BISP 196: Senior Honors Thesis Program

• Undergraduate student declared in a major housed within the School of Biological Sciences.  
• Achieve, prior to the start of the program, a minimum 3.5 biology major and overall UC GPA, for FA26 and later application cycles.  
• Summer Session course grades and the associated GPAs will be taken into account when reviewing applicants.  
• Applicants must be entering their final fully enrolled academic year at UC San Diego (e.g. Fall, Winter, and Spring).  
• Identification of an eligible faculty sponsor/instructor of record who has an active appointment with UC San Diego in an approved teaching title[PDF] and who is willing to serve in that capacity for the duration of the program.   
• There are no specifically designated faculty sponsors/instructors that research must be conducted with for the Senior Honors Thesis Program.  
• The instructor of record is required to adhere to the Faculty Guidelines for Undergraduate Mentoring[PDF].  
• Complete application, including student and faculty sponsor/instructor portions, must be submitted by the stated deadline. Application and subsequent enrollment are subject to approval of the School of Biological Sciences.  
• Completion of mandatory safety training and any other training related to the research you are conducting, as determined by your faculty sponsor/instructor of record, is required. 

• Earn upper-division credit.  
• One quarter of BISP 196 may apply to biology major requirements as an elective or a biology laboratory (select majors). Questions about major applicability, based on major, can be directed to Biology via the Virtual Advising Center.  
• Any additional quarters of special studies courses (196, 197, 198, 199) will result in upper-division university credit.  
• A quarter of BISP 196 that is applied to biology undergraduate major requirements cannot be applied toward BS/MS program requirements.  
• Academic credit can be earned a maximum of 3 times.  
• Four (4) unit course, graded on pass/no pass basis. 

• Completion of three consecutive quarters of BISP 196 during final full year at UC San Diego (research must be conducted during Fall, Winter, and Spring).  
  • Each quarter of BISP 196 grants 4 quarter units of academic credit. Four quarter units of academic credit equates to 120 hours of research over the course of the quarter (minimum 12 hours of research per week). 
• Attend associated fall orientation. 
• Submit an abstract to the Saltman Quarterly Journal.  
• Participate in and present at Research Showcase.  
• Complete a written thesis (there is no set guideline on the number of pages that are required however, theses generally range from 15-40 pages).  
• Students must meet with their faculty sponsor/instructor of record regularly to discuss their research and the writing of their thesis.  
• Achieve a minimum major GPA of 3.25 at time of graduation. This includes summer grades if graduating in the following summer term. 

Deadlines to Submit Applications

 Other Important Deadlines

• Applicants should review all criteria (including instructor eligibility) for enrollment in the applicable Special Studies course and ensure that the submitted application represents a complete and accurate submission.  
• Applications will be reviewed in relation to the catalog course description for the Special Studies course for which the application was submitted. If the application is denied, the student has the opportunity to re-submit, only if the application for the requested term is still open. Re-submission after the posted deadline will not be permitted, thus early submission is encouraged.  
• It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that the proposed instructor of record submits their portion of the application before the posted deadline. Both the student and instructor portion of the application must be submitted by the posted deadline for the application to be considered.  
• Extensions or exceptions to the application deadlines will not be granted under any circumstances, including unavailability of the proposed instructor at the time the application is due. Applicants are encouraged to plan accordingly. 

Interested students must begin the Honors Thesis Program in fall quarter. If the applicant is accepted, a web-based application in both winter and spring quarters will need to be submitted in order to continue in the program.  

Quarterly Application (an application is required for each quarter of participation) 

• Complete the student portion of the required web-based application in Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) within the Triton Student System (TSS).  Students will need to search for "Triton Enrollment Authorization" in the search bar at the top of the TSS landing page.
  • Prepare written responses to the Special Studies Questions in consultation with your faculty advisor. For Fall 2026, only the student is required to complete the questions. Faculty advisors only need to review and approve the TEA request.
• Students may track the status of their application by visiting the TEA application within TSS. 
• In general, the application is open the first day of the quarter preceding the quarter in which the credit will be completed. 
• Both the student portion of the application and instructor/PI approval must be submitted by the posted deadline. Late applications will not be accepted; early submission is encouraged.  
• Students whose applications are approved are responsible for enrolling themselves in BISP 196 each quarter, no later than Friday of Week 2.

Admitted BISP 196 Students

• Winter & Spring Quarters - Research Update 
  
  • In addition to the web-based application, upload a 1-2 page research update by the specified application deadline with the following information:  
    • Student name and PID  
    • Title of research project  
    • Name of faculty sponsor/instructor of record and department, Summary of project, including goals of project and proposed experiments to accomplish those goals  
    • Progress update: What has been attempted and what has been found or learned? What results do you have so far?  

The TEA application will not send status updates; students will need to regularly monitor this tool and the status of the application throughout September.  Updated status time will vary and is dependent upon the instructor's response time and School review period.  

BISP 196 applicants will be notified of the outcome of the application review via their @ucsd.edu account, before the start of Fall quarter.  Students are expected to monitor this regularly.

If the application is approved, the student will be responsible for enrolling themselves in BISP 196 for the respective quarter of participation.  This must be done no later than end of Week 2.  There are no exceptions to this add deadline.

Enrollment Verification

Once an independent study application and research plan are submitted, they will not be returned to the student or forwarded to any other individual, organization, or institution. If a lab requires the student provide enrollment verification, the following options are available:  

• If a lab requires the student to provide proof of application approval, the student may print a copy of their approved application by logging into TEA via TSS.  

• If a lab requires the student to provide proof of enrollment, the following options are available:  
  • Official - Request Enrollment Verification from the Registrar's Office.  
  • Unofficial - Provide a print-out via TSS showing enrolled/completed coursework. 

Grading  

At the conclusion of the term, the instructor of record is responsible for assigning a final grade (pass or no pass) via the University grading system in TSS.