Department of Biology

BIOL 99: Senior Research and Senior Honors in Biology

2023-2024 Information

To enroll in BIOL 99A for Fall semester: Complete the 99 Petition online no later than Sept 6, 2023. The biology department will send you further instructions so you can register in BIOL 99 if the petition is complete, your faculty research sponsor has filled their separate form, and project requirements have been met. Please note that you must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher in the Biology Major in order for you to be eligible to enroll in Honors, but not to do senior research. We will be checking GPAs to determine eligibility, based on requirements for the BA degree.

To enroll in BIOL 99b for Spring semester: if you enrolled in BIOL 99a in the previous Fall, you do not need to submit the petition again but you must email the Biology Department at biology@brandeis.edu no later than Jan. 17, 2024 that you wish to enroll in BIOL 99b. You will not be able to register for 99b until you turn in your final paper for 99a and receive a grade. If you are enrolling in BIOL 99 for the first time (e.g., you did BIOL 93 in the Fall), you must complete the online 99 Petition no later than Jan 13, 2024. The biology department will send you further instructions so you can register in BIOL 99 if the petition is complete, your faculty research sponsor has filled their separate form, and project requirements have been met.

BIOL 99: Senior Research and Senior Honors in Biology

The Senior Research Program provides an opportunity for students concentrating in Biology to do a two-semester-long independent research project during their senior year and to receive both course and elective credit for that research. Research must ask and attempt to answer a novel question in biology, with the goal of contributing to biological knowledge. Any senior concentrating in Biology regardless of GPA can participate in Senior Research (BIOL 99) and ask to be considered for Senior Honors (see BIOL 99 petition). Eligibility for honors is determined by the student's research performance and final academic record.

Accessing the BIOL 99 Application

The BIOL 99 petition is a FileMaker application that uses your UNET ID and password. You will need to connect to this application if on-campus or via VPN if off-campus.

Important Notes

  • You will need your Student ID.
  • Log in with your Brandeis ID (the first part of your email) and your password.
  • Use a non-Firefox browser (Safari, Chrome or IE/Edge are all fine).
  • Connect from on campus (or use VPN first, see VPN Instructions for instructions to install Junos Pulse, not a one time connection).
  • Please be patient – the application saves frequently so that you don't lose anything, but it makes it a little slow.