Honors Project

To do an honors project you will need to fill out the registrar’s form (https://www.bowdoin.edu/registrar/students/course-registration/honors-projects.html) by the end of add/drop II.  An honors project is taken as a course and therefore the expectation is that you put in as much time as you would for any other course (~ 10 hours per week).  This may vary from week to week depending on what you are working on and if deadlines are approaching.  We will meet weekly individually for ~30 minutes to discuss what you have done the previous week and what you plan to do the following week as well as to answer any questions you may have.  I prefer to meet on Mondays.  Please come see me the first week of classes to arrange a time to meet.  If you need to reschedule or cancel a meeting please let me know in advance.  In addition to your research responsibilities, I also expect you to participate in additional research activities including attending research seminars in psychology and biology (https://www.bowdoin.edu/biology/news/seminar-series/index.html), attending lunches with the speakers, and attending job talks.  

Check-in

We will do a mid-semester and mid-year check-in to make sure you are on track with your honors project (see questions here).

Honors Presentations 

You will be required to give a talk in December and May on your honors project.  The dates for the talks will be posted on the Neuroscience website (https://www.bowdoin.edu/neuroscience/requirements/honors-indep.html).  Remember who your audience is (Neuroscience faculty and majors) when you are preparing your presentation.  You should use your presentation from the summer and/or fall as the basis for future presentations.  You will do a practice talk for the lab the week prior to the presentation to get feedback.  I also encourage you to do a practice talk with your peers.

Honors Paper

You will be required to write an honors paper for your honors project.  Examples of completed honors projects can be found on the library website (https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/honorsprojects/).  You should read some of the completed honors projects in Neuroscience to get an idea of what is expected for your honors paper.  You will be required to turn in a draft of your honors paper in the fall semester and a final paper in the spring semester.  In the fall semester you are expected to have a well-developed literature review and introduction, methods, and preliminary results and discussion.  In the spring semester you are expected to have revised your introduction and finalized your methods, results, and discussion.  In addition to your lab duties, you should be reading papers relevant to your project and working on your paper throughout the summer and/or semester.  Please follow deadlines from the Neuroscience program (https://www.bowdoin.edu/neuroscience/requirements/honors-indep.html) and the library (https://bowdoin.libguides.com/honors).  Please read all emails and follow all library guidelines for formatting (see Leigh's paper for an example).  I also recommend using EndNote or another citation management software for citing papers.  The library has useful information on citation management tools (https://bowdoin.libguides.com/citationmanagement).  In order for me to provide feedback, please email me your paper as a .docx so I can insert comments.  I try to provide feedback within 5 weekdays of receipt of an honors paper so you have time to revise.  

You will be graded on your honors project each semester based on the time and effort, understanding and engagement with the project, the presentation, and paper.