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The purpose of the Research-Focused Honors Program (RFHP) is to provide instruction and guidance to exceptional undergraduate psychology students on how to conduct an independent empirical project. Each project will be designed and carried out under the close supervision of a faculty member. You will write a senior honors thesis and will showcase your research in a departmental poster session. If you complete the RFHP and continue to satisfy the GPA requirement, you will receive a notation on your transcript that you have earned departmental honors in the Department of Psychological Sciences’ Research-Focused Honors Program.

Coursework

The program consists of 13 credit hours of coursework across three semesters:

Spring semester junior year:

  • PSY 40400 (Honors Research Seminar I), 3 credits
  • PSY 39100H (Readings in Psychology with faculty mentor), 1 credit

Fall semester senior year:

  • PSY 40500 (Honors Research Seminar II), 3 credits
  • PSY 49800H (Honors Thesis Research with faculty mentor), 3 credits

Spring semester senior year:

  • PSY 49800H (Honors Thesis Research with faculty mentor), 3 credits

For students in the Honors College, the Research-Focused Honors Program fulfills the scholarly project requirement.

Eligibility

All psychology majors who meet the eligibility criteria below are encouraged to apply. You do not need to be a participant in the Honors College or any HHS honors program to participate in the Research-Focused Honors Program.

Eligible students must meet these prerequisites by the end of the Fall 2022 semester:

  1. Credit for PSY 12000, PSY 20100, and PSY 20300 (Grades of B– or higher are preferred)
  2. Credit for two other 3-credit PSY courses (excluding PSY 39000 or PSY 39100)

Preference will be given to students who, at the time of applying, have:

  1. Psychology Index of at least 3.5
  2. Graduation Index of at least 3.0
  3. Current or prior experience in PSY 39000
  4. Identification of a faculty member who agrees to be the RFHP mentor

Application

The application deadline is noon on November 8. Instructions about how to complete the application are included within the application packet. The completed application should be emailed to Dr. Colin William, director of undergraduate studies.

Application Packet (PDF)

Faculty Mentors

The faculty members listed below have indicated availability in their labs for students in the spring 2023-24 RFHP cohort:

This list will be updated periodically.