Bio Honors Program
Page updated February 24, 2025
In the BIO Honors Program, you’ll find countless ways to: get hands-on learning; apply your skills; build your network; and prepare for a successful career.
During the fall semester of the junior year, BIO Honors Program applications will be considered from BA or BS majors with a GPA of 3.6 or greater.
Accepted students will take a course during Spring of the junior year (Bio 487, Honors Research Methods, 2 credits) that is solely for our honors students. Earning a grade of B- or above in the course will allow students to continue in the honors program as seniors.
The senior year of BIO Honors will be devoted to research in a faculty lab of the student’s choosing. All labs, in department or outside of it, are acceptable so long as the student:
1) is accepted by a research advisor, and
2) will be doing biologically relevant research at the honors level.
Six credits of research (Bio 497, Honors Research in Biology) must be completed during the senior year, resulting in a project that the student can present at our departmental symposium for undergraduate honors research (held during May of the senior year).
Students who have done 498 level research are allowed, and even encouraged, to continue in their labs for the senior year to complete honors projects in their home labs, but students are also allowed to switch to new labs before the senior year begins. All Bio 497 credit must be received from the same lab to count toward the honors program.
Both BA and BS students completing the honors program will have their Bio 497 honors research coursework applied to count for two of the required labs for their degree. All the Bio 497 credits and the credit for Bio 487 will be counted toward the total required for the major. Students must maintain a 3.6 or greater GPA through graduation to graduate with honors. Students falling below this level will be given one semester to raise their GPA back to a 3.6 or above.
All participating students will graduate with Honors in Biological Science and with general Latin honors (3.6-3.749 =Magna cum laude, 3.75 and above = Summa cum laude). Research mentors can nominate exceptional students to graduate with High Honors. Nominations and transcripts will then be evaluated to determine High Honors. These High Honors students will be given the opportunity to volunteer to be one of our selected speakers at the Honors Symposium in May. Selected speakers will graduate with Highest Honors in Biological Sciences.
