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Honours Thesis
PS499* is the Department of Psychology's honours (undergraduate) thesis course. Thinking about the honours thesis is particularly relevant for third-year students who can apply for PS499 in the winter term. But before thinking about how to apply it is helpful to know what the PS499 thesis involves and to consider whether it would be something interesting and useful to you.
PS499 is a yearlong project (both fall and winter terms) where you will learn about and engage in many different phases of the research process, to eventually produce your own thesis document. (We’ll describe what this is a bit more below). You will join a lab and work closely with the professor leading that lab.
Learning Outcomes and Structure
Even if you have never been directly involved in conducting research or feel a bit unsure about what this process would look like, this should not discourage you from applying. The PS499 experience is designed with the intention of guiding students step-by-step through the entire research process even if many of those aspects might be something you are learning for the very first time. Indeed, many labs accept students with no previous in-lab research experience, so it is normal for you to learn many aspects of research for the first time as you conduct your thesis research.
We've highlighted some of your learning outcomes and the structure of your thesis experience. Find more reasons why you should consider doing a thesis and the benefits of it.
Students will learn how to:
- Develop a research idea.
- Learn how to conduct a literature review to support your ideas on the basis of relevant past research
- Write and orally present a research proposal.
- Design the research study and collect, analyze, and interpret the necessary data.
- Present the results, verbally and in writing, in a professional manner.
Seminar Component
Seminar classes will meet twice a week where you will:
- Get information about writing the GRE exams, applying for scholarships, applying to graduate programs, careers in psychology, and presentations of thesis proposals.
- Attend workshops about health and safety, writing an application for ethical review, recruiting participants using the PREP system, writing a thesis proposal and creating a research poster.
Thesis Poster Conference
One exciting part of the thesis course is that at the end of the year, you will make a poster showing all the research you conducted and then share your work with other students and faculty in the atrium of the Science Building.
Every year students describe how valuable it was to them to share their research ideas and findings with other students and get valuable feedback from others in the department.
How to Apply
The first steps of the application process are:
- Identifying faculty members you might like to work with, and
- Completing an online application form by the specified deadline early in winter term.
There are a wide array of skills and experiences you can bring to a lab that can allow you to excel in the thesis course and make an important contribution through your thesis. Because there are so many different strengths that students possess that allow them to excel in research, faculty members consider a variety of different qualities when considering which students to accept into their lab for the honours thesis project.
You never know until you apply if you will get in, so if you feel like this could be an exciting and enriching experience for you, then we encourage you to apply. That said, there are some important eligibility requirements (described below) - be sure to check that you meet them.
One aspect of the application that is considered is grades and pre-requisite courses that help prepare you for the thesis.
These pre-requisite courses help prepare students for the thesis course. Faculty do regularly accept students who do not have one (or sometimes two) of the pre-requisites at the time of application or whose grades fall somewhat below the suggested minimum, and these students often excel in the course! But you need to be registered in an eligible program and have completed a majority of the pre-requisites by the end of Year 3, to be eligible for the course.
Some of the criteria that are considered when accepting students into PS499 are:
Prerequisites
Having met the pre-requisites for the course:
- Enrolment in Year 4 of the Honours BA: Research Specialist, Honours BSc Psychology and Neuroscience, or a joint BSc Psychology program. This also means that you are expected to have completed one 300-level research methods course and one 400-level seminar by the end of Winter term in Year 3.
- Completion of PS394 and at least one of PS395, PS397/PS487, or PS398 by the end of winter term in Year 3.
Although you may still be considered for PS499 if you do not have all of these pre-requisite courses, it may be more difficult to find a faculty member willing to supervise your thesis if you are missing a research course, a seminar course, and/or a 300/400 level statistics course.
Academic Grades
Usually a minimum GPA of 8.5 or close to 8.5 in psychology courses by the end of winter term in year 3; students with a GPA somewhat lower than 8.5 may still be considered.
The number of students admitted into PS499 varies every year based on how many students each faculty member is accepting.
On average, 45 to 60 students are accepted into the thesis course each year.
To make your application as strong as possible it is important to remember that there are many intangible qualities (beyond grades) that can make you an asset to a lab, and you will have a chance to speak to these in your application. For example, you can give specific examples of how your different lived experiences would give you unique and useful perspectives as a researcher which you could integrate with the theory and literature you will learn about in your lab. These lived experiences might be tied to important aspects of who you are or to important professional/work/volunteer experiences you have had.
