Undergraduate research - CHEM 499 How-Tos

  1. Identify Chemistry faculty members with whom you would like to work. View the participating faculty members' research interests in the faculty directory. You can also search faculty members by research area. Lastly, you can use your personal knowledge and contacts to determine compatibility of interests.
  2. Make individual appointments with faculty to discuss possible projects.
  3. Make your decision. Then, in consultation with your faculty research advisor, determine how you want to distribute the hours you wish to take over the time you have available. You may count up to 10 hours total in CHEM 499 (typically over 2 semesters) towards graduation credit.
  4. Register for CHEM 499 by using your faculty research advisor's course registration number (CRN) and the number of hours agreed upon per semester. Obtain the CRN from your faculty research advisor or administrative assistant.
  5. Establish a schedule for your research, especially regarding when your thesis is due. It is important that you and your supervisor agree to a time table, and later agree on any changes that may be required.

  6. NOTE: In past years, some students who have enrolled in CHEM 499 did not graduate on time because a specific schedule was neither set nor understood by the student and/or the faculty research advisor.


FACTS

  1. In the Specialized Chemistry Curriculum (3207), CHEM 499 Senior Thesis serves as Technical Elective hours and reduces the lab requirement. In the Chemistry Sciences and Letters program, CHEM 499 counts as upper-level hours.
  2. When CHEM 499 is taken over more than one semester, DFR grades are typically given each semester until the thesis project is completed and graded. The faculty research advisor must change the DFR grade for each past semester to a letter grade within 10 days after the last day of final exams of the student's last semester in order for CHEM 499 hours to qualify for graduation.
  3. Each student must submit a thesis (a formal document following the Bachelor's thesis instructions), approved by the faculty research advisor, the Department of Chemistry head, and the LAS College Honors dean, in order to receive a grade and credit hours for the course. The submission deadline to the Department of Chemistry office is 4:00 pm on the last day of instruction for the semester, which is generally the Wednesday of the first week of May. The student is required to submit an advanced draft of the thesis to the faculty research advisor no later than one week before the submission deadline.
  4. For courses designated DF or EX, no consideration is given for Dean's List until final traditional grades are submitted.
  5. With an Electronic Honors Learning Agreement, you may earn honors credit for your senior thesis.
  6. For Chemistry's Distinction requirements, including GPA thresholds, please see the campus catalog degree requirements for the BS and BSLAS majors.