BCSC 395: Independent Research
Prerequisites: Permission of Instructor
Offered: Fall/Spring/Summer
A research course designed by individual arrangement with a faculty member. Complete descriptions of faculty research programs can be found on the faculty web pages. This course cannot be used to fulfill any requirement of the BCS major or minor.
The proposed instructor of any independent study (39x) course must be a full-time member of the teaching faculty. In cases where the student's direct supervisor is a graduate student or post-doc, arrangements are usually made for the PI of the lab to be named as the course's official instructor. Additional information about independent study policies, including deadlines, instructor eligibility, and credit limits, can be found on the Registrar's website.
Registration for independent study courses occurs through an online form (instructions) Paper forms are no longer accepted. The student and instructor should fill out and submit this form together to ensure agreement regarding course expectations, laboratory techniques, and criteria for grading. The BCS department's minimum expectations for students engaged in independent research are 10 hours per week devoted to the project, as well as a paper or poster presentation. The instructor will need to enter their permission code as their electronic signature in order to submit the form. The department chair's permission code is only required for students in their final semester of honors research.
A student may only register for course number BCSC 395 if the instructor is a faculty member within the BCS department. For instructors on the faculty of the Medical Center who do not have a dual appointment in the BCS department, the student should register for course number INTD 395 through the Biology department. Their forms and procedures can be found here.