the ASC Honors Office with oral examination instructions early in the semester in which they plan to defend the thesis (usually around the third or fourth week of the semester).

Abstracts and copies of past undergraduate theses completed for graduation with research distinction are available for examination online through the Ohio State Libraries' Knowledge Bank and in the Mortar Board Room (room 202) of the Thompson Library . They are valuable not only as examples of research undertaken in various disciplines but also as sources of information.

• ASC Honors General Research Information
• Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry
• ASC Undergraduate Research Scholarship
• Denman Undergraduate Research Forum

Home > STUDENTWORK > HONORS-THESIS

Honors Thesis

An Honors thesis is the capstone project for all students who plan to graduate from the Honors Program at USD. The thesis can take many forms – from a scientific experiment or literary analysis to an original novel, play, or music composition – and allows students to explore a topic they are passionate about. Honors students have a thesis advisor, a faculty member that works closely with them throughout their thesis process, and a thesis committee made up of a small number of faculty members and other stakeholders who do work related to the thesis topic. This support network helps guide students through their thesis process to a successful defense and completion of the project.

Honors Theses from 2024 2024

THE DEARTH OF KNOWLEDGE OF HEALTH INSURANCE LITERACY WITHIN THE UNITED STATES , Katherine A. Conzet

MENTAL HEALTH AMONG COLLEGIATE ATHLETES , Stella Elise Fairbanks

BEYOND AMATEURISM: EXAMINING THE POTENTIAL LABOR EXPENSES OF NCAA STUDENT-ATHLETE EMPLOYMENT , Alayna K. Falak

STRATEGIES OVER KNOWLEDGE: TRAINING GAPS PRESENT IN CARING FOR PATIENTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER FOR PEDIATRIC AND STUDENT NURSES , Jasmine E. Johnson

Development of Equipment Testing Hardware for the SuperCDMS Experiment , Oleksandra Lukina

NAVIGATING MURKY WATERS: STATE-LEVEL STRATEGIES FOR WETLAND PRESERVATION AND TILE DRAINAGE REGULATION AFTER SACKETT V. EPA , Caleb M. Swanson

Honors Theses from 2023 2023

Exploring the Relationship Between Civil Legal Assistance and the Outcomes of Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Victims: A Literature Review , Kailena E. Anderson

UNDERSTANDING DISORDERED EATING ATTITUDES AND PATTERNS IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND THE RELATIONSHIP TO CAMPUS DINING SERVICES , Benjamin A. Bartling

Investigating Telomere Lengths in Chestnut-Crowned Babblers , Gabriella Rose Beberg

An Economic Analysis of the United Kingdom Given the Possible Effects of Overthrowing the Northern Ireland Protocol , Joshua P. Brink

The Migrant Communities Of South Sioux City , Graciela DeAnda

What Does the Current Research Say About Effective Strategies for Teaching Reading Fluency? , Talia E. DeWitte

Examining the Benefits of Adding Mindfulness-Based Programs in the Curriculum of Undergraduate and Graduate Social Work Programs: A Review of Literature , Sarah M. Dickerson

Physician Assistant Professional Issues: Optimal Team Practice in South Dakota , Michael J. Eggum

Disease Prevalence and Selenium Bioaccumulation in Northern Leopard Frogs (Lithobates pipiens) , Emily B. Eisenbraun

Remote Monitoring of a Dark Matter Detector Power Supply , Sedonah L. Franzen

No More Empty Stadiums: A Meta Analysis of Mega Sporting Events and Their Economic Impact , Tayte O. Gleason

Oral Health in Relation to the Covid-19 Pandemic , Anika L. Gram

Bipartisan Legislation in Supermajority State Legislatures , Ashley R. Gustafson

Genetic Influences on the Response to Neuromodulation in Craving Behaviors , Carly J. Haring

Measuring Selenoprotein Content in False Map Turtles (Graptemys pseudogeographica) Along the Missouri River , Ruby A. Hawks

HOW PHYLOGENY AND ARBOREALITY AFFECT PELVIC GIRDLE ANATOMY OF CHAMELEONS , Dakota J. John

Discrepancies in the Estimation of Vaping Rates Among College Students , Cameron J. Klug

The Relationship Between Cerebrovascular Impairment and Behavioral Abnormalities in Rats Exposed to Alcohol In Utero , Tiffany M. Knecht

HOLLOW Mn3O4 NANOPARTICLES FOR CATALYTIC OXIDATION OF ALKENES IN AIR , Nathan R. Loutsch

The Economic, Mental Health, and Social Stressors During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Native Americans in South Dakota , Savannah E. Lukkes

Wastewater: History and Impact on Society , James H. Macy

Investigating the Effects of Sex and Carvedilol on Ischemia Preconditioning Protective Effect , Casey JC Miller

Horizontal Transmission of Salmonella typhimurium Among German Cockroaches and Possible Mechanisms , Madison Anne Mond

ESG Disclosure Scores and CEO Compensation , Zane M. Rankin

Forming a Global Citizen: Personal Development Through Study Abroad , Anna L. Reiter

Ecological and Evolutionary Drivers of Chameleon Forelimb Variation , Ellie M. Schley

DETECTION OF SARS-COV-2 MUTATIONS IN VERMILLION, SD, WASTEWATER UTILIZING PROBE-BASED RT-QPCR , Matthew J. Schmitz

Assessing Gender Differences in USD Students in the Consumption of Pornography , Abbey Selleck

Using µCT scans to create 3D skull puzzles as open-access pedagogical tools for anatomy and comparative osteology classes. , Alexis Slack

Midwest Opportunity Zones: A Regional and Comparative Analysis of Tract Selection , Breana R. Spinler

Marijuana Use During Pregnancy: Outcomes for the Pregnant Person, the Fetus, and Provider Recommendations , Anna E. Sump

COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE AND ITS PERCEIVED EFFECTS ON CANCER PATIENTS , Madison A. Sundvold

WOMEN IN ORGANIZATIONS: LEADERSHIP AND OVERCOMING BIASES , Madison T. Witt

Honors Theses from 2022 2022

Study of Adaptive Radiation Effects on Sprint Performance in Anolis Ecomorphs , Alexander J. Bergeson

TICK SURVEILLANCE AND PATHOGEN DETECTION IN EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA , Holly E. Black

AN ANALYSIS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA , Alexandra J. Buss

Memorable Messages in BRCA-positive Disclosures , Alyssa R. Cam

Analysis of Protein-Protein Interaction Networks in Aging Flight Muscle of the Male Hawk Moth, Manduca sexta , Kylie N. Christiansen

Factors Affecting Emergency Department Mental Health Visits , Logan Daul

Bare: the Modern Female Nude Uncovered , Tasha A. Determan

Investigating the Effect of Meaningful Relationships on Team Chemistry , Isabel N. Fairbanks

Bilingual Behaviors: Learning Context in Second Language Acquisition , Sydney M. Fulton

Integrating History into Healthcare: Understanding Links Between Past Traumas and Current Health Disparities within the Native American Population , Alison A. Gisi

Juvenile Solitary Confinement and the Eighth Amendment , Taylor R. Graves

Qualitative Analysis of South Dakota Community Health Needs Assessments , Rachel Greiner

Convolutional Neural Network for COVID-19 Detection in Chest X-Rays , Joshua Elliot Henderson

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA FACULTY AND STUDENT PERSPECTIVES ON SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION , Morgan A. Hughes Mrs.

ANTITRUST PHILOSOPHY AND ITS IMPACT ON RURAL INDUSTRY , Logan Gary Johnson

CONSIDERATIONS FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT DATA COLLECTION IN SOUTH DAKOTA: A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON WITH IRELAND , Mattie J. Jones

Barriers for Small Businesses to Adopt Sustainable Practices in the Sioux Falls Area , Meredith King

EFFECTS OF PRE-LITERACY ON HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH LEARNERS (ELS) IN THE RURAL UPPER MIDWEST , Maciah L. Lorang

To Live With , Serina Lund

Cognitive Task Enhancement Through Alpha Neurofeedback , Hannah L. Meyer and Douglas Peterson

EVALUATION OF ANTIBODY RESPONSE AGAINST G4 AND G1 EURASIAN AVIAN-LIKE H1N1 STRAINS WITH HA VACCINATION IN SWINE. , Callie Jo Olson

Assessing Student Utilization, Accessibility, and Awareness of Mental Health Practices at the University of South Dakota , Melissa N. Pham

The Relationship between Pro-stress and Anti-stress Receptors in the Stress-Learning Brain Regions of Female Mice , Nathan Popp

Women's Representation and Its Impact on Global Female Physical Security , Sydnee D. Pottebaum

The Impact of Sleep on Athletic Performance: A Review of the Literature , Rylan J. Pratt

Preventative Healthcare Programs , Caileb T. Reilly

TROPHISH: BUILDING A GLOBAL DATABASE OF FRESHWATER TROPHIC INTERACTIONS , Jacob M. Ridgway

Nitro-Aromatic Polymers for Conversion-Style Battery Cathodic Materials , Brady P. Samuelson

Communication Disorders and Mental Health: A Scoping Review , Haven B. Schultze

A Document Analysis of Political Rhetoric in 2021-22 South Dakota Higher Education , Carson M. Sehr

Testing for Transferred Immunity of a Universal Influenza Vaccine in Pigs , Rachel Marie Sestak

BUY-ONLINE-PICKUP-IN-STORE (BOPIS) BUSINESS STRATEGY: A MULTIVARITE STUDY OF BOPIS INFLUENCING FACTORS ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION , Addison G. Smith

