honours thesis student

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.

• Search UNH.edu
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Commonly Searched Items:

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All Honors Students end their program with an Honors Thesis: a sustained, independent research project in a student’s field of study. Your thesis must count for at least 4 credits (some majors require that the thesis be completed over 2 semesters, and some require more than 4 credits). The thesis is an opportunity to work on unique research under the guidance of a faculty advisor. It often provides a writing sample for graduate school, and is also something you can share with employers to show what kind of work you can do. 

What is an Honors thesis?

Most of your work in college involves learning information and ideas generated by other people. When you write a thesis, you are engaging with previous work, but also adding new knowledge to your field. That means you have to know what's already been done--what counts as established knowledge; what's the current state of research; what methods and kinds of evidence are acceptable; what debates are going on. (Usually, you'll recount that knowledge in a review of the literature.) Then, you need to form a research question that you can answer given your available skills, resources, and time  (so, not "What is love?" but "How are ideas about love different between college freshmen and seniors?"). With your advisor, you'll plan the method you will use to answer it, which might involve lab work, field work, surveys, interviews, secondary research, textual analysis, or something else--it will depend upon your question and your field. Once your research is carried out, you'll write a substantial paper (usually 20-50 pages) according to the standards of your field.

What do theses look like?

The exact structure will vary by discipline, and your thesis advisor should provide you with an outline. As a rough guideline, we would expect to see something like the following:

1. Introduction 2. Review of the literature 3. Methods 4. Results 5. Analysis 6. Conclusion 7. Bibliography or works cited

In 2012 we began digitally archiving Honors theses. Students are encouraged to peruse the Honors Thesis Repository to see what past students' work has looked like. Use the link below and type your major in the search field on the left to find relevant examples. Older Honors theses are available in the Special Collections & Archives department at Dimond Library. 

Browse Previous Theses

Will my thesis count as my capstone?

Most majors accept an Honors Thesis as fulfilling the Capstone requirement. However, there are exceptions. In some majors, the thesis counts as a major elective, and in a few, it is an elective that does not fulfill major requirements. Your major advisor and your Honors advisor can help you figure out how your thesis will count. Please note that while in many majors the thesis counts as the capstone, the converse does not necessarily apply. There are many capstone experiences that do not take the form of an Honors thesis. 

Can I do a poster and presentation for my thesis?

No. While you do need to present your thesis (see below), a poster and presentation are not a thesis. 

How do I choose my thesis advisor?

The best thesis advisor is an experienced researcher, familiar with disciplinary standards for research and writing, with expertise in your area of interest. You might connect with a thesis advisor during Honors-in-Major coursework, but Honors Liaisons  can assist students who are having trouble identifying an advisor. You should approach and confirm your thesis advisor before the semester in which your research will begin.

What if I need funds for my research?

The  Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research  offers research grants, including summer support. During the academic year, students registered in credit-bearing thesis courses may apply for an  Undergraduate Research Award for up to $600 in research expenses (no stipend).  Students who are not otherwise registered in a credit-bearing course for their thesis research may enroll in INCO 790: Advanced Research Experience, which offers up to $200 for research expenses.

What if I need research materials for a lengthy period?

No problem! Honors Students can access Extended Time borrowing privileges at Dimond Library, which are otherwise reserved for faculty and graduate students. Email [email protected] with note requesting “extended borrowing privileges” and we'll work with the Library to extend your privileges.

Can I get support to stay on track?

Absolutely! Thesis-writers have an opportunity to join a support group during the challenging and sometimes isolating period of writing a thesis. Learn more about thesis support here .

When should I complete my thesis?

Register for a Senior Honors Thesis course (often numbered 799) in the spring and/or fall of your Senior year.

This “course” is an independent study, overseen by your Thesis Advisor. Your advisor sets the standards, due dates, and grades for your project. It must earn at least a B in order to qualify for Honors.

What happens with my completed thesis?

Present your thesis.

All students must publicly present their research prior to graduation. Many present at the  Undergraduate Research Conference  in April; other departmentally-approved public events are also acceptable.

Publish your thesis:

Honors students are asked to make their thesis papers available on  scholars.unh.edu/honors/ . This creates a resource for future students and other researchers, and also helps students professionalize their online personas.

These theses are publicly available online. If a student or their advisor prefers not to make the work available, they may upload an abstract and/or excerpts from the work instead.

Students may also publish research in  Inquiry , UNH's undergraduate research journal.

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Honors Thesis Guide

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An honors thesis is required of all students graduating with any level of Latin honors. It is an excellent opportunity for undergraduates to define and investigate a topic in depth, and to complete an extended written reflection of their results & understanding. The work leading to the thesis is excellent preparation for graduate & professional school or the workplace.

• Sample timeline
• Requirements and evaluation criteria
• Supervision and approval
• Style and formatting
• Submitting your thesis
• Submitting to the Digital Conservancy

Thesis Database

The thesis database is a searchable collection of over 6,000 theses, with direct access to more than 4,000 full-text theses in PDF format. The database—fully searchable by discipline, keyword, level of Latin Honors, and more—is available for student use in the UHP Office, 8am–4:30pm, Monday–Friday.

Thesis Forms & Documents

• Thesis Title Page template
• Thesis work is reported using the "Thesis Proposal" and "Thesis Completion"  WorkflowGen processes found in the Honors Reporting Center.
• Summer Research Opportunities
• Global Seminars and LAC Seminars
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Department of Economics

Honors thesis.

• Undergraduate

Junior year is the time to start thinking about eligibility requirements, topics of interest, and potential advisors for an honors thesis.

An Honors Info Session is held each spring to answer junior’s questions about their senior year, and interested students must fill out the  honors thesis form  by the end of junior year.

We strongly encourage students to write an honors thesis. This is very valuable for students interested in graduate school or careers requiring independent research skills, as well as for students interested in tying together their academic experience with an in-depth investigation of one topic.

More than a good course paper

An honors thesis is more than a good course paper. It must represent a substantial effort in research and exposition. A thesis must be an original contribution to knowledge, beyond a simple replication exercise. The department does not specify page lengths, methods, or topics. Instead, an honors thesis candidate should establish his or her goals – and a timeline to meet those goals – in an understanding with the thesis advisor. To see the range of topics and methods prior students have pursued, take a look at  examples of past honor theses here  or by visiting the academic office in person. To find a faculty advisor who would be a good match for your topic of interest, see their research questions  here. 

Requirements

To graduate with honors, students must satisfy the following requirements  by the   end of junior year ,

• Complete at least 70% of the courses required for the concentration.
• Have earned a grade of “A” or “S with distinction” in at least 70% of grades earned in the economics concentration, or 50% in the joint concentrations in APMA-Econ, CS-Econ, and Math-Econ (excluding courses transferred to Brown without a grade, and those taken Spring 2020).
• Economics Concentrators  must find a faculty thesis advisor in the economics department.
• Joint Concentrators  must find a primary faculty thesis advisor in either economics or the partner department. CS-Econ concentrators must have a secondary reader in the other department by the fall of senior year. APMA-Econ and Math-Econ do not require a secondary reader, unless the primary advisor deems it necessary. Joint concentrators need to satisfy the honors requirements of the economics department if their thesis advisor is in the economics department; while they need to satisfy the honors requirements of the partner department if their thesis advisor is in the partner department.

During senior year , thesis writers must:

• Enroll in ECON 1960 in the fall & spring semesters (Note that 1960 does not count as a 1000-level elective for your concentration). A requirement of ECON 1960 will be attendance at one of two lab sessions each week. 
• Submit a thesis proposal to both your thesis advisor and the Undergraduate Programs Coordinator Kelsey Thorpe, [email protected]  (see below for due date).
• Submit their work in progress to their thesis advisor and Kelsey (see below for due date).
• Depending on the nature of the thesis work, the thesis adviser may require the student to successfully complete one or more courses from among the  data methods ,  mathematical economics  and/or  financial economics  course groups in the fall of senior year, if they have not already done so.
• Complete an honors thesis by the deadline agreed upon with their primary advisor and obtain the final approval of their advisor(s) (see below for due date).
• Thesis writers are encouraged, but not required, to participate in the departmental Honors Thesis Presentation session held in May, with a brief presentation of their work and findings.

For students graduating  Spring 2024 :

• Proposal - September 18, 2023
• Work in Progress - December 18, 2023
• Final Draft - April 19, 2024

For students graduating in  Fall 2024*:

• Proposal - February 2, 2024
• Work in Progress - April 25, 2024
• Final Draft - December 10, 2024

For students graduating  Spring 2025 :

• Proposal - September 16, 2024
• Work in Progress - December 16, 2024
• Final Draft - April 18, 2025

For students graduating  Fall 2025 *:

• Proposal - February 7, 2025
• Work in Progress - April 24, 2025
• Final Draft - December 9, 2025

*Note that for the Requirements listed above, "by end of senior year" means by the "end of Fall semester 2023" for Fall 2024 graduates and "end of Fall semester 2024" for Fall 2025 graduates.

More information

For students interested in finding out more, please attend the information session on honors theses that will be given in the middle of every spring semester. For students interested in undertaking research, but not wanting to pursue honors, the department offers  senior capstone options .

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] ).  

Honours Thesis Handbook

This handbook,  effective September 1, 2016 , is the course outline for PSYCH 499A/B/C (Honours Thesis) from Fall 2016 and onward.

Table of contents

• What is an honours thesis ?
• Who should do an honours thesis ?

