Graduating with Honors

There are two main types of Honors programs available to our students: Baccalaureate Honors (CALS and CLAS) and the Honors Scholar Certificate Program (CALS only). Often, students participate in more than one program simultaneously. All of these honors programs require a research thesis. A single thesis can serve for baccalaureate and the honors certificate. CALS offers an Honors Scholar Certificate Program; whereas, CLAS does not. Each semester we conduct an info session during the first weeks, and you will be provided with more information about guidelines and resources if you want to write a thesis.

Links to an external site.Graduating with Honors is different than being in the Honors Program at UF Links to an external site.. If you want to check out previously submitted UF Undergraduate Honors Thesis you can check out the UF thesis collection Links to an external site. and get an idea what they look like.

Final Thesis Submission: Forms:

• Obtain the Thesis Submission Form Links to an external site.
• The fill-in form must be typed.  Handwritten forms are not accepted!
• Note the importance of the key-words entry.

Documents and Forms:

• Honors Thesis Proposal Cover Page Links to an external site.
• Honors Thesis Proposal Guidelines Links to an external site.
• Preliminary Thesis Approval Form Links to an external site.

Documents and Forms:

• Undergraduate honors program- recording Dr. Larkin meeting (2020 FAll)

• Need to update the line above, as it is referencing 2020 FALL.

Thesis Research

Thesis research is carried out over a period of at least two or more academic terms, during which time the student is expected to register for a minimum of 4 credits in MCB 4911 (Supervised Research). Supervised research conducted under any departmental prefix other than MCB must have prior approval by the Department Honors Committee Chair, Dr. Larkin to substitute for MCB 4911. To ensure successful completion of the thesis, students are highly encouraged to adhere to the sample timeline below (example is for completion in spring of the student’s senior year). Students are also strongly encouraged to apply for undergraduate research awards such as UF Science for Life and UF University Scholars.

Cum Laude

Students graduating with an upper division GPA of 3.50 will graduate cum laude (with honors).  No research, thesis or enrollment in a specific course is required for graduation cum laude.

Magna or Summa Cum Laude

GPA participation and graduation requirements:

• Magna cum laude (3.75 upper division GPA
• Summa cum laude (3.85 upper division GPA)

Should you write a thesis?

Magna or Summa Cum Laude

GPA participation and graduation requirements:

• Magna cum laude (3.75 upper division GPA
• Summa cum laude (3.85 upper division GPA)

Undergraduate research:

Enroll in a minimum of 4 credits of MCB 4911 (Supervised Research) or MCB 4915 (CALS Honors Supervised Research) to conduct research that will be used for the Thesis. These may be taken for a maximum of 6 credits and a maximum per semester total of 0-3 for the fall and spring semesters.  For summer A or Summer B, you can register for a maximum of 0-1 credits and for Summer C a maximum of 0-2 credits.  Once you max out at 06 credits, you may continue to register for 0 credit hours. Summer enrollment: if MCB4915 or MCB4911 is the only course on your schedule and you choose to register for 0 credits, you will be charged fees for 01 credit.

Senior thesis:

Attend an annual mandatory Graduating with Honors meeting scheduled in the fall semester of your senior year. This applies to both the baccalaureate and Honors Scholar Certificate programs. The meeting date will be published via the MCS/MCB listserv. If you are in the fall or spring semester of your senior year, you are required to bring your Thesis Project Approval Form (signed by your research mentor and containing an abstract of your thesis research project) to this meeting. The Departmental Honors Thesis Committee will approve your honors thesis project at this meeting, and you will be assigned a Departmental Honors Thesis Reviewer at this time. You must have your thesis project approved by the Department Honors Thesis Committee before you start your thesis. Once your research thesis plan has been approved, you must write the thesis and have it approved by 1) your thesis research mentor, and 2) the departmental honors thesis reviewer. All departmental and college deadlines must also be met.

Note: For the CALS Honors Certificate Program, a Thesis Proposal must also be submitted to the departmental honors thesis reviewer (Dr. Larkin) and to the college dean (Matthew Brannan). The Thesis Proposal has more stringent guidelines than the Abstract required by the department. The Abstract must be submitted at the fall meeting, and the Thesis Proposal must be submitted to the departmental review chair within two weeks of the fall meeting. The Thesis Proposal must be first approved by the departmental reviewer (Dr. Larkin) and then submitted to the CALS dean for final approval.

Thesis Research

Thesis research is carried out over a period of at least two or more academic terms, during which time the student is expected to register for a minimum of 4 credits in MCB 4911 (Supervised Research). Supervised research conducted under any departmental prefix other than MCB must have prior approval by the Department Honors Committee Chair, Dr. Larkin to substitute for MCB 4911. To ensure successful completion of the thesis, students are highly encouraged to adhere to the sample timeline below (example is for completion in spring of the student’s senior year). Students are also strongly encouraged to apply for undergraduate research awards such as UF Science for Life and UF University Scholars.

Thesis Format

The Microbiology and Cell Science honors thesis format recommends following the CALS honors thesis guidelines with respect to font and page formatting, content and layout (i.e. abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, references), and formatting of references/bibliography. In terms of thesis length, you should aim for 15-20 double-spaced pages (excluding references).

• FAQ: Can a research paper (publication) substitute for the senior research thesis? No; unless the student is the first author and was responsible for writing the manuscript. Having your name listed as one of the authors does not in itself qualify as a written senior thesis on your part. If you are an author you will have prepare an original manuscript communicating your individual research results in the format outlined below. If you have any questions please contact Dr. Larkin, Honors Thesis Committee Chair before the deadline.

Reference Management Software

Please make sure you use a reference management software like Endnote Links to an external site., RefWorks Links to an external site. (both are free for UF students), Zotero Links to an external site. or Mendeley Links to an external site. (both are free for anyone). Micro majors will use how to use Endnote in the Microbiology Lab. A tutorial how to use Endnote Web can be found there. Links to an external site.

Search old UF Undergraduate Honors Theses here:

https://ufdc.ufl.edu/ufhonors/results/?t=microbiology Links to an external site.