Reno-protective and Immune Effects of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 in Obesity-related Kidney Disease , Jessie T. Sullivan

Perception of the COVID-19 Vaccine Compared to Previous Historic Vaccine Programs Amongst the Influence of Modern Society , Kianna Thelen

Representation of Women & BBIA Composers in the Teaching Music through Performance in Band Series , Alicia M. Turnquist

Paleopathological Analyses of Maya Skeletal Samples to Reconstruct Childhood Health and Frailty , Kira J. Wilde

The Well-being Outcomes of Sexual Assault Survivors After Sexual Assault Kit Examinations , Brianna N. Zimmer

Honors Theses from 2021 2021

The Emergence of Neurology During the American Civil War: The Delafield Commission's Impact on Military Medicine , Michaela Ahrenholtz

DECREASED ACTIVITY OF PHOSPHOFRUCTOKINASE-1 IN FLIGHT MUSCLE CELLS OF HAWK MOTH MANDUCA SEXTA WITH AGE , Owen G. Alvine

Breaking the Cognitive Spell: Cognitive Fusion Mediates the Relation of Cognitive Anxiety Sensitivity and Rumination in Undergraduate College Students , Jacey L. Anderberg

Let's Talk About (Cred)it , Taylor J. Anderson

Catabolism of BCAAs and Application , Skylar Arellano-Myers

In Loving Memory: Beginning the Conversation on Grief and Loss , Sydney Anne Bitz

Empathy Training to Combat Provider Burnout in Geriatric Healthcare , Heather N. Block

Accounting Implications Derived from Consumer Big Data , Benjamin E. Boehrns

PVN ACTIVITY IN CARDIAC SYMPATHETIC AFFERENT REFLEX (CSAR) CONTROL AND CARDIOVASCULAR FUNCTION , Shane H. Boomer

A Criminological Analysis of Notorious Serial Killers in the United States , Hannah E. Booth

Rhythm of the Night: Brain Activity and Performance on a Sustained Attention Task is Modulated by Circadian Typology and Time of Day , Carly R. Cooper

Overgrown: A Collection of Supernatural Narratives , Emily Dawn Cote

MOLECULAR INTERACTIONS OF HUMAN CELL PROTEINS WITH SARS-COV-2 VERSUS INFLUENZA VIRUSES , Linze Cowman

An Analysis of Dyslexia Legisation and Implementation Guidelines in Midwestern States , Josephine A. Denning

Indigenous Peoples' Trust in Police: Multi-Jurisdictional Issues and the Effect on Reporting , Anna R. Doering

Students Perceptions of Alcohol Use on University Campuses , Phil J. Dohn

Disparities in Access to Assisted Reproductive Technology Among Hispanic Women in the United States , Madison Gallagher

Selenium Burdens in Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta) , Holly A. Gerberding

An Annual Training Plan for Collegiate Dance , Ashley R. German

Influence of Social Rejection and Borderline Personality Features on Emotion Perception , Ashmita Ghosh

Nitro Group Reduction for Use in Organic, Cathodic Materials , Brock G. Goeden

EFFECTS OF A SLOW-DEEP BREATHING PROTOCOL ON LOWERING BLOOD PRESSURE: A RAPID REVIEW , Amanda Gravholt

ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF URANYL-PEROXIDE SPECIES , Ethan T. Hare

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Writing an Honors Thesis

An Honors Thesis is a substantial piece of independent research that an undergraduate carries out over two semesters. Students writing Honors Theses take PHIL 691H and 692H, in two different semesters. What follows answers all the most common questions about Honors Theses in Philosophy.

All necessary forms are downloadable and may be found in bold, underlined text below.

Who can write an Honors Thesis in Philosophy?

Any Philosophy major who has a total, cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 and a GPA of at least 3.5 (with a maximum of one course with a PS grade) among their PHIL courses can in principle write an Honors Thesis. In addition, students need to satisfy a set of specific pre-requisites, as outlined below.

What are the pre-requisites for an Honors Thesis in Philosophy?

The requirements for writing an Honors Thesis in Philosophy include

• having taken at least five PHIL courses, including two numbered higher than 299;
• having a total PHIL GPA of at least 3.5 (with a maximum of one course with a PS grade); and
• having done one of the following four things:
• taken and passed PHIL 397;
• successfully completed an Honors Contract associated with a PHIL course;
• received an A or A- in a 300-level course in the same area of philosophy as the proposed thesis ; or
• taken and passed a 400-level course in the same area of philosophy as the proposed thesis .

When should I get started?

You should get started with the application process and search for a prospective advisor the semester before you plan to start writing your thesis – that is, the semester before the one in which you want to take PHIL 691H.

Often, though not always, PHIL 691H and 692H are taken in the fall and spring semesters of the senior year, respectively. It is also possible to start earlier and take 691H in the spring semester of the junior year and PHIL 692H in the fall of the senior year. Starting earlier has some important advantages. One is that it means you will finish your thesis in time to use it as a writing sample, should you decide to apply to graduate school. Another is that it avoids a mad rush near the very end of your last semester.

How do I get started?

Step 1: fill out the honors thesis application.

The first thing you need to do is fill out an Honors Thesis Application   and submit it to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) for their approval.

Step 2: Find an Honors Thesis Advisor with the help of the DUS

Once you have been approved to write an Honors Thesis, you will consult with the DUS about the project that you have in mind and about which faculty member would be an appropriate advisor for your thesis. It is recommended that you reach out informally to prospective advisors to talk about their availability and interest in your project ahead of time, and that you include those suggestions in your application, but it is not until your application has been approved that the DUS will officially invite the faculty member of your choice to serve as your advisor. You will be included in this correspondence and will receive written confirmation from your prospective advisor.

Agreeing to be the advisor for an Honors Thesis is a major commitment, so bear in mind that there is a real possibility that someone asked to be your advisor will say no. Unfortunately, if we cannot find an advisor, you cannot write an Honors Thesis.

Step 3: Fill out the required paperwork needed to register for PHIL 691H

Finally, preferably one or two weeks before the start of classes (or as soon as you have secured the commitment of a faculty advisor), you need to fill out an Honors Thesis Contract and an Honors Thesis Learning Contract , get them both signed by your advisor, and email them to the DUS.

Once the DUS approves both of these forms, they’ll get you registered for PHIL 691H. All of this should take place no later than the 5th day of classes in any given semester (preferably sooner).

What happens when I take PHIL 691H and PHIL 692H?

PHIL 691H and PHIL 692H are the course numbers that you sign up for to get credit for working on an Honors Thesis. These classes have official meeting times and places. In the case of PHIL 691H , those are a mere formality: You will meet with your advisor at times you both agree upon. But in the case of PHIL 692H , they are not a mere formality: The class will actually meet as a group, at least for the first few weeks of the semester (please see below).

When you take PHIL 691H, you should meet with your advisor during the first 5 days of classes and, if you have not done so already, fill out an Honors Thesis Learning Contract  and turn in to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) . This Contract will serve as your course syllabus and must be turned in and approved no later than the 5th day of classes in any given semester (preferably sooner). Once the DUS approves your Honors Thesis Learning Contract, they’ll get you registered for PHIL 691H.

Over the course of the semester, you will meet regularly with your advisor. By the last day of classes, you must turn in a 10-page paper on your thesis topic; this can turn out to be part of your final thesis, but it doesn’t have to. In order to continue working on an Honors Thesis the following semester, this paper must show promise of your ability to complete one, in the opinion of your advisor. Your advisor should assign you a grade of “ SP ” at the conclusion of the semester, signifying “satisfactory progress” (so you can move on to PHIL 692H). Please see page 3 of this document for more information.

When you take PHIL 692H, you’ll still need to work with your advisor to fill out an Honors Thesis Learning Contract . This Contract will serve as your course syllabus and must be turned in to and approved by the DUS  no later than the 5th day of classes in any given semester (preferably sooner).

Once the DUS approves your Honors Thesis Learning Contract, they’ll get you registered for PHIL 692H.

At the end of the second semester of senior honors thesis work (PHIL 692H), your advisor should assign you a permanent letter grade. Your advisor should also change your PHIL 691H grade from “ SP ” to a permanent letter grade. Please see page 3 of this document for more information.

The Graduate Course Option

If you and your advisor agree, you may exercise the Graduate Course Option. If you do this, then during the semester when you are enrolled in either PHIL 691H or PHIL 692H, you will attend and do the work for a graduate level PHIL course. (You won’t be officially enrolled in that course.) A paper you write for this course will be the basis for your Honors Thesis. If you exercise this option, then you will be excused from the other requirements of the thesis course (either 691H or 692H) that you are taking that semester.

Who can be my advisor?

Any faculty member on a longer-than-one-year contract in the Department of Philosophy may serve as your honors thesis advisor. You will eventually form a committee of three professors, of which one can be from outside the Department.  But your advisor must have an appointment in the Philosophy Department. Graduate Students are not eligible to advise Honors Theses.

Who should be my advisor?

Any faculty member on a longer-than-one-year contract in the Department of Philosophy may serve as your honors thesis advisor. It makes most sense to ask a professor who already knows you from having had you as a student in a class. In some cases, though, this is either not possible, or else there is someone on the faculty who is an expert on the topic you want to write about, but from whom you have not taken a class. Information about which faculty members are especially qualified to advise thesis projects in particular areas of philosophy can be found  here .

What about the defense?

