need advice. UWO honors thesis project

[misyan]

Hi, I have been debating whether I should do a honors thesis project in 4th year for awhile. When I finally decided to enroll in the independent study course, I realized the deadline for a research proposal is April 30th. I contacted two professors this morning with a brief research proposal, none of which has replied me yet. Any advice on what to do here? I am in UWO Health Science, and it says I don't necessarily need to contact a potential supervisor before I submit my application.

 

EDITED: I just found another website on UWO saying the application isn't due until Sept. I will check with my academic counselor. Did anyone did a thesis project at UWO? would you recommend it? Thanks!

[McMarauder]

Hi, I have been debating whether I should do a honors thesis project in 4th year for awhile. When I finally decided to enroll in the independent study course, I realized the deadline for a research proposal is April 30th. I contacted two professors this morning with a brief research proposal, none of which has replied me yet. Any advice on what to do here? I am in UWO Health Science, and it says I don't necessarily need to contact a potential supervisor before I submit my application.

 

EDITED: I just found another website on UWO saying the application isn't due until Sept. I will check with my academic counselor. Did anyone did a thesis project at UWO? would you recommend it? Thanks!

 

I'm not an UWO student, but I did my thesis at UWO (Robarts) because I'm in a co-op program, and was able to tie my co-op term with a thesis and get credit for it at McMaster. I know a ton of Med-Scis that did their theses at Robarts and as with me, it was a a lot of work. Furthermore, your success at getting results really depends on the type of project you get a assigned. For example, if your project is just part of a PhD students project, chances are, you'll get more results than say if you were given your very own project. Plus you'll have a higher chance of getting a publication. *NOTE getting results is not the goal of the thesis. It`s to expose you to real scientific research, and to help you develop skills and techniques.

 

My med-sci friends ended up taking a lighter course load because the thesis is worth 1.5 credits. The class average for the med-sci thesis course was 88 I believe, since supervisors were quite generous. You should do a thesis if grad school is an option for you, but be aware that you will be spending more than the 15 recommended hours in the lab. Also, doing a thesis will let if you know if grad school is right for you.

[keepontruckin]

I'm not an UWO student, but I did my thesis at UWO (Robarts) because I'm in a co-op program, and was able to tie my co-op term with a thesis and get credit for it at McMaster. I know a ton of Med-Scis that did their theses at Robarts and as with me, it was a a lot of work. Furthermore, your success at getting results really depends on the type of project you get a assigned. For example, if your project is just part of a PhD students project, chances are, you'll get more results than say if you were given your very own project. Plus you'll have a higher chance of getting a publication. *NOTE getting results is not the goal of the thesis. It`s to expose you to real scientific research, and to help you develop skills and techniques.

 

My med-sci friends ended up taking a lighter course load because the thesis is worth 1.5 credits. The class average for the med-sci thesis course was 88 I believe, since supervisors were quite generous. You should do a thesis if grad school is an option for you, but be aware that you will be spending more than the 15 recommended hours in the lab. Also, doing a thesis will let if you know if grad school is right for you.

 

+1

 

I'm currently finishing my 4th year at UWO and took a thesis course. I'm in Med Sci (Physiology). The class average is around 87% each year and I agree that it helps to develop many skills (especially for presentations).

 

If you can find a supervisor you are compatible with (in my opinion, the most important), and if you are willing to put in many hours of work, then it's a great choice. You'll get a taste of grad school, meet people, get a chance at publishing, possible reference letter if you're thinking of applying to professional school, and get an in-depth understanding of scientific area of research.

[misyan]

+1

 

I'm currently finishing my 4th year at UWO and took a thesis course. I'm in Med Sci (Physiology). The class average is around 87% each year and I agree that it helps to develop many skills (especially for presentations).

 

If you can find a supervisor you are compatible with (in my opinion, the most important), and if you are willing to put in many hours of work, then it's a great choice. You'll get a taste of grad school, meet people, get a chance at publishing, possible reference letter if you're thinking of applying to professional school, and get an in-depth understanding of scientific area of research.

 

Thanks! I don't mind the hard work and grad school is certainly an option. How do you email a prof to ask for supervisions? Do I need to attach a research proposal or something? (I would briefly described my interest but wondering if a detailed proposal is needed) Thanks!

[Stahs]

I just finished my 4th year thesis project in Biochemistry at UWO and we didn't have to make any kind of proposal at all. In fact, during the summer, the course and module coordinators make contact with all the students that are enrolled in the thesis class to relay all the required info.

 

Basically, there was a website set up where a prof/project list became available around the first week of school and the students just looked through the list and picked projects that sounded interesting to interview for (I personally did 4 interviews). Then you rank the profs you met with in terms of preference and they do the same for the students they saw. Then the coordinator matches students and profs in a maner that is probably similar to CARMS where top picks are matched together (student ranks prof number one and he ranks that student 1 as well), then 2-1, 2-2, etc. Most of the class (30 in total) get matched the first round to one of their top 3 profs but a few need to be matched in a second round.

 

This all takes places during the first month of school so I would be surprised if you had to do something this year for your project. However, based on what other people are saying, it seems that it varies based on your module and you should figure out how Health Sci does it. My guess is that you will be emailed at some point with details though after your register in the course.

 

Good luck!

[jp.mylittlepwny]

Going into my last year in UWO health science myself, it's to my understanding you CANNOT do the typical 1.5 credit honours thesis project if you're in the faculty of health science.

Instead they have independent study courses of 0.5 credits each.

I tried contacting my faculty the past summer about doing a 1.5 credit project for my final year, but it's just not offered. The proposals are due early upon starting the course at the beginning of each term I think.

 

As for contacting the profs to take you on, I'd recommend you go and speak to them personally. If you're considering working in a wet lab, I believe there are only 2 people doing basic science research in the faculty - Dr. Melling and Dr. Belliveau.

[misyan]

^

Thanks for all the reply. One of the prof showed interest in my proposal, and all should be fine for an independent study course next year. I am looking forward to it. Thanks for everybody's helps.

[JediMaster]

Hey Yeah, as someone said earlier, in UWO Health Sci you can only do 0.5 credit thesis-based courses. I did one in 4th year, put minimal work into it, wrote a paper with some practical guidelines sections and garnered an 88%. You can put a lot of work into it, or only a little, but you're essentially guaranteed a good mark (although it might make a small difference depending on who you get a supervisor).