Prerequisites for admission to PSYCH 499

Selecting a topic for the honours thesis, finding a thesis supervisor.

• Research interests of the Psychology faculty and recent honours thesis supervised

Class enrolment for PSYCH 499A/B/C

Warnings regarding a decision to discontinue psych 499.

• Course requirements for PSYCH 499A progress report and thesis reviewer nominations
• Course requirements for PSYCH 499B - oral presentation of the thesis proposal

Course requirements for PSYCH 499C - completing the thesis and submitting it for marking

Obtaining ethics clearance for research with human or animal participants, evaluation of the honours thesis, honours thesis award, annual ontario psychology undergraduate thesis conference, avoid academic offences, computing facilities, honours thesis (psych 499a/b/c), what is an honours thesis.

Psychology is a scientific approach to understanding mind and behaviour. Honours Psychology students all learn about the body of knowledge that exists in psychology as well as the scientific procedures for making new discoveries. The honours thesis course (PSYCH 499A/B/C) is an optional course for those who have a strong interest in conducting original research and wish to gain greater experience in research design, data analysis and interpretation.

Students carry out the honours thesis project under the supervision of a faculty member and present the findings in a scholarly paper. An honours thesis can be an empirical research project or more rarely a thesis of a theoretical nature. For an empirical project, the student develops a testable hypothesis and uses scientific procedures to evaluate the hypothesis. For a theoretical project, the student integrates and evaluates existing evidence to offer new interpretations and hypotheses. The difference between the two types of projects is basically the same as the difference between an article in Psychological Review or Psychological Bulletin , and an article in any of the experimental journals. A regular journal article typically reports the result of some empirical investigation and discusses its significance. A Psychological Review paper on the other hand, offers a theoretical contribution (e.g., suggesting a new theoretical approach or a way of revising an old one and showing how the new approach may be tested). A Psychological Bulletin article usually offers a review of an evaluative and integrative character, leading to conclusions and some closure about the state of the issue and future directions for research.

Students who plan to apply for admission to graduate school in psychology are typically advised to do an empirical research project for the honours thesis. Students who choose to do a theoretical paper should discuss their decision with the PSYCH 499 coordinator  (see below) early in the PSYCH 499A term.

The topic of investigation for the honours thesis will be based on a combination of the student's and the supervisor's interests .

Students in year two or three who are considering whether or not they want to do an honours thesis can learn more about what is involved in doing an honours thesis by doing any of the following:

• attending an honours thesis orientation meeting. The meeting is typically the first week of classes each academic term. The official date and time of the meeting will be posted on the PSYCH 499 website .
• attending PSYCH 499B oral presentations by other students. 
• reading a few of the honours thesis samples that are available  online PSYCH 499 SharePoint site  (site only accessible to students currently enrolled in PSYCH 499) or via our Learn shell (only available when enrolled).

In addition to the student's honours thesis supervisor, another resource is the PSYCH 499 course coordinator . The PSYCH 499 coordinator conducts the thesis orientation meeting at the start of each term and is available to discuss any course-related or supervisor-related issues with potential students and enrolled students . If students have questions or concerns regarding the procedures for doing an honours thesis that cannot be answered by their thesis supervisor, they should contact the PSYCH 499 coordinator.

The honours thesis course (PSYCH 499A/B/C) is worth 1.5 units (i.e., 3 term courses). The final numerical grade for the thesis will be recorded for each of PSYCH 499A, 499B, and 499C.

Who should I do an honours thesis?

Honours Psychology majors are not required to do an honours thesis.

Good reasons for doing an honours thesis include:

• An honours thesis is a recommended culmination of the extensive training that honours Psychology majors receive in research methods and data analysis (e.g., PSYCH 291, 292, 389, 390,  492). PSYCH 499 is a good choice for students who have a strong interest in, and commitment to, conducting original research and wish to gain greater experience in research design, data analysis and interpretation.
• An honours degree in Psychology that includes a thesis is typically required for admission to graduate programs in Psychology.
• Thesis supervisors are able to write more meaningful reference letters for students' applications for further studies, scholarships, or employment.

The prerequisites for PSYCH 499 are all of the following:

• enrolment in honours Psychology or make-up Psychology
• successful completion of PSYCH 291, 292, 391, and at least one of: PSYCH 389, 390, 483, 484
• 60% cumulative overall average
• 82% cumulative psychology average

* calendar descriptions as well as course outlines

The course prerequisites for enrolment in PSYCH 499A are strictly enforced because the courses provide essential background for success in PSYCH 499, and it is necessary to restrict the number of students enrolling in PSYCH 499. Appeals to enrol in all 3 of the following courses concurrently will not be accepted:

• Advanced research methods course (PSYCH 389, 390, 483, 484)

In addition to the above formal prerequisites, we assume that all students who are enrolling in PSYCH 499 will have completed at least 4 of the "discipline core courses" (i.e., PSYCH 207, 211, 253, 257, 261) prior to the PSYCH 499A enrolment term.

See " Class enrolment for PSYCH 499A/B/C " below for further details regarding course enrolment, and the PSYCH 499 Application for students without the course prerequisites (e.g., PSYCH average between 81%-81.9%).

The topic of the honours thesis will be based on a combination of the interests of the student and his/her thesis supervisor. One approach for selecting an honours thesis topic is for the student to first find a thesis supervisor who has similar interests to his/her own, and then for the student and the thesis supervisor to develop an honours thesis proposal which compliments the faculty member's current research. Alternatively, some students have more specific research interests and will seek an appropriate thesis supervisor. Students are advised against developing an honours thesis project in too much detail before securing a thesis supervisor.

Review some of the honours thesis titles recently supervised by our faculty members.

See research interests of individual faculty members in the next section.

Each student who enrols in PSYCH 499 must find their own supervisor for his/her honours thesis project. A thesis supervisor must be finalized by the eighth day of classes for the PSYCH 499A term.

Full-time faculty members in the UW Psychology Department, and the four Psychology faculty members at St. Jerome's are all potential thesis supervisors. Think carefully about what you want to tell faculty members about yourself before making contact (think 'foot-in-the-door'). For example, inform a potential supervisor of the following:

• for which school terms you are seeking a thesis supervisor (If not planning to do PSYCH 499 over back-to-back school terms, please explain why, e.g., co-op work term).
• why you are interested in doing an honours thesis
• the program that you are enrolled in (e.g., BA versus BSc, co-op versus regular stream)
• your year of study and target date for graduation
• when you will complete the prerequisites for enrolment in PSYCH 499A
• your cumulative overall and psychology average (highlight improvement if applicable)
• your grades for research methods and statistics courses
• your educational and career goals
• your volunteer/work experience that you have had previously and with whom
• Did you work in his/her lab as a volunteer or paid research assistant?
• Did you take a course with him/her previously?
• Have you read articles that he/she wrote?
• Do his/her interests relate to your interests for studies at the graduate level and/or future employment?
• Were you referred by someone and why?

The search for a thesis supervisor will be easier if you establish rapport during second and third year with faculty members who are potential thesis supervisors. Ways to network with faculty members include the following:

• get involved in the faculty member's lab. See ' Research experience ' on the Psychology undergraduate website for further details
• the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Affairs - currently Stephanie Denison
• faculty members who attended the school(s) you are interested in applying to in the future. See the Psychology Department's Faculty listing for details
• faculty members who have interests that relate to your future plans. See Research interests of faculty members in our department.
• faculty members whose labs you worked or volunteered in
• be an active participant in the class discussions for the advanced research methods courses (PSYCH 389, 390) and honours seminars (PSYCH 453-463).
• enrol in a directed studies course (PSYCH 480-486) where you will receive one-on-one supervision from a faculty member. See the course application form for further details
• read articles that the faculty member has written and discuss the material with him/her
• attend departmental colloquia and divisional seminars where students can engage in discussions with faculty members about the material presented. Postings appear on the right sidebar of the Psychology Department home page

You may find that some faculty members that you approach will have already committed to supervising as many honours thesis projects as they feel able to handle for a given year. Be persistent in your search for a thesis supervisor and do not feel discouraged if you need to approach several (i.e., six or eight) people.

If you are unable to obtain a thesis supervisor, please speak to the PSYCH 499 coordinator .

Faculty members other than the thesis supervisor can also be very useful resources during the course of the thesis project. Feel free to discuss your thesis work with any relevant faculty (or graduate students).

Research interests of the faculty members in the Psychology Department and recent honours theses supervised

For research interests of faculty members please refer to the "Our People" page in the main menu and click on the faculty member's name. You can sort the list by "Name" or "Area of Study". Note that faculty members may not be available to supervise honours theses during sabbatical dates indicated on the web site.

For recent honours theses supervised by individual faculty members please refer to the honours theses supervised website.

Refer to the course enrolment information/instructions on the PSYCH 499 website.

The honours thesis (PSYCH 499A/B/C) is worth 1.5 units (i.e., 3 term courses). Students may not enrol for all of PSYCH 499A/B/C in one term. Students should consult with their thesis supervisor regarding the appropriate class enrolment sequence for PSYCH 499. Students can spread the class enrolment for PSYCH 499A, 499B, and 499C over three terms beginning in the 3B term or over two terms beginning in 4A. Those choosing to do the honours thesis over two terms will enrol in PSYCH 499A/B in 4A and PSYCH 499C in 4B. Alternative sequencing (e.g., 499A/B/C over three terms) should be discussed with the thesis supervisor. Although students can start an honours thesis in any term, the Fall term is typically recommended.

