Thesis format

Traditional long-format thesis written in LaTeX. Minimum page length: 25 pages.

Who is eligible to be a faculty thesis mentor?

Tenure-line faculty, career-line faculty, and adjunct faculty in the mathematics department may serve as mentors. Bioinformatics students are encouraged to contact faculty from outside the department about their thesis work. In particular, faculty from other departments may serve as co-mentors along with a faculty member of the mathematics department.

If a faculty mentor leaves the University before the thesis is complete, then they may either continue to serve as mentor in absentia or else transfer the responsibility to another faculty member.

Are collaborative theses permitted?

A collaborative thesis is one where an Honors student works with one or more collaborators on the thesis.

Collaborative research is allowed, but each Honors student will write their own unique thesis. Joint papers either published or submitted for publication may be included in a thesis, but there must be supporting material that is original to the author of the individual thesis.

How does the Honors Thesis relate to other aspects for the major?

The Mathematics Department offers several HON designated classes which will help to prepare you to write an Honors thesis. In particular, Math 2271 HON (offered every fall) and Math 2281 HON (offered every spring) are fundamental courses that are highly recommended for any Honors math student. Other advanced applied mathematics courses are also highly recommended for bioinformatics majors (e.g. Math 4100).

The department also offers many undergraduate research opportunities, such as supervised reading courses, funded independent REUs, and an undergraduate research course Math 4800 HON that are highly recommended for a student interested in writing an Honors thesis. One of the best ways to prepare to write an Honors thesis is to connect with a faculty member via one of these opportunities.

Major-specific Thesis Proposal Process

The Honors College requires Thesis Registration by the end of the third year. If your major has a separate additional Thesis Proposal Process, it is detailed here.

This major does not have a separate additional Honors Thesis Proposal process.

Additional information for students

The program supports a wide variety of thesis concepts, but all successful theses should be

• well-written and grounded in relevant literature,
• unique to the student, though collaborative work is welcomed as part of the thesis, and
• based on a project with a substantial mathematical, statistical, algorithmic, or computational component that addresses a meaningful biological question or develops tools for addressing such a question.

Please feel free to reach out to the DHL ([email protected]) with any questions or concerns about the thesis process.