Research for Credit & Independent Study
Overview
Students can gain academic credit for their research through Research for Credit (03-445), Honors Research for Credit (03-545) (final semester for graduating students), or Independent Study (03-210). Projects can take place either on or off-campus, and require the approval and oversight by a selected mentor.
To complete the course and receive a final grade and academic credit, students must produce a deliverable at the end of the semester in the form of a final report. This report must be approved by the mentor and submitted to the Biology Undergraduate Office (bio-ungrad@andrew.cmu.edu) by the posted deadline.
Additional requirements, deliverables, or prerequisites may apply, depending on the course. See below for more information.
Fall 2024 Deadlines
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Student deadlines Research for Credit (03-445) Honors Research for Credit (03-545) |
Mentor deadlines Honors Research for Credit (03-545) |
Deliverables and grades should be submitted to Bio-ungrad@andrew.cmu.edu.
For Students
Selecting a Course Option
...We would recommend enrolling in Independent Study (03-210).
...We would recommend enrolling in Research for Credit (03-445)
...or Honors Research for Credit (03-545) if it’s your final semester before graduating, you’ve had at least one semester of 03-445 before, and your QPA in the previous semester was at least 3.20.
For students majoring in Biological Sciences:
Note: Students may apply up to 18 units of research credit (03-445) towards general biology electives (03-XXX). No research credit will count towards advanced biology electives (03-3XX). Students may apply an additional 18 units of research credit towards free electives. No more than 36 units of research credit will be counted towards the 360 units required for graduation, but there is no maximum number of units that can be taken.
Finding a mentor
You may ask any faculty mentor to be your course mentor, regardless of primary affiliation (CMU or off-campus), so long as they’re able to provide you with guidance throughout the duration of your course enrollment, can review your final deliverables (see below), and can provide you with a mid-semester and final grade.
Primary mentors may be, but do not need to be, affiliated with CMU.
In the case of Honors Research for Credit (03-545), however, at least one mentor (could be a secondary mentor/co-advisor) must be a Research Faculty within the Department of Biological Sciences; this is so that you have a mentor who is most familiar with the expectations for the final thesis paper and oral presentation. For Independent Study (03-210) and Research for Credit (03-445), this is not necessary.
Planning Your Project
Time dedicated & selecting number of units
How many hours per week can you dedicate during the semester? Work with your mentor to create a schedule.
Research for Credit (03-445): During Spring, Fall, and Summer-all semesters, 1 unit of credit = 1 hour of work per week. If only enrolled during Summer-1 or Summer-2, 1 unit of credit = 2 hours of work per week.
Honors Research for Credit (03-545): During Spring or Fall only; students must enroll in 9 units, which is equal to 9 hours of work per week.
Independent Study (03-210): If enrolled for the entirety of Spring, Fall, or Summer-all semesters, 1 unit of credit = 1 hour of work per week. If only enrolled in one mini (Summer-1, Summer-2, Mini-1, Mini-2, Mini-3, Mini-4), 1 unit = 2 hours of work per week.
Final deliverables
Build time into your schedule to work on your final deliverables for the course. For all courses, you will be required to write a final paper. Your mentor may have additional expectations and deliverables. If doing Honors Research for Credit (03-545), you will also be required to do a 15 minute oral presentation during finals week. More details
Registering for the Course
- Number of units to enroll
- Your research mentor’s full name and title, email address, primary affiliation (e.g. CMU, University of Pittsburgh, etc.), phone number
- A proposed title for your project
- A proposed summary of your intended project (maximum half page)
- You and your mentor will also need to agree to the terms and conditions of research for credit.
Prerequisites
If you have taken 09-207 (Techniques in Quantitative Analysis) or 09-221 (Laboratory I: Introduction to Chemical Analysis), then you received CMU’s general lab safety training. If your work requires more extensive safety training or if your lab is not on CMU’s campus, then you will need to complete that safety training before you can begin the research. Please communicate with your research mentor to find out what is necessary.
Additionally, Honors Research for Credit (03-545) requires at least one prior semester of 03-445 and a QPA in the previous semester of at least 3.20 to be permitted to register.
Applications must be received by the posted deadline. Applications can not be submitted for future semesters.
Tips & Support During Your Project
Schedule time
Identify two time blocks during the week between 9am to 5pm during which you could work on your project. (For example, 6 total units for the semester = 6 hours per week = two 3 hour time blocks.) Once you gain independence, you may choose to work more flexible hours with the agreement of your research mentor. Time worked can consist of in-lab work, computer coding, literature review, data analysis, report writing, etc. The composition of your time depends on the nature of your project and should be agreed on with your research mentor prior to starting.
Attend your meetings
You may be expected to attend all lab meetings and journal clubs that the lab may have. Please contact your research mentor for more information. During busy times it is not permissible for you to skip work to study for exams or write papers.
Communicate with your research mentor
Work with your research mentor to go over what they expect of you this semester. How frequently would they like you to check-in with them? What are their deadlines for you to submit your work for grading or review? What should your work week consist of?