Factors that students should consider when deciding which terms to enrol for PSYCH 499A/B/C:

• When will the prerequisites for PSYCH 499 be completed? For example, Honours Psych & Arts and Business Co-op students will not enrol in PSYCH 499A until the 4A term because the prerequisites for PSYCH 499 won't be completed until the 3B term.
• Will the thesis supervisor be available to supervise the project during the terms that the student proposes to enrol for PSYCH 499A/B/C (e.g., is the supervisor planning a sabbatical leave or to retire)?
• For co-op students, how will the work/school sequence interfere with the project?
• The amount of time necessary to obtain ethics clearance varies depending on the participants required and research design.
• When is the optimal timing for data collection? For example, if PSYCH 101 students will be participants for the study, one has to consider the ratio of PSYCH 101 students to researchers that are available in a given term. The Fall term is typically the best time to collect data from this population, Winter term second best, and the Spring term the poorest.
• What other responsibilities does the student have (e.g., course selections, personal circumstances) in a given term?
• The thesis supervisor requires a sufficient amount of time to get to know the student before he/she is asked to write the student reference letters (e.g., for applications for graduate school, scholarships, or employment).

Details are provided in the next 3 sections regarding the course requirements for each of PSYCH 499A, 499B, and 499C.

Students should be diligent about their responsibilities for the honours thesis. Procrastination leads to delays in firming up the research proposal, doing the oral presentation, obtaining ethics clearance, and beginning data collection. Ultimately procrastination can lead to poor quality work and/or a postponement of graduation.

Students should consult with their thesis supervisor and the Psychology undergraduate advisor before dropping any of PSYCH 499A, 499B, or 499C.

• If a student wants to drop any of PSYCH 499A, 499B, and 499C in the current term, the individual course requests are governed by the same course drop deadlines and penalties (e.g., WD and WF grades) as other courses. Refer to important dates on Quest.
• Dropping PSYCH 499B and/or PSYCH 499C in the current term does not remove PSYCH 499A or PSYCH 499B from earlier terms.
• If a student does not complete the honours thesis, any INC (incomplete) grades for PSYCH 499A/B/C will be converted to FTC (Failure to Complete = 32% in the average calculations). Further, any IP (In Progress) grades for PSYCH 499A/B/C will be converted to FTC (=32%).
• Honours students with INC and/or IP grades will be unable to graduate (e.g., with a General BA in Psych) until those grades are replaced by a final grade(s) (e.g., 32%) and the grade(s) has been factored into the average calculation. In such cases, the student must meet all graduation requirements, including overall average, Psychology average and minimum number of courses required.
• Those who want any grades (e.g., INC, IP, WD, WF, FTC, 32%) for PSYCH 499 removed from their records are advised to submit a petition to the Examinations and Standings Committee. Before doing so, they should consult with the Psychology undergraduate advisor.

Course requirements for PSYCH 499A - progress report and thesis reviewer nominations

Students should attend the honours thesis orientation meeting during the PSYCH 499A term even if they attended a meeting during second or third year. The meeting is usually the first week of classes each academic term. The official date and time will be posted on the PSYCH 499 website . At the meeting, the PSYCH 499 coordinator will describe what is involved in doing an honours thesis and answer questions. Students will also receive information regarding library resources and procedures for obtaining ethics clearance.

Students must report the name of their thesis supervisor to the PSYCH 499 course administrator in the Psychology Undergraduate Office by the eighth day of classes for the PSYCH 499A term. During the PSYCH 499A term, students must

• conduct background research on the thesis topic (e.g., formulate a research question, review relevant literature, formulate major hypotheses)
• nominate potential thesis reviewers
• submit a progress report to the PSYCH 499 coordinator .

Progress reports

Progress reports are due the last day classes for the PSYCH 499A term. The thesis supervisor must sign the progress report before it is submitted to the PSYCH 499 coordinator . Submit the progress report directly to the course coordinator's mailbox in PAS 3021A or via email, cc'ing the course administrato r and your supervisor to give confirmation that they have "signed off" on your progress report (this can pose as the signature). Students should keep a copy of their progress report because the reports will not be returned. The PSYCH 499 coordinator will contact individual students by email if there is a problem with their progress report.

The progress report should be about 5-10 pages in length and include the following information:

• a title page identifying the document as a "PSYCH 499A Progress Report", with the proposed title of the project; student's name, address, telephone number, and email address; the student's ID number, the name of the honours thesis supervisor; and the signature of the supervisor indicating that he or she has read the report and approved it;
• a statement of the general topic of the proposed research;
• a brief account of the background literature the student has read, together with a brief explanation of its relevance for the project;
• a clear statement of the research questions and/or the major hypotheses that the study will address;
• a brief statement of the further steps that will be necessary to complete (e.g., settling on a research design, etc.) before the student will be ready to submit a research proposal and do an oral presentation.

PSYCH 499A students who are not concurrently enrolled in PSYCH 499B typically do not have a fully developed research proposal by the end of the first term of PSYCH 499. The progress reports should be submitted on time and should include as much detail regarding the research proposal as possible (see next section for further details).

Some PSYCH 499A students who are not concurrently enrolled in PSYCH 499B will firm up their research proposals earlier than expected and will want to do, and are encouraged to do, the oral presentation of the research proposal in the first term of PSYCH 499 (see next section for further details). In these cases, the IP (In Progress) grade for PSYCH 499B will be applied to the academic term in which the student formally enrols for PSYCH 499B.

Students who submit progress reports will receive an IP (In Progress) grade for PSYCH 499A; those who do not will receive an INC (Incomplete) grade for PSYCH 499A. INC and IP grades for PSYCH 499 do not impact on average calculations and students with either of these grades can be considered for the Dean's honours list. However, students with INC grades are not eligible for scholarship consideration. Note that INC grades convert to FTC (failure to complete = 32%) after 70 days.

Thesis reviewer

The thesis reviewer is due by the last day of classes for the term for students who enrol in PSYCH 499A only and they are due by the end of the third week of the term for students who enrol concurrently in PSYCH 499A/B.  You will work with your supervisor to decide who would be a strong reviewer and will plan this out with that reviewer. Once your reviewer is determined, please email the course administrator . The thesis reviewer’s duties will include reading the thesis proposal and attending the oral presentation in the PSYCH 499B term and reading and grading the final thesis at the end of the PSYCH 499C term.

Full-time faculty members in the UW Psychology Department and the four Psychology faculty members at St. Jerome's are all potential thesis reviewers. (Note: the student’s thesis supervisor cannot be the thesis reviewer). Students may consult with their thesis supervisors for advice about which faculty members to request as potential thesis reviewers. Several types of considerations might guide whom students seek as potential reviewers. For example, a student may seek a reviewer who has expertise in the topic they are studying, or they may seek breadth by requesting a reviewer with expertise in a quite distinct area of study, or they may seek a reviewer who has expertise in a relevant type of statistical analysis. It is up to the student, in consultation with their supervisor, to determine what factors to prioritise in selecting potential reviewers.

Course requirements for PSYCH 499B - oral presentation of the thesis proposal

During the PSYCH 499B term, students must finalize the research proposal for their honours thesis project and present this information orally to their thesis reviewer and the student’s thesis supervisor. Although the presentation is not graded, it is a course requirement that must precede the completed thesis. The presentation gives the student an opportunity to discuss their research proposals with a wider audience and to receive feedback regarding their literature review and the scope, design, testing procedures, etc., for their projects.

It is also essential that students who are doing an empirical research project involving human or animal participants formally apply for ethics clearance, and that they receive ethics clearance before beginning data collection (see 'Obtaining Ethics Clearance for Research with Human or Animal Participants' for further details).

Students should contact the   PSYCH 499 course administrator in the Psychology Undergraduate Office early in the PSYCH 499B term to book the date and time for their oral presentation. When booking, students are asked to indicate if they will be presenting virtually, or in-person and should mention if the presentation is open to other students to attend. Students are asked to book their presentation as early as possible to ensure space is available The thesis reviewer will attend and conduct the presentation. Presentations occur during the first three months of each term (available dates/times and current presentation schedule are posted on the PSYCH 499 website ). The presentation should be 25 minutes in length followed by a 25 minute period for discussion and questions. Students are encouraged to attend other students' presentations when available.

A written version of the research proposal must be submitted to the mailbox or email of the thesis reviewer at least two business days prior to the scheduled date of the student's oral presentation of the proposal (meaning no later than 4:30pm Thursday for a Tuesday presentation). For empirical research projects, the proposal must include the following: a title page identifying the document as a "PSYCH 499B Research Proposal"; a brief review of the relevant scientific literature; a clear statement of the research question and major hypotheses to be examined; the planned method, including the number and types of participants, the design, the task or tests to be given, and the procedure to be used; the statistical tests and comparisons that are planned; and the expected date for beginning data collection. For a theoretical research project, the proposal must include a clear review of the issues, theories, or constructs to be analyzed; a description of the scholarly database to be used (including a list of important references); and a clear account of the intended contribution of the work (i.e., how it will advance understanding).

The research proposal must be approved and signed by the student's thesis supervisor before the proposal is submitted to the thesis reviewer . Students can get a better idea of the content and format required for the research proposal by referring to the methods section of completed honours theses. Students should keep a copy of their research proposal because the copy that is submitted to the  thesis reviewer will not be returned.

All PSYCH 499 students must complete the ' TCPS 2 Tutorial Course on Research Ethics (CORE) ' before the research ethics application on which they are named is submitted for approval. In addition, all PSYCH 499 students must complete a "Researcher Training" session with the REG Coordinator .

