Who Can Apply?

Students with an intended graduation date of December 2025 or May 2026 who are:

• Biological sciences majors
• CALS: Juniors whose research area is within the biological sciences (See this list of CALS honors programs)
• CAS: Junior Biological Sciences majors (Students must do honors within their major!)

Students must:

• Have an overall Cornell cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.0 at the time of application and maintain a 3.0 GPA throughout the honors program.
• If a transfer student, students must have completed at least 30 credits at Cornell or have junior standing.
• Conduct biological sciences research under the mentorship of a Cornell faculty member on the Ithaca campus.
• Enroll in BIOG 4999 Senior Honors Thesis during the fall semester unless graduating in December.

Honors candidates usually enroll for credit in BIOG 4990 under the direction of the faculty member acting as an honors supervisor, although it is not a requirement of the Honors Program. Students choosing to earn credit for honors research must register in BIOG 4990 using the enrollment process for that course (separate from the Honors Program application process). Students with questions about BIOG 4990 can email bioresearch [at] cornell.edu.

If you have any concerns about whether BioSci Honors is the right program for you email us at biohonors [at] cornell.edu.

Program Structure & Requirements

What Forms of Scholarship are Eligible for Honors Theses?

All honors students conduct original, independent research in the biological sciences and write an honors thesis formatted as a scientific journal article in the field of study. There are several ways to accomplish this, all of which involve time-intensive, rigorous studies. For all cases, plan on completing data collection by December 2026-January 2027.

Options for the scholarship include:

• Planning a study, collecting data in a laboratory and/or field setting, and analyzing these data.
• Analyzing a dataset collected by your lab and made available to you by your research mentor to answer a novel research question.
• Using a publicly available dataset (e.g., eBird) to answer a novel research question.
• Performing a meta-analysis using published data.

What are the requirements for successfully completing the Honors Program?

All candidates planning to graduate in May must enroll in BIOG 4999 Senior Honors Thesis and receive a passing grade of "Satisfactory".

All candidates must maintain a 3.0 GPA.

Research Groups

If your application to the honors program is accepted, you will be assigned to a research group leader with other students working in similar branches of biology. A faculty member (see list below) leads each research group and will be one of your primary contacts throughout the honors program. The faculty member will organize a mandatory meeting in the fall semester at which they will review program logistics and all students will give an overview of their project. The group leader will provide additional information as the meeting approaches. In the spring semester, you will submit your thesis to the group leader, and they will coordinate the review of your thesis.

Research Group Leaders:     

Dr. Antonia Jameson Jordan (kaj4)
Dr. John Helmann (jdh9)
Dr. Patrick Murphy (pjm249)
Dr. Andre Kessler (ak357)
Dr. Jaehee Kim (jk2287) & Dr. Erik Enbody (ede34)
Dr. Yuxin Mao (ym253)
Dr. Wojtek Pawlowski (wp45)
Dr. Kerry Shaw (kls4) & Dr. David Deitcher (dld14)
Dr. Tudorita (Doina) Tumbar (tt252)
 

If you have questions about the honors program, you can email the Honors Coordinator and Honors Program Assistant at biohonors [at] cornell.edu.

Each student in the Biological Sciences Honors Program is expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity. All work submitted by a student as part of the honors program must be the student’s own work.

2026 -2027 Honors Timeline

December 2026 Graduates

• April 23 – July 10, 2026: Honors application submission.
• October 27, 2026: Submit final draft to formal thesis advisor/PI at the latest
• November 6, 2026: Student uploads final thesis to Canvas.
  • Feedback from thesis PI/advisors' review incorporated into the final thesis.
• November 27, 2026: Group leaders assemble feedback from two reviewers and sends compiled review to student with required changes via email.
• Tentative: December 4. 2026:  Honors Presentation and Ceremony - student slide presentation and medallion awards.  1:00 PM - 2:30 PM. Stimson Hall room 206.
• December 11, 2026: Upload formatted and publishable thesis to Canvas.

