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JUNIOR SPRING / SUMMER BEFORE SENIOR YEAR
Honors students must communicate their ideas and plans for their year-long honors project with a Macalester faculty member (and/or the department chair) during their Junior spring or the summer before senior year.
Completing honors in Biology requires a substantial commitment to an ongoing research project that will generate a quantity of data and results sufficient for the thesis. Therefore, unless an exception is granted by the department chair, students interested in honors must have completed at least one summer and/or semester of work with the proposed mentor prior to applying for honors in the fall semester of their senior year.
On-campus research (aka Macalester-faculty mentored): Talk with the Macalester faculty member you plan to work with for your honors project during your junior spring semester if possible. If you are doing research in their lab the summer before senior year that you plan to turn into honors, this conversation can also occur during summer.
Off-campus research (aka mentored by a non-Macalester faculty member): If you have done or plan to do research off-campus (e.g. at UMN or during a summer REU elsewhere), have a conversation with a Mac faculty member about the possibility of continuing the work during your senior year for honors. This typically requires significant investment of time and effort from your off-campus advisor throughout the year so is not always feasible for off-campus projects, especially those based outside of the Twin Cities.
SENIOR YEAR - September through January
Early September during Add/Drop Period : Register for 4 credits of Honors Independent Study (BIOL-644). This can happen in either the fall or spring semester; note that you may count only one 4-credit Research In, Independent Study, or Honors Independent Study credit toward the major in Biology. Students may additionally register for BIOL-642 (2 credits) in January if appropriate for their timeline. You must register for Honors Independent Study credits with S/SD/NC designation. Forms for registering for for Honors Independent Study are here.
Mid-September: Submit an honors application There is a college-wide deadline for declaration of intent to pursue honors at the end of September (Mac's college-wide honors calendar is on this page); applications must be submitted ahead of this date so that the Biology Department can evaluate your proposal prior to this deadline.
December: Meet with your honors thesis committee to provide an update on progress and plan your written thesis and oral thesis presentation and defense. During this mid-year meeting, the committee will evaluate your work and determine whether you pass, fail, or pass conditionally.
Late January: Submit a draft of your literature review (Chapter 1). At the end of January there is a college-wide deadline for confirming students who will complete honors (found on this page); literature review drafts and partial drafts of your Chapter 2 must be submitted with enough time for your honors thesis committee to evaluate your draft prior to this deadline.
WRITTEN & ORAL THESIS PRESENTATIONS
Submit your written thesis to your committee a minimum of 2 weeks prior to your oral presentation. Your advisor should be giving you regular feedback on your literature review and data-chapter drafts through the spring. Meeting 1/week is normal.
Public oral presentation on or before the college-wide deadline (found on this page). You will give a seminar-style presentation on your research. You will speak and show slides for ~20-30 minutes on "Biology Honors Day" with your peers , followed by questions from the audience. Anyone from the Macalester community may attend, and we encourage you to invite everyone who has supported you along your journey at Mac (friends, family, etc!) The deadline to complete honors thesis presentations is set by the college (full schedule found on this page). Note: delivering this presentation fulfills the capstone requirement for the major.
Oral defense of the thesis. After your public presentation, you will meet with your honors thesis committee to discuss your written and oral thesis for ~1 hour. Your committee will discuss if any changes need to be made prior to submitting to the college.
Revise your written thesis and submit! Address all feedback received from your committee. You must submit a pdf of your fully revised written thesis to the Academic Programs and Advising Office on or before the college-wide deadline (found on this page).
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