Undergraduate Program

Students who want to earn academic credit for research involving clinical trials and patient studies need to follow a different registration process. It’s also important to note that 391 clinical research courses do not apply to biological science tracks.

Please note that students are not required to use the independent study form to register for a 391. Additionally, approval from the biology undergraduate office is not required for 391 courses.

Student can choose to satisfy one or both of their upper-level writing requirements selecting "395W" in the BIOL 395/395W registration form. Students may not select the poster option if the course is taken for upper-level writing credit (BIOL 395W).

Students in 395W must work with their instructors to produce a six-page, high-quality final report that is well written and effectively communicates the scientific justification and results of their research. Students should submit the paper to mentors at various stages of development for their suggestions for improvement so that students may fully benefit from the writing experience.

The final report must be emailed to the department before the semester ends so there is sufficient time for evaluation. Additionally, the department requires students to upload a final draft of their final report to Blackboard by the last of finals at the end of the semester.

Although the instructors for 395W courses will assign a final grade, the decision to permit the course to fulfill a writing requirement for the student's major is determined by the advisor of their intended or declared program of study.

If the experimentation does not yield enough data to write a report about or runs out of time, the student or faculty may email the department to request the removal of the writing component "W" changing the course registration to "BIOL 395".

Students taking two semesters of independent research with writing (BIOL 395W) can reference experiments done in previous semesters but should include at least six new pages of content for the second semester. When requesting advisor approval, students must email a copy of the paper from the first and second semesters.

The key to finding a mentor is networking with faculty who work in your area of interest and will agree to mentor you. Research mentors are typically members of the University teaching faculty, and should have labs located either on River Campus or in the Medical Center.

See the research mentor page for more information.

Students who want to change their course registration from a 395 to a 395W or vice versa may do so by emailing to the Department of Biology Undergraduate Office requesting a registration revision.

Students can register for independent study courses in increments of half, one, two, three or four credits.

Time commitment is dependent on the number of credit hours the course will be taken for over a 15 week semester, or a different number of weeks as long as an equivalent amount of contact hours is devoted to the course. Students should plan to devote at least three hours for each credit the course is registered. See guidelines below:

• Four credit hours: 180 hours, 12 hours per week for 15 weeks or equivalent
• Three credit hours: 135 hours, 9 hours per week for 15 weeks or equivalent
• Two credit hours: 90 hours, 6 hours per week for 15 weeks or equivalent
• One credit hour: 45 hours, 3 hours per week for 15 weeks or equivalent
• Half a credit hour: 23 hours, 2 hours per week for 15 weeks or equivalent

*Contact hours may include lab time, academic work, and activities spent outside the lab doing things like literature reviews, lab meetings, presentations, and final reports.

All forms must be submitted by the drop-add deadline of the semester they are taking the course. See the University’s credit hours policy and compliance for more information.

The number of independent study credits you can take are limited both by semester and by instructor:

• Per semester: Students can only take one four-credit independent studies course per semester.

• Per instructor: Students can take no more than eight credits of independent research with the same instructor unless approved. As noted above, students who have met the eight-credit limit and wish to continue research with the same instructor can still have their effort recognized by registering for XXX398, Advanced Independent Research.  

Students Biological Independent Research Registration Request Form needs to be submitted with approval of the instructor by the last day of the drop/add period of the current semester, even if the course has not started yet.

Members of the University "teaching faculty" or faculty who are authorized by their department chair may supervise independent studies. See our list of approved faculty.

Biological Independent Research Request for Registration Forms will automatically forward to the course instructors for their review and signature. Be sure to enter accurate email addresses as incorrect addresses could delay submission. The system will automatically send daily reminders to the instructors until it is signed. Notification will be sent to students once their PI approves the form.

All students, including those who have registered 395 in the past, need to consult their instructor each semester on the course details. Hence, there is a mutual understanding of expectations. Scroll to the bottom of the form and print out a copy to review with your faculty.

Students cannot get paid for research for which they also earn academic credit. However, a student may hold a paying job within the same lab but must keep their work separate from their research project.

Students will not be allowed to register for another BIOL 395 course until any courses with incomplete grades from a previous semester are resolved.