Students who have completed the oral presentation requirement will receive an IP (In Progress) grade for PSYCH 499B; those who have not will receive an INC (Incomplete) grade for PSYCH 499B. INC and IP grades for PSYCH 499 do not impact on average calculations and students with either of these grades can be considered for the Dean's honours list. However, students with INC grades are not eligible for scholarship consideration. Note that INC grades convert to FTC (failure to complete = 32%) after 70 days.

Students who enrol in PSYCH 499A and 499B in the same term and satisfy the oral presentation requirement that term will not be required to also submit a progress report.

On-line surveys

Honours thesis students who require assistance regarding research software and the development of on-line surveys, beyond advice from the honours thesis supervisor, may wish to seek advice from Bill Eickmeier (Computer Systems Manager and Research Programmer; PAS 4008; ext 36638; email  [email protected] ). Students are expected to manage much of this process independently and will be given access to a self-help website. Most students will be able to work independently using a Qualtrics account provided by the thesis supervisor, or using the  web form template notes  Bill has posted on the web. However, Bill is available to provide additional guidance if he is given at least three to four weeks advance notice.

Caution regarding off-campus data collection

If you are planning to collect data off-campus, please read carefully the " Field Work Risk Management " requirements provided by the University of Waterloo Safety Office. "Field Work" refers to any activity undertaken by members of the university in any location external to University of Waterloo campuses for the purpose of research, study, training or learning.

We assume that insurance for private vehicles is up to the owners and that insurance for rental vehicles, if applicable, would be through the rental company. Further details of University of Waterloo policies regarding travel .

Please discuss your plans for off-campus data collection with your thesis supervisor and the  PSYCH 499 coordinator in advance to ensure that all bases are covered with regards to waivers, insurance, etc.

In the PSYCH 499C term, students will complete the data collection for their project (see the previous paragraphs if using on-line surveys or doing off-campus data collection), analyze/evaluate the data, and finish writing the honours thesis. The honours thesis must be written in the form indicated by the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual (available at the Bookstore), but may be more abbreviated than a regular journal article. Sample honours theses can be found in the Learn shell.

For an empirical research project, the following sections are required in the thesis:

• introduction (literature review and the hypothesis)
• methods (participants, design, task or test to be given, testing procedures, measures)

It is not necessary to append ORE application forms to the completed honours thesis. However, a copy of the formal notification of ethics clearance is required.

The sections and subsections required for theoretical papers will be slightly different than for empirical research projects, and will vary according to the topic being studied. If possible, students should plan the layout for the theoretical paper in the PSYCH 499B term because the plan may guide their literature review. Students should consult with their thesis supervisor and the  PSYCH 499 coordinator  about the layout.

Normally students will receive feedback from their thesis supervisor on at least one or two (and often more) drafts of the thesis before the final paper is submitted for marking. Be sure to leave adequate time for this process.

Submitting the thesis for marking

The final version of the thesis is due the last day the class period for the PSYCH 499C term.  However, due dates do change each term dependent on grade submission deadlines held by the registrar’s office, so it is important to follow the due date on our official due date page.  See 'Extensions on the thesis submission deadline' below regarding requests for extensions.

In order for the Psychology Department to track theses that are submitted for marking and ensure that marks are forwarded to the Registrar's Office as quickly as possible, students must submit an electronic copy of the honours thesis to  the PSYCH 499 course administrator  who will coordinate grading by the thesis supervisor and the thesis reviewer , and will submit PSYCH 499 grades to the Registrar's Office. The honours thesis does not need to be signed by the thesis supervisor. The marking process is as follows:

• Receipt of the thesis will be recorded and an electronic copy of the thesis will be forwarded to the student's thesis supervisor and reviewer with a grading form for comments.
• The thesis supervisor will return the grading form with comments and a grade recommendation to the PSYCH 499 course administrator and the thesis reviewer.
• The thesis reviewer will be responsible for assigning the final grade and will return the completed grading form to the PSYCH 499 course administrator .
• T he PSYCH 499 course administrator will notify the student and the Registrar's Office of the final grade. The final numerical grade for the thesis will be recorded for each of PSYCH 499A, 499B, and 499C.
• Page 2 of the grading form will be returned to the student.

Extensions on the thesis submission deadline

We will do our best to ensure that students graduate at the preferred convocation date; however, we cannot guarantee that students who submit honours theses for marking after the deadline will be able to graduate at the preferred convocation date.

Students should refer to the PSYCH 499 website on a regular basis for information regarding PSYCH 499 deadlines that may affect the target date for submitting the honours thesis for marking (e.g., for getting one's name on the convocation program, for sending transcripts and/or letters regarding completion of the degree to other schools for admission purposes, to be considered for awards, etc.).

We strongly advise that students submit the thesis for marking at least four to six weeks prior to the date of convocation. Further, they should confirm that their thesis supervisor will be available to grade the thesis within a few days following submission of the thesis.

Students who do not submit an honours thesis for marking by the end of the examination period for the PSYCH 499C term require approval for an extension from their thesis supervisor. After speaking with the thesis supervisor, the student must report the revised date of completion to the PSYCH 499 course administrator . They will be given an IP (In Progress) grade for PSYCH 499C if they have done the oral presentation for PSYCH 499B and if they are making reasonable progress on the thesis. Otherwise, an INC (Incomplete) grade will be submitted for PSYCH 499C. INC and IP grades for PSYCH 499 do not impact on average calculations and students with either of these grades can be considered for the Dean's honours list. However, students with INC grades are not eligible for scholarship consideration. Note that INC grades convert to FTC (failure to complete = 32%) after 70 days.

Notes: 1. Honours students with INC and/or IP grades for PSYCH 499ABC will be unable to graduate (e.g., with a General BA in Psychology) until those grades are replaced by final grades (e.g., 32%) and the grades have been factored into the average calculation. In such cases, the student must meet all graduation requirements, including overall average, Psychology average, and minimum number of courses required. 2. If IP grades for all of PSYCH 499ABC remain on the record for 12 months following the PSYCH 499C term, the Registrar's Office will convert the IP grades to FTC (failure to complete = 32%). If this occurs, consult with the Psychology undergraduate advisor regarding your options.

Capture your thesis on video!

As of Fall 2012, we are asking honours thesis students if they'd like to take part in a voluntary "video snapshot" of their work. This is a great way to tell others about your thesis, and your experience at the University of Waterloo.

Upon completion of your thesis and submission of your 499C document, we are asking students to arrange for someone from their supervisor's lab to take a short 1-2 minute video clip of you the student.  In that video, we'd like to hear a 'grand summary of what you researched, and what you found out'. We'd also love to hear about 'what you learned in the honours thesis course'.

These video clips can be taken with a smartphone (or other video camera), then emailed to the PSYCH 499 coordinator  or the PSYCH 499 course administrator . Alternatively you can arrange a time to be videotaped by the course administrator (ideally when handing in your 499C final thesis document).

Completing a video is optional, and should be done ideally within two weeks of submission of your thesis. Whether or not you choose to capture your thesis on video will in no way affect your grade in the 499 honours thesis course. Once we have reviewed the video we will upload it to our Psychology website for general viewing by the public. Permission forms to release your photo/video on the Department of Psychology’s website will be available from the  PSYCH 499 coordinator . The Model Release Form can also be found on Waterloo's Creative Services website.

Convocation awards

Each year the Psychology Department nominates a student(s) for the following awards: Governor General Silver Medal (university level), the Alumni Gold Medal (faculty level), and the Psychology Departmental convocation award. These awards are only given at the June convocation. Typically, only honours students who have final grades for all course work, including the honours thesis, by the first week of May can be considered for these awards. Students whose overall and Psychology averages fall in the 88-100% range are strongly encouraged to adhere to the thesis submission deadlines noted above.

The Office of Research Ethics (ORE) at the University of Waterloo is responsible for the ethics review and clearance of all research conducted on and off-campus by University of Waterloo students, staff, and faculty that involves human and animal (live, non-human vertebrates) participants.

Research involving human or animal participants must not begin until notification of full ethics clearance has been provided by the ORE.

Information regarding the application and ethics review process for research involving human participants is available on the Office of Research Ethics web site. However, specific information regarding the ethics application process for Honours thesis research is provided below.

Information regarding the application and ethics review process for research involving animals is also available on the Office of Research Ethics web site.

For individual contacts in the ORE, see 'Contacts' in this handbook.

Ethics Application: Once the rationale and hypotheses for the thesis project have been formulated and basic design and procedures have been determined, the student may submit the project for ethics review and clearance.

In order to ensure that students have a good understanding of the ethics review process and guidelines they are required to complete the TCPS2 -2022 CORE Tutorial (described below) prior to preparing your ethics application.

Upon completion of the CORE Tutorial, the student may begin the ethics application by signing onto the Kuali System for Ethics located at UWaterloo Ethics either starting the application on their own, or having the Thesis Advisor begin it. Please note that the student will need to have accessed the Kuali system in order for the Advisor to add them to the protocol. The advisor should be listed as the Principal Investigator and the level of research should be Senior Honours Thesis.

All Thesis projects require new ethics unless alternative arrangements have been made to make use of a currently running project. This should be discussed with the thesis advisor and approval should be obtained from the department to create an amendment for the project.

Upon receipt of Full Ethics Clearance, and if the student and supervisor are sure that there will be no revisions to the design or procedures, then data collection may begin. Whenever possible though, we encourage you to complete the Research Proposal and Oral Presentation before you begin data collection.

