Undergraduate majors in biology with a grade point average of at least 3.3 for all course may apply for admission to the Honor Program in Biology. Each student accepted into the program must prepare and submit to the director of the program 2 copies of a written Honors Thesis representing at least one academic year's research efforts before the last day of classes of the senior year. The thesis should bear a signature of approval by the faculty advisor. Students are automatically entered in competition for the Outstanding Honors Student Award given annually by the Department. Departmental honors will be awarded on the basis of the thesis submission and defense and the maintenance of a 3.3 average in all courses at graduation.
Honors students are still responsible for fulfilling all requirements of the departmental major.
A key step in pursuing the honors option is finding a faculty member to sponsor your research project. Because of the rather involved nature of most research topics, a good timetable would be to define the research problem with an advising faculty member no later than spring of the junior year and then begin the research during the summer. Writing and analysis should probably begin by the middle of the next winter quarter in order to meet the spring deadlines for submission of the undergraduate thesis. Although many of our biology undergraduates enroll in special problems courses to gain research experience, our honors option is underutilized. Participating in the honors program can be especially useful for students interested in graduate and professional schools after receiving their B.Sc. degree.