Skip to main content

Honors

To be eligible for honors in ISP, students must meet the following requirements:

  1. The student must have a GPA no lower than 3.2. Because of the rigor of ISP curriculum, students below 3.2 but at least 3.0 may be considered for honors if they have completed a significant amount of undergraduate research (consult with the ISP Director for more details)
  2. The student must carry out independent research under the supervision of a faculty member
  3. The student must complete at least two quarters of ISP 398 (Undergraduate Research) under the supervision of a single faculty member. This course registration is often a culmination of a larger effort, including research that may have been started with no credit or over the summer. In certain cases, ISP students may petition to have 399 Independent Study credits from other ISP-related disciplines used in place of Integrated Science 398 to fulfill this requirement. Such a request must be submitted in writing to the Program Director prior to the selection of the thesis topic. If the permission is granted, the 399 credits used cannot be used to qualify for honors in other disciplines.
  4. The student must submit a written thesis (see more below for details)
  5. The student must arrange for their faculty advisor to submit a letter of support (see more below for details)

Additional things to consider:

Learn more about honors in general at this link https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/enrichment-opportunities/honors-awards/college-honors.html

Remember that it is important to plan ahead for conducting the research and completing the honors thesis. The project chosen should be one in which the student can make an independent intellectual contribution. Students may elect to do a research-based project in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geology, environmental science, or computer science. Other related areas in the physical and biological sciences may also qualify upon consultation with the Program Director.

As many ISP students graduate with second majors, a student must decide whether to work toward honors in ISP or in another major, since a project may only count in one department. In unusual circumstances, it may be possible to achieve more than one degree with honors, if more than one significant project has been done. Alternatively, the student may want to write an interdisciplinary thesis if they carried out a highly significant project that connects two different disciplines. In both cases, the student should read more about these processes at this link. 

Participation in undergraduate research is necessary but not sufficient for honors. The ISP Committee will meet once all materials have been collected and will evaluate each thesis. A vote will be taken on each thesis, and if the majority of the committee’s votes are favorable, the student will be recommended for honors to the appropriate WCAS committee. If the ISP Committee votes not to recommend the student, the Program Director will write to the student explaining the basis for the decision and giving the student an opportunity to respond in writing. The student's response will be considered by the ISP committee, and a new vote will be taken.

TIMELINE

  1. NOTIFY ISP DIRECTOR: Students planning to submit a senior thesis should notify the Director, in Fall quarter of their senior year, with their working title and the name of the advisor.
  2. THESIS OUTLINE: By January 30 of the year you will graduate, submit an outline of your honors thesis to the ISP Honors Committee for approval. This outline should be prepared in collaboration with your faculty thesis advisor. The outline should include a brief summary of the project and an outline of what will be included in the various components of the thesis. If you would like to see an example, contact the ISP director.
  3. FINAL THESIS: By April 30 of the year you will graduate, honors candidates will be required to submit their final written research thesis. This should be entirely the student's work. It should include an abstract, a description of the problem being addressed, a background section consisting of a literature survey and enough information to make the subject accessible to any faculty member in the field being studied, methods, results and analysis (including appropriate equations, tables, and graphs), a discussion of the work's significance and shortcomings, a list of references, and acknowledgements to others involved in the work. In writing this paper, the students should be guided by the format suitable for a journal article in the field chosen. It is not acceptable to present a published paper or manuscript intended for publication on which the student is an author, although some sections of such a paper may be used if the student wrote them originally, and if they are appropriately referenced.
  4. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT DOCUMENTATION: When the final thesis is submitted, the research thesis faculty advisor must submit a letter on the student's behalf based on a careful examination of the report and knowledge of the project. This letter should be submitted to the ISP Director and must describe the work in terms that the entire ISP Committee (which consists of faculty members from Division I departments) can understand, and must provide an evaluation of the project and of the report. It must also describe the student's original contribution and extent of independence. Most importantly, the advisor must explicitly state that they find the student's work to be of high quality.