Note that procedures for applying for ethics clearance vary according to the type of sample -- for example, university students versus children in the Early Childhood Education Centre, etc. Further details are provided below.

Study Modifications: Based on feedback provided at the student’s Oral Presentation, the student and thesis supervisor may decide to make some modifications to the research plans. If the ethics application has not yet been submitted for review, then the changes can be incorporated into the application. If you have received ethics clearance, then you will need to submit an amendment by logging into Kuali and selecting the amendment option from the right hand side.

Human Participants in Research

Honours Thesis students must read and be familiar with the University of Waterloo guidelines and procedures for conducting research with human participants before submitting their applications for ethics clearance to conduct research.

The following is an excerpt from the guidelines:

“The ethics review process is intended to offer a level of assurance to research participants, the investigators and the University that research participants will be involved in ethically sound and well-designed research, and will be engaged in a prior consent process that is fully informed and voluntary. The ethics review process also ensures adequate protection of individuals’ privacy as well as confidentiality of information they provide. In addition, the ethics review process increases the probability that all known and anticipated risks associated with the research are identified and adequately communicated to participants prior to participation. Moreover, it ensures that the known and potential risks are judged to be outweighed by potential benefits from conducting the research. Procedures used to recruit participants are examined to ensure they are free of explicit or implicit coercion and enable participants to withdraw their consent at any time without fear of reprisal.”

Research conducted in the Psychology department follows the ethical guidelines set out in the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, 2nd edition (TCPS 2 - 2022).

Please note that effective January 1, 2024 you will need to be up to date with your TCPS to include the 2022 version. If you have only completed the TCPS2 you will need to renew your certification.

Associated with the TCPS 2-2022 is an online tutorial called Course on Research Ethics (CORE). CORE is comprised of 9 modules, is self-paced and includes interactive exercises and multi-disciplinary examples. A certificate of completion is provided. CORE replaces and updates the earlier TCPS Tutorial. In order to ensure that you have a better understanding of the ethics review guidelines you are required to complete the CORE Tutorial prior to submitting your ethics application. Please note that if you have already completed the CORE Tutorial as an RA for example, you are not required to complete it again. Upon completion of the CORE Tutorial please send a copy of the Completion Certificate to the DERC Officer . The link to CORE is: http://pre.ethics.gc.ca/eng/education/tutorial-didacticiel/

The particular procedures for applying for ethics clearance for research with human participants depends on the population from which participants are obtained; however, all projects require the submission of an application form to the Office of Research Ethics (ORE).

Note : All research ethics applications must include:

• REG (Sona Description), PSYCPool (email/phone scripts), SLC (Flyer/Poster)
• Information/Consent Letter (+ Post-debriefing Consent if deception)
• Feedback/Appreciation Letter (+ Oral Debriefing if deception)
• Survey/Questionnaire/Interview items/Stimulus Appendices
• Research Proposal

Thesis supervisors and reviewers are given the following guidelines when they are asked to recommend a final grade for the honours thesis:

Each year, the Psychology Department recognizes the achievement of a small number of students who have produced the most outstanding honours theses. Theses will be considered for a thesis award if the thesis supervisor nominates the student and the thesis receives a final grade of 93 or above. Theses submitted for marking after the second Friday in May will not be considered for a thesis award. Nominated theses will be reviewed to select the award recipients and the recipients will be notified by the Psychology Undergraduate Office.

The thesis conference is an informal forum for students to present (orally or in poster format) a summary of their honours thesis to a friendly and enthusiastic audience of their peers and to discuss their work with others who have similar interests.

Registration is required. There is no registration fee for presenters or thesis supervisors and lunch is provided. Participants report that the event is very worthwhile and enjoyable. Clearly a great way to end fourth year!

The conference is typically held at the end of April or early May. If you will be presenting at the conference, data collection for the thesis should be completed by March. You are not required to present a complete analysis of your thesis results at the conference.

Further details about the thesis conference

Failing to adhere to established standards in the conduct of research is a serious offence. Please refer to "Obtaining ethics clearance for research" above for further details.

Students should also familiarize themselves with Policy 71 (Student Academic Discipline Policy) as well as the advice from the Faculty of Arts regarding avoiding academic offences .

Please check the Information Systems & Technology (IST) Department website for information regarding setting up your University of Waterloo computer account, accessing the internet, costs for printing, accessing your account from off-campus, etc. If you are enrolled in the Faculty of Arts, please also check the Arts Computing Office website for information.

The University of Waterloo computer accounts give students free access to applications such as word processing, statistical and graphics packages, spreadsheets, and electronic mail. Students also have access to the internet which allows them to use Waterloo's Electronic Library including the electronic journal article databases. Students are charged for printing and can put money for printing on to their resource account at various locations across campus including PAS 1080 using their WatCard.

It is critical that the University (e.g., administration, instructors, academic advisors, etc.) can reach you reliably by email (e.g., regarding academic standing, degree requirements, deadlines, etc.). If you are using a web email account such as Hotmail or Yahoo, we strongly encourage you to consider using a more reliable email account such as your Waterloo account. Your Waterloo account is just as easy to use from off-campus as other free web accounts but is more secure. You can access your Waterloo account from the " mywaterloo " website.

If you are using an email address other than your Waterloo email address you should do one of the following two things:

• change the email address that you want posted on the university directory, or
• activate your Waterloo account and arrange for the email from your Waterloo account to be forwarded to your alternate email address. The alternate email address will not appear on the university directory.

Intent to Graduate Forms and general convocation information is available on the Registrar's Office website. Students who want to graduate in June must submit an Intent to Graduate Form to the Registrar's Office before March 1. The deadline to apply for  October convocation is August 1. Students who apply to graduate, but do not complete their honours thesis in time to graduate at the preferred convocation must submit another Intent to Graduate Form for the next convocation.

Those who submit their thesis for marking beyond the end of the final examination period for the PSYCH 499C term should refer to " Extensions on the thesis submission deadline " for further details regarding graduation deadlines.

Office of research ethics

Psychology department.

College of Social & Applied Human Sciences

Honours Thesis Guide

In completing an Honours degree a student may want to complete the Honours thesis sequence (POLS*4970/4980) which takes place over two consecutive semesters.

In order to fully benefit from the thesis process you need to:

• be self-motivated
• choose a topic of high interest
• establish a good working relationship by meeting regularly with your supervisor
• plan the project carefully

Students who have at least a solid “B” average or above (75%+) likely have demonstrated abilities to undertake the Honours thesis project, which will be a longer and more sophisticated research and writing project than students have experienced previously.

While it is the most sophisticated piece of writing required by the program and involves in-depth research, it does not necessarily require field work. However, some limited form of primary research such as interviews or research of primary documents may be undertaken depending on the topic.

When research involves interaction with human subjects the supervisor must get formal approval on ethics which is a lengthy process and would have to be undertaken in the first semester.

Student Considerations

Students who have a research question that fits at least somewhat with the research interests of a faculty member and who are interested in gaining practical knowledge of research and writing methods, learning how to organize and edit a major paper, and working with a professor on a project should consider the Honours thesis process.

Students interested in pursuing a graduate or professional degree (such as law) and who have realistic odds of being admitted to such programs may want to consider writing an Honours thesis, though it is not necessary to gain admittance to graduate or professional programs.

Faculty Considerations

Professors consider whether the student has a research interest that is at least somewhat related to their own teaching and research interests. They look for a student who has at least a “B” average or above (75%+). If not, they look to see if the student has shown improvement over time in terms of grades and/or can reasonably explain their lower grade averages.

They also take into consideration whether the student would be a good student to work with (does the student appear organized, committed and enthusiastic?). In order to give appropriate attention to each Honours thesis student, faculty members can only supervise a limited number of thesis students so this will also be taken into consideration.

The Administrative Process

Students should consult the faculty webpage and determine which professors have research and teaching interests in the general area that interests them and approach them about the possibility of supervision. Students will need to obtain the supervisor’s signature for instructor’s consent on a Course Waiver Request Form available at the BA Counselling Office in order to register.

Within the first week of class in which the student is enrolled in both POLS*4970 and POLS*4980, the student and his or her supervisor must complete the Honours Political Science Research Agreement form, a copy of which must be submitted to the co-ordinator of the undergraduate committee in the Department of Political Science.

The Research Agreement form and additional information about the honours thesis can be found in the Department of Political Science Honours Research Paper Regulations booklet which is available at the main office from the undergraduate secretary.

A typical assignment is a literature review. Before you begin a project you will want to know what has already been written about your research question in order to build upon that knowledge. A literature review accomplishes this.

In a literature review you analyze and synthesize the literature by looking at: the key themes in the literature, how the question has been studied and analyzed, what conclusions have been reached and why, where the disagreements are in the literature and what questions or issues require further exploration.

Talk with your supervisor and make sure you are clear on content, length, due date and how your grade will be assigned for POLS*4970.

In the second semester the student will complete a thesis – which is a paper approximately 50-pages long double-spaced. While it is the most sophisticated piece of writing required by the program and involves in-depth research, it does not necessarily require field work.

Some limited form of primary research such as interviews or research of primary documents may be undertaken depending on the topic. Students and supervisors must agree on a clear final deadline since the defense needs to be arranged, the thesis needs to be read and grades need to be handed in during the exam period.

The grade for POLS*4980 is determined after an oral defense of your thesis before your supervisor and a second-reader agreed upon by the student and supervisor. At the end of the examination (about 45 minutes) the supervisor and the second reader will decide on the mark.

