Neuroscience Senior Thesis Instructions
(Rev. 12.16.07)
In order to graduate, you must complete the senior thesis course sequence (NEUR 4950/4951) during your senior year and receive a passing grade for each course. These courses are taken in separate semesters. It is ultimately your responsibility as the student to ensure that you are carrying out the steps necessary to complete the requirements as set forth by your thesis mentor and/or thesis committee.
The requirements for completing the thesis vary from mentor to mentor. Because of the individualized nature of these requirements, only general guidelines are provided below. Always consult with your mentor and/or thesis committee to fully understand how to write a thesis proposal, how to write a thesis paper, and how to defend the thesis.
Download the Senior Thesis Application Form. The information provided here and on the form are the same. You must, however, submit the application form to Dr. Tran with the required signatures before the university registration deadline. Do make a photocopy of the form for yourself and thesis chairperson.
I. INFORMATION AND REQUIREMENTS
A. The student must identify and work with a faculty mentor with expertise within an area of neuroscience. Ideally, this faculty mentor is an individual who has previously supervised the required Laboratory Experience/Directed Readings in neuroscience course sequence (i.e., NEUR 4201, PSYC 4312, or PSYC 4315). Preferably, the student should identify a faculty member as his/her thesis mentor the semester before registering for NEUR 4950 (Thesis I).
B. In the first senior semester in which thesis work is initiated, the student must complete and return this Senior Thesis Application Form to the Director of the Undergraduate Neuroscience Program, Dr. Tran. Once the form has been received, Dr. Tran will register the student for the appropriate course in the sequence. University registration deadlines must be followed. The thesis mentor/chair will provide Dr. Tran the student’s course grade at the end of each semester (some conditions apply, please read below).
1. NEUR 4950/Committee/Registration: For a thesis in the neuroscience major, the project must clearly involve neuroscience at any level (i.e., molecular, biochemical, physiological, pharmacological, behavioral-cognitive). The student shall take NEUR 4950 as the first of two neuroscience thesis courses. NEUR 4950 requires the student to work with a faculty mentor in order to be familiarized with lab techniques, develop thesis ideas, review relevant literature, create a written thesis proposal, and obtain preliminary data. The faculty mentor shall serve as chair of the thesis project. In addition to the thesis chair, at least one other faculty member must serve on the student’s committee. The thesis committee member(s) should also be identified prior to registering for NEUR 4950; your thesis chair can assist you in determining potential members of your committee. The thesis chair may also recommend, at his/her discretion, the addition of other committee members. Ideally, the thesis chair and all committee members should sign the application form before the student submits it to Dr. Tran. However, due to possible delays in selecting a committee member(s) and also meet the university registration deadline, this member(s) can sign-off at a later point. In this case, the student will first submit the form with original signature from the thesis chair to Dr. Tran; after the committee member(s) has been identified, the student shall request the original application form from Dr. Tran so that the member’s signature can be acquired. The form shall then be returned to Dr. Tran. The signed application form can be faxed or emailed to Dr. Tran in order to meet the university registration deadline, but the original should also be submitted eventually.
2. Thesis Proposal: Unless otherwise specified by the thesis chairperson, a written thesis proposal is required prior to the end of the semester in which NEUR 4950 is taken. The thesis chairperson and committee member(s) must approve your proposal and a copy of this proposal must be submitted to Dr. Tran. The proposal should consist of at least a Thesis Proposal Title/Signature Page (obtain from Dr. Tran or download the form), Abstract, literature review (that begins with background / significance and ends with a statement of the hypothesis(es) to be tested), Methods, and References. Proposals should be written in future tense. The format of this proposal (and thesis) can be in any manuscript format that the thesis chair chooses (e.g., APA thesis format, APA manuscript format, any journal manuscript format – Psychopharmacology, Journal of Neuroscience, Science, Behavioral Neuroscience, etc.); the proposal (and thesis) may be written “manuscript-ready” and this decision can be made solely at the thesis chair’s discretion. Note that manuscript format (for any journal) is not the same as press/publication format; the thesis chair can help you with this distinction. As an additional matter of flexibility for both the thesis chair and student, the proposal may have tables and/or figures embedded in text, with captions placed immediately underneath these visuals. This allows for better ease of reading, as opposed to having to locate such items at the back of the product (with a separate Caption Page!). If a thesis proposal is not required by the thesis chair, then this must be agreed upon by the thesis chair and requires the chair’s signature (see p. 4 of form).
3. Grading Policies for NEUR 4950: The thesis chair will determine your grade for NEUR 4950 and email/communicate it to Dr. Tran. However, in order for assignment of a formal grade, Dr. Tran must have a hard copy (or electronic copy) of your approved thesis proposal with original signed Thesis Proposal Title/Signature Page (unless otherwise stated in the application form).
C. Student shall take NEUR 4951 the semester in which the [approved] thesis data collection and write-up is completed.
1. Students taking NEUR 4951 are expected to collect and analyze data, and write-up the thesis in a manuscript format chosen by the thesis chair (see B2). The write-up will consist of all stated sections of the approved thesis proposal, as well as a Results and Discussion/Conclusion section. The Thesis Title/Signature Page for the thesis product differs from that required for the thesis proposal; obtain this form from Dr. Tran or download it. The Thesis Title/Signature Page is signed by all committee members and the student after successful completion of the thesis defense (see C2). Again, for economy, tables/figures can be embedded in text with appropriate captions.
2. Grading Policies for NEUR 4951: In addition to the written document (see C1), all students must present and defend their completed thesis at a meeting with their committee during the semester that they are registered for NEUR 4951. This is typically done well-ahead of the end of the semester. Defenses are also typically carried out as a 20-30 minute presentation (e.g., PowerPoint), followed a question/answer session (i.e., the defense), and a debriefing/evaluation of the defense with subsequent decision of Pass/Fail from the thesis committee. The format of the defense and its duration are determined by the thesis chair. Although the committee may provide the student a passing grade for the defense, this does not signify a final grade of “A,” as the thesis chair ultimately will determine the final course grade, which may incorporate the work that the student had completed, his/her competency with the thesis work/material, along with performance on the thesis defense. Rarely and only under extreme circumstances should defense dates be allowed after the university graduation date (and especially if the student is intending to graduate the same semester). After successful defense of the thesis, the Thesis Title/Signature Page must be signed by all committee members. A copy of the thesis with the original signed Thesis Title/Signature Page must be submitted to Dr. Tran before a student is given a grade for NEUR 4951; Dr. Tran will also sign the Thesis Title/Signature Page at that point.
3. Your thesis chair may also direct you to present your thesis at one of the following:
- A professional meeting (preferable)
- ECU annual neuroscience symposium
- ECU undergraduate research symposium
- Or at a meeting approved by the undergraduate neuroscience program director
II. SENIOR THESIS APPLICATION FORM (Rev. 12.16.07)
