Earning “Honors in Biology'' involves conducting a significant research project in collaboration with a faculty mentor and presenting the results in the form of an honors thesis and an honors presentation in the spring of the senior year. Students will earn 11 credit hours in research or equivalent SURF experience(s) over the course of at least two years. Some research credits may be used in partial fulfillment of the biology major as described below.

Before applying for admission to the Biology Honors Program, students must have:
  1. Completed at least 2 credit hours of research (BIOL195, BIOL295, BIOL395, SURF, or a class project deemed to be a suitable alternative by your research advisor).
  2. Obtained permission of a faculty mentor who agrees to serve as the research advisor.
    * Applications to the biology honors program should be submitted to the biology department chair no later than the last day of classes of the Easter semester of the junior year.
Requirements for the Biology Honors Program:
  1. At least 4 credits of BIOL295 (Mentored Research).
  2. At least 4 credits of BIOL395 (Advanced Research).
  3. At least 1 credits (1 semester) of BIOL450 (Honors Thesis)
  4. STAT204 or BIOL217 or BIOL243
  5. Honors theses (submitted in the spring of the senior year)
  6. Honors presentation at Scholarship Sewanee
    *With permission of their research advisor, students may substitute each of 4 credits of BIOL395 or BIOL295 for either:
    a) a teaching lab (when a non-lab version of the course is available)
    b) an upper-level seminar
    This flexibility is intended to give students some protected time to conduct their research projects.
  7. A biology GPA of at least 3.0 at the time of graduation.