Undergraduate Honours Thesis
Undergraduate Honours Thesis in Psychology
Late applications MAY be considered for Fall 2023.
PSYC*4870 Honours Thesis I [0.50 credit] Under individual faculty supervision, students plan, develop, and write a research proposal and prepare an extensive review paper on their area of research. Classes are held on how to create a research proposal (oral and written), research ethics (REB) protocols, and applying to graduate school.
PSYC*4880 Honours Thesis II [1.00 credit] Students conduct research and write an undergraduate thesis under the direction of a faculty member, present a poster, and reflect upon their work. Classes are held on how to create a poster and how to structure a thesis.
Once your application has been confirmed, you and your supervisor will complete a course outline for your project.
APPLICATION FORM (updated for Fall 2023):
Request to Enrol (Microsoft Word version)
Contact shelder@uoguelph.ca if you require this information in an alternate format.
F23 Applicant actions:
- Fall/Winter 2022/2023: be sure that you are completing all prerequisite requirements for PSYC*4870 Honours Thesis I AND PSYC*4780 Advanced Research Methods and Statistics or PSYC*4790 Qualitative Methods in Psychology.
- Prerequisites include: completion of PSYC*3000, PSYC*3250, PSYC*3290 and minimum 75% Psychology cumulative average
- While the minimum PSYC average is 75%, be aware that the actual average of those accepted tends to be higher. In F22 the minimum PSYC average of successful candidates was above 85%
- Contact potential supervisors.
- Link to: Psychology labs and projects.
- Obtaining a supervisor's agreement greatly increases the possibility that you will be approved for the honours thesis, however be aware that it is still a competitive process.
- You can find out who is accepting students by clicking on their profile at: https://www.uoguelph.ca/psychology/directory/faculty
- You can not do an honours thesis without a supervisor. Applicants who have not identified one will be added to the pool of candidates that will be reviewed each summer.
- Thesis supervisors can be faculty members from the Department of Psychology OR another department.
- The course size for PSYC*4870 is limited to 50 students. (Each year, some qualified students are not accepted.) Students with an average below 80% are not usually accepted because demand for the class exceeds class size.
- Only consider the Honours Thesis if you intend to pursue a post-graduate degree in Psychology or Neuroscience (i.e. MA/MSc/PhD). You do NOT need an honours thesis to apply to social work, law school med school, or teacher's college.
- Complete the Request to Enrol
- Submit to Sharon Helder at shelder@uoguelph.ca
Fall 2022/Winter 2023 Honours Thesis: Application process and timeline (BAH.PSYC students)
September 2022 - February 2023 | Search for a thesis supervisor (see above). It is not possible to do a thesis without a supervisor. |
February 24, 2023 |
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June 2023 |
Add period for Fall'23: IF the following has occured you will receive a course waiver allowing you to register in PSYC*4870: -If you are waiting to be matched with a supervisor, you should choose your fall courses as if you will not be doing an honours thesis in order to ensure that you get a spot, since the 4th year courses fill up quickly. |
June 30, 2023 | -Students who have not found a supervisor on their own will be notified whether or not they have been accepted. |
August, 2023 | -Ensure you are registered in the course. -All students registered in PSYC*4870 must also register in PSYC*4780 or PSYC*4790 (NEUR students may register for NEUR*4000 instead of PSYC*4780/4790) |
There are some differences for BSCH.NEUR students. Contact a faculty advisor to discuss your application further.
Tips for contacting a potential supervisor:
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Before you contact them, familiarize yourself with their work: read their papers, know what type of work they do.
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Be flexible in balancing your own ideas to fit within the research.
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Be prepared to provide intellectual contribution to the project even if the work is already underway.
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Be considerate: contact them during office hours if possible or set up an appointment.
Still have questions?
- Contact a Psychology Faculty Advisor.
Sample posters from previous thesis students:
Bailey Bingham, Claire Coulter, Dr. Karl Cottenie, Dr. Shoshanah Jacobs
Metacognition and exam performance: Tools for effective learning
Poster
Sarah Hollywood, Rachel L. Driscoll and Dr. Mark Fenske
Mood killer: Response inhibition reduces the capacity of erotic stimuli to elicit feelings of sexual arousal
Poster
Jonah Stub and Dr. M. Gloria Gonzalez-Morales
The Effect of Conversation Topic on Dominance Behaviour
Poster
Aleece Katan and Dr. Heidi Bailey
Self-Compassion as a Moderator of Reactions to Social Rejection
Poster
Brianne Gayfer, Jasmine Mahdy (MA) and Dr. Stephen Lewis
Peer Reactions to Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Disclosure
Poster