You and your advisor should compose a committee of three professors (including the advisor) who will examine you and your thesis. Once the committee is composed, you will need to schedule an oral examination, a.k.a. a defense. You should take the initiative here, communicating with all members of your committee in an effort to find a block of time (a little over an hour) when all three of you can meet. The thesis must be defended by a deadline , set by Honors Carolina , which is usually a couple of weeks before the end of classes. Students are required to upload the final version of their thesis to the  Carolina Digital Repository  by the final day of class in the semester in which they complete the thesis course work and thesis defense.

What is an Honors Thesis in Philosophy like?

An Honors Thesis in Philosophy is a piece of writing in the same genre as a typical philosophy journal article. There is no specific length requirement, but 30 pages (double-spaced) is a good guideline. Some examples of successfully defended Honors The easiest way to find theses of past philosophy students is on the web in the Carolina Digital Repository . Some older, hard copies of theses are located on the bookshelf in suite 107 of Caldwell Hall. (You may ask the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) , or anyone else who happens to be handy, to show you where it is!)

How does the Honors Thesis get evaluated?

The honors thesis committee will evaluate the quality and originality of your thesis as well as of your defense and then decides between the following three options:

• they may award only course credit for the thesis work if the thesis is of acceptable quality;
• they may designate that the student graduate with honors if the thesis is of a very strong quality;
• they may  recommend  that the student graduate with highest honors if the thesis is of exceptional quality.

As a matter of best practice, our philosophy department requires that examining committees refer all candidates for highest honors to our Undergraduate Committee chaired by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. This committee evaluates nominated projects and makes the final decision on awarding highest honors. Highest honors should be awarded only to students who have met the most rigorous standards of scholarly excellence.

Honors & Theses

The Honors Thesis: An opportunity to do innovative and in-depth research.  

An honors thesis gives students the opportunity to conduct in-depth research into the areas of government that inspire them the most. Although, it’s not a requirement in the Department of Government, the honors thesis is both an academic challenge and a crowning achievement at Harvard. The faculty strongly encourages students to write an honors thesis and makes itself available as a resource to those students who do. Students work closely with the thesis advisor of their choice throughout the writing process. Approximately 30% of Government concentrators each year choose to write a thesis.

Guide to Writing a Senior Thesis in Government  

You undoubtedly have many questions about what writing a thesis entails. We have answers for you. Please read  A Guide to Writing a Senior Thesis in Government , which you can download as a PDF below. If you still have questions or concerns after you have read through this document, we encourage you to reach out to the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Nara Dillon ( [email protected] ), the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Gabriel Katsh ( [email protected] ), or the Undergraduate Program Manager, Karen Kaletka ( [email protected] ).  

Senior Honors Thesis

Completing a year-long Senior Honors Thesis is one of the most rewarding, time-consuming and challenging endeavors a Psychology major can undertake. The process requires designing, executing, and analyzing the data from an original empirical research investigation, writing a comprehensive APA-format report, and presenting and defending this work before a committee of two faculty members (one of whom, the committee chair, must be from the Psychology Department). Because chairing a Senior Honors Thesis requires a great deal of time and effort on the part of faculty members, only a small number of seniors can complete a thesis in a given year. Students are therefore encouraged to contact potential thesis chairs  no later than the end of their junior year , and preferably even earlier. Because of the high demand for thesis supervision, some faculty may only agree to supervise theses for students who have spent multiple previous semesters working in their lab.

Students interested in independent study (including Senior Honors Thesis) must find a supervising faculty member before registering for the course via  SIS . Those registering for a Senior Honors Thesis (PSY 199) must also fill out and submit by early October the  Thesis Honors Candidate form .

Undergraduate research assistants and students completing a senior honors thesis in all labs that are conducting human subjects research are required to take the Collaborative IRB Training Initiative (CITI). Please contact the faculty supervisor of the lab for more details.

Per Tufts policy, students must appear on the Dean's List for at least two semesters in order to be eligible to complete a thesis. As mentioned above, our faculty often have additional requirements for thesis students, including previous experience in their research lab (PSY 91/92 or PSY 191/192). For students already registered to complete a thesis, additional information regarding expectations for your project and the bases on which it will be evaluated are best obtained from your committee chair.

Students who complete an honors thesis receive a letter grade for their two semesters of work in PSY 199, as well as a determination of thesis honors. The letter grade is not assigned until the end of the second semester and is determined by the thesis chair; students are therefore encouraged to discuss their progress with their chair at various points during the year. This grade is intended to reflect a student's lab performance and consistency of effort over the course of seeing a research project through to completion. The thesis committee makes the determination of thesis honors, choosing from among the following designations: no honors, honors, high honors, and highest honors. This assessment is based on the final written product and oral defense, and is intended to reflect the quality, originality, independence, and potential impact of the work.

Review the departmental rubric for evaluating  senior honors theses .

Getting started

Preparing for the honors thesis

What is the honors thesis?

The honors thesis is the culmination of Barrett students’ honors experience and their entire undergraduate education.

The honors thesis is an original piece of work developed by a student under the guidance of a thesis committee. It is an opportunity for students to work closely with faculty on important research questions and creative ideas. The honors thesis can have either a research or creative focus, and enables students to design, execute and present an intellectually rigorous project in their chosen field of study.

The first step in the honors thesis process is the completion of a thesis preparation workshop.

These workshops are places for you to brainstorm topics, learn about the honors thesis process, gain feedback on your ideas, ask questions, and create a to-do list for your honors thesis. Completion of a thesis preparation workshop is required before enrolling in thesis credits, and we encourage you to participate in a workshop by the first semester of your junior year.

There are two options for completing a thesis preparation workshop.

Enroll in the online self-paced workshop

Or, sign up to attend a live workshop offered in the fall or spring semester:

Mon, Feb 5th 10:30 - 11:30am  Athena Conference Room UCB 201 (West Valley campus)  RSVP

Wed, Feb 7th 10:00am - 11:00am  Athena Conference Room UCB 201 (West Valley campus)  RSVP 

Thu, Feb 8th 2:30pm - 3:30pm  Athena Conference Room UCB 201 (West Valley campus)  RSVP

Fri, Feb 9th 4pm - 5pm  Hayden Library Room 236 (Tempe campus)  RSVP

Thu, Feb 15th 4:30pm - 6pm  Hayden Library Room 236 (Tempe campus)  RSVP

Thu, Feb 29th 5pm - 6:30pm  Virtual (Zoom)  RSVP

Fri, Mar 15th 4pm - 5:30pm  Hayden Library Room 236 (Tempe campus)  RSVP

Fri, Apr 5th 4pm - 5:30pm  Virtual (Zoom)  RSVP

Thu, Apr 11th 5pm - 6:30pm  Virtual (Zoom)  RSVP

Ready to take the next step?

Following the completion of a thesis preparation workshop, Barrett students should schedule a thesis advising appointment with their Barrett Honors Advisor to discuss and review the guidebook, checklist and the due dates that correspond with the semester they intend to complete their undergraduate degree.

Honors Thesis Student Guidebook

Please explore the resources available to you within this guidebook to ensure your success. Refer to the checklist on page 13 to continue moving forward in the process.

View the Student Guidebook

Student Guidebook sections

What is the honors thesis.

The honors thesis project is an original piece of work by a student, in collaboration with their thesis director and committee. Most students complete an honors thesis within their major department but may choose a topic outside of the major. Each department may set its own standards for methodology (i.e., empirical, comparative, or descriptive), project length, and so on. Review the relevant Opportunities in the Major documents created by the Faculty Honors Advisors (FHAs)  here , and contact the FHAs in your area(s) of interest for additional information.

A thesis can be:

• A scholarly research project involving analysis that is presented in written form. Represents a commitment to research, critical thinking, and an informed viewpoint of the student.
• A creative project that combines scholarship and creative work in which the primary outcome consists of something other than a written document but includes a written document that supports the creative endeavor and involves scholarly research.
• A group project that brings together more than one Barrett student to work on a thesis collaboratively. Working in a group gives students valuable experience and enables them to take on larger, more complicated topics. Students may begin a group project with approval of a Thesis Director.

Selecting a Topic

Because the honors thesis is the culmination of undergraduate studies, begin thinking about a topic early. Many students base the honors thesis on an aspect of coursework, internship, or research. Once an area of interest is identified, take two or three courses that concentrate in that specific area.  Selecting a topic should ultimately be done under the guidance of faculty. The honors thesis is a joint effort between students and faculty.

Consider these tips and resources as you begin the process of selecting a topic: 

• Reflect on past experience to determine interests.
• Talk to faculty including Faculty Honors Advisors about topics that are interesting and relevant to coursework, major, career interests, or from ongoing faculty research.
• View past honors theses through the ASU Library Digital Repository .

Thesis Pathways

Honors Thesis Pathways are unique thesis opportunities, where students can be paired with faculty on interesting and engaging topics. The pathway options provide students a structured experience in completing their thesis, while researching a topic that interests them.

The committee consists of a Director, a Second Committee Member, and may include a Third Committee Member. Ultimately, your committee must approve your thesis/creative project, so work closely with them throughout the process.  Specific academic unit committee requirements can be found here .

• Any member of ASU faculty with professional expertise in the project area. (This excludes graduate students.)
• Includes lecturer and tenure-line faculty.
• Primary supervisor of the project.
• Conducts regular meetings, provides feedback, sets expectations, and presides over the defense.

