Honors Program
The Honors Program in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience offers students completing the Psychology or Neuroscience major an excellent opportunity to get involved in research. The program is for students with strong academic records who wish to devote a substantial amount of time in their senior year to a senior honors thesis.
Further Information
For more information, contact the Director of the Honors Program, Karen Rosen (karen.rosen@bc.edu).
2023–2024 Graduate Student Contacts
- Abigail McLaughlin (abigail.mclaughlin@bc.edu)
- Alexandra Ng (alexandra.ng@bc.edu)
Program Details
Requirements and Due Dates
Junior Year
November 1: Honors Program Application to Participate
April: Submit your thesis proposal to your advisor and second reader.
April (Registration for Fall): Submit a Syllabus/Contract Form for PSYC4495 and PSYC4496.
May 1: Honors Thesis Proposal Approval Form
Senior Year
PSYC4495 Senior Honors Thesis I (3 credits)
PSYC4496 Senior Honors Thesis II (3 credits)
One 5000-level PSYC course (3 credits)
April: Submit your thesis to your advisor and second reader.
May 1: Honors Thesis Approval Form
Library Thesis Submission
The BC Library encourages each student writing a thesis to submit it online. Instructions can be found on their website.
Registration
The University requires a written, signed syllabus/contract between the instructor and student for all non-scheduled undergraduate courses.
Syllabus/Contract for Individually Arranged and Non-scheduled Courses
The form should be completed and signed by both instructor and student, and then the student should bring it to the Director of Undergraduate Studies for approval. Because the thesis courses require the instructor’s permission, students must register through the department's main office (psychoffice@bc.edu) with a fully signed syllabus/contract.
During registration for the fall, submit a syllabus/contract form for both parts of the thesis course. You do not need to submit a second contract during registration for the spring; however, you will need to contact psychoffice@bc.edu and request to be registered for the second course once your spring registration opens.
Restrictions
No Teaching Assistants
These courses cannot be used as compensation for teaching assistant duties.
Student Employees
If you are enrolled in Undergraduate Research, Independent Study, or a thesis course, you cannot be paid for the same work. Thus, you would not be hired as an employee for the same semester that you are enrolled in the course.
Put another way, if you are an employee in a lab and also enrolled in Undergraduate Research, Independent Study, or a thesis course in that lab, the work you are doing for pay must be entirely separate and unrelated to the work you are doing for credit.
If the two kinds of work are indeed separate, your advisor needs to email us to explain the differences between the work.
Honors Societies
Psi Chi
Psi Chi is a national honor society whose purpose is to encourage, stimulate, and maintain excellence in scholarship of individuals studying psychology. At Boston College, we in Psi Chi achieve these goals for our members by designing trips to various institutions practicing psychology, as well as arrange for guest speakers to meet with our members and discuss topics of general interest. Additionally, members of Psi Chi contribute to the Psychology Department as a whole by implementing programs to encourage participation in research among undergraduates.
Nu Rho Psi
Nu Rho Psi is the national honor society in neuroscience, which fosters excellence in neuroscience scholarship and research. Boston College's chapter of Nu Rho Psi works to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing careers in neuroscience while increasing public scientific awareness by providing a support network, grant and award opportunities, community outreach, and professional development events. Nu Rho Psi also helps undergraduates to find research opportunities both on and off campus.
FAQ
One of the best ways to learn is through doing—joining the Honors Program will allow you to explore your interests in the field of psychology and learn the scientific method through hands-on experience. Joining the Honors Program helps many students discern their future career path. Some students get bit by the “research bug,” others find out that they are more interested in counseling-based psychological careers, while still others decide that their passions lie in a completely different field. Students who have completed the Honors Program have gone on to careers in psychological research, medicine, teaching, counseling, and law, to name just a few. Participation in the Honors Program is an excellent distinction in general; it is a particularly noteworthy distinction for those students who wish to apply to graduate school (in psychology or otherwise). The Honors Program provides the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member outside of the traditional classroom setting. Participating in the Honors Program will teach you to think critically, to address and test questions systematically, and to communicate your thoughts and ideas to others.
Our Honors Program is different from the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program. Students are admitted into the MCAS Honors Program when they are admitted to Boston College, while students are invited into our program based on their academic record after the first two years. Participation in both the MCAS Honors Program and our program requires the completion of an Honors Thesis. If you are in both programs, you can use the same thesis.
The Honors Program has a GPA requirement both in your major and overall. For the class of 2025 the GPA requirement is 3.6. Starting with the class of 2026 the GPA requirement is 3.7. Students who meet the GPA requirement at the end of their sophomore year will be invited to join the program. Students must also meet the GPA requirement at the time they graduate.
You will receive a letter from the Honors Program Director at the beginning of your junior year inviting you to apply to the Honors Program. If interested, you would then identify a faculty member in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience who is willing to supervise your work. Complete your preliminary application by November 1 of your junior year. On this application, you need only indicate the topic you plan to research and the name of your thesis advisor.
During the spring of your junior year, you develop a ten-page thesis proposal due May 1. It is recommended that you take an independent research course during the second semester to work on the proposal. If you plan to study abroad this semester, you could instead work on the proposal during the fall of your junior year.
First, you should identify the area of psychology in which you are most interested. Faculty members at Boston College specialize in a range of sub-fields. Determine which area you are most interested in by exploring individual faculty members’ pages.
