Faculty committee: J. T. Brenna

The research honors program in the Division of Nutritional Sciences is a structured experience that requires (1) successful completion of NS 3980, (2) conducting a research project through which the student becomes intellectually engaged in the whole research process, (3) completing a written thesis that reports the research, and (4) giving an oral presentation of the project at the undergraduate honors symposium. Students must maintain a minimum grade point average to graduate with honors in research.

The research honors program is an excellent opportunity for students who are highly interested in research and wish to commit substantial time and intellectual energy to a project that will span about four semesters of their undergraduate experience. Honors students experience the excitement of participating in a project to generate new knowledge on a topic that interests them and reporting the project findings. By working with faculty mentors and other researchers, they develop skills in research methods and data analysis. Students also learn that research projects are labor intensive and that writing research reports, such as the honors thesis, is a vital, but time-consuming, aspect of the research process. This intensive research experience is not suitable for all students, and those who wish a less intensive research experience may conduct research with a faculty member under NS 4010.

Students interested in the program should take NS 3980 as early in their program as possible. To review program requirements contact Professor Thomas Brenna, jtb4@cornell.edu. Acceptance into the research honors program occurs when the student (1) is accepted into a faculty member’s research program and (2) submits a research proposal abstract that is approved by the director of the research honors program.

Students interested in the program typically spend the spring sophomore semester and fall junior semester exploring honors project opportunities with prospective faculty mentors. Students are responsible for contacting faculty members and applying to their research programs, although some guidance in this process will be provided in NS 3980. By the fall of the junior year, the student is expected to have identified their faculty member and be working with him or her on a proposal abstract, which is due early in the spring junior semester.

Students receive academic credit for work on their honors project under NS 4990. The 6 required credits may be taken over several semesters. How much time is spent on the project each semester will be the decision of the student and the faculty mentor. For each three to four hours of work per week, the faculty mentor usually will assign one hour of academic credit. This applies to the preparation of the research plan and necessary library research (usually completed during the junior year) as well as the carrying out of the research itself and preparation of the thesis.

The research honors project is the major component of the research honors program. It should be well defined and sufficiently circumscribed to give the student the opportunity to develop the research plan, execute the research, and write an acceptable thesis within the limited time available to students carrying full academic loads. Typically, the project is designed early in the junior year and conducted in the spring junior semester and fall senior semester. Students may arrange with their faculty mentor to work on the project during the summer. The spring senior semester is usually devoted to writing the thesis (at least 25 pages). The student works with the faculty mentor to prepare a draft of the thesis, which is submitted before spring break to a second faculty member for evaluation. When comments are received from the reader, the student must revise the thesis to meet the criteria for acceptance. The student presents the thesis at the Honors Student Symposium at the end of the semester.

Students may volunteer to submit electronically to the honors committee chair a copy of their final approved thesis (in pdf or Word format) for Mann Library. Mann Library has given CALS the opportunity to have theses available to the public electronically if this does not interfere with other plans, such as patenting or publishing in another journal. A permission form to allow the thesis to be made available online at Mann Library can be obtained from the honors committee chair.

In addition, students are required to submit electronically to the honors committee chair their thesis title, research advisor’s name, and abstract (in Word format). During each summer, the CALS Research Honors Abstracts publication is published (on the web beginning 2009) as a compilation of research honors thesis abstracts.