A. All Independent Study projects begin with a proposal. The student develops an idea under the guidance of a Biology faculty member prior to beginning the actual project. A faculty member must sign the proposal indicating that he or she agrees to be the advisor to the project. No project may be conducted without a faculty advisor. The advising faculty member will be given a copy of the proposal before the project begins. If the project is to be considered for graduation with honors in biology there must be a committee of at least three biology faculty members, who should each sign the proposal. More specific guidelines that describe what the body of the proposal should contain are listed below.

B. The student must register for either BIO450 (Independent Study) or BIO495 (ARGUS). Registration for either of these courses requires a written proposal.

C. The student conducts the project under the guidance of a faculty advisor.

D. The project must be presented to the Division of Biology in the form of a thesis, poster, oral presentation, or other form that is acceptable to both the student and faculty advisor and appropriate for the project.

1. The body of the proposal must include the original question that the student has developed and is trying to answer.

2. One or more hypotheses must be presented from which predictions can be made and an experiment designed.

3. The experimental design must be complete and clearly presented in the independent study proposal. It must include the following items:

Objectives and hypothesis to be tested
Controls
Experimental variables
Replication
Statistical analyses to be used
Materials and equipment required (including amounts)
Space required (where the experiment will take place)
An assessment of biological, chemical and physical hazards and precautions to be taken to reduce each
Time line
Cost for expendable materials

1. The body of the proposal must include the original question or project objective that the student has developed.

2. One or more hypotheses must be presented from which an outline of the project should be developed. This portion of the proposal might include background on why the student has chosen this topic or avenue of research.

3. The remainder of the proposal body should be a description of how the project will be accomplished, including: The form the project will take (review paper, documentary film, etc.) and why that is appropriate for the particular project

What types of literature sources will be used
Materials and equipment required (including amounts)
Space required
Time line
Cost for expendable materials (including photocopying, etc.)