May 2027 Graduates

• April 23 – July 10, 2026: Honors Application Submission
• July 31, 2026: Honors Application Submission for students with extenuating circumstances.
• August 25, 2026: First class of Senior Honors Thesis BIOG 4999
  • Day: Tuesday
  • Time: 9:05–9:55 AM
  • Location: Goldwin Smith Hall, Room G64
• March 19, 2027: Submit your final thesis draft via email to your faculty thesis advisor/PI for review
• March 27 – April 4, 2027: Spring Break
• April 7,  2027: Students upload final thesis to Canvas. Feedback from thesis advisor review incorporated before uploaded.
• April 30, 2027: Group leaders assemble feedback from two reviewers and sends compiled review to student with required changes via email.
• May 18 2027: Honors Symposium – Ceremony and Poster Presentation. Students receive Honors Medallion and students display individual research posters and discuss their projects with attendees. 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Honors Ceremony in Rockefeller Hall; 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM Poster session; Clark Hall Atrium.
• May 18, 2027: Student uploads publishable thesis to Canvas. Group Leader and Reviewers feedback must be incorporated. 

*Final thesis submission: This is NOT A DRAFT. It is your best work. Data set is complete for the purpose of your manuscript.

Each student in the Biological Sciences Honors Program is expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity. All work submitted by a student as part of the honors program must be the student’s own work. 

Helpful Thesis Writing Hints: 

Use active voice and the first-person singular ("I") throughout your thesis. Avoid using the first-person plural ("we") unless the work was genuinely conducted in collaboration with others and the results reflect a shared effort.

You may use passive voice (for example, "X was measured..." rather than "I measured X...") only after authorship has been clearly established, typically by using "I" earlier in the same paragraph. This helps readers understand who performed the work while maintaining variety in sentence structure.

Note that this recommendation differs from the style commonly used in modern scientific publications. Because most research articles have multiple authors, they typically use the first-person plural ("we"). In an undergraduate honors thesis, however, the work primarily represents your individual contributions, making the first-person singular the preferred style.

Thesis Formatting Requirements

Your honors thesis should be no more than 7,000 words and must include all required sections with clear headings. Except for the title page, all text should be:

• Double-spaced
• 12-point font
• Formatted according to the Honors Program guidelines

If you have questions about content, organization, or formatting, consult your research mentor.

File Naming Convention

When submitting your thesis, name the file using the following format:

LASTNAMEfirstname thesis

Example:
SMITHjudy thesis

Using this naming convention helps ensure theses can be easily identified and organized during the review process.

Sections of the Thesis

Title Page

Use the Honors Program title page template and follow any additional requirements specified by your college. The title page should include:

• Thesis title
• Student name
• Research mentor/PI name
• Mentor's departmental affiliation

Refer to the Honors Thesis Example template at the bottom of this page for the required formatting.

Abstract (Maximum 250 Words)

The abstract should appear on a separate page and provide a concise overview of your research project. It should allow readers to quickly understand the goals, methods, and outcomes of your research. Include:

• The purpose and significance of the study
• The research question or problem being addressed
• A brief description of the methods or approach
• A summary of the key results
• The main conclusion or implications of the findings

Introduction

The Introduction provides the background and context needed to understand your research project. Assume your readers have a strong foundation in biology but are not experts in your specific area of study. The introduction should:

• Explain the broader scientific context and why the topic is important.
• Summarize relevant scientific literature, including key discoveries, theories, and previous findings.
• Identify gaps in current knowledge or unanswered questions that your research addresses.
• Explain how your project contributes to the field and why the research is needed.

The introduction should move from broad background information to the specific problem or question being studied. It should conclude with a clear statement of your:

• Research question
• Hypothesis
• Research objectives (goals)

These should be supported by the literature you have reviewed and clearly describe what your research is designed to discover, test, or better understand.

Materials and Methods

The Material and Methods section should begin with an overview paragraph outlining the experimental plan. Consecutive paragraphs should contain subheadings for each experiment and describe in detail the materials and the experimental design used in the study. It should explain how experiments were conducted, how data were collected, and how the results were analyzed. 

The Materials and Methods section should also include a description of the statistical tests used to evaluate the data and determine statistical significance. The level of detail should be sufficient for a researcher in another laboratory with access to the same equipment and reagents to replicate the work.

Previously published methods may be cited rather than described exhaustively. However, it is generally appropriate to provide a brief summary of the most important procedures. For example:

“Recombinant green fluorescent protein (GFP) was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified as described by Smith et al. (2020). Briefly, protein expression was induced with IPTG, cell lysates were clarified by ultracentrifugation, and GFP was purified by ion exchange chromatography. Purified protein fractions were identified by fluorescence and pooled for further analysis.”

