Why complete Honors in the Major?
Honors in the Major (HM) -Neurobiology is intended for students who are interested in original research and who wish to graduate with the best possible undergraduate training in neurobiology. Students must communicate their intent to complete HM – Neurobiology with a Neurobiology Major advisor.
Requirements – Honors in the Major You must declare HM with L&S Honors Program, complete an L&S Honors in the Major declaration form.
- Earn a 3.300 University GPA
Earn 3.300 GPA in all major courses. - Two of the following 3 Required Neuroscience Courses for honors:
PSYCHOLOGY 454- Behavioral Neuroscience
ZOOLOGY 523- Neurobiology
ZOOLOGY 500- Neuroscience Seminar. - At least 1 course from the Distributed Neuroscience Course listing for honors (see our courses page).
- 6 credits of a Two-semester Senior Honors Thesis – 681-682; a Course Authorization Form may be required to enroll. Your thesis project MUST show relevance to a neuroscience-related topic.
You must complete at least 14 credits in honors courses in the Neurobiology Major while in residence at UW-Madison. Types of honors courses and how to enroll in them, see L&S Honors Program website on earning honors credit.
Honors Thesis AND Senior Thesis – Proposal and final thesis guidelines.
Proposal Due Date and Submission:
By the end of the first full week of classes your proposal should be submitted. This proposal needs to be approved by the Neurobiology Major Proposal Approval Committee. The approval process could take up to 2-3 weeks, please plan accordingly. Email a single PDF copy to Dr. Catherine Auger: cauger@wisc.edu.
Proposal submission steps (in one PDF file) include:
1. An Honors Thesis/Senior Thesis proposal form , this should be signed by you and your mentor. If a dual honors thesis is intended, you must still submit a proposal to Neurobiology, and note that you are pursuing a dual thesis on this form. Please talk to your Neurobiology advisor before beginning your research.
2. A 2-3 page double-spaced proposal for your thesis project. This proposal should include the following components: experimental question, rationale for this experiment, description of the methods, and expected results. The thesis proposal MUST show relevance to a neuroscience-related topic.
3. A Course Authorization Form to be given authorization to enroll in thesis courses in Zoology.
-
- Honors Thesis – enroll in 681 semester 1, and 682 semester 2
- Senior Thesis – enroll in 691 semester 1, and 692 semester 2
- A Course Authorization Form must be submitted before enrolling each semester.
Final Thesis Due Date:
The Monday after finals week. A signed, electronic copy of the thesis is due to the Neurobiology Major (see Thesis title page template link below). Additional formatting guidelines are linked below. If you are unsure about appropriate formatting see your Neurobiology Major advisor. Email a single PDF copy to Dr. Catherine Auger: cauger@wisc.edu.
A note about grading your final paper:
It is the responsibility of your mentor to grade your final thesis. We do not grade your thesis paper in Neurobiology. Once you have finished writing, turn in your thesis to your faculty mentor for grading. The final version of the thesis must be graded before submission to the Neurobiology Major. Your faculty mentor must also input your grade into their Faculty Center. The Neurobiology Major does not grade your thesis.
Useful links for students completing a Honors/Senior Thesis:
• A timeline for completing the thesis can be found on the L&S Honors Program website.
• Formatting guidelines can be found here.
• The writing center can help with every aspect of the writing process.
• Thesis title page template