A draft of the research proposal must be submitted to the faculty research advisor by the final class day of the student's seventh semester.
The student will present the department with a written proposal of the intended work by the last day of classes of the fall semester, or on a date mutually agreed upon by the Chemistry Department. The research proposal must follow the format specified in the Proposal Guidelines.
At the next regularly scheduled department meeting, the Chemistry faculty will review the student's proposal and make a determination as to whether or not the student is qualified to proceed towards honors. They will review the proposed project, and if accepted for Honors consideration, the faculty will set deadlines for the receipt of first and final drafts of the project paper. The student will be informed of the department's decision within one week of receiving the proposal. NOTE: The pursuit of honors in no way guarantees that the student will receive departmental honors. This decision will be made independently at the completion of the honors project.
During the course of the thesis work, it is the responsibility of the research advisor to alert the department to any problems that arise in the research project.
At the end of the project, drafts of the paper are to be submitted to each department member by the deadlines set previously. The paper should conform to the style of an appropriate journal. Both an oral and a written report are required. The student will give a public 30 minute presentation of the research, to be attended by all Chemistry faculty. This will be followed by a private defense in front of the Chemistry faculty (this presentation/oral defense will be done on the Thursday of the exam period, which is a reading day.) Based on the quality of the research reported and the quality of the written presentation, oral presentation, and oral defense, the faculty will make a decision on whether or not to award Honors.