Including both a citation and a concise summary of key methods allows readers to understand the experimental approach while maintaining sufficient detail for interpretation and reproducibility.

Results

The Results section is the core of the thesis and presents the findings of the study. It should be organized into clearly labeled subsections that correspond to the major experiments or analyses performed. Each subsection should contain one or more well-structured paragraphs that describe the results in alogical order.

Every paragraph should begin with a clear topic sentence that helps the reader understand its purpose and the key finding being presented. To maintain readability, paragraphs should generally be no longer than one double-spaced page.

Discussion

The Discussion should briefly restate the primary findings without copying the information already presented in the Results section. Instead, it should focus on the broader significance and implications of the findings. This section should evaluate the strength of the interpretations and acknowledge any limitations of the study. Alternative explanations for the results should be considered, along with suggestions for future experiments that could distinguish among competing interpretations.

The Discussion should place the findings in the context of relevant published literature, highlighting areas of agreement, extension, or contrast with previous work. When results differ from earlier studies, the discussion should explore possible reasons for the discrepancies and consider ways these differences might be resolved through additional investigation.

Conclusion

A concluding paragraph often provides an opportunity to describe promising directions for future research and how the project could be expanded by subsequent investigators.

The quality of the thesis can be strengthened when the student discusses the results with laboratory members before writing and seeks feedback on the validity and significance of the conclusions. Presenting the findings at a lab meeting and incorporating constructive feedback can further improve the rigor of the Discussion.

Figures and/or Tables 

Figures and tables present the data collected during the study. Each figure or table should be referenced at least once in the text, typically in the Results section, but sometimes in the Materials and Methods or Discussion. Number figures and tables in the order they are first mentioned. For example, Figure 3 must be discussed before Figure 4.

Graphs should include error bars or another appropriate indication of variability or statistical significance. Every figure and table must have a descriptive legend that explains the content and includes relevant statistical information. For images, such as microscopy or fluorescence images, indicate whether the image is representative of multiple observations.

To keep file sizes manageable, image resolution should be sufficient for clarity and readability but not unnecessarily large. Figures and tables may be placed within the text or collected at the end of the thesis. Either approach is acceptable, provided the document remains easy to read and review.

Acknowledgements 

This short paragraph after the Discussion should give credit to those who helped in the research, including financial support, technical support, and intellectual support.

References

 Use the Vancouver referencing style, developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), for your thesis. Vancouver is the citation style most commonly used in the medical and scientific disciplines. It uses a numeric citation system, with sources cited either as superscript numbers or numbers in brackets within the text.

To simplify the citation process, it is highly recommended that you use a reference management application such as EndNote, Mendeley, or Zotero. Once you select the Vancouver style in your chosen reference manager, the software will automatically format both your in-text citations and reference list according to Vancouver guidelines.

Contribution of others to the thesis

Honors theses must represent the work of a single student and may not be co-authored by multiple students. However, a thesis may include figures, tables, diagrams, or data created by others (whether published or unpublished) when they help clarify or provide context for the student’s own research findings.

Whenever material created by someone else is included, proper attribution is essential. The figure or table legend must clearly identify the original source, the author or creator, and, when applicable, where the material was published. Providing clear attribution ensures appropriate acknowledgment of the contributions of others and maintains academic integrity.

Honors Thesis Example template

Title Page

The title of each honors thesis should include the following items, centered from side to side and spaced on full page:

Thesis Title

Honors Thesis
Presented to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (or Arts and Sciences),
Cornell University
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Biological Sciences Honors Program

by

[author's name, Note: the author’s name should appear as it does in the university’s official records.]
[date, e.g., May 2024]

[research faculty mentor name]

Use 8.5 x 11 inch pages with 1 inch margin on left side and sensible page numbering.

Note: If you want to include your thesis in Cornell’s digital repository, eCommons, your thesis must meet accessibility standards. Use this guide to learn how to make your thesis accessible. eCommons is a great way to allow other researchers to access your work in addition to future employers, graduate schools, and friends and family.

Research in the Biological and Life Sciences: A Guide for Undergraduate Honors Students

A guide supplied by Mann Library. You will find tips for science citation management (so important!!), data management, and literature searching. See also the "Locating Theses" tab to direct you to published undergraduate honors theses on eCommons, the Cornell University Library public database.

