Undergraduates are encouraged to take advantage of all the exciting and groundbreaking research taking place in the Cognitive Science program at UC Davis.
Graduating with Honors requires a qualifying GPA, set by the College of Letters and Sciences. Cognitive Science majors that meet this GPA requirement and wish to write an honors thesis can follow these steps:
1) Identify a Faculty Sponsor who is willing to mentor an Honors Thesis.
Ideally this individual will be a member of the faculty whose home department is providing substantial coursework for the Cognitive Science Major. In most cases, the student will have worked closely with the faculty mentor for at least a year prior to beginning the thesis.
2) Propose a project.
The student should meet with the faculty mentor and develop a written proposal that clearly:
- Reflects significant original research.
- Articulates the research to be conducted.
- Motivates the project, citing relevant theoretical background.
- Addresses how this project embraces/derives from a cross-disciplinary perspective and contributes to the learning outcomes of the Cognitive Science major
3) Submit the Undergraduate Thesis Application.
The Undergraduate Thesis Application should be filled out with the chosen Faculty Sponsor and the Cognitive Science Faculty Advisor. Submit completed and signed form to [email protected].
4) Complete two quarters of independent study coursework (CGS 194HA & HB, 3 units/quarter, graded) with the faculty mentor while working on the project and thesis.
The written proposal must be approved by the student’s Honors Evaluation Committee by the end of the first quarter of the students 194HA coursework. Note, this coursework must be taken with a grading option (i.e. not P/No Pass).
6) The final thesis will document the student’s efforts and products (research findings, website, computer program, etc.).
The written project should re-articulate the goals outlined in (3). It should be submitted to the Honor’s Evaluation Committee (formed of faculty from the Cognitive Science Program Committee) prior to the last day of instruction. This committee will evaluate the honors thesis and award High Honors for a satisfactory thesis and Highest Honors for an ambitious and extremely well executed thesis.