Complete your report
Be sure to submit the report to your research mentor with enough time for them to review and sign it. It is your responsibility to ensure it is sent (signed) to the Undergraduate Programs office by the posted deadline. Please plan ahead with your mentor, and consider any additional time you may need to receive and incorporate feedback they may provide.
Course Deliverables
Independent Study (03-210) and Research for Credit (03-445)
Students must submit a final report to receive course credit. Reports may not be co-written. The report must be approved (signed) by the faculty mentor and submitted to the Undergraduate Programs Office (bio-ungrad@andrew.cmu.edu) by the posted deadline.
The report should be 1.5 to 2 pages (around 1000 words) in length with paragraphs addressing the following issues:
Honors Research for Credit (03-545)
The format and expectations for your thesis document is up to your research advisor, but most typically should be modeled after scientific publications in relevant fields. It must be reviewed and signed/approved by your research mentor(s), then forwarded to the Undergraduate Programs Office (bio-ungrad@andrew.cmu.edu) by the posted deadline. Late submissions may prevent you from graduating on time.
Oral presentations will take place in Mellon Institute during finals week, and should be 15 minutes in length with 5 minutes after for questions. Presentations should be modeled after a professional symposium or conference presentation.
Several weeks ahead of your oral presentation, you must submit a written title and abstract (350 word limit) to the Undergraduate Programs Office (bio-ungrad@andrew.cmu.edu).
Optional Presentation Opportunities
Some students, with mentor approval and support, choose to present the findings or progress of their research at various symposiums and conferences. These are great opportunities to build professional research experience.
There are many opportunities, but the most popular for Research for Credit students is the Meeting of the Minds Undergraduate Research Symposium (annually in Spring). Learn more
Travel funding
Some students choose to present at symposiums or conferences that are off-campus, outside of Pittsburgh. Travel grants to support lodging and other expenses are available through Presentation Awards from the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholar Development and (for undergraduate Biological Sciences majors) through the Department of Biological Sciences Undergraduate Travel Grant.
For Research Mentors
Overview
Coming soon.
Student Expectations
For full-semester registrations, students should be spending a number of hours doing work each week that is equal to the number of units they are enrolled in. (E.g. 1 unit = 1 hours of work per week.) For students only enrolled in a Mini (half semester) or a single summer session (Summer-1 or Summer-2), hours are doubled per unit. (E.g. 1 unit = 2 hours of work weekly)
Students are expected to attend any lab meetings that you designate as necessary.
Final reports for Independent Study (03-210) and Research for Credit (03-445):
Students will be required to submit a summary of their work to the Biology office in the form of a written report. Reports may not be co-written. It is preferred that the report is less than 2 pages, but figures and references may exceed that text limit. The final format of the document is up to you, but the report should address:
- Rationale – Why is the work important? What scientific question did it address?
- Approach – What techniques were used to address your scientific question? Why?
- Results – Describe the outcomes. What were the findings of the research?
- Setbacks – Describe any problems encountered. What was learned from them?
- Conclusions – What do the outcomes mean? How does this fit into the “big picture?”
- Prospects for the future – Should the student pursue the project, modify it, extend it?
Final thesis for Honors Research for Credit (03-545):
Students will be required to submit a final thesis document to the Biology office; the length, content, format, and scope of the thesis should be modeled after journal publications within relevant fields. Students must also submit an abstract and thesis title to the Biology office, and do a 15-minute
Research Mentor Expectations
Providing an appropriate mentor for the student
Please identify and coordinate with a research mentor for the student. This could be you, but it could also include a postdoc, experienced technician, or senior graduate student in the lab.
Reviewing and signing final reports
Students will be required to submit a summary of their work in the form of a written report. Reports may not be co-written. For Honors Research for Credit (03-545), students will instead submit a final thesis document, an abstract and title, and must do an oral presentation during Honors Research Thesis presentations (held at the end of each semester in Mellon Institute).
For final reports and theses, you will need to send approval to the Biology office to affirm that the report is an accurate representation of the student's work. Approval may be in the form of an email to bio-ungrad@andrew.cmu or your signature on the report itself (physical or electronic).
Students might request feedback on their reports before they submit them to our office; they should be coordinating initial draft and editing deadlines with you to ensure you will have enough time to provide feedback before the course's posted deadline.
Submitting mid-semester and final grades
Mid-semester and final grades should be emailed to bio-ungrad@andrew.cmu.edu by the posted deadlines. You should discuss your expectations with the student early in the semester; please review this webpage in its entirety together for more details.
Because project outcomes are not guaranteed, we ask that grades be considered on the following items:- The number of hours per week the student is engaged in the lab; this should be equal to the number of hours listed in “units” on the registration request form.
- Was the student intellectually engaged in their project?
- Did the student keep an accurate and up-to-date lab notebook? Did they communicate effectively with you and their immediate supervisor?
- Was the student’s final report accurate and well written?
What to Expect
For students using our new webform to register, mentors will receive an automatically generated email from cmu-ecm-formsDONOTREPLY@