*Emeritus faculty may serve as thesis directors as approved by the FHA from the department which the thesis is to be completed. Directors are expected to be physically present at the honors thesis defense. They may not be reimbursed for travel related to attending the defense.

Second Committee Member

• Individual whom you and your Director decide is appropriate to serve based on knowledge and experience with the thesis topic.
• Credentials will be determined by the Director and the criteria of that academic unit.
• Conducts regular meetings, provides feedback, and offers additional evaluation at the defense.

Third Committee Member (optional-varies by academic unit)

• Faculty member or qualified professional.
• If required, credentials will be determined by the Director and the criteria of that academic unit.
• External Examiners are Third Committee Members.
• Offer insight and expertise on the topic and provides additional evaluation at the defense.

The prospectus serves as an action plan for the honors thesis and provides a definitive list of goals, procedures, expectations, and an overall timeline including internal deadlines for your work. This will lay the groundwork for your project and serve as a reference point for you and your committee. You and your committee should work together to solidify a topic and create project goals. 

Submit your prospectus online

Registration and Grading

To register:

• Be enrolled in Barrett, The Honors College and in academic good standing. 
• Have the approval of the faculty member who serves as the Director. 
• In-person Barrett thesis workshop
• Online (via Blackboard) Barrett thesis workshop. Self-enroll- search words “Barrett Honors Thesis Online Workshop”
• Major specific thesis preparatory workshop or course may be available in limited academic units.

Register for the honors thesis through the department of the Director .   First, obtain override permission from the department of the Director during normal enrollment periods. 

Thesis Credits (up to 6 hours)

• 492 Honors Directed Study: taken in the first semester during research and creation of the project (not offered by all departments).
• 493 Honors Thesis: taken in the second semester for defense and completion of the project.  
• 492 and 493 are sequential and may not be taken in the same semester.  
• You must register for and successfully complete at least 493 (or its equivalent) to graduate from Barrett, The Honors College.

Grading the Honors Thesis

When the honors thesis is completed and approved by the committee, the Director assigns a course grade. Criteria and evaluation for grading are determined by the Director and the standards of that academic discipline.   

If you enroll in 492, the Director has the option of assigning a Z grade until the project is completed.

The assignment of a Z grade indicates that a project is in progress and delays placement of a final grade until completion. 

Defense and Final Steps

• Presentation and summary of the honors thesis. Format, content, and length are determined by the Director and standards of the content area. Plan to review the origins of the project, its scope, the methodology used, significant findings, and conclusions. 
• Submit final draft to the committee at least two weeks before the defense. Allow time for revisions leading up to the defense.
• Work with your committee to set a defense and report to Barrett using the Honors Defense and Thesis Approval form. Once submitted, your Director will automatically be emailed an approval link on the date of your defense.
• All committee members must participate in the defense.
• Group projects: Each student is required to submit an individual Honors Defense and Thesis Approval form. All group members must participate in the defense. 
• Defenses are open to the ASU community and published to the Defense Calendar.
• Following the presentation, committee members will ask questions about issues raised in the work, choices made in the research, and any further outcomes.
• At the conclusion of the discussion, the committee will convene to provide an outcome that will determine next steps.

Thesis Outcomes

• Minor format/editorial corrections may be suggested.
• Director will report approval using the Final Thesis Approval link emailed to them on the defense date.
• Your next step is to upload your approved final project to the Barrett Digital Repository.

Provisional Approval (Common outcome)

• More significant revisions required.
• Once revisions are complete, Director will report approval using the Final Thesis Approval link emailed to them on the defense date.
• Your next step is to upload your approved final project to the Barrett Digital Repository after revisions are approved.

Not approved (Least common outcome)

• Basic design and/or overall execution of the honors thesis is significantly flawed.
• The Director and committee may continue working with the student to make major revisions. You should discuss this with committee and Honors Advisor about implications on Barrett graduation.

Student Thesis Experiences

Amelia thibault.

An Honors Thesis Can be Anything You Want it to Be

An Opportunity to Travel the World

Set Apart from the Rest

Texture of Memory

Networking and Innovation

An Opportunity to Conduct Research that no one else is Doing

A Feeling of Accomplishment

The Honors Thesis

A thesis in Honors requires the development of 'next level' professional and academic skills.  We are here to help you develop those habits, skills, and attributes that will put you in demand with employers and post-graduate opportunities.  Through the Thesis, Honors can help you showcase the quality of your undergraduate work, and develop tangible organizational, research, and project management skills that employers are seeking in college graduates. No matter your undergraduate program or major, there is a path through the Honors Thesis process for you.

A Four Year Overview of the Thesis

Start exploring.

Use your first year to start exploring the resources at Syracuse. Attend an Honors Research Fair , other poster sessions or events in your school or college, and read a few past Honors theses that interest you.

Also, it's not too early to build connections with faculty who stand out to you. GO TO THEIR OFFICE HOURS. Head to our connecting with faculty page to read more about how to approach faculty. 

Sophomore Year

Begin Planning

Start early this year:  Use our introductory and planning resource pages to develop your interests into a topic, and make connections with faculty.  Talk to instructors and faculty in your classes; read any papers or talks they've given, and start asking questions about how undergraduates may figure into their work.  This is also a great year to focus on taking a course that covers research methods, so that you gain an understanding of the process.

Junior Year

Get Producing

This is the pivotal year that will determine whether your project's success. This year you'll want to be refining your topic and working with a faculty member to develop a plan for executing your project. If you need extra resources, this is the year you'd want to apply for Crown Thesis Funding as well.  Often this is the year students may conduct data gathering, travel, or conduct lab work in support of their project.  Your junior year is all about building on the knowledge and connections you made during your sophomore year.

Note : you will need to have an initial project proposal approved by Honors by the end of your  junior year to remain in Honors for your senior year.

Senior Year

Finalize, Present, & Submit you Thesis!

During your senior year there are deliverables and milestones you'll need to meet to achieve your goal of finishing your thesis project. 

You will need to already have an approved proposal  on file with Honors, and this is the year you'll register for your thesis course (499) , produce your written thesis and showcase your hard work at our annual presentation day in May.

Ready to find out more about the thesis in your particular field of study?

Timelines & due dates for 2023 - 2024, developing ideas & research, quick links to thesis forms, other campus offices to connect with.

CHC News | Give to Campuswide Honors | CHChat

Campuswide Honors Research & Thesis Requirements

General overview.

The Campuswide Honors Collegium’s curriculum spans all four years of the undergraduate experience (or, all two years for transfer students and those admitted by application during their second year). The CHC’s capstone project, which students undertake independently in the form of the Research and Thesis project (R/Th), is meant to provide students an opportunity to take initiative in their undergraduate experience by engaging in independent research beyond the scope of any previous class experience, in a research field that is personally relevant and meaningful not only to their undergraduate experience, but to their career aspirations and beyond. This project can be creative, interdisciplinary, and allow students to pursue research in areas outside of their majors, or they can be more “traditional,” such as projects that begin in one of the world-renowned labs on UCI’s campus, literature reviews across fields, or extended research papers in the humanities and social sciences.

Most students will begin to think seriously about their capstone R/Th projects in their junior year, when they will meet with a Graduate Fellow or an honors advisor to discuss their ideas for research and receive personalized advising about the requirements and timeline of the project.

Some students will choose to participate in departmental, major, and school honors programs, which are also centered around a research project. In these cases, the students may use the same 2 quarters (or more!) of research conducted for departmental honors programs to satisfy CHC requirements, as well as any thesis produced for one of these programs. In the case where a departmental honors program does not require a written thesis, a CHC student will still need to write a thesis to satisfy their CHC requirements, and turn it in before graduation.

While students may opt to take independent study (199) courses for credit, or to participate in departmental/school/major honors programs which require research courses, CHC R/Th requirements do NOT include taking classes to receive unit credit for the 2 quarters of research under faculty supervision. When the faculty advisor approves the student’s final thesis, they will sign some paperwork indicating that the student has engaged in the required 2 quarters of research, at which point the research component of the requirements will be satisfied.

We do, however, encourage students to get unit credit for their courses if they have room on their schedule to accommodate the units.

What is research?

Research can be defined as the purposeful pursuit of new knowledge. No matter the discipline, all R/Th projects begin with a research “question,” which seeks an answer that does not already exist and has not previously been answered by other researchers in the same field. The method of this purposeful pursuit of knowledge differs per area of study; some methods, such as the scientific method, are tried and true, while other methods, such as, perhaps, artmaking, creative writing, and interdisciplinary approaches that blend the methodologies of various disciplines, are waiting to be discovered and implemented.

The CHC does not impose any externally-sourced requirements on the methodology that each student engages in for their 2 quarters of research. Rather, it is up to the student to determine which method of research works best for their project. Therefore, the faculty advisor is an invaluable resource when it comes to the actual methodology of research, and should be consulted regularly throughout the process of research as well as the writing of the thesis.

What is a thesis?

A thesis is a write-up of the process and findings of research. It may be called a report, a paper, or a project, depending on discipline. Similarly to research methodology, a thesis’s format varies depending on the scope and shape of each research project, so the CHC does not hold each individual thesis to an external set of formatting and content standards. Rather, it is up to the student, in concert with their faculty advisor, to determine the most appropriate form for their thesis, including questions such as exact format, page count, word count, headings, etc.

All CHC students will turn in a thesis to the CHC, regardless of different major/school honors programs requirements, before graduating. Specific due dates can be found on the Canvas page (for current students), but all due dates correspond to graduation quarter. Students who graduate in the Spring, for example, turn in their approved honors theses by the end of June.

