Thesis and Honors in MBBC

Guidelines for a Successful Completion of MBBC Thesis

To earn a passing grade in MBBC 0701 and to complete a thesis successfully, a student must meet all of the following requirements: 

• Generate new and sufficiently replicated data. 
• Write a well-written, critically interpreted, and thoroughly researched thesis (with the input of not more than two drafts involving the thesis advisor).
• Present a public seminar that is of high quality; well-practiced, nicely articulated, and appropriately pitched to the audience, with organized, well-made slides and questions answered appropriately.
• Defend your thesis before a committee of 3 faculty members, 2 of whom must be affiliated with the MBBC program.  During the defense, the student must demonstrate mastery of the relevant literature, defend experimental approaches and results, and convince the committee that they have the ability to solve research questions, and communicate thoughts well. 
• All of the deadlines must be met.  Unless otherwise noted, MBBC students follow the thesis process and calendar of due dates in accordance with their thesis advisor’s department.
• The student must display integrity, maturity, and independence as a scientist and contribute to the research in significant ways.
• A strong understanding of the major (at both the foundational and advanced levels) must be demonstrated through the research process, written thesis, oral presentation, and defense. 

Requirements for Honors

If completion of the guidelines goes beyond the already high expectations (as aforementioned), a thesis may be further considered for ‘honors’ or ‘high honors’.  To be considered for any level of honors, students must graduate with an average GPA of at least 3.5 for all courses counting towards the major.  Also, for the thesis to be worthy of ‘honors’ or ‘high honors’, the thesis committee must agree to nominate the student and be able to demonstrate and argue for overall excellence for ‘honors’, or excellence in all of the categories described above for ‘high honors’.  

Final Decisions

All final decisions for the successful completion of the thesis (as well as for the occasional instances when ‘honors’ or ‘high honors’ may be considered) will be made collectively by the entire MBBC faculty.