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Science Research Distinction (SCIRES) Certificate Program

Upon identification of a research mentor, undergraduate students interested in pursuing the Science Research Distinction (SCIRES) certificate must complete the Thesis Intent form.

Requirements

  • Students are required to engage in research for at least three semesters, or two semesters and a summer.
  • Students earn a minimum of six credits in independent research (e.g., 296, 496) in the Eberly College of Science (e.g., ASTRO 296; ASTRO 496; BMB 496; BMB 488; BIOL 296; BIOL 496; CHEM 294; CHEM 494; FRNSC 496; MATH 296; MATH 496; PHYS 296; PHYS 496; STAT 496).
  • Students must register for the Science Research Distinction, Certificate (Program Code: SCIRES_UCT) through Lionpath.
  • During the semester in which the thesis is approved and submitted, students will enroll in SC 494 section 002 for one credit.
  • The thesis must be approved by the research mentor, a reader who is a faculty member eligible to serve as a research mentor, and the director of undergraduate studies or department head of a unit within the Eberly College of Science, unless the department has a specific alternative policy in place for thesis approval.
  • Note: The Chemistry Department requires the students to not only write their thesis but they will have to defend their thesis to their committee. 
  • Theses must be uploaded to ScholarSphere during the student’s graduation semester by the deadlines listed below.
  • Schreyer Scholars in the Eberly College of Science may complete the requirements for the SCIRES certificate; however, a single thesis cannot be used to earn both the honors distinction and the SCIRES certificate. Schreyer Scholars may earn both distinctions by production of independent theses.

Deadlines

The thesis submission deadline for Fall 2024 is Friday, November 22.

For additional semester deadlines, please go to the Penn State Schreyer Honors College's "Honors Requirements" web page and check the semester in which you would like to write your thesis. 

Departmental Information

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology writing an thesis for BMB can be found here. 

Biology Thesis Information can be found here, and see Biology Honors Thesis Information. 

Chemistry: a student must write and schedule a meeting with their committee members and present a 20 - 30 minute talk to their committee members. Details on the Chemistry Research Theses can be found here. 

Astronomy & Astrophysics, Math, Physics, Statistics: There are no fixed requirements for the thesis (such as page length, having to have a publication arising from the research etc.). Several good examples of recent honors theses in these areas are linked below.

     Astronomy & Astrophysics Thesis Example 1

     Math Thesis Example 1

     Physics Thesis Experimental Example 1  Medical Physics Example       Theoretical Physics Example  Data Anlaysis Example

     Statistics Thesis Example 1

More Information

Questions about the Science Research Distinction (SCIRES) certificate program may be directed to Tiffany Mathews.

For more information about the thesis, see our "Thesis Formatting Guidelines" page.