Departmental Honors offers students the opportunity to undertake in-depth, challenging work in their fields of study. The program emphasizes student-led, individualized curricula and encourages the formation of working relationships between students and faculty.
Departmental Honors is open to any UNH student with a qualifying GPA. Students in the University Honors Program must complete Departmental Honors in order to graduate with an Honors distinction, but it is not necessary to be a member of the University Honors Program to pursue Departmental Honors.
Most students begin Departmental Honors in their junior year. In general, courses eligible for Departmental Honors designation are numbered 600 and above.
Requirements
To be eligible to graduate with Honors in Major, Biology majors must complete 16 credit hours of honors courses at the 500 level or higher in one or more of the biological sciences, including a minimum of 4 credits in BIOL 799, Honors Research/Thesis; and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.40 overall and also in courses required by the major. Biology majors wishing to be admitted to the Departmental Honors program must first consult with the Biology Program Honors Liaison, preferably before the beginning of the junior year.
Honors-in-Major Program Description
Students are required to maintain an overall GPA of 3.40 as well as a GPA of 3.40 in major-required course work.
To be awarded the B.S. degree with Departmental Honors in Biology the student must complete at least 16 credits of honors courses at the 500 level or higher in the biological sciences. At least two courses must be at the 600 or 700 level, with a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 credits being for BIOL 799, Honors Research/Thesis.
You may complete the 16 credits of honors course work by one of two methods. You may either enroll in honors courses offered by any of the biological sciences departments (courses with an “H” following the number), or, with the agreement of the course instructor for a course in which you are enrolled, you may complete additional assignments (research papers, complementary readings, etc.) that will constitute an honors experience in any 600 or 700 level biological science course.
If the latter method is chosen, the additional course work must be agreed to in writing by both you and the instructor before the beginning of the term. To complete the process and receive honors credit for this course, you must notify the Registrar's Office with an Honors Designation Change Form signed by you and the instructor. The deadline for notification is at the beginning of each semester up to the course drop deadline.
Enrollment in BIOL 799 requires that you complete a research project approved and supervised by a biological sciences faculty member, write a research proposal, a concluding thesis on your research, and orally and/or visually communicate the results of your research, typically at the Undergraduate Research Conference in April of each year.
Contact the Biology Honors Liaison.
To be eligible to graduate with Departmental Honors, Marine, Estuarine and Freshwater Biology majors must complete 16 credit hours of honors courses at the 500 level or higher using the courses listed as an MEFB required course, or those listed as electives, including a minimum of 4 credits in BIOL 799, Honors Research/Thesis; and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.40 overall and in courses required by the major. MEFB majors wishing to be admitted to the Honors in Major program must first consult with the MEFB Program Honors Liaison, preferably before the beginning of the junior year.
Departmental Honors Program Description
Students are required to maintain an overall GPA of 3.40 as well as a GPA of 3.40 in major-required course work.
To be awarded the B.S. degree with Departmental Honors in Marine, Estuarine and Freshwater Biology the student must complete at least 16 credits of honors courses at the 500 level or higher in the lists of required and elective course for the MEFB major. At least two courses must be at the 600 or 700 level, with a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 credits being for MEFB799, Honors Research/Thesis.
You may complete the 16 credits of honors course work by one of two methods. You may either enroll in honors courses offered by any of the biological sciences departments (courses with an “H” following the number) relevant to the major, or, with the agreement of the course instructor, for a course in which you are enrolled whereby you must complete additional assignments (research papers, complementary readings, etc.) that will constitute an honors experience in any 600 or 700 level aquatic science related course.
If the latter method is chosen the additional course work must be agreed to in writing by both you and the instructor before the beginning of the term. To complete the process and receive honors credit for the course, you must notify the Registrar's Office with an Honors Designation Change Form signed by you and the instructor. The deadline for notification is the beginning of each semester up to the course drop deadline
Enrollment in MEFB 799 requires that you complete a research project approved and supervised by a faculty member associated with the MEFB major, write a research proposal, a concluding thesis on your research, and orally and/or visually communicate the results of your research, typically at the Undergraduate Research Conference in April of each year.
To earn honors-in-major in Neuroscience and Behavior, a student must:
- Submit the NSB Honors-in-Major APPLICATION form to the NSB Honors Liaison (should be completed before taking NSB electives for honors credit).
- Maintain a grade point average of at least 3.5 in major coursework.
- Take at least three courses for honors credit and achieve at least a B in all of them. These three courses must meet the following criteria:
- They must be 600- or 700-level.
- They must fulfill a requirement for the NSB major.
- At least two must come from the list of NSB electives (not foundation courses).
- They may not include independent studies, thesis, or other research experience.
- For each course taken for honors credit, the student will complete separate assignments, such as additional projects, papers, or discussion sections, at the discretion of the instructor.
- Successfully complete NSB 799H Senior Thesis. The student will enroll in 2-4 NSB 799H credits for two consecutive semesters (for a total of 4-8 credits), with an IA grade given for the first semester.
- No later than the beginning of the first semester, senior year, each student participating in Senior Thesis will meet with his/her faculty advisor to select a research project. The student will present a written proposal for evaluation.
- During the year, the student will carry out the experimental portion of his/her research under the tutelage of the advisor. The advisor must be either NSB core or affiliated faculty.
- Earn a total of at least 16 honors credits. These credits may include both the three courses and the thesis.
- Email a digital copy of the completed thesis (as one single PDF document) to one of the NSB Honors Liaison by May 10 for May graduates and December 10 for December graduates.
- Submit the NSB Honors-in-Major VERIFICATION form to the NSB Honors Liaison (should be completed during the beginning of the final semester).
With additional Honors credits and Discovery courses, students can also graduate with Honors in Discovery and/or Interdisciplinary Honors.
If you have questions about your particular honors course of study, please contact the NSB Honors Liaison.
To be eligible to graduate with Departmental Honors, Zoology majors must complete 16 credit hours of honors courses at the 500 level or higher using the courses listed as a Zoology required course, or those listed as electives, including a minimum of 4 credits in BIOL 799, Honors Research/Thesis; and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.40 overall and in courses required by the major. Zoology majors wishing to be admitted to the Departmental Honors program must first consult with the Zoology Program Honors Liaison, preferably before the beginning of the junior year.
Departmental Honors Program Description
Students are required to maintain an overall GPA of 3.40 as well as a GPA of 3.40 in major-required course work.
To be awarded the B.S. degree with Departmental Honors in Zoology the student must complete at least 16 credits of honors courses at the 500 level or higher in the lists of required and elective course for the Zoology major. At least two courses must be at the 600 or 700 level, with a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 credits being for Zool 799, Honors Research/Thesis.
You may complete the 16 credits of honors course work by one of two methods, i.e. either 1) enroll in honors courses offered by any of the biological sciences departments (courses with an “H” following the number) relevant to the major, or 2) designate as honors, with the agreement of the course instructor any 600 or 700 level course in which you are enrolled and for which you must complete additional assignments (research papers, complementary readings, etc.) that will constitute an honors experience in a zoology related course.=
If the latter method is chosen the additional course work must be agreed to in writing by both you and the instructor before the beginning of the term. To complete the process and receive honors credit for the course, you must notify the Registrar's Office with an Honors Designation Change Form signed by you and the instructor. The deadline for notification is the beginning of each semester up to the course drop deadline.
Enrollment in Zool 799 requires that you complete a research project approved and supervised by a faculty member associated with the Zoology major, write a research proposal, resulting in a written thesis on your research, and when possible, orally and/or visually communicate the results of your research.
