BioSci Honors Program

The Department of Biological Sciences has its own Honors Program!

Students are invited to the program if they qualify based on their number of credits (at least 30; 15 for transfer students) and GPA (at least 3.6). Students majoring in any Biological Sciences concentration (including the BA program), Genetics, Microbiology, or Zoology can participate in the honors program. The program involves honors coursework (at least 8 credits) and a research project (3 research courses, thesis, and presentations). The BioSci Honors Program is recognized as a High-Impact Experience by the Packways Program.

FAQs for Current and Prospective Honors Scholars Recent Thesis Titles of BioSci Honors Students How to Find a Research Mentor

 

Benefits of the Biological Sciences Honors Program

• Complete honors-level coursework to improve your academic capabilities
• Experience the process of science firsthand, working with a mentor to complete a structured research experience, culminating in a thesis and presentations
• Learn about options and strategies for a successful post-college transition
• Connect and collaborate with other honors students and honors-associated faculty
• Graduate with Biological Sciences Honors

Program Requirements

1. Students must complete at least 8 credit hours of relevant honors courses (B- or higher). Courses must be 300-level or higher and related to biological sciences. Here is a list of pre–approved courses that will count toward this requirement if taken for Honors Credit, but other courses may also qualify.

• There are five primary ways to receive honors credit for courses:
  • Seated Honors Course
    • The course is labeled as honors in MyPack when the student enrolls in it.
  • Faculty-initiated Honors Project
    • The course instructor presents the honors requirements to interested students and sends a contract listing the students’ names and IDs to the University Honors Program.
    • A contract must be submitted to the University Honors Program using their forms. This can be emailed to universityhonors@ncsu.edu. Students should discuss this with their professor before classes begin.
  • Student-initiated Honors Project
    • The student and instructor agree on a project, and the student completes the paperwork and sends it to the University Honors Program.
    • A contract must be submitted to the University Honors Program using their forms. This can be emailed to universityhonors@ncsu.edu. Students should discuss this with their professor before classes begin.
  • Graduate-level Course
    • The course is 500-level or higher.
  • Study Abroad Course
    • Students can request honors credit for courses taken off campus that they believe warrant honors credit by submitting the Study Abroad Request Form. The BioSci Honors Program Committee will review the request to determine whether honors credit can be granted.

2. Students in the program must conduct a research project and complete the accompanying three research classes: BSC 497, BSC 498, and BSC 499. The research project typically requires about 1.5 years to complete, so plan ahead.

• Students need to find a research mentor and develop a project. The research project must have a biological focus but may center on teaching, service, or outreach rather than on more traditional biological research.
• Once a research mentor is identified and a preliminary project description developed, the student should enroll in BSC 497. Here is the BSC 497 contract to enroll.
• First, the student completes BSC 497, involving 135+ hours of research, Moodle reflections, and a research proposal (3 cr, S/U).
• After completing BSC 497, the student enrolls in BSC 498 for their project (BSC 498 contract), involving 135+ hours of research, Moodle reflections, and a draft of their Honors thesis (3 cr, S/U).
• Students can complete one of these two classes during the summer. Talk to your advisor about how to best enroll in the class if this is your situation, and see the third page of the contract.
• After completing BSC 498, students will request enrollment in BSC 499 (by emailing bioscihonors@ncsu.edu) when they are ready to enroll. BSC 499 is the capstone course of the Biological Sciences Honors Program (1 cr, Graded). BSC 499 centers on science communication. In BSC 499, students will work on their presentation skills (in many formats) and finish revising their thesis. They will also present their scholarly work at a local, regional, or national symposium or conference. Students do not have to take this course immediately after BSC 498, but they must have completed BSC 498 before BSC 499 (e.g., they begin specific thesis revisions in BSC 499).
• Talk to your academic advisor about how these courses can be used to fulfill Major requirements.

 

3. Students must maintain an overall GPA of 3.40 or higher.

 

4. Students must respond to surveys sent out in the program listserv. Once you register for the program, you will be asked to join a listserv. This listserv is used to send newsletters with program updates and events, and to highlight projects of students graduating from the program. The surveys are to collect information on participant progress.