Neuroscience Senior Thesis

This course is designed to enable Neuroscience majors, usually seniors, to engage in independent laboratory or field research, under the direction of a faculty member, resulting in a culminating senior thesis. Students take two terms of Thesis Research, and no more than two terms of 70, 90, 91, 93 or a combination of 70s, 90s, 91s, and 93s may count toward the eight required courses for the major. This course may be used to fulfill the upper-level major requirement.  Students must declare their intent to pursue Thesis Research before the end of the second week of the Fall term of their Senior year. (This deadline may be flexible for the 2024-25 academic year, since registration will not be available before the winter 2025 term.)

Students who wish to enroll in Independent Thesis Research should first identify a faculty member who will supervise their thesis research and discuss the planned work with that faculty member.  After this consultation, the ​​Independent Neuroscience Thesis Research Permission Checklist​​ will guide students through the application process, and the completed checklist will serve as their permission request to register for PSYC 93.  The application process includes forming a Thesis Committee. (See below for details.)

• PSYC 6; and PSYC 10 or BIOL 29, and two of the core courses for the neuroscience major are prerequisites. Students should check well in advance with their faculty advisor for additional prerequisites.
• The permission checklist must be signed by the advisor, and then turned in to the PBS main office for approval by the Chair of the Neuroscience Steering Committee.
• For potential sources of funds for independent research visit the PBS Research Opportunities page and the Dartmouth Undergraduate Advising and Research site.

Theses will be evaluated by a two-person Thesis Committee approved by the Undergraduate Committee. Thesis Committee members must be identified prior to the student registering for PSYC 93. The Thesis Committee must include a regular member of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences faculty. The other individual, if not a regular member of PBS, must have an active academic appointment (e.g., Research Associate, Research Assistant Professor, Medical School Faculty, Faculty in other departments of the College, etc.). Either Committee member may serve as the primary advisor. The two members of the Thesis Committee may not be in the same laboratory.  

Written Thesis

• Due: Friday, May 23, 2025, by 3:00pm
• Format: Cover Page with signatures (signatures can be electronic), Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References
• One signed PDF must be submitted to the PBS Admin Office via email. PDFs should already be signed by your advisor and second reader when they are turned in.
• Be aware that you may need to make corrections to your thesis after your oral defense, allow yourself enough time to do so.

Oral Defense

• You will give a 15-20 minute overview of your research and then answer questions from committee members.  In total the defense usually lasts one and a half hours.
• In attendance will be your thesis committee, comprised of your Primary Advisor, Secondary Reader, and a Neuroscience Committee Member. Other students are not permitted to attend.
• You should submit your final drafted thesis to your committee at least one week prior to your oral defense.
• Your oral defense must occur before the Poster Session.  It is advisable to bring a draft of your poster to your defense for feedback from your committee.
• Once you have a date and time set with your committee, contact Michelle Powers to reserve a room.

Poster Session

• Typically held on an afternoon during the week before the last week of classes of the spring term. Tentative date for 2025 - Thursday, May 22 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
• You will stand by your poster and should be able to summarize your project in 3-5 minutes.
• Friends and family are welcome to attend.

• Grades for PSYC 93 are assigned by the primary advisor.  It is common for faculty advisors to find it difficult to evaluate the thesis work until it is complete, and thus it is typical to assign a grade of ON (On-going) for the initial term of PSYC 93.  The "ON" grades must be changed to regular letter grades by the end of the Spring term, when the thesis is completed.
• The Thesis Committee will read and evaluate the thesis and oral presentation, and recommend in writing meritorious students to the Undergraduate Committee for consideration for the various departmental prizes, which are voted on by faculty who attend the Thesis presentations and/or the year-end faculty meeting.