Many of our past students report that their R/Th projects were one of the most rewarding experiences of their undergraduate experience, and many amongst them have gone into graduate programs and careers featuring a significant research component. The project should be uniquely meaningful and relevant to each student’s particular areas of interest, and thereby should not only be relevant to their CHC and UCI education, but to the trajectory of their lives as a whole.

The CHC is here to support students throughout their R/Th journey, from the very beginning and brainstorming steps to the polishing up and submission of the thesis, with mandatory meetings in students’ third years (or first year, for transfer students) to provide a thorough understanding of the requirements, process, and timeline.

Project Requirements

The CHC Research and Thesis project requires students to conduct at least 2 quarters of independent research under the supervision of a tenure or tenure-track faculty advisor. This research will culminate in an approved, honors thesis, to be turned in by graduation.

The nature of the research project must be independent in that the student takes responsibility for the formulation of a research question and takes action toward answering the question.

Over the course of the researching year, students will turn in:

• A thesis proposal (at least two quarters before graduation)
• An honors thesis (approved by faculty advisor)

Students usually complete their 2 quarters of research and write their thesis in their final, senior year, over the course of the entire academic year (Fall and Winter researching, and Spring writing up their thesis). However, students are encouraged to start research early if they wish, and arrangements can be made to complete the mandatory R/Th advising meeting in the sophomore year rather than the junior year on an individual basis. Some CHC students have also participated in multiple research opportunities across campus and have actually completed more than one R/Th project, though this is not the general expectation.

As mentioned in the General Overview, both the methodology of research and the format of the honors thesis are inextricable from the nature of the research and the standards of research/reporting in each research field. However, the thesis is expected to be publication-quality and beyond the scope of anything that might be completed during one quarter, in a class setting. For this reason many humanities/social science thesis projects end up being anywhere between 30 and 60 pages long, and theses in STEM might be anywhere from 10-25 pages long. Students should discuss the format of their thesis with their faculty advisor to make sure they understand the expectations of a publication-quality paper within their field of research, including formatting elements such as length, content (multi-modal elements, headers/footnotes, etc), and other relevant information.

Creative and interdisciplinary projects

The research and thesis project may be conducted in a more traditional sense, such as participating in a lab and writing a lab report for those in STEM and the social sciences, or it may be conducted in a creative fashion that melds disciplines or results in a creative project such as a collection of poetry or a theater performance. Students may engage in research projects outside of their major, including research projects that are extra-curricular in nature, such as the composition of a graphic novel, a photography exhibit, etc. Students may also choose to merge different areas of interest by engaging in research that employs methodologies from two or more disciplines, such as humanities/social sciences, biology/dance, art/literature, etc. Students may consult with an honors advisor to ascertain whether their ideas for a creative project are appropriate for the scope of the R/Th timeline, and work closely with their faculty advisor to make sure that they are setting attainable goals and parameters.

Brief Overview of Timeline

In their third year, continuing CHC students will have a mandatory R/Th advising meeting with an honors advisor or a Graduate Scholar. This advising meeting will take place in either Fall or Winter quarter and will acquaint the student with the R/Th project’s requirements, general timeline, possibilities, and equip the student with some action items to begin brainstorming and reaching out to potential faculty advisors. If students plan to join a lab, applications are often due in the Spring quarter of the junior year, so during the R/Th meeting students may be advised to begin preparing their applications to labs or departmental honors programs.

Transfer students will have this mandatory meeting in the Spring quarter of their first year.

Fall and Winter quarters of senior year are often spent engaging in research, though some students opt to begin preliminary research in the summer between their third and fourth years. Then, Spring quarter is often spent working with the faculty advisor to write and polish up the thesis.

For students who are not graduating in the Spring, the research component of the R/Th project is often begun three quarters before graduation, with the quarter of graduation being spent writing the thesis. For example, if a student is graduating in the Fall quarter, they will likely start research in the Winter quarter of the year preceding, research through the end of the Spring quarter, and spend Fall quarter writing their thesis.

The timeline of research and thesis writing can be further customized to individual situations and preferences as long as the basic requirements of 2 quarters of research and the production of an honors thesis are met.

Secondary Menu

Honors thesis & graduation with distinction, eligibility and application process.

To be eligible to apply to the Honors Thesis Track, students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and a 3.5 GPA for core course work in the Global Culture and Theory major. Applicants should ideally have completed two or more classes with faculty holding appointments in the Program in Literature. In order to assess the applicant's readiness for the work, it is also strongly recommended that the applicant have completed at least one seminar course with and have written at least one term paper for his/her/their Prospective Thesis Advisor. This advisor must hold an appointment in the Program in Literature.

Students apply via an application form (updated annually by the department) and a one-page written proposal with a one-page bibliography submitted to the Prospective Thesis Advisor no later than the Monday after Spring Recess of their junior year. The Spring 2025 deadline is  March 25, 2025 . The application form will be emailed to the Global Culture and Theory Major listserv.

Following the Prospective Thesis Advisor's review, the complete application is advanced for a committee's review and assessment. The decision to extend or decline admission to LIT 495 Honors Thesis I is made by the committee before fall term registration begins.

Expected Product

A 60-page thesis is required by the deadline stated on the annual application form. The page count may include its bibliography.

Evaluative Body

A committee comprised of the thesis advisor, the DUS, and a third reader chosen from among the members of the Literature faculty and affiliated faculty.

Evaluation Procedure

The student’s committee evaluates the thesis. In addition, the student meets with the committee for a one-hour defense.

Levels of Distinction

Three levels: Distinction, High Distinction, and Highest Distinction. To graduate with distinction, the student must receive an honors thesis grade of B+ or above.

Special Courses, Other Activities Required, Comments

Candidate must take the two-semester honors seminar sequence 495 and 496 with their thesis advisor.

• Fall course - LIT 495 Honors Thesis I
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Honors College

Honors Thesis Manual and Template

Page content.

• Honors Thesis Manual (PDF, revised June 2023)
• Honors Thesis Template (.docx)
• Thesis Template Instructions and Formatting Checklist (PDF)

Honors Thesis Formatting: Table of Contents and Chapter Headings

Honors Thesis Formatting: Deleting Blank Pages 

Honors College Honor House 118 College Drive #5162 Hattiesburg, MS 39406

Hattiesburg Campus

Phone 601.266.4533

Office of Undergraduate Education

University Honors Program

• Honors Requirements
• Major and Thesis Requirements
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Important Thesis Dates and Deadlines

Please select the semester in which you intend to complete your Honors Thesis to view the applicable dates and deadlines.

A Few Notes On Thesis Deadlines:  

• Your department or thesis committee may have discipline-specific deadlines that take precedence over those published on this page.
• If your department or thesis committee do not have discipline-specific deadlines, you can use the default deadlines published below.
• If your department doesn't publish bespoke deadlines, or if you and your thesis advisor work out a different timeline, the student and advisor should agree to these specialized deadlines in writing. Absent such a written agreement, UHP can only enforce our general published deadlines (below) in the event of a disagreement.

+ Deadlines for Fall 2023 Theses

• June 27, 2023: Thesis proposal due. The thesis title, brief prospectus, and the committee chair must be identified (other committee members will only be listed on the final form)
• October 30, 2023: In consultation with the committee, the student sets the date for a public presentation or oral exam, if required by the department, which must be at least two weeks before graduation.
• At least five weeks before the public presentation (if required by department) or by November 20, 2023: Committee chair(s) must approve the thesis draft as final enough to circulate to the entire committee. Committee members then have two weeks to read the draft and require revisions. Revisions suggested later than two weeks after committee members receive the draft will be considered advisory only (i.e., not required). Students whose work is deemed by the committee chair(s) to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors.
• At least three weeks before the public presentation (if required by department) or by December 4, 2023: Student receives committee revision requests and begins to incorporate these.
• At least one week before the public presentation (if required by department) or by December 18, 2023: Student submits final thesis for approval.
• At the public presentation (if required by department) or by December 27, 2023: Committee observes and evaluates entire thesis project, submitting WorkflowGen form. Students whose work is deemed by the committee to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors.

+ Deadlines for Spring 2024 Theses

• December 1, 2023: Thesis proposal due. The thesis title, brief prospectus, and the committee chair must be identified (other committee members will only be listed on the final form)
• March 18, 2024: In consultation with the committee, the student sets the date for a public presentation or oral exam, if required by the department, which must be at least two weeks before graduation.
• At least five weeks before the public presentation (if required by department) or by April 15, 2024: Committee chair(s) must approve the thesis draft as final enough to circulate to the entire committee. Committee members then have two weeks to read the draft and require revisions. Revisions suggested later than two weeks after committee members receive the draft will be considered advisory only (i.e., not required). Students whose work is deemed by the committee chair(s) to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors.
• At least three weeks before the public presentation (if required by department) or by April 29, 2024: Student receives committee revision requests and begins to incorporate these.
• At least one week before the public presentation (if required by department) or by May 6, 2024: Student submits final thesis for approval.
• At the public presentation (if required by department) or by May 13, 2024: Committee observes and evaluates entire thesis project, submitting WorkflowGen form. Students whose work is deemed by the committee to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors.

