Department of Biology Senior Research Program

2006-2007

This syllabus outlines some of your responsibilities for senior research this year. Research is probably the greatest opportunity for learning, and the most demanding component of your degree. That is not to say that research cannot be fun but it should be taken seriously. You will get out of it that which you put in. Many students in the past have regarded their research experience as the capstone of their degree and it can be a most useful experience when it comes to entry into graduate or medical schools.

You must meet with your research advisor as he or she requires. Details of the requirements for your project can be discussed at these meetings. You should expect to be working many hours each week often at times other than normal University hours. Because the hours for research are often more flexible than those of a formal course, do not make the mistake of treating your research as something to do in “your spare time”. Research is not something that you can cram for or work on the last minute. In fact procrastination on senior research projects is the most common cause of a failure or a poor grade.
 
Requirements for the Fall semester

Senior Seminar: All seniors must attend scheduled seminars. These will be held regularly on Friday from 3-4pm. Seminars offer you an excellent opportunity to observe how professional biologists present their research. They will also provide you with exposure to careers or areas of research that you may be interested in pursuing after graduation. After each seminar we will collect an evaluation form from all students. This evaluation will guide you in your own critical evaluation of the speaker’s research. It will also allow us to keep track of seminar attendance.

Proposal: During the Fall semester, all seniors must present a 10 to 12 minute talk to the rest of the class and faculty. This talk will describe the biological problem addressed by the proposed research. Obviously you must be able to describe the methods that you are using and have a very good idea of the nuts and bolts of the project. The aims of these talks are threefold. They will give you a chance to practice public presentation of a scientific talk, give your fellow students a chance to hear about your work, and probably most important, the talks will enable you to focus your ideas and plan for a rapid restart after the Christmas break. The talks will take place November 10, 17 & December 1 & 8th.  You should be fully prepared to give your presentation at the earliest date listed. 

Pre-thesis and Annotated Bibliography: Your research advisor will probably give you some initial reading material to get you started, but it is your responsibility to conduct literature searches to gather additional information. By the final day of classes (December 8, 2006), you should submit a pre-thesis along with an annotated bibliography that includes the relevant papers you have read. Your research advisor will give you specific instructions. It goes without saying that you should continue to research the literature throughout the spring semester as well.

A typical pre-thesis should include an abstract of about 200 words that describes the experiments conducted and the data obtained so far, and outlines the experiments planned for the spring semester. The pre-thesis should also include an introduction, an explanation of the methods, a summary of results to-date, and a short discussion of where this work will progress in the future. In effect, this paper would be a written version of your research proposal (as presented to the Department in November or December) and should prove to be very useful to you as you come to write your final thesis in the spring.

Assessment: The pre-theses and annotated bibliographies will be examined and assessed at the end of the Fall semester by your research advisor. Only those students who achieve A or B grades will be allowed to continue with their senior projects in the spring semester. Students receiving a C grade or lower will be removed from the research program and will be moved to the non-research degree program. Students may appeal the research advisor's decision in writing to the chair. The appeal process may be discussed with either Dr. Richard or with your advisor.

In the past, students have assumed that they will get an adequate grade simply for showing up. This is not the case. The faculty will not allow an individual to progress to the second semester of research if they have not shown sufficient effort or progress in the Fall.

Requirements for the Spring semester

Research Paper: You will submit a final research paper by the last day of class in the Spring semester. We expect to see previous drafts earlier in the semester. Remember that your final grade is assessed upon these papers so the better they are, the higher the grade. The more we see the earlier drafts, the better the final paper will be. The format for these papers should be discussed with your advisors, but are typically submitted in the style of a particular scientific journal.

Senior Seminar: As part of the requirement for senior seminar, you will present your work in the spring semester. The forum for presentation may be on campus or at a regional or national scientific meeting. You are also strongly encouraged to present your work, either as a poster or an oral presentation, at the SU Scholars Day event held at the end of the semester. If you have not presented at another scientific forum, then this is REQUIRED.  In addition to the above requirements, you must attend all of the formal departmental presentations as required by the faculty.

Presentation to a Broader Scientific Community: This is excellent experience and usually a lot of fun too. We encourage you to present your research at regional or national meetings such as those of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society, National Council of Undergraduate Research, mid-Atlantic section of the Ecological Society of America, etc. Talk with your advisor about what meetings are most appropriate for your work.

Mentoring freshman biology students: You will have the opportunity to explain your project and assign activities (data collection etc.) to one or more Cell and Organismal Biology students. As a research supervisor, you will be responsible for formally assessing the participation of your research advisee(s) and at the same time be assessed as a supervisor by your research advisor. More details will follow in the Spring.

Outstanding Research Award: Several years ago the Biology department began to award two prizes at the Senior Luncheon, one for outstanding academic achievement (based solely on GPA) and one for outstanding research.  Work hard, and it could be you!

Lab Etiquette: There are over 30 students who will be working on their projects this year, with limited space and resources. Please take care to keep the labs clean and tidy, put things back where they should be, and generally be courteous to others (e.g. don’t hog lab carts or squirrel away pipettes!). 

Special Requirements for Honors Students: The requirements for Department of Biology Honors are that you should have an overall GPA of 3.25, a major GPA of 3.5 and submit a research paper for oral examination by the faculty at the end of the Spring semester. They must also have a B- or better in Research I and II. All students who want to try for departmental honors must submit a pre-thesis to their supervisor by December 8th together with a letter requesting that they be considered for Honors.

The final oral examination for Honors (held during senior week prior to Commencement) will take the form of a 30-minute panel discussion with the candidate and the faculty on the student's research and on the general areas of science that surround this work. It is intended to be a rigorous examination of the student that will allow exemplary individuals to attain Honors. 

Conclusions: While this may seem like a long list of rules and regulations, they are intended to help you get the most out of your research projects. You have spent much effort (and money) taking biology courses and learning how to be a biologist, this is your chance to practice as a biologist. You should look on this as the high point of your career here at SU, certainly, we as the faculty will form many of our lasting impressions of you based upon your time as researchers. Make them good impressions. Above all, this should be a valuable and enjoyable learning experience for all concerned.