Departmental Thesis Requirements
The chemistry honors thesis typically involves a full report of a research activity including an introduction describing the significance and context of the problem under study, literature background and an experimental or methods section including primary data. The results and discussion section should describe and interpret the experimental results and a conclusion section should highlight the key take home messages of the work and point to future avenues of study.
One or more published papers where the honors student is a key contributor may be reproduced (with permission) as a thesis chapter. In this case an original introduction and literature section would be appropriate as Chapter 1.
A great way to review recent Chemistry (& Biochemistry) Honors Theses is to take advantage of the electronic archieve available in the Marriott Library - which is where your thesis will ultimately be deposited.
https://campusguides.lib.utah.edu/c.php?g=799877
Each academic department submits the specific requirements that must be met for a successful Honors thesis in its respective major. If you are seeking more information on your department’s thesis requirements, please contact your Departmental Honors Liaison and/or the Honors Thesis Team in the Honors College.
Faculty Thesis Mentors
Normally a faculty mentor will be a tenure- or career-line faculty member in the chemistry department or a related department in the College of Science, Engineering or Medicine. The key qualification of a mentor is an individual who can guide the research process in the chosen topic that is broadly relevant to chemistry.
Be sure to consult with the Chemistry Faculty Honors Advisor early in the process to gain apoproval for other Honors Thesis advisors such as a scientist in industry or faculty member from another institution.
Collaborative Theses
Collaboration is an important part of doing science, but an honors thesis will clearly showcase an individual student's role in a research project. It is important to carefully acknowledge the contributions of others to a thesis project.
Joint Thesis
The normal expectation for chemistry (and biochemistry) majors is "One Thesis," "One Degree." Thus a double major in chemistry and biology would typically assign their honors thesis to one of the two degrees depending on its content. Some students choose to complete two distinct theses in more diverse areas, for example, chemistry and business. As noted above, please consult BOTH honors faculty advisors in BOTH majors if you believe one thesis could satisfy both majors.
How does the Honors Thesis relate to other aspects of the major, like a Capstone Project?
The department offers an Honors Undergraduate Research section (CHEM 4801) that may be used prior to the CHEM 4999 Honors Thesis course should a student want to document research hours on their transcript.
Departmental coursework supporting Thesis
Honors sections of General (CHEM 1211 & 1221) and Organic (CHEM 2311 & 2321) chemistry are open to students of any major and provide a more indepth exposure to foundational topics in the first and second years of study.
Additional information for students
As the "Central Science," the department views "chemistry" in very broad terms. While most students complete some sort of laboratory (including computational) work as part of their thesis experience, be sure to consult with the Departmental Honors Liaison to discuss other possible thesis topics.
The DHL (currently Prof. Thomas G. Richmond) is easily reachable by E-mail and happy to discuss any aspect of an Honors Degree with students.