+ Deadlines for Fall 2024 Theses

• June 25, 2024: Thesis proposal due. The thesis title, brief prospectus, and the committee chair must be identified (other committee members will only be listed on the final form)
• October 28, 2024: In consultation with the committee, the student sets the date for a public presentation or oral exam, if required by the department, which must be at least two weeks before graduation.
• At least five weeks before the public presentation (if required by department) or by November 25, 2024: Committee chair(s) must approve the thesis draft as final enough to circulate to the entire committee. Committee members then have two weeks to read the draft and require revisions. Revisions suggested later than two weeks after committee members receive the draft will be considered advisory only (i.e., not required). Students whose work is deemed by the committee chair(s) to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors.
• At least three weeks before the public presentation (if required by department) or by December 9, 2024: Student receives committee revision requests and begins to incorporate these.
• At least one week before the public presentation (if required by department) or by December 16, 2024: Student submits final thesis for approval.
• At the public presentation (if required by department) or by December 23, 2024: Committee observes and evaluates entire thesis project, submitting WorkflowGen form. Students whose work is deemed by the committee to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors.
• Summer Research Opportunities
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The Honors College

• Honors Thesis

All students wishing to graduate with University Honors from the Honors College must complete a minimum three-hour Honors College Thesis. These intense, individually designed and directed experiences demand a great deal of both the student and their thesis committee, but the rewards are just as great. As a smaller version of a master's thesis, this experience should immerse the students in the field they are researching and provide them an immediate and intimate engagement with the material they are studying.

"My Honors thesis is a challenge like no other. It's more than just a research project; it's an opportunity to apply everything I have learned as an undergrad at Appalachian State to do independent work of my own. It's a time when I find results and, instead of being told what this means, my advisor asks me, "What do you think this means? What do you expect to find?" It's a time when I set my own schedule, accomplish my own goals, and make myself proud. It has definitely been and will continue to be challenging, but I have the guidance of amazing professors at ASU. And all of the skills this thesis is developing will be incredibly useful for medical school next year: organization, accountability, dedication, and the ability to problem solve and think critically."   - Margo Pray  2013 Honors Graduate

Click here for steps to completing an Honors Thesis.

Click here to find examples of completed Honors Theses.

Click here to find forms for completing an Honors Thesis.

Click here to submit your thesis.

Types of Theses

Theses will vary depending on the discipline. In general, an honors thesis will take the form of a longer research paper or a more developed creative project. The scope and length of the work will fall somewhere between a typical capstone project and a master's thesis. Creative projects must include a written component of at least 10 pages describing the process and project in addition to a copy of the project itself (such as a recording, film, or set of images).

Honors College Thesis vs. Departmental Honors Thesis

It is possible to use the same thesis to satisfy both the Honors College and departmental honors graduation requirements, if students are pursuing both programs. The thesis must meet all University Honors thesis guidelines as well as the respective department’s requirements. Where conflicts appear, the student must check with both the department and Honors College for the acceptable format.

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Finding Theses and Dissertations: Finding UNC Theses & Dissertations

Dissertations, master's papers, undergraduate honors theses.

• Finding Other Theses & Dissertations
• Borrowing & Purchasing

The North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library has paper copies of MOST UNC Chapel Hill theses and dissertations, including many of those from Health Affairs, and also the only copies of some pre-1930 dissertations and theses. The NCC's copies do not circulate and are not in an area open for browsing. You can assume that the NCC will probably have a copy of a UNC-Chapel Hill dissertation or thesis even if the catalogs do not reveal this.

Davis Library has circulating copies of many theses and dissertations completed at UNC-Chapel Hill. The Health Sciences Library has copies of the theses and dissertations completed in Health Affairs departments. Some dissertations and theses are also located in the Library Service Center and can be requested through the Carolina BLU Campus Delivery Service . Most UNC-Chapel Hill theses and dissertations can be found in the online catalog .

• Dissertation - Presents original research and is written as part of the requirements for obtaining a doctorate.
• Thesis - Presents original research and is written as part of the requirements for obtaining a master's degree.
• Master's Paper - Some master's programs at UNC do not have an official "thesis" but rather require a major paper or report.
• Undergraduate Honors Thesis - Written and defended by Honors Carolina undergraduate students in order to graduate with Honors or Highest Honors.

The Carolina Digital Repository also provides access to digital copies of theses and dissertations completed at UNC-Chapel Hill. It is an open-access source that houses user-submitted theses and dissertations and also other works by instructors and researchers affiliated with UND-Chapel Hill. However, as it houses works besides theses and dissertation and is relatively new, it may not pull up older works.

• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global Indexes US dissertations from 1861 with full text available from 1997; masters theses covered selectively including some full text. Citations for dissertations from 1980 include 350-word abstracts, while masters' theses from 1988 have 150-word abstracts. Selectively covers dissertations from Great Britain and other European universities for recent years. In addition to this database, the full text of the majority of UNC theses and dissertations from 2006, and all beginning in 2008, are freely available electronically from the UNC Library: Dissertations | Theses more... less... Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users. Coverage: 1861 to present
• Dissertations & Theses @ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Dissertations & Theses@University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill provides indexing and some full text access to dissertations completed here at Chapel Hill and submitted to the Dissertations Abstracts database. more... less... Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users. Coverage: 1920s to present

Most UNC dissertations are in the UNC-CH catalog. If searching for a known author or title, searching the  online catalog  is the most efficient way to search: A sample search: title =  "Chaucer's relative constructions"

You can also use the  Boolean Search  feature of the  Advanced UNC-CH Catalog  to perform Keyword Searches for UNC dissertations.

Conducting a Keyword Search for Dissertations

Although most dissertations are in the online catalog, dissertations before 1964 have no subject headings. Searching for key words in the titles will help get at "subjects" for these items. Do not use ONLY standard LC Subject Headings. Be creative with appropriate key words, synonyms, and variants as well.

You will be searching for "thesis phd or thesis ph d" , which will appear as a note in the catalog record. You can use subject headings, title words, an author's last name, etc., and add "and thesis phd or thesis ph d". It is advisable to enter the "phd" both ways because of spacing variations. A sample search:

shakespeare and (thesis phd or thesis ph d) and "north carolina"

However, as noted above, Dissertations & Theses is the most efficient way to search for dissertations on a topic. If you do search for dissertations in the online catalog, you should add  "and north carolina" to try and weed out dissertations from other schools, but this can lead to false drops and omissions.

Finding Theses

While some theses may be found in Dissertations & Theses , thesis coverage is not nearly as comprehensive as dissertation coverage in that database.

Most UNC theses are in the UNC-CH catalog. If searching for a known author or title, searching the online catalog is the most efficient way to search. A sample search: title = Spenser and the diction of allegory : some uses of wordplay in the Faerie Queene

The online catalog does not offer an easy way to limit a subject search to master's theses. There is no group subject heading or subheading like "theses" for them. You can also use the Boolean Search feature of the Advanced UNC-CH Catalog to perform Keyword Searches for UNC theses.

Conducting a Keyword Search for Theses

Although most theses are in the online catalog, theses both before 1967 and after around 1990 have no subject headings. Searching for key words in the titles will help get at "subjects" for these items. Do not use ONLY standard LC Subject Headings. Be creative with appropriate key words, synonyms, and variants as well.

You will be searching for "thesis ma" or "thesis m a," which will appear as a note in the catalog record. You can use subject headings, title words, an author's last name, etc., and add "and thesis ma or thesis m a". It is advisable to enter the "ma" both ways because of spacing variations. A sample search:

shakespeare and (thesis ma or thesis m a) and "north carolina"

Finding Master's Papers

Some departments do not have an official thesis but instead require a major paper or report. These papers and reports are not in Davis Library or, for the most part, in the North Carolina Collection or the Libraries' online catalog. Some departments and departmental libraries have online lists. Contact the department, or, if there is one, the departmental library for information.

Environmental Sciences and Engineering Master's level students in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering can opt for one of four tracks: a Master of Science degree, which requires a thesis; and the Master of Science in Public Health, Master of Public Health, and Master of Science in Environmental Engineering, which require a technical report. Theses are uploaded as digital copies to the Graduate School, and technical reports are uploaded to the Carolina Digital Repository.

Public Administration Copies of the Master of Public Administration papers from 1976-1994 are in the North Carolina Collection . For copies of papers completed since 1994, contact the Manager of the Master of Public Administration Program (Knapp-Sanders Bldg., CB# 3330, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3330, Phone: 919-966-5381, Fax: 919-962-0654, Email Contact Form ).

UNC-Chapel Hill Master's Paper Collection Full-text copies of master's papers can be found:

• UNC-Chapel Hill Master's Paper Collection more... less... Access: No restrictions.

This database contains papers completed for the following departments:

• City & Regional Planning: Coverage from May 2002 - present
• Information & Library Science: Coverage from May 1999 - present*
• Maternal & Child Health: Coverage from December 2010 - present
• Public Health & Public Health Leadership: Coverage from August 2011 - present

*Print copies from 1963 - present are available in the  SILS Library .

Finding Undergraduate Honors Theses

Undergraduate Honors Theses (through 2012) are in the North Carolina Collection. They can be found using the card catalog located in that collection or the online catalog. They do not have subject headings unless they are about North Carolina. They do not circulate. Some departmental libraries also have copies but these are also non-circulating. To determine if a copy of an honors thesis can be obtained, contact the North Carolina Collection .

Electronic Submission of Senior Honors Theses:

Beginning in Fall 2013, students will no longer submit paper copies of their senior honors theses for archiving in the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library. Instead, they will submit theses electronically via the Carolina Digital Repository (CDR). Submissions are due by the last day of class in the semester in which students complete their theses. The University Library will catalog electronic theses and make them available to the public.

