Honors Program

Students must apply to be admitted into the PAGs Departmental Honors Program. To account for the requirements of the program, students apply no later than three semesters prior to the semester in which they plan to graduate. Prior to applying, the students must seek out a faculty advisor who has the time, interest, and resources to mentor the student through the research process and declare their interest in the PAGs Departmental Honors Program. Faculty advisors must be consulted with and agree to participate as a Departmental Honors faculty advisor prior to the application process. The advisor will act as mentor in the candidate’s research, helping to identify a research topic, serving on the candidate’s committee, and supervising the research process. After the first semester or summer in research with this faculty advisor (see possible tracks and their requirements below), the student should complete the application to the PAGs Departmental Honors Program.  The advisor should be certain that proposed research is feasible in aim and appropriate to the student’s ability and time constraints. 

To apply, students must submit a completed PAGs Departmental Honors Program Application form and email it to the Departmental Honors Coordinator. The application includes the following. 

• The student’s name, major, and TU ID number. 
• The student’s cumulative GPA and GPA for major course requirements (with an optional place to appeal to the coordinator if this GPA is somewhat below a GPA of 3.25. 
• The name of the Departmental Honors faculty advisor who has agreed to work with the student. 
• The title of the proposed research, which identifies the research topic. 
• A short proposal—between 500 and 1000 words—describing the research question(s) or problem(s) to be addressed and the data collection and analytical methods to be used to address the problem and including relevant literature regarding the question(s)/problem(s), findings related to those question(s)/problem(s), and proposed methods. 
• A bibliography or reference list for the proposal. 
• A projected plan of study detailing when the student will meet course requirements, complete the thesis, and present. 

 

After admission, students must: 

1. Complete required research-related coursework as described in what follows. 

1. Maintain a cumulative GPA of ≥3.00and a grade point average of ≥3. 25 in the major. 

1. Identify two additional faculty members to serve on the thesis committee with the assistance of the faculty advisor (a.k.a., the thesis advisor). 

1. Write the honors thesis in the format specified by the relevant discipline as specified by the faculty/thesis advisor. Provide a pdf of thesis to the thesis committee at least two weeks prior to the public oral defense. 

1. Present a public oral defense of the thesis project to interested students, invited guests, the faculty/thesis advisor and a thesis committee, which involves a 30-minute presentation followed by questions from the thesis committee. The defense should be announced at least two weeks prior to its delivery. 

1. Revise and finalize the honors thesis, as necessary, based on input from the thesis committee from the defense and submit to the faculty/thesis advisor and Department Honors Coordinator in pdf form. 

Physics or astronomy majors admitted into the Department Honors program must complete: 

PHYS 395 Research Problems in Physics (6 credits; 3 credits per semester in sequential semesters) – or - PHYS 395 Research Problems in Physics (3 credits) and Summer Research (≥ 135 hours) 

AND 

PHYS 499 Honors Thesis in Physics (6 credits; 3 credits per semester in sequential semesters) 

Three possible tracks follow: 

Track 1: 

Term	Course	Major work accomplished
Year 3, Fall	PHYS/ASTR 395 (3 credits)	Research technique training and application to the program
Year 3, Spring	PHYS/ASTR 395 (3 credits)	Beginning of the research project
Year 3, Fall	PHYS/ASTR 499 (3 credits)	Intense work on research project
Year 4, Spring	PHYS/ASTR 499 (3 credits)	Culmination of project and writing/defending thesis

Track 2: 

Term	Course/Summer	Major work accomplished
Year 3, Spring	PHYS/ASTR 395 (3 credits)	Research technique training and application to the program
Summer	Research hours (≥135 hours)	Beginning of the research project
Year 4, Fall	PHYS/ASTR 499 (3 credits)	Intense work on research project
Year 4, Spring	PHYS/ASTR 499 (3 credits)	Culmination of project and writing/defending thesis

 

Track 3: 

Term	Course	Major work accomplished
Summer (after Year 3)	External Research Program or Internship (≥135 hours*)	Student conducts research at other institution, finds faculty mentor in PAGS
Year 4, Fall	PHYS/ASTR 495 (3 credits**)  PHYS/ASTR 499 (3 credits)	Application to the Program at the beginning of the semester; intense work on research project
Year 4, Spring	PHYS/ASTR 499 (3 credits)	Culmination of project and writing/defending thesis

 

*Similar to other tracks, overall duration of research should be no less than the equivalent of four 3-credit hours courses (135 hours of research per one 3-credit hours course.)  If the External Research Program or Internship involved more than 135 hours, the number of required credit hours for PHYS/ASTR 495 can be reduced.  

** The number of credit hours for PHYS/ASTR 499 could be divided differently between Fourth Year Fall and Spring semesters keeping the total number of credit hours the same. 

 

Geology or Earth-Space Science majors admitted into the Department Honors program must complete at least 9 credits combined from among the following courses or 6 credits plus at least 160 hours of summer research. 

GEOL 490 Independent Research (3–6 credits with a maximum of 4 credits in a single semester)  

GEOL 491 Directed Readings (1–3 credits) 

AND 

GEOL 499 Honors Thesis in Geology (3–6 credits with a maximum of 4 credits in a single semester) 

Two possible tracks follow: 

Track 1: 

Term	Course	Major work accomplished
Year 3, Fall	N/A	Student applies and begins formulating project with advisor
Year 3, Spring	GEOL 490 (2 credits)  GEOL 491 (1 credit)	Student is trained in research techniques  Student does reading of relevant research literature
Year 4, Fall	GEOL 499 (2 credits)	Intense work on research project
Year 4, Spring	GEOL 499 (4 credits)	Culmination of project and writing/defending thesis

Track 2: 

Term	Course/Summer	Major work accomplished
Year 3, Spring	N/A	Student applies and begins formulating project with advisor
Summer	Summer Research	Beginning of the research project
Year 4, Fall	GEOL 490 (2 credits)  GEOL 499 (1 credit)	Intense work on research project
Year 4, Spring	GEOL 499 (3 credits)	Culmination of project and writing/defending thesis