MCB 492 grants credit for a capstone writing experience to students who complete a sustained research endeavor. Enrollment in MCB 492 occurs in the last semester before graduation and involves continuation of work done previously for MCB 290. You will write and submit a senior research thesis for a grade and may also submit your thesis for consideration of graduation with a form of research distinction. Students wishing to be considered for distinction are also required to give a presentation, e.g. a poster or a talk on their research at an approved conference or symposium. MCB 492 cannot be counted toward the 15 hours of advanced course credit required by MCB for graduation, nor does it count toward your advanced composition general education requirement. It will, however, count toward the 21 hours of advanced course credit required by the College of LAS.
Requirements for credit in MCB 492
Complete a minimum of 2 semesters of MCB 290, in the same lab, with at least 2 credit hours each term. Participation in any of the MCB sponsored Summer Research Fellowships can be substituted for one semester of MCB 290.
Register for 3 credit hours (or more) of MCB 492 in the final semester before graduation.
Submit a written Senior Thesis according to the format below by the deadline.
Request a faculty research advisor letter of support be submitted by the deadline.
Additional requirements for High or Highest Distinction
To provide recognition for students who have demonstrated excellence in academics and research, the MCB Distinction Committee evaluates the quality of the student’s accomplishments and may award the graduation honor of High Distinction or Highest Distinction. The final Illinois transcript will note if a student earned distinction and at what level. All required items listed above must be submitted by the deadlines indicated on the Distinction page of our website.
If seeking High Distinction, you must have earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25 at the end of penultimate semester (next to last semester).
If seeking Highest Distinction, you must have earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.90 at the end of penultimate semester (next to last semester).
If seeking any form of research Distinction, you must give a presentation based on the thesis research at an approved venue within the posted timeframe.
If seeking any form of Distinction, you must be free of academic integrity violations.
Students are expected to discuss the Senior Thesis project with their faculty research advisor to determine what should be included in the thesis. The research project must consist of original research, which should attempt to answer a specific scientific question. Simply learning to master a technique is not sufficient. The best approach to your project is to have a clear understanding of the questions you are asking and why you are asking those particular questions. This understanding is aided by a familiarity with the literature in your area.
To earn MCB 492 credit, even if you are not seeking to graduate with high or highest distinction, your thesis must be approved by the faculty research advisor and submitted electronically using our online form. All theses will be evaluated by the MCB Distinction Committee, which is comprised of MCB faculty and staff, using a consistent rubric approved by the committee. Both your GPA eligibility and the score earned will determine the final level of distinction assigned. Faculty research advisors will assign an appropriate grade for MCB 492, independently from the distinction decision, based on their personal evaluation of the student’s research.
The research thesis
The research thesis is a formal report of your results and, therefore, should follow accepted professional standards. Your faculty research advisor should be a valuable resource for details. An acceptable thesis should describe research discoveries of sufficient quantity and quality to constitute a body of work that presents a problem, addresses the problem through specific and well-defined experimental approaches, and interprets the results in the context of the relevant research field.
Since this is an undergraduate senior thesis, it is not expected that students will have the same depth and level of accomplishment that might be found for a master’s or doctoral thesis, but the format is similar. An unduly long thesis is discouraged. The goal is to have a thorough, clearly written, yet concise presentation of your research project.
Your thesis should contain the elements listed below and should be double- spaced using a 12-point standard font with 1-inch margins. Include page numbers, in the center of the top or bottom page, on all but the title page.
TITLE
The title page should include each of the following on separate lines.
- [TITLE OF THESIS - all CAPS]
- BY
- [FULL NAME - all CAPS]
- UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
- Submitted to The School of MCB in the College of LAS as part of an undergraduate research program.
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, [YEAR]
- Urbana, Illinois
- Faculty Advisor/mentor(s):
- [FACULTY ADVISOR/MENTOR NAME, POSITION IN DEPARTMENT]
ABSTRACT
A brief summary of the research project (150 words or less). The first sentence should give a broad introduction to the field of your research and should be followed up with a more detailed sentence providing specific background for your study. The next sentences should include a summary of your objectives and results. The final sentence should indicate your final conclusions.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
You must fully credit any data, analyses, illustrations, etc., that are produced or obtained by or through collaboration with other individuals. This credit must include the names of those with whom you collaborated and an explanation of the nature of their assistance and/or collaboration. This information should be included within the experimental sections as well as the acknowledgments section. Failure to give proper credit may disqualify you from consideration for graduation with high or highest distinction.
INTRODUCTION
Typically 3 to 6 pages, depending on the topic.
The Introduction should introduce the thesis topic and state why it’s important. It should clearly state the question you are trying to answer or problem you are trying to address. Be sure to provide any scientific background information necessary to understand to project, including previous literature related to the topic.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Typically 2 to 4 pages.
The Materials and Methods section should clearly describe how the experiments were conducted, including sources of materials.
RESULTS
Typically 4 to 7 pages, excluding figures and tables.
The Results section should summarize the results and meaning of the experiments, showing the experimental data in graph and figure format with adequate statistics. Be sure to label and caption all Tables and Figures. If any data are included here, or elsewhere, that were partially or fully collected by someone else, their role must be clearly credited.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION
Typically 2 to 3 pages.
The Discussion section should consider how this work fits into a bigger picture and how it moves the field forward (it’s ok if you have negative results). Be sure to discuss what should come next for this research topic.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adequate references should be cited in a bibliography with complete information (all authors, complete title of article, journal name, volume, date, etc.) should be given. Use a format that is consistent and standard for your field of research.
Recognize that communication of your results is the final step in scientific research. Therefore, your thesis should be as clear as you can make it. A well-written, concise thesis should be understandable to researchers in allied fields as well as to specialists in your own field. The senior thesis is not a “paper,” so there are no hard-fast page limitations.