Scientific Poster Design

Free Research Poster PowerPoint Templates at PosterPresentations.com ↗

Poster dimension recommendation for the Honors Symposium: 36 inches tall by 48 inches wide. 

Research in the Biological and Life Sciences: A Guide for Undergraduate Honors Students -- Poster Making and Printing

Videos, blogs and examples supplied by Mann Library. Creating a poster is one thing, but creating an effective presentation is another. This link can help you get started and talk about general design issues, both practical, and further on, theoretical.

Print Your Poster at Mann Library

• Poster Specialty Printing ↗

Cornell Statistical Consulting Unit (CSCU)

CSCU can help you as you design your experiments and analyze results. Remember, you should know what analyses you will do before actually start the experiment! CSCU offers workshops in statistical methods and software and one-on-one consulting .Check out the workshop options

eCommons

Cornell’s digital repository, eCommons, allows you to publish your thesis online once it is accepted. This way, your thesis will be freely accessibly and searchable via engines like “Google Scholar.” To publish your thesis in eCommons, you and your faculty mentor will sign a release agreement and submit it to the OUB in person or by email to biohonors [at] cornell.edu (biohonors[at]cornell[dot]edu). The OUB will ensure your thesis is published on eCommons! All theses published on eCommons, must meet accessibility standards. Use this guide to learn how to make your thesis accessible. eCommons is a great way to allow other researchers to access your work in addition to future employers, graduate schools, and friends and family. To view examples of honors theses use the following links, eCommons for Arts and Sciences, eCommons for CALS.

Helpful Resources:

• Research in the Biological and Life Sciences: A Guide for Undergraduates
• CU Library Training Workshops
• Mann Library Individual Research Consultations
• Plagiarism and Copyright
• Recognizing and Avoiding Plagiarism

Funding

Cornell offers multiple grant programs to support undergraduate research. You can also find funding from external sources, including professional societies. See the OUB’s list of funding opportunities.

Beginning with the December 2026 conferral date, CALS and CAS Biological Sciences majors who fulfill their candidacy requirements will earn the distinction of Honors in Research. Latin Honors will be based upon final GPA. The level of Latin Honors can be found on each college's website.

Canvas site for the Biological Sciences honors candidates.

Honors Program Academic Integrity Guidelines

Each student in the Biological Sciences Honors Program is expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity. All work you submit for the Honors Program must be your own.

Biological Sciences Honors Focus Group

 Position Statement (DRAFT 2/5/2026) - The Honors Focus Group* developed the following statements, which articulate their goals and perspectives as undergraduate researchers, as well as their agreed‑upon guidelines for the appropriate use of GenAI in Honors‑level research.

• Students are motivated by genuine curiosity—they want to discover, learn, and understand how new information connects to and reshapes their existing worldview.

 • The process of seeking answers has intrinsic value. Reasoning, debating, integrating diverse information, and working through challenges—even when it is uncomfortable—are essential parts of meaningful learning.

• Critical thinking is fundamental to success in both research and professional growth. It is an independent, reflective process that goes beyond simply acquiring knowledge or applying a set of defined skills.

• Effective science communication requires deep subject understanding and the ability to craft a personal, coherent narrative that explains the significance of one’s findings.

The Acceptable Use of Generative AI and Honors‑Level Research

Generative AI can both support and hinder Honors‑level learning. In alignment with the position of the Honors Focus Group, the acceptable uses of generative AI that support Honors‑level research include:

• Acting as an intermediary to help interpret or navigate information—as long as it does not replace the student’s own analysis, reasoning, or original thought.
• Summarizing (but not synthesizing) the research conducted by other scientists.  
• Describing and proofreading code to improve clarity and correctness without generating original solutions.

Crediting Generative AI in an Assignment 

If you use AI tools (such as ChatGPT) in your research or writing:

• Material generated from an LLM should be properly referenced.
• Credit the AI tool properly. The author of any AI-generated text is the company that created the tool (e.g., OpenAI for ChatGPT).
• Be transparent. Document your use of AI. Clearly state how you used the AI tool and reference it appropriately.

How to Cite AI Use (APA Style)

• For each section of your thesis, explain how you used the AI tool (if applicable)
• Include:
  • The prompt you entered.
  • Any text generated by the AI that you used.
• Example: “I used ChatGPT (OpenAI) to generate draft text for the introduction. Prompt: [insert prompt]. Generated text: [insert excerpt].”