Although there is no set formula, the bulk of your POLS*4980 will be determined by your written work, with the oral defense playing a more supplementary role.

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Understanding honours

Honours is an additional qualification where you can build on your undergraduate studies by completing a supervised research project and disciplinary or research-focused coursework. This may be embedded in your undergraduate degree or require an additional year of study.

Overview and types of honours

• Eligibility and preparing for honours
• Honours awards and classes

You can undertake honours through an appended honours degree after your undergraduate degree. Some professional or specialist degrees also have embedded honours study options.

Honours provides an opportunity to work on an independent but supervised research project and is usually completed as one year full-time study (some disciplines offer part-time options).

Under the guidance of an academic supervisor, you will choose a thesis topic, create a reading list and identify your method of research.

Academics in your faculty or school will provide supervision as you write your thesis. This thesis will document your research from proposal through to conclusion.

Why study honours?

Completing honours shows you have achieved high academic standards and gives you a Bachelor (Honours) qualification. 

An honours degree can open the door for further research study, equipping you with the prerequisite research skills to undertake a research degree such as the PhD.

Alternatively, if you decide to complete an honours degree without pursuing further research, you will graduate with a robust set of transferrable skills including:

• time management and research skills
• project management and delivery
• showing future employers that you can investigate independently and achieve more complex goals.

What’s involved

Generally, honours will consist of two components:

• an independent research project, under the supervision of an academic staff member
• additional honours units in research design and technical training.

You will usually complete a dissertation or thesis and attend regular meetings with your supervisor to discuss your research.

Once you complete the requirements for your honours, you will graduate with a Bachelor (Honours) degree.

You can contact the faculty or school honours coordinator from the area of interest you are considering, for more information about honours. We also hold honours information sessions (usually in September) where you can discuss your options.

Types of honours

The type of honours you undertake depends on your individual study circumstances.

Appended honours

Appended honours is an additional qualification that you complete after you have finished your undergraduate degree. Generally, appended honours is available to both current University of Sydney students and external applicants. You’ll find information and eligibility criteria for most appended honours degrees in Find a course .

As a current student, often you'll need to apply through Find a course in the same way that external applicants apply, but may also need to submit an additional application form to your school or discipline. When searching for these on Sydney Courses (Find a course) these degrees will look like the Bachelor of Arts (Honours).

If you enrolled in a combined Bachelor of Advanced Studies program prior to Semester 2, 2024, and plan to apply for honours, we will advise you during your candidature of your appended honours degree options.

Embedded honours

Some bachelor’s degrees have an honours program embedded within them. You will complete your honours study during your current undergraduate degree by completing specific units. Honours will not increase the overall time taken to complete your studies.

Joint honours

Joint honours is when you complete one honours thesis in two subject areas closely related to each other. A special program of study is designed that allows you to complete the course concurrently in one year.

To apply for joint honours, you need to meet the eligibility requirements for both honours.

Contact the honours coordinator in your faculty or school to discuss your options.

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Honours Thesis in Psychology

Honours Thesis –  PSY 4276

Eligibility criteria

Honours b.a. with specialization in psychology.

• Completion of the courses PSY 2106/2506, PSY 2116/2516 and PSY 2174/2574
• Completion of the course PSY 3307/3707 (Note: this course may be taken concurrently with the Thesis). (It is recommended to register to  PSY 4130  in 4 th year)
• Have completed a minimum of 81 credits after the Winter 2024 trimester.
• Have a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of at least 8.0 after the Winter 2024 trimester.

* The Thesis may be replaced by 6 optional PSY course units at the 4000 level.

PLEASE NOTE:  No exception will be granted

Honours B.Sc. with Specialization in Psychology

• Completion of the courses PSY 2106/2506, PSY 2116/2516, PSY 2174/2574
• Completion of the course PSY 3307/3707 (Note: this course may be taken concurrently with the Thesis).
• Completion of all 1 st and 2 nd -year science courses.
• The Thesis may be replaced by 6 optional PSY course units at the 4000 level.

Registration procedure

Registration is not accessible through your student center. Please submit a  Modification/Cancellation of Enrolment  form through the online form portal.  You have from May 30 th  to June 30 th  2024 to submit your enrolment form for registration to the 2024-2025 academic year. 

Finding an Honours Thesis supervisor

You will find below the list of full-time professors who are available to supervise 4 th -year undergraduate honours thesis students. This list also includes cross-appointed faculty members, emeritus professors, and clinical professors who have been approved.  To be able to monitor and ensure training of high quality, only professors appearing on this list will be authorised to supervise the honours thesis.  The maximum number of Honours theses that a professor can supervise in 2024-2025 appears in italics. Once the maximum number of students that we can supervise in 2024-2025 is achieved, that is 90, students will not be able to register anymore.  

Please note, that the students who are officially registered will have until August 14 th to find a supervisor and to communicate the name of their supervisor to the Honours thesis Coordinator, Charles Collin ( [email protected] ). The students should include their supervisor in their message so that they can confirm that have agreed to supervise their Honours thesis.

Students who are not successful in finding an Honours Thesis supervisor by August 14 th will have to withdraw from the Thesis.

Finding an Honours Thesis supervisor should be done only when all eligibility criteria are fulfilled. 

• Consult the list of Honours Thesis supervisors for 2024-2025.
• Approach the professor(s) who have an area of research that interests you, by communicating with them via e-mail, to ask for an appointment. During that meeting, you will have to establish the modalities and the research to begin. This approach is normally done starting in June.

2024-2025 Information Session

• Powerpoint Presentation (English)
• Powerpoint Presentation (French)
• Information Session Recording (English)
• Information Session Recording (French)

Additional Information – Brightspace

When you are registered to the course, you will have access to Brightspace developed for the Honours Thesis in Psychology.

Award for the best Honours thesis in French - 2022-2023

L'effet d'une stimulation du système endocannabinoide de l'hypothalamus latéral de rats pubères sur le comportement alimentaire.  Vincent Francoeur Supervisors: Dr. Hélène Plamondon and Emmanuelle Person

Award for the Best Honours thesis in English - 2022-2023

Who Feels Happier Right Now?: The Impact of Temporal Distance on Children's Judgements of Emotional Intensity.  Mohamed Ebeid Supervisors: Dr. Cristina Atance and Bronwyn O'Brien

Honours Thesis Coordinators

Charles Collin , PhD School of Psychology University of Ottawa VNR 3090, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 Canada Tel: 613-562-5800 (4296) [email protected]  

Hélène Plamondon , PhD School of Psychology University of Ottawa VNR 2082, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 Canada Tel: 613-562-5800 (4098) [email protected]

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Conclusions in Honours Theses

So, you’ve done most of the hard work, and now it's time to write the conclusion. You will probably have a few questions, along the lines of:

• What should (and should not) be in the conclusion?
• How long should it be?

What am I trying to say in my conclusion?

What should be in the conclusion.

• Conclusions: concise statements about your main findings, related to your aims/objectives/hypothesis.
• Contributions to your field of research , stating/restating the significance of what you have discovered. Can include limitations.
• Future research: where to go from here (can include where NOT to go, if your research demonstrated that a particular approach or avenue was not useful).

What should NOT be in the conclusion?

• Discussion. This should be in the Discussion section. If your thesis combines the two, use sub-headings to distinguish between them.
• Any points that have not been mentioned in the Discussion section: your conclusions should be based only on points already raised.
• References: it is quite unusual to include references in this section, as it is mainly a review of what has already been said.
• Unnecessary information: your conclusion should be concise.

How long should my conclusion be?

The length of your conclusion will depend on a number of variables, including the School in which you are studying and the number of elements you are expected to include.

Some Schools ask for Conclusions to be combined with Discussion, while others will expect you to combine Conclusions with Future Directions. Check with your supervisor and with highly regarded past theses.

For a brief overview of the length and type of information in an Honours thesis Conclusion see examples of conclusions .

What you are trying to say is:

• What did I learn?
• What am I proudest of?
• What was the hardest part?
• How did I solve the difficulty?

Or, in other words:

• To what extent you achieved your aims/objectives OR not: if not, why not?
• How important and significant your results are, as well as any limitations of your research (e.g. small sample size; other variables)
• Where the research should go from here: what are some interesting further areas to be explored based on what you have discovered or proven?

 Exercise: What goes where in a conclusion?

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Undergraduate

Honours thesis.

Your opportunity to engage in research under the supervision of an expert in the field.

Complete a substantive research project over the course of an academic year under the supervision of a faculty member. Students can conduct a project in biological, natural, or social science research focused on health sciences.

Students will learn the theoretical, technical, analytical, and communication skills needed to address knowledge gaps in their areas of expertise by designing and conducting original research of suitable quality to present at conferences and for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Admission of students to the Honours Thesis will be on a competitive basis. A limited number of students will be accepted each year based on compatibility with research interests of potential supervisors and supervisor availability. Further details and application are typically sent out directly to students in March including information on deadlines.

This program will follow a mentorship model. Admission requires a faculty member’s agreement to act as a research supervisor.

