Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Analysis, Neuroscience, and Physics
188L, 190L, 191

Claremont McKenna College, Pitzer College, Scripps College

Coordinator

Donald McFarlane
Keck-B43
x72564
dmcfarlane@natsci.claremont.edu

Registration

• One-Semester Thesis finishing in May 2025 (“1s”): Registered for 191L in Spring 2025
• Two-Semester Thesis finishing in May 2025 (“2s”): Registered for 188L in Fall 2024 and 190L in Spring 2025
• Two-Semester Thesis finishing in December 2025 (“2f”): Registered for 188L in Spring 2025 and 190L in Fall 2025
• Two-Semester Summer Research Thesis – Completing the first semester during summer after junior year (“2fR” or “2sR”): Registered for 189L in Fall 2024 and 190L in either Fall 2024 (2fR) or Spring 2025 (2sR)

Grading

Senior Research in (Science) 188L

Senior Thesis in (Science) 190L

Senior Thesis in (Science) 191

Participation

• You are required to attend at least six (6) seminars in science, each semester of thesis