Once you have narrowed down the area in which you are most interested, you will need to choose an advisor (a faculty member or part-time faculty member in the department). If a faculty member suggests that you work with one of his or her graduate students as your thesis advisor, then you would meet mostly with the graduate student, but the faculty member would have ultimate responsibility and would be the primary reader on your thesis.
It might be clear to you from your exploration whose work is most interesting to you. If you are still unsure, you should contact one of the graduate student coordinators for advice. They would be happy to speak with you in person or communicate by email to help you figure out which faculty members’ work is most relevant to your interests.
Finally, you should contact the faculty member with whom you would like to work. You do not need to know yet exactly what you would like to study, but you should approach a potential advisor, state the general area in which you would like to do research, and ask whether he or she would be willing to supervise you in your Honors Thesis. Try to contact potential faculty advisors as soon as you can since faculty may be limited in how many new honors students they are able to supervise.
In most cases, the proposed research will be part of an ongoing project in the advisor’s research laboratory. Alternatively, students may conceive of a project independently and approach an appropriate advisor to serve as supervisor. The literature review, data collection, and data analysis must always be completed by the student alone, along with supervision from the thesis advisor.
You will work with your advisor to develop a specific and testable research question. You should set up an appointment to meet with your advisor to have a brainstorming session. The next step is to read, read, read about your topic of research. The more informed you are, the better questions you will ask.
Can I participate in the Honors Program if I plan to study abroad for all or part of my junior year?
Yes, we accommodate students studying abroad by allowing for some flexibility in meeting required deadlines. If you are planning to study abroad in the fall semester, you should contact the graduate student coordinators to identify a potential thesis topic and advisor. Before you go abroad, secure the approval of the faculty member with whom you are interested in working, and prepare your preliminary application. The application may be submitted via email to the department main office (psychoffice@bc.edu) anytime before the November 1 deadline. Students who are abroad in the spring of their junior year may work with their advisor over the summer to develop a proposal, which will be due to the department main office on the first day of classes in the fall. We do expect that you will be ready to fully engage in your proposed research by the beginning of your senior year.
- Read on this site about faculty research interests and the different research laboratories.
- Email one of the Graduate Student Coordinators to discuss your research interests and identify a potential faculty advisor.
- Email your potential advisor and request an appointment to discuss your ideas for your Honors Thesis and to determine whether this faculty member could serve as your advisor.
- Once you have an advisor, discuss with your advisor who might be a second reader for your thesis, and contact that person to ask them to serve.
- Complete the preliminary Honors Program Application to Participate and submit it to the department main office by November 1.
- It is recommended (but not required) that you register for one semester of PSYC2205 Undergraduate Research or PSYC2206 Independent Study with your advisor.
- During April of your junior year, submit your research proposal to your advisor and second reader.
- During registration for the fall semester of your senior year, submit a Syllabus/Contract Form for PSYC4495 Senior Honors Thesis I and PSYC4496 Senior Honors Thesis II. You do not need to submit a second contract during registration for the spring, but you must contact psychoffice@bc.edu and request to be registered for the second course.
- By May 1 of your junior year, submit an Honors Thesis Proposal Approval Form to the department main office. (We do not need a copy of your thesis proposal.)
Your proposal should be written in accordance with the following format:
I. Introduction
State your research question. (1 paragraph)
Review previous research carried out on this and related questions. (6 pages)
II. Methods
Participants: Describe your participants. Who will they be? How will you find them? Age? Sex? How many? (1 paragraph)
Procedure: Describe precisely what your participants will be asked to do and how long the procedure will take. (1-2 pages)
III. Hypotheses
What do you predict, and why? (1 paragraph)
IV. Data Analysis
How will you score or code your data? Will you have a second coder for inter-rater reliability? How will you analyze your data? (1/2 page)
V. Discussion
If your hypotheses are confirmed, what will you conclude? What will be the significance of these findings? What study could then be carried out next? (1 page)
Your proposal is reviewed by two faculty members and a decision is then made about whether to admit you to the Honors Program. If your advisor continues to support your proposal, and if your research ideas are clearly thought out, it is highly likely that you will then be admitted into the program. You will receive a letter approving your proposed research plan from the Honors Program Director.
Seniors in the Honors Program enroll in the following courses. (See above for courses recommended for juniors.)
- PSYC4495 Senior Honors Thesis I (3 credits)
- PSYC4496 Senior Honors Thesis II (3 credits)
- One 5000-level PSYC course (3 credits)
A maximum of one semester of the thesis course may count toward your major requirements. (It counts differently depending on whether your major is Psychology B.A., Psychology B.S., or Neuroscience.) The second semester of the thesis course and the 5000-level course are required in addition to the major requirements.
By mid-April of your senior year, submit your thesis to your advisor and your second reader (a full- or part-time faculty member, postdoc, or doctoral graduate student chosen by you and your primary advisor). The
exact deadline is decided by your advisor.
When your advisor and second reader approve your thesis, submit an Honors Thesis Approval Form to the department main office. This form is due May 1. Also submit an electronic copy of the thesis via email to psychoffice@bc.edu by this date.
Finally, you will present your thesis as a poster at the Undergraduate Research Conference in May of your senior year.
At the end of your senior year, you will receive a letter signed by the Director of the Honors Program and the Chairperson of the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience indicating that you have completed the Honors Program. You should keep this letter and use it to provide documentation of your exemplary work to future graduate programs and/or employers.
There are other opportunities for students to be involved in research outside of the Honors Program, including the opportunity to write a senior thesis. The Research section of this page has some advice.