Learn more about senior comps in the biology department as well as pursuing the Occidental College Honors Program.
Senior Comps
The senior comprehensive in biology provides an opportunity for every senior to demonstrate mastery of a topic of current importance and research interest in contemporary biology. Seniors enroll in small, one-semester seminars organized around current topics that are meant to span a number of scales in biology. The seminar includes extensive reading (both assigned and independently chosen), discussion and evaluation of primary literature, selection of an appropriate subtopic on which to focus, synthesis and writing of a précis or summary of research on the subtopic, and a major oral presentation by each student. The seminar also involves collaboration in that presenters partner with discussion leaders and work together throughout the semester to hone each other’s written and oral presentations.
Honors in Biology
The Honors Program at Occidental College is designed to allow the attention of highly motivated students to be focused on a directed investigation for a sustained period of time. It is expected that students admitted to the College Honors Program will have established themselves as outstanding prospects for individualized work in the department of their major and will also have established themselves as doing work of very high quality in all that they have undertaken at Occidental. Student admission to the College Honors Program take place through formal action of the faculty in the student's major department (taken from the College Catalog statement on Honors).
Requirements
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Student typically will have worked on a research project for 2 semesters (or 1 semester + summer session) minimum, before applying for honors
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Student must have an average GPA of 3.25 (college policy)
Application Process
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Students should discuss with their research mentor and submit an official Letter of Intent to the Biology Chairperson by the first week of their senior year, or sooner.
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The letter of intent should include a summary of research results (realized and projected), as well as significance of the research and any projects in progress at the time of submission.
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Applications will be evaluated by the Biology faculty.
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Students nominated for honors will be notified by the Biology Chairperson.
Completion Process
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At the time of nomination, each candidate will be assigned an honors thesis committee of two Biology faculty members, in addition to their faculty mentor. This committee will be available for guidance and to help ensure that milestones are met in a timely manner.
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Milestones will include a thorough literature review, written drafts of the introduction, methods, and results sections, including draft figures, and a final discussion section, as well as preparation of a public seminar.
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The candidate must complete a written thesis of their work. It is expected that the student will spend part of their final semester or directed research writing the thesis.
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The written thesis will be due to the mentor by Monday in the 3rd week of February.
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The revised honors thesis will be due to the committee by Monday in the 2nd week of March.
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The thesis will be reviewed by committee and returned to the student by Monday the 4th week of March, and final revisions must be submitted by the first week of April.
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Honors candidates will also give a presentation on their research to be scheduled on or about April 15. These presentations will last approximately 25 minutes, with 5 minutes for questions.
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Honors grades are Pass/Fail and reported to the registrar by the Chair. The chair will inform the students of their grade when it is decided upon by the committee.