Additional hints from APA Style:

·    Reference Template for a Specific AI Chat

·    Example Reference to Specific AI Chat

The APA style guide, MLA style guide, and Chicago Manual of Style include recommendations and examples for citing LLM-generated materials.

Biological Sciences Honors Focus Group participants:

Lily Goch

Brian Hofstetter

Julie Moehringer

Aimen Sabaawy

Tasos Stefanou

Dr. Tim Lavis

The application for 2026-2027 honors program is below.

To apply to the biological sciences honors program:

• Submit an online application. Your proposal must be reviewed by your thesis advisor before you submit. Your thesis advisor must be a Cornell faculty member.
• Your thesis mentor must submit a letter of support online that includes: 1) why the applicant is a good candidate for the honors program, 2) an assessment of the feasibility of the proposed honors project, and 3) any concerns about the proposed project or challenges you expect the student to face as they work towards honors.
• Both the application and letter of support will be due on July 10, 2026.

NO extensions EXCEPT under extenuating circumstances. 

For questions, email biohonors [at] cornell.edu (biohonors[at]cornell[dot]edu.)

• Preview example honors application

Honors application is now available.

Biological Sciences Online Honors Application

Deciding to do an honors thesis a personal decision. An honors thesis is a great way to experience the scientific process and have ownership of a project. However, collection of quality data and preparation of a thesis are time consuming processes that might interfere with your ability to commit time to academics and other activities. Keep in mind that the thesis is due just after spring break when many students are applying for jobs or interviewing. Consider your academic goals and plans for after graduation, then evaluate what is the best use for your time.

The honors thesis should capture the full range of the scientific process, from selecting a research question and designing a study through analysis and presentation of the results. In addition, the honors thesis should represent original research done by the student. Working in a lab for credit or pay might include part or all of this process, but the honors program requires it.

The research must be carried out under the direct supervision of a faculty member on Cornell’s Ithaca campus. If a student plans to do research off campus, it must first be approved by the Honors Committee, and a faculty member on the Ithaca campus must be a co-mentor who is actively engaged in the research. Surrogate mentors, i.e. Cornell Ithaca campus faculty who are mentors in name only and are not directly involved in a student’s research, are not allowed. Contact Dr. Lora Gruber-Hine (lkh24) to discuss further.

Ideally, one goal of an honors thesis is to present results that are publishable in a scientific journal, not necessarily independently but integrated with other work to flesh out the story. However, given the time limits inherent in undergraduate research, this goal in many cases is not achievable. If the results are not publishable, to be acceptable a thesis should describe the design and implementation of the experiments undertaken, the analysis of the data that were obtained, and any future modifications of the design that in principle might lead to publishable results. The initial decision on what comprises a suitable project for an honors thesis is made by the research mentor and the student.

If there is some disagreement or uncertainty in this decision, the mentor and student (together or separately) should consult with the leader of the appropriate honors group. The Honors Committee, comprising all of the honors group leaders, has the final say in whether the thesis is acceptable. The committee relies heavily on the reviews by other faculty to make this decision. The most important factors considered in evaluating the thesis are the quality and rigor of the scientific work, feedback from the thesis mentor, and the thesis presentation itself.

The honors program has no explicit requirements that you study on the Ithaca campus while writing an honors thesis. However, honors theses do require substantial time investments some of which might need to be in the lab. Discuss your plans with your research mentor and together, you can determine whether working on an honors thesis while away from Cornell is a viable option for you.

Many students spend a summer at Cornell working on the honors thesis, but this is not a requirement of the honors program. The nature of research in some labs can require large blocks of time, seasonal data collection, or have other requirements that result in the need to work in the lab over the summer. Consult with your research mentor to determine if research during the summer will be necessary for your project.

There are no consequences for deciding to leave the honors program. We understand that sometimes research takes more time than anticipated, unexpected challenges arise, or your priorities can change. Completing an honors thesis is completely optional.  However, dropping BIOG 4999 after the withdrawal deadline will result in a "W" on your official transcript, so it is recommended you leave the honors program at the conclusion of the fall academic semester. 

Except for the abstract (250 words), there are no length requirements for any part of the thesis. The length of any given section will depend entirely on the content of the specific thesis and the standards for that field of biological sciences. See journal articles in your field to get a sense of how to structure each section of the thesis