SYE in Chemistry
Following are some guidelines and recommendations for students about to embark on their Senior Year Experience. The SYE can be considered in three major phases: project selection (junior year), time devoted to working on the SYE, and completion of the project.
Project selection
In the spring of your junior year,
- Make an appointment with faculty about possible project/thesis ideas;
- Look at abstracts and descriptions of past Honors Theses done in our department;
- Do some preliminary investigations of areas of interest;
- Pick a Project/Thesis Advisor (one of the department faculty) and topic; and
- Register for a half unit of SYE in the Fall and another half unit in the Spring.
- When registering for courses, register for CHEM 489. Note: You will need to ask your project/thesis advisor to add your name to his/her "permissions" list in the APR system.
During the fall semester of SYE
- September
- Submit abstract and digital photo to Ellen Galo;
- Meet regularly with your project/thesis advisor;
- Work on project weekly;
- Attend SYE introduction and Safety training; and
- Attend Notebook Expo I.
- October
- Attend Notebook Expo I;
- Meet regularly with your project/thesis advisor; and
- Work on project weekly.
- November
- Meet regularly with your project/thesis advisor;
- Work on project weekly;
- Submit draft of written project summary; and
- Prepare oral presentation.
- December
- Formal Presentations;
- Meet regularly with your project/thesis advisor;
- Work on project weekly;
- Submit final version of written project summary.
During the spring semester of SYE
- January
- Enjoy your break.
- February
- Resume work on project; and
- Attend Notebook Expo III.
- March
- Continue working on project;
- Meet with advisor often;
- Attend Notebook Expo IV;
- Assemble thesis committee (honors only);
- Submit draft of written project summary; and
- Prepare oral presentation.
- April
- Formal Presentations;
- Meet regularly with your project/thesis advisor; and
- Festival of Science Presentation.
- May
- Submit final version of written project summary;
- Turn in notebook & compiled electronic files. Clean up your workspaces. Return Key(s) and check out form to Dr. French.