Students must meet the following requirements to apply:

• Fourth-year standing;
• Minimum weighted average of 80% from all Human Kinetics courses;
• Minimum weighted average of 80% over the last 60 credits;
• Acceptance by a supervisor approved by the Director;
• Completion of HES 340 (Methods of Data Analysis) and HES 240 (Health Research Methods) with a minimum grade of 80% in each.
• All general program requirements for the BHK degree;
• Satisfy all course requirements for chosen area of concentration;
• HES 492: Honours Thesis (6 credits)

Philip Ainslie, Brian Dalton, Greg duManoir, Neil Eves, Tanya Forneris, Glen Foster, Heather Gainforth, Jennifer Jakobi, Mary Jung, Jonathan Little, Meaghan MacNutt, Kathleen Martin Ginis, Ali McManus, Chris McNeil, John Sasso, Sally Stewart, Paul van Donkelaar

Learn more here

• Students should contact an appropriate HMKN faculty member to discuss a potential project, faculty expectations, completion date, and evaluation. It is highly suggested that this be done at least 3-4 months prior to the expected enrollment. Enrollment occurs in June of each year.
• Complete the Honour’s application form (see Student forms) should then be signed by the supervising faculty member and the student.
• Once the Contract has been signed, the student will be registered by emailing the signed contract (both supervisor and student) to the School Assistant ( [email protected] ).

Student Contact

HES Undergraduate Office Email: [email protected] Office:  ARTS 360

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• honours thesis (hstr 499)

Honours Thesis (HSTR 499)

Timeline for the Honours Thesis

Many students who are contemplating applying to the Honours Program are curious about the thesis. There is no need to have decided, at that early stage, who you might ask to be your supervisor or even what area you would like to study. Normally, these are questions you would begin to think about in the early months of the spring term prior to enrolling in HSTR 499, although of course you can always discuss your interests with your instructors or with the Honours Advisor.

By the summer prior to your thesis year, you should have selected an area of interest and found a supervisor. Starting in September, you will meet with your supervisor on a mutually agreed-upon schedule (perhaps once every two weeks); you will discuss assigned readings, locate primary source material, and narrow down your topic.

From October/November to February of the following year, you will normally be researching, reading widely, and writing your thesis, submitting pieces of writing and analysis and, eventually, chapter drafts to your supervisor at regular intervals. You will be helped along in this process by preparing for the Colloquium (see below). The deadline for the first draft of the complete thesis is typically the end of February. In March, you will make revisions based on your supervisor's feedback, and submit a final copy in early April.

In January, students enrolled in HSTR 499 are asked to give a brief presentation of their works-in-progress at the annual Honours Colloquium. The Colloquium is a friendly, supportive event, attended by other students and faculty members, who will ask questions to learn more about that year's thesis projects.

Oral Examination (Defense)

The last stage of 499 is the defense, or oral examination, which will be scheduled during the April exam period. The exam will be conducted by an examination committee composed of the faculty supervisor, a second reader from the department who will have read the final copy submitted in early April, and the Honours Advisor. Honours students give a brief (10-minute) presentation of their work, which is followed by a question session in which the supervisor and second reader ask the candidate to clarify or elaborate on aspects of their research. The grade for HSTR 499 is based primarily on the written thesis, but the result of the oral examination is taken into account.

Length and Formatting of the Honours Thesis

The word limit for the Honours Thesis is 7,500-10,000 words (approximately 35-40 pages).

In many ways, honours theses resemble a research paper (title page, typed, double-spaced, with footnotes or endnotes and a bilbiography). Owing to the greater length of the thesis, students should consider breaking the thesis into segments (Introduction, 1-2 sections or chapters, conclusion) and including a table of contents. More detail and guidance will be available to thesis writers as they near completion.

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UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.

Neuroscience Graduate Student Defends Thesis

Congratulations to Camille Hanes , a PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience , on her successful thesis defense on May 15, 2024! Camille's mentors are Dr. Joshua Weiner and Dr. Michael Dailey in the Department of Biology. 

They started university amid a pandemic. Is the class of 2024 ready for what's next?

It was a strange experience for Jonah Grignon when he ran into a classmate at an art show during COVID-19.

Grignon, now a recent graduate from Carleton’s Journalism school, had taken all of his first-year classes on Zoom. It was a year later, while reporting on the art exhibit for his second-year class, that he bumped into the schoolmate and realized they had never actually met in person.

Grignon did not know if he should introduce himself. They already followed each other on social media and had numerous classes together.

“That (was) an experience I’ve never really had before,” Grignon said. “You’re sort of aware of someone’s presence, but you never really interacted with them.”

In hindsight, Grignon said the awkwardness during social interaction was temporary.

“Just last night,” he added. “I was out for dinner with the same classmate and a group of other people for a mutual friend’s birthday. I guess you can say that there was a happy ending to it eventually.”

Although the pandemic is in the rearview mirror, Grignon said the impact of COVID-19 on the pivotal years of his life felt like an axe hanging over his head.

“Even when things were good, it was like ‘when are we going to get shut down again?” Grignon said. “It was tough to deal with.”

Grignon was not alone in the perpetual fear of yet another wave of COVID-19 during the first few years of his undergraduate program.

The lockdown not only had a mental health toll on now-graduating university students but also had effects on their public speaking skills, stress management abilities and their use of social media as a coping mechanism. The ultimate question now is whether the class of 2024 is ready for what comes next.

Leya Aubert-Tandon, a graduating student from uOttawa’s biomedical sciences honours program, felt very socially isolated during her second year after moving to Ottawa for her studies.

She only made friends in her program in her third year when she was, as she put it, “actually in person.”

“Even though I was living with two people … mental health-wise, it was really a struggle for me,” Aubert-Tandon said.

Especially this past year, while Aubert-Tandon felt she was doing better in school, she said she struggled more. “I ended up going to see a therapist.”

The effects of mental distress combined with the lockdown also impacted Aubert-Tandon’s studies.

“Presentations are something students in biomed will have to do their whole lives, but for some reason the school did not teach students skills like public speaking,” Aubert-Tandon said.

“So a lot of us are socially awkward.”

That’s because there were shortcuts to help with public speaking during the pandemic. Aubert-Tandon said students often used little sticky notes on their computers to remember talking points, and did not have to put in the effort to memorize their speeches.

“This year was the first year I did presentations. I hadn’t done them since high school Grade 11,” Aubert-Tandon said, adding the five-year gap of not talking in front of a large group of people was common among her classmates.

After the first two years of university since the start of COVID, professors started to see gaps in skills in their students, said Kim Hellemans, a professor in neuroscience at Carleton University and an expert in COVID-19’s impact on student mental health.

“By the time (students) hit their third and fourth years, because they weren’t forced to memorize what they were learning, the outcomes were very different,” Hellemans said.

Meanwhile, new graduates are questioning how prepared they are for post-graduate programs, or their readiness to enter the working world.

Aiyana Louis, who recently graduated from Carleton’s environmental studies honours program, said half of her degree was a “blur”.

She kept multiple tabs open on her computer during class. She played loud music at home during tests. FaceTime calls with friends were her study groups.

“I guess as of today with my last exam, I’m finished. And I feel like there was a blur for two and a half years of my degree that I do not remember what I did.”

Louis, who minored in biology, said COVID-19 took away the experience of working physically in labs.

“Biology is very much hands-on in labs, (but) I completed an entire course of lab work on my computer which was obviously very disengaging,” Louis said.

“I really think that took me away from my interest in biology,” Louis added. “The biology I was interested in was hands-on looking at things through a microscope like planting, getting my hands in the dirt, which unfortunately just could not happen.”

Aubert-Tandon had similar opinions. She said COVID-19 did not allow students the best “hands-on experience” needed in work environments after graduating.

“I think it’s gonna impact a lot of us,” Aubert-Tandon said.

Aubert-Tandon plans on doing her masters in neuroscience in the joint program offered by uOttawa and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and eventually her PhD. She is hopeful for more in-person engagement during her masters.

But it’s not just hands-on experience that the students of COVID-19 lack.

Charles Collin, co-director of the honours thesis program in the psychology department at uOttawa, said students who have gone through COVID have weaker writing skills.

“During COVID we kind of made everything easy on everyone,” said Collin.

There are more academic accommodation and extension requests for both class deadlines and honours thesis projects, Collin added. And professors are “quite lenient with extensions.”

“For instance,” Collin said. “We almost never get any requests, or maybe just a couple out of the 100 students,” he added. “This year, I think there were at least a dozen. So it’s definitely gone up.”

Collin said uOttawa’s current policy for exam deferrals states that the first deferral a student requests will be granted automatically – a recent change mandated by the university.

“There’s no need for a medical note or any sort of explanation,” Collin added. “You just ask for a deferral, you got one.”

Collin worries that students will not be met with the same sense of accommodation in the workplace.

“You do need to go through some degree of stress in order to learn to deal with stress, but of course if you impose too much stress on people, that’s not gonna help them with anything,” Collin said.

Hellemans, the neuroscience professor, says this year’s graduating group of students have a very reduced ability to handle day-to-day stress.

“We’re seeing that in the form of students requesting a lot of academic accommodations regularly,” she said.

Hellemans helped develop courses at Carleton with student mental health in mind.

“(However), that doesn’t mean not stressing out a student at all. It means providing students learning opportunities to face challenges that will then promote growth as well as promote the ability to learn and to be successful in classes,” she said.

Hellemans said the solution to promoting mental health in the academic setting is not to remove or reduce stressors.

“My argument is (reducing stressors) actually makes it worse over time, especially when you’re removing mild to moderate controllable stressors.”

“It’s called stress inoculation theory,” she added. “It’s been tested on animals and plants alike.”

There’s a difference between feeling unsafe and uncomfortable, she explained. “In university, we should feel uncomfortable. We should feel sometimes like we don’t know what we’re doing.”

