To enroll for Senior Capstone/Thesis credit (CHEM/BIOC 498/498H) students must:

1. Work with the research advisor to write a | Senior Capstone/Thesis Prospectus | of not more than two pages that includes:

1) a statement of the problem,

2) background information,

3) methods to be used,

4) expected outcomes, and

5) references.

2. Biochemistry students enroll for credit through the BIOC Program Academic Affairs office in OC 210 (Old Chemistry) after obtaining signatures from the Research faculty mentor and your faculty advisor. Chemistry students enroll for credit through the | Teaching Services Office (TSO) | located in Koffler 201.

Note: Biochemistry majors wanting to work in laboratories of faculty outside of Chemistry & Biochemistry must obtain permission from their Biochemistry Faculty Advisor. The process of obtaining approval of the Senior Capstone/Thesis must be completed prior to the start of the first semester of research. This would normally be in the spring semester of the junior year.

3. There are no exams for CHEM/BIOC498(H). At the end of your first semester, your research mentor will assign you a grade based on the agreed upon criteria in the registration form. After one semester of research, students must submit a revised Prospectus to their Biochemistry Faculty Advisor.

4. Before your second semester of Capstone/Thesis begins, touch base with your research mentor to clarify what you should be focusing on for this final semester. It is expected that the research faculty mentor will work with the student as the student prepares and writes the thesis.

5. At the start of your second semester, complete and submit the | Registration Form for Capstone/Thesis | – Second Semester. Use the form to help you plan out your writing tasks for this semester. Writing should be an ongoing process during the second semester, so that there is ample time to work on the thesis drafts with input from the research faculty mentor.

6. At least 2 weeks prior to the completion of classes for the second semester, the student must submit a thesis in | scientific paper format |  for approval by the research mentor and by the Biochemistry faculty advisor. The Capstone/Thesis is not only the documentation of your research project, but also a scientific writing assignment. Before submission of the senior Capstone/Thesis, the research faculty mentor must sign the title page (with date), signifying approval of the thesis for both scientific content, scope of the Capstone/Thesis, and writing style. The student should then bring the Capstone/Thesis to their assigned BIOC faculty advisor for their approval and signature. The BIOC faculty advisor will only approve the thesis after they have read the document. Once approved by the BIOC faculty advisor the thesis is turned in to Biochemistry student program office, OC 210.

7. Students graduating in the spring semester must also present a poster of their senior Capstone/Thesis at the | Annual CBC Poster Fair Contest |, a special presentation for undergraduate research and senior thesis presentations sponsored by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

8. At the end of the semester, honors students must submit their Senior Honors Thesis to the | Honors College | by the last day of classes. The deadline to submit your thesis is usually one week before finals. Research advisors/mentors will assign grades after the completed Capstone/Thesis is submitted.