Unfortunately, not all students who apply to PS499 will be accepted – the reason for this is because enrolment in the course is limited by the number of supervisors available in any given year and the number of students they can supervise.
Although faculty members typically supervise one or two thesis students each year, in some cases they may be on sabbatical or other leave or have commitments that prevent them from being able to supervise students.
If you don’t get accepted, this does not mean that you would not excel in research.
Each year, many students who did not get the opportunity to conduct an honours thesis, find ways to get valuable research experience in other ways – like volunteering in a lab – and eventually go on to excel in graduate school and beyond.
Preparing for a Thesis
Learn more about how to choose a thesis topic and how to identify faculty members you might like to work with.
There are many ways to arrive at a thesis topic. Think about various courses you have taken and the topics that have particularly caught your interest. A rich source of ideas will be the seminar courses you will take in third year.
Consider Faculty Research Interests
Also consider faculty research interests because your thesis topic will most likely depend on your faculty supervisor’s area of research. Some tips to determine these areas of research interests include:
- Searching online for articles that faculty members have published recently and take a quick look at them.
- Contacting faculty members whose research interests are similar to your own for guidance.
Research Question
Keep in mind that faculty members do not expect you to have a fully developed research question worked out before you start the thesis course.
You will work with a faculty member to identify and refine a research question as part of the thesis course.
For now, it is enough to identify which professors’ research interests are compatible with your own.
Connect With Your Advisor
You can talk things over with your undergraduate advisor or the PS499 instructors at any time during the year.
Do not panic, just ask for help.
We've outlined some tips and things to think about during your search for a faculty supervisor.
Consult our list of faculty members who plan to accept thesis students next year and their research interests.
Consider Faculty Members Who Align with Your Research Interests
You can consider any of them as potential thesis supervisors, but keep in mind that many faculty members will want to advise students whose thesis interests complement their own research programs.
This does not mean that the faculty member will hand you a ready-to-go research project, or even that you need to do something precisely in the faculty member’s defined area of research interest. But it does mean that the farther away from the faculty member’s own interests you are, the less likely that person may be to agree to supervise your thesis. The primary reasons for this are:
- The faculty member may feel uncomfortable supervising a student in an area in which they have little specific background knowledge.
- The time commitment on the part of the faculty member to gain the necessary background knowledge may be too demanding.
Familiarize Yourself with Faculty Research Interests
It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with a potential supervisor's research interests by reading a couple of their recent publications or conference presentations.
Indicate Your Potential Supervisors on Your Application
As part of your online application you will be asked to list six potential supervisors.
They will review your application materials, including:
- an unofficial transcript, resume and statement of interest describing why you are interested in completing a thesis,
- your future goals (e.g., graduate program in developmental psychology with a focus on cognitive development) and
- the general areas you are interested in researching for your honours thesis (e.g., children's eyewitness testimony, numeracy and math development, reading acquisition, moral development, etc.).
For each faculty member you list as a potential supervisor, you will have the opportunity to also indicate which of their research areas you would be interested in studying.
Based on this information, the potential supervisors may set up a meeting with you to discuss your interests in completing a thesis and give you a chance to ask questions about possible projects and their supervisory style.
After you have had a chance to meet with potential supervisors, as part of the application process, you will submit a ranked list of the faculty members you are most interested in working with.
Consider Several Faculty Members on Your Application
Because some research areas are extremely popular, you might not be able to work with the faculty members you most want to work with, which is why it is important to consider several faculty members when you apply.
When choosing students, faculty members may consider a variety of factors, including the students' research interests and future goals, and background preparation (courses taken, any prior research experience they might have), grades, and other important attributes you describe in your application that you feel will be valuable to you as you conduct your thesis.
It can be useful for students taking PS499 to spend some time over the summer before their thesis year (typically fourth year) developing their research proposal.
One excellent way to do this is to organize a preliminary reading list with your supervisor before you leave for the summer.
The development of your thesis proposal will be an interactive process between you and your advisor; to the extent that you can define your thesis topic, so much the better. But do not feel that you have to develop the final research proposal entirely on your own.