But Hellemans said professors and faculty alike are so afraid of causing mental health challenges that they’re removing deadlines.

To cope with the stress of university life, students like Aubert-Tandon planned their course loads wisely.

“I took as many courses that didn’t have exams and just did projects,” Aubert-Tandon said. “That’s what I did in my last two years, and it was amazing.”

Hellemans’ research lab also focused on the use of social media during the pandemic, which went up significantly, particularly among young women.

This professor said the increase in social media use over the last four years is a form of avoidance used by students when facing stressful situations.

Like drugs and alcohol, social media temporarily relieves stress, Hellemans said. On the other hand, “if you measure people’s stress levels when they are regularly using drugs, their baseline stress goes up.”

Hellemans also said problematic social media use contributed to the increased incidence of mental health disorders, including eating disorders “which has gone through the roof” during the pandemic.

Offline, Hellemans noted that this generation of students is also changing their stress relief mechanisms.

“Alcohol use is going down, and (students) are using cannabis more,” she said. While using alcohol can have visible signs of intoxication, cannabis is very subtle. “There are people who can use a small amount (of cannabis) throughout the day.”

Hellemans worries about how this behaviour pattern will translate into the workforce. “It might be tolerable in the classroom but it may not be at work.”

As for Grignon, he said coming back to in-person after so long created an appetite for socializing more.

“There was this level of interest where we just want to see people for real in person,” Grignon said. “Even though we lost a year or two, in some ways, I think it kind of brought us together.”

Grignon said interacting with younger students who were getting the full university experience during his third and fourth year was a wistful experience.

“It’s bittersweet,” Grignon said. “But you also see that the world is healing because you’re getting to see people have those experiences.”

Now, Grignon has a full-time position at an agricultural trade newspaper. Although he feels secure about this position after graduation, he doesn’t share the same sentiment about the state of the journalism industry in general.

“I sort of feel like I ended up in a very lucky position,” Grignon said.

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Zach Schiffman wins Colorado Three Minute Thesis competition

CU Boulder doctoral student takes first prize in state 3MT competition for presentation on the urea molecule

Zach Schiffman (right) accepting a certificate recognizing his accomplishment.

Zach Schiffman, a doctoral candidate in chemistry, beat out Colorado’s other universities to win the state Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition last month. He won with his presentation, “The Urea Molecule: From Fertilizer . . . to Climate Change?”

This is the second win for Schiffman, who took first prize in the Graduate School’s annual 3MT competition earlier this year. As part of his winnings, he was then invited to represent the university at both the regional (Western Region of Graduate Schools) and state (Colorado Council of Graduate Schools) competitions.

The 3MT event, which began at the University of Queensland in 2008, challenges graduate students to describe their research within three minutes to a general audience. To prepare, CU Boulder graduate students participate in a series of workshops focusing on storytelling, writing, presentation skills and improvisation comedy techniques. The Graduate School then holds a preliminary competition to whittle down the competition to ten finalists, who participate in the final competition at the beginning of February.

More information about the 3MT competition, including how to get involved in the 2024–25 school year, is available on the 3MT webpage .

• Spring 2024
• Three Minute Thesis

Amid Gaza protests, Cooper Union thesis students move the End of Year Show off campus

• Mass Timber
• Trading Notes
• Outdoor Spaces
• Reuse + Renewal
• Architecture
• Development
• Preservation
• Sustainability
• Transportation
• International

Showcase of Solidarity

For architecture school students , administrators, and faculty members, this year has been… different. As Gaza encampments occupy campuses from Cal Poly to Yale, academia has been forced to react.

This month, some CUNY students chose not to host their final reviews at the Spitzer School of Architecture, but rather at citygroup , a New York Chinatown gallery, out of solidarity with their school’s protesters . Washington University students staged boycotts . Yalies built a pop-up library for Palestine . And at Harvard GSD, students hung banners from the trays with messages that said WE WILL NOT ALLOW THE GSD TO STAND SILENT TO INJUSTICE not long after the student government passed an unprecedented divestment resolution .

In solidarity with protesters around the country—breaking away with years of tradition— Cooper Unio n’s very popular and very public End of Year Show (EYoS) isn’t being held at the Cooper Union. In response to a letter from Cooper’s administration announcing the show would no longer be open—instead allowing registered visitor access during a limited time slot—students removed their work from studios and mocked up a full-scale exhibition off-campus at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center .

The relocation is in response to an order issued on May 14 by Cooper Union President Laura Sparks. The order came as a shock to students and faculty alike, who had not been consulted. The order said that “Attendance at the End of Year Show will be exclusively for students and their registered guests. Each student will reserve a specific time and will be permitted to invite up to 4 guests per time slot. If schedules permit, students may be able to book multiple appointments on different days to allow them to show more than 4 guests their work. Students will register their guests in advance. Guests will need to show photo ID to check in upon their arrival. ”

Sparks described the “new protocols ” as a response to “end-of-year events being canceled at campuses across the country” and “disruptions to planned events.” In turn, Cooper students and faculty quickly condemned the action in an open letter , but to no avail. Cooper Union’s Student Justice for Palestine (SJP) chapter also criticized the protocols . The announcement came one month after Cooper Union president Laura Sparks voted to install surveillance cameras throughout the architecture school, sparking outrage among students and faculty.

In response, there were first letters and statements: a letter from faculty included voting members such as Diana Agrest, Nader Tehrani, Benjamin Aranda, Elisa Iturbe, and Lauren Kogod, among many others. There were six points expressed to communicate faculty disapproval of the order, one of them being: “The protocols unnecessarily pit legal and security concerns against the creative and intellectual interests of students and faculty, who value the opportunity to freely share their work with the profession, other schools of architecture in the city, and to alumni of The Cooper Union.”

Student statements were also shared as posters during the staged walk-out as well as at the Clemente presentation. One reads: “I feel ignored. I feel distracted. I feel overwhelmed. I feel afraid for what the future will bring. I don’t recognize what The Cooper Union has become, and I really, really wish I did.” This statement followed a reproduced quotation from founder Peter Cooper’s trust-deed, which sought to establish “a community where [the student’s] capacity and talents can be usefully employed with the greatest possible advantage to themselves and the community in which they live.”

In an emotional off-the-cuff presentation on the stage of the Clemente’s theater, the thesis class made collective speeches to a packed, standing room-only auditorium filled with alumni, underclassmen, faculty, and Cooper community members alike. Fighting back tears, fifth-year student Julia Penchaszadeh Robert said, “For five years, we’ve been trying to learn as a class how to be architects in this world of multiple crises. What we know is that collaboration and open knowledge is what makes our work possible, our profession possible, and schools as places of free knowledge and exchange function. All we wanted is a place to exercise this freedom and this learning, and adequately celebrate five years of work that unfolded remotely, online, and amid international upheaval.”

Robert’s work in the exhibition gallery, titled “A Grammar for Caring Architecture,” was a meticulously crafted, handmade object, just like many of the works of her peers. It invited visitors to lift, fold, and “co-agitate” leaves of table into various spaces of care, evocative of a family kitchen. This complex sculpture, as all the other drawings, models, and large-scale interventions on display, had to be transported by hand from studio to the Clemente in protest—no small undertaking in New York City.

The Cooper students, and other students holding protest reviews and exhibitions across the country, had to plan their alternative events in a matter of days, whereas planning for a show at the scale of EYoS takes institutions months. Unique to Cooper, the thesis class modeled and mocked up the Clemente space in the lobby of Cooper’s Foundation building, independently allocating wall space, square footage, and hanging mechanisms for each project originally meticulously planned for an entirely different type of gallery. The process of this admirably logical architectural skill on display is presented in a video playing in a dark, cool viewing room at Clemente.

In a statement on social media , Cooper students explained their rationale to relocate: “The elimination of any public event effectively limits our freedom of speech and education, along with any sense of community that this event has historically represented. […] The Clemente allows us to share a moment of mutuality and collectivity at a crucial time when the administration of The Cooper Union hopes to extinguish these such moments. Through this collectively produced and curated exhibition, we present the work of this year’s thesis class, and bring the spirit of The Cooper Union with us into this new space. ”

Meanwhile, underclassmen continued to display their drawings and models at Cooper but, in solidarity with thesis students, they decided to place black veils over their work. The underclassmen also staged a walk out on May 21 at about 4 p.m. as protest and proceeded to walk to the Clemente. The underclassmen also brought models and drawings out into Cooper Square for a “public crit. ” Supported by the many faculty members, alumni, and locals in attendance, the showcase of solidarity across the boundaries of space, academic hierarchy, and most of all across the city, reflects an unwavering alignment between the entire community. “This decision to close the show without student and faculty consultation makes us question what a school is, at its core,” Elisa Iturbe told AN.  Another Cooper alumna, Lily Zand, said, “I and my fellow alumni condemn this tactic of fear-mongering under the guise of safety concerns.” Zand was one of many who responded to Sparks’s memo in protest and condemnation. 

Overall, the powerful thesis showcase and aligned solidarity at the Foundation building speak to, in the words of Distinguished Professor Adjunct Elizabeth O’Donnell, “These students were handed something ugly and it turned into something beautiful. They went from shock and distress to peaceful dissent and joyful celebration….They could not have done more to prove Laura Sparks wrong: Our students are not a threat to the school, they are the school.”

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Elisa Iturbe (@it_urbe)

The EYoS show is open to the public at the Clemente, located at 107 Suffolk Street on the Lower East Side.

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