Honors Research

Students who plan to pursue research after graduation should strongly consider the Honors program in Biology. Most students begin research with a faculty member during their sophomore or junior year, before officially enrolling in Honors research in the fall of their senior year. The Honors program provides a formal research experience that is more challenging and demanding—and potentially more rewarding—than ordinary supervised research in biology. Taking on a challenging project helps many students become more comfortable setting and striving for ambitious goals in their future careers. The program also offers a realistic preview of writing a thesis in graduate school. Finally, Honors provides an opportunity to demonstrate ability and originality, as well as to show whether a student can maintain strong grades while managing a substantial additional commitment.

The Departmental Honors program is administered by the Charles Center, which provides excellent guides and advice on its website. Interested students may also want to consult the archive of completed Honors projects in Biology.

Additional Policies:

• To pursue Honors research in Biology, a student must be a Biology major and have a research advisor or co-advisor who is a W&M Biology Department faculty member.
• If there is a co-advisor for the Honors thesis who is not a W&M Biology Department faculty member (i.e., an external co-advisor), the Honors thesis committee will include the W&M Biology Department co-advisor, the external co-advisor, a second W&M Biology Department faculty member, and another external faculty member.
• If a student proposes an external co-advisor who is not a faculty member at W&M, the Biology Department will review the proposal on a case-by-case basis, including a review of the proposed co-advisor's CV.