Undergraduate Honours Thesis
Undergraduate Honours Thesis in Psychology
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. Group sessions are held on research ethics, subject 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.
Once your application has been confirmed, you and your supervisor will complete a course outline for your project.
APPLICATION FORM (updated Fall 2020):
Request to Enrol (Microsoft Word version)
Contact shelder@uoguelph.ca if you require this information in an alternate format.
F21 Applicant actions:
- Fall/Winter 2020/2021: be sure that you are completing all prerequisite requirements for PSYC*4870 Honours Thesis I AND PSYC*4780 Advanced Research Methods and Statistics.
- 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 F20 the minimum PSYC average of successful candidates was 85%
- Fall/Winter 2020/2021: 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 superviosr. 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.
- Complete the Request to Enrol (updated Winter 2020)
- Submit to Sharon Helder at shelder@uoguelph.ca
Fall 2021/Winter 2022 Honours Thesis: Application process and timeline
September 2020 - February 2021 | Search for a thesis supervisor (Action #2 above). It is not possible to do a thesis without a supervisor. |
February 26, 2021 |
"Soft" deadline for submission application package. This should include: |
June 2021 |
Add period for Fall'21: 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, 2021 | -Students who have not found a supervisor on their own will be notified whether or not they have been accepted. |
August, 2021 | -Ensure course outline has been signed and you are registered in the course. -All students registered in PSYC*4870 must also register in PSYC*4780 (NEUR students may register for NEUR*4000 instead of PSYC*4780) |
Tips for contacting a potential supervisor:
- Before you contact them, familiarize yourself with their work: read their papers, know what type of work they do.
- Be flexible in balancing your own ideas to fit within the research.
- Be prepared to provide intellectual contribution to the project even if the work is already underway.
-
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 the class of 2018:
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
Sample posters from the class of 2017:
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