Biological Physics Program

Honors Program

Graduation with honors requires completion of a senior research thesis. Students must enroll in BIPH 99d during their senior year to carry out a research project. Students wishing to join the honors program should apply to the honors adviser in the program during the spring of their junior year.

BIPH 99D Requirements

  1. A committee of two faculty will supervise the work.
  2. A written thesis proposal must be prepared at the beginning of the first semester and be approved by the committee and the advising coordinator prior to registration for the course.
  3. A midyear evaluation will be done at the end of the first semester and a report submitted to the advising coordinator. Students judged to have made insufficient progress will not be permitted to continue in the second semester.
  4. A thesis in a department-approved format must be submitted to the committee by the last day of classes of the second semester. At a minimum, the thesis must have a title page, a signature page, an abstract, description of the work performed and the conclusions reached, and references.
  5. Students must defend their thesis during a 30-minute public oral examination by the end of the final examination period of the second semester.
  6. Written evaluations of the thesis and the defense must be submitted by the committee to the advising coordinator by the Friday preceding the department degree meeting.
  7. The level of distinction will be determined from evaluation of both the thesis and the student's academic record.
  8. Students wishing to graduate in seven semesters must start their thesis research in the spring semester of their junior year, and follow the same rules moved forward one semester.
  9. The required forms for items (2), (3), and (6) are available from the Physics Department website, as is a sample thesis document.