To find Undergraduate Honors Theses in the catalog you can also use the Boolean Search feature of the Advanced UNC-CH Catalog to perform Keyword Searches. Do a keyword search for "honors essay" (with quotation marks) and then limit your search results to "North Carolina Collection" using the "Location" category in the left-hand column. A sample search: shakespeare and "honors essay" – then limit to North Carolina Collection Remember that Honors Theses lack subject indexing, so Keyword principally searches title and author fields. A thesis about Shakespeare may not have Shakespeare in the title. You can also do a catalog search for a specific title or author if known. A sample search: title = Broken emblems : allusion, irony, and utility in David Jones' In parenthesis

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• Last Updated: May 16, 2023 12:44 PM
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UMaine News

Meet the 2024 Outstanding Graduating Students 

Twelve undergraduates have been named 2024 Outstanding Graduating Students at the University of Maine. Read their short biographies:

Tobey Crawford Connor

Tobey Crawford Connor of Sullivan, Maine, is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the Division of Lifelong Learning. She is a university studies major in the Maine studies track. Connor completed an internship in 2022 with the Sullivan-Sorrento Historical Society, which led to her part-time job as communications coordinator for the organization. Her academic research focuses on Downeast Acadia prior to New England settlement in 1760, including facets of Passamaquoddy life and culture through both occupations. She is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Alpha Sigma Lambda honor societies. Connor plans to continue her UMaine education as a graduate student in the history department. She will continue her research on Downeast Maine and the Borderlands, which will complement her work at the historical society and within her community. 

A full Q&A with Connor is online.

Devin Frazer

Devin Frazer of Danbury, New Hampshire, is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the Maine College of Engineering and Computing. He is a mechanical engineering technology major with a minor in naval science. He was awarded the Navy ROTC 4-year National Scholarship and has received the Navy ROTC Academic Excellence Award. Most recently, he received the Marine Corps Association’s Honor Graduate award and the Military Officers Association of America ROTC award. During his time at the University of Maine, he designed, conducted and analyzed remotely conducted experiments for the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. He has held the positions of platoon sergeant, assistant operations officer, platoon commander and battalion commanding officer in the ROTC. Upon graduation, he will be commissioned into the United States Navy as a submarine officer.

A full Q&A with Frazer is available online.

Chappy Hall

Chappy Hall of Brunswick, Maine, is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the Honors College. Hall is a history major who pursued his passion for music by playing the trombone in several campus musical groups. In addition to participating in the UMaine Jazz Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Concert Band, he joined several campus clubs, was inducted into three honors societies and presented at academic conferences on topics including Protestant Christianity’s role in Afro-British advancement. His research and studies while a student expanded his perspective and understanding of social issues, unconscious biases and the importance of diversity. In fall 2023, Hall was named one of four McGillicuddy Humanities Center undergraduate research fellows and completed a project for his honors thesis titled “Playing History: How Video Games Can Change The Way We Understand the Past.” Hall plans to pursue a graduate degree in French or European history after spending time working and making music.  

A full Q&A with Hall is available online.

Morgan Inman

Morgan Inman of Wales, Maine, is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Education and Human Development. She is an elementary education major with a concentration in mathematics and a minor in business administration. During her time at UMaine, she produced a thesis for the Honors College titled “Sexuality Education In Central Maine High Schools: What’s Happening Now and What’s Changed In Two Decades.” The qualitative study examined sex education in central Maine high schools by interviewing teachers in those schools. Inman has also been involved with a local after-school and summer camp program for three years, acting as an assistant director for the program for the last two years. She is a Maine Top Scholar and recipient of the Galen Cole Family Foundation Teaching Scholarship. After graduating, Inman plans to enter the education field as a classroom teacher and pursue a master’s degree.

A full Q&A with Inman is available online.

Ida Kuoppala

Ida Kuoppala of Pedersöre , Finland is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the College of Education and Human Development. She is a kinesiology and physical education major with a concentration in teaching and coaching, and a member of the Women’s Ice Hockey team. A standout forward, Kuoppala was named to the All-USCHO Rookie Team her first year at UMaine in the 2019-2020 season. In her fifth and final season, she served as the assistant team captain and was named first team all-star and scoring champion. Pushed by her coaches to succeed as a hockey player and academic, Kuoppala researched how the amount of physical activity impacts academic performance in a comparison between the American and Finnish school systems. She plans to play hockey professionally in the U.S. or Europe.

A full Q&A with Kuoppala is available online.

Paige McHatten

Paige McHatten of Mapleton, Maine, is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She is an English and journalism double major with a minor in media studies and a concentration in creative writing. While at UMaine, she was a McGillicuddy Humanities Center Undergraduate Fellow, completing a collection of poetry titled “GOODNESS,” which revolves around relationships between women. She has also served as a tutor in the Writing Center; a journalism intern for UMaine’s radio station, WMEB 91.9 FM; and as editor of the university’s undergraduate literary magazine, “The Open Field.” After graduating, she will pursue a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. She hopes to publish a full-length collection of fiction and poetry while continuing to develop her skills as a writer, teacher and learner. 

A full Q&A with McHatten is available online.

Elise Morphy

Elise Morphy of Regina, Saskatchewan, is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences. She is majoring in biology, with a concentration in pre-medical studies and a minor in chemistry. Morphy has played for the Women’s Ice Hockey team since she was a first-year student in 2020 and served as captain during the 2023–24 season. An enthusiastic student-athlete, she has volunteered with the team’s skill development program for young, local female hockey players. Her other activities on and off campus included tutoring student-athletes through UMaine Academic Support Services, volunteering with Dirigo Pines and working for the UMaine BARD Institute as a research assistant. After graduation, Morphy plans to continue learning at UMaine through a graduate study program and playing for the Women’s Ice Hockey team for a fifth and final year. She is a three-time recipient of the Highest GPA Award from the School of Biology and Ecology. 

A full Q&A with Morphy is available online.

Kian Murray

Kian Murray of Brunswick, Maine is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the Maine Business School. Murray is triple-majoring in business administration in marketing, finance and sport management; and has a dual degree in psychology with an abnormal/social concentration. Creating positive memories at UMaine by striving to find the fun moments in and out of the classroom has been at the forefront of his experience. For three years, Murray worked for UMaine Athletics in various roles, including as a sports marketing assistant, sports marketing administrative aid and student ticketing supervisor. There, he discovered his love for the sports community and desire to work directly with people. The social, volunteer and fundraising chair for Club Soccer and a two-time champion in intramural soccer, Murray was introduced to opportunities with UMaine Athletics after he participated in a home football game contest and successfully kicked three field goals. He plans to move to Boston with several other Black Bear graduates to start a career in sports or finance. 

A full Q&A with Murray is available online.

Victor Ostman

Victor Ostman of Danderyd, Sweden is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the Maine Business School. He is double-majoring in business administration in finance and in sport management, and is a member of the Men’s Ice Hockey team. Before joining UMaine in 2020, Ostman played in the U.S. Hockey League for the Chicago Steel. As a student, he has welcomed the opportunity to gain an education while devoting his time to UMaine’s top-competing DI team. Ostman has received several weekly and monthly honorable mentions as a goaltender, as well as having been named a finalist for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the nation’s top goaltender. In his third season with the team, he was also named the Hockey East Second Team All-Star. Ostman plans to play ice hockey professionally for as long as he is able, then work in sports or finance.

A full Q&A with Ostman is available online.

Jiyeon Park

Jiyeon Park of Incheon, South Korea, is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the Maine College of Engineering and Computing. Park, who is majoring in electrical engineering, enrolled at UMaine in fall 2022 after graduating from Eastern Maine Community College. During her senior year, she helped upgrade the paper-making equipment at UMaine’s Process Development Center. She also served as a teaching assistant in spring 2023 and has volunteered at various events during her college career, including engineering career fairs and an engineering expo. In the summer 2023, she interned with RLC Engineering and plans to continue working for the company alongside pursuit of a graduate degree at UMaine. During her time at UMaine, she received the International Presidential Scholarship and an electrical engineering scholarship. 

A full Q&A with Park is available online.

Zoe Pavlik of Durham, New Hampshire, is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences. She is a double major in ecology and environmental science and wildlife ecology. During her time at the University of Maine, she completed an honors thesis titled “Does urbanization surrounding stopping sites affect migratory behavior in American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)?” Pavlik has also been involved with research involving rockweed food webs and insect biomechanics. She is a New England Outdoor Writers Association scholarship recipient and received the Ashman/Demeritt scholarship. After graduating, Pavlik plans to explore employment as a field tech and gain additional research experience. 

A full Q&A with Pavlik is available online.

Ece Yeldan of Kadıköy, Istanbul, is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the Honors College. She is majoring in wildlife ecology and minoring in renewable energy, economics and policy. Through her studies, Yeldan aimed to broaden her cultural perspective on conservation and exposure to different environments, which was enriched by her study abroad program in Tanzania where she learned about conservation of large African carnivores. Her honors thesis titled “Understanding the Connection Between Water, Fish and PFAS Concentration: Implications of Fish Diet and Species Specific Variability,” prepared and encouraged Yeldan to continue wildlife conservation research. During her time at UMaine, she served as president of the International Student Association, helping organize events for international students and participating in the International Dance Festival, Culturefest and International SpringFest. She plans to continue her education at the University of Glasgow in a Master of Science program in conservation management of African ecosystems and hopes to later transition into African carnivore conservation.

A full Q&A with Yeldan is available online.

Contact: Shelby Hartin, [email protected]

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U.S. News Ranks UT Austin Computer Science Among Best in Graduate Program Rankings

Submitted by Staci R Norman on Tue, 04/09/2024 - 11:00am

The 2024-2025 rankings tout computer science at The University of Texas at Austin as among the seven best nationally.

The UT Computer Science graduate program continues to be recognized as a  top 10 program in the nation , as well as among the top 5 public schools and the best in Texas, according to U.S. News & World Report’s partial release of its most recent “Best Graduate Schools”  released today. The magazine ranks programs in alternating years.

UT Computer Science ranks 7th nationally, tied with Georgia Tech and the University of Washington. Four “ specialties ,” or areas of research, at UTCS also rank in the top ten, with Programming Languages coming in 7th, Theory ranked 8th, Artificial Intelligence ranked 9th, and Systems ranked 10th.

U.S. News has delayed release of rankings in additional areas in which The University of Texas at Austin has historically achieved No. 1 and top 10 rankings. Even with the partial release of the graduate rankings, UT maintained its top 10 spot for five colleges and schools. Overall, the University has 42 graduate schools and specialty programs ranked in the top 10 when combined with previous years.

“Our talent is what puts UT at the leading edge of discovery in AI and robotics, life sciences, population research, and many other disciplines that are at the forefront of solving many of the world’s most pressing problems and bettering society,” said President Jay Hartzell. 

U.S. News & World Report’s graduate rankings, which are published separately from the yearly ranking of undergraduate programs, are considered the gold standard of graduate and professional rankings. They are based on surveys of academic leaders and, for select programs, additional quantitative measures including placement test scores, student/faculty ratios, research expenditures, salary by profession and job placement success.

The publication updates some of its specialty rankings each year and republishes the most recent rankings in other areas.

Read the full UT News Release .

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QS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 11 subjects for 2024

The institute also ranks second in five subject areas..

QS World University Rankings has placed MIT in the No. 1 spot in 11 subject areas for 2024, the organization announced today.

The Institute received a No. 1 ranking in the following QS subject areas: Chemical Engineering; Civil and Structural Engineering; Computer Science and Information Systems; Data Science and Artificial Intelligence; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Linguistics; Materials Science; Mechanical, Aeronautical, and Manufacturing Engineering; Mathematics; Physics and Astronomy; and Statistics and Operational Research.

MIT also placed second in five subject areas: Accounting and Finance; Architecture/Built Environment; Biological Sciences; Chemistry; and Economics and Econometrics.

For 2024, universities were evaluated in 55 specific subjects and five broader subject areas. MIT was ranked No. 1 in the broader subject area of Engineering and Technology and No. 2 in Natural Sciences.

Quacquarelli Symonds Limited subject rankings, published annually, are designed to help prospective students find the leading schools in their field of interest. Rankings are based on research quality and accomplishments, academic reputation, and graduate employment.

MIT has been ranked as the No. 1 university in the world by QS World University Rankings for 12 straight years.

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• Chung, Govindaraju, Murphy to receive UB President’s Medal

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Chung, Govindaraju, Murphy to receive UB President’s Medal

The UB President's Medal recognizes extraordinary service to the university.

UBNOW STAFF

Published April 11, 2024

UB faculty members Deborah Duen Ling Chung, Venu Govindaraju and Timothy Murphy are this year’s recipients of the UB President’s Medal in recognition of extraordinary service to the university.

Alumnus James Marks, a former executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former U.S. assistant surgeon general, will receive a SUNY honorary degree.

There is no recipient this year for the Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal.

The UB President’s Medal, first presented in 1990, recognizes “outstanding scholarly or artistic achievements, humanitarian acts, contributions of time or treasure, exemplary leadership or any other major contribution to the development of the University at Buffalo and the quality of life in the UB community.”

The President’s Medal will be presented to Chung, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and to Govindaraju, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and vice president for research and economic development, during commencement ceremonies for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Govindaraju will receive the medal at the graduate commencement at 9 a.m. May 18; Chung will receive the award later that day at the undergraduate ceremony set for 5 p.m.

Murphy, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology; senior associate dean for clinical and translational research in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; and director of UB’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute, will receive his medal at a date as yet to be determined.

A prolific scholar with over 600 peer-reviewed journal publications, Deborah Duen Ling Chung specializes in materials science and engineering, particularly smart materials, multifunctional structural materials, concrete, thermal management, battery electrode materials, carbon fibers and nanofibers, composite materials and their interfaces, electronic packaging materials, electromagnetic interference shielding materials, and vibration damping materials.

She was named a fellow last year of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest scholarly societies in the United States.

A UB faculty member since 1986, Chung is the recipient of numerous other honors, including the Charles E. Pettinos Award from the American Carbon Society, the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, the SUNY Outstanding Inventor Award, an honorary doctorate from the University of Alicante and the Hsun Lee Award, jointly awarded by Institute of Metal Research (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science.

According to the 2022 ranking from Stanford University that examined 315,721 researchers (living and deceased) in the field of materials research, Chung is ranked No. 13 overall, No. 10 among those who are living and No. 1 among females.

Chung is a dedicated teacher, having mentored nearly 40 PhD graduates and received the Teacher of the Year award from the engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi. The books that she has authored include “Functional Materials,” “Carbon Materials” and “Composite Materials.” Due to her interest in inspiring young people to pursue science careers, she is the editor of the book series “The Road to Scientific Success: Inspiring Life Stories of Prominent Researchers.”

Chung is a fellow of The American Carbon Society and of ASM (the former American Society for Metals) International. She is also an affiliate faculty member with UB’s RENEW Institute, a university-wide, multidisciplinary research institute that focuses on complex energy and environmental issues, as well as the social and economic issues with which they are connected.

Venu Govindaraju  established UB’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, and the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education, and is founding director of the Center for Unified Biometrics and Sensors at UB.

An internationally known authority in artificial intelligence (AI), Govindaraju is credited with major conceptual and practical advances, with six books, six patents and close to 500 refereed publications.

He has received numerous peer honors and is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) (2015), Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) (2013), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2010), Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) (2009), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (2006), and the International Association of Pattern Recognition (IAPR) (2004). He received the Outstanding Achievements Award from the International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition (IAPR/ICDAR) (2015) and the IEEE Technical Achievement Award (2010).

Govindaraju’s seminal work in handwriting recognition was at the core of the first handwritten address interpretation system used by the U.S. Postal Service. He has active and continuous grant awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Throughout his 25-year career, he has secured more than $95 million in sponsored funding from various federal and state agencies, as well as industry, including the recent $20 million grant from the NSF and the Institute of Education Sciences to establish the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education at UB.

Govindaraju earned his bachelor’s degree with honors from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur — from which he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award (2014) — and PhD from UB. In a teaching career spanning more than two decades, he has graduated 44 doctoral students and 17 master’s students as their primary thesis adviser. Govindaraju also received the Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award (2016) from UB.

An internationally recognized expert in respiratory infections, Timothy Murphy has transformed understanding of bacterial infections in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and vaccine development for otitis media (ear infections) and COPD. He has been funded continuously by the National Institutes of Health for 40 years, and his work has resulted in 230 publications, 13 patents and chapters in the major textbooks of medicine, pediatrics and infectious diseases.

Murphy is founding director of the UB Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), which has been funded by the NIH since 2015. The CTSI advances research throughout UB and with its partners to reduce health disparities and improve health in our community and nation. The CTSI team of some 40 faculty and 18 staff has catalyzed a transformation of the clinical and translational research environment through education and training, streamlining clinical research, advancing data science, providing expertise to engage our entire community in clinical research and creating genuine partnerships with influential community partners.

In 2019, UB launched the Community Health Equity Research Institute under Murphy’s leadership. The institute works closely with community partners and engages faculty from all 12 UB schools to support research that addresses the root causes of health disparities, while developing and testing solutions to the social determinants of health that cause disparities.

In response to a national shortage of clinician scientists, Murphy directs a T35 NIH training grant — now funded for 12 years — that introduces medical and pharmacy students to careers as clinician scientists. The goal is to increase the shrinking number of clinician scientists in the U.S. biomedical research workforce, with an emphasis on recruiting individuals from underrepresented groups.

A pioneer in public health and health equity, and a global leader in child and maternal health, health promotion and chronic disease prevention, James Marks has dedicated his career to reducing health disparities and improving access to quality health care.

A 1973 graduate of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, he will receive a SUNY honorary degree in science at the Jacobs School’s commencement on April 26.

 At the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Marks oversaw all grantmaking, research and communications activities for the nation’s largest philanthropy dedicated solely to health. He led efforts to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic, rank the health of all U.S. counties and, with the Federal Reserve, bring together the fields of community development and public health.

Before joining the RWJF, Marks held important leadership roles in public health, including serving as assistant surgeon general and director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Throughout his tenure, Marks developed and advanced systematic ways to detect and prevent chronic diseases, monitor their major risk factors, and improve reproductive and infant health.

A public health leader for more than 45 years and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Marks is an accomplished scholar and highly sought-out expert who has received numerous state and federal awards, and served on boards and committees for national public health organizations.

As a UB alumnus, Marks has remained deeply connected with his alma mater, serving as an invited speaker and meeting with aspiring medical students. In 2018, Marks and his wife, Judi, BA ’69, M.Ed. ’72, created the James and Judith Marks Family Scholarship Fund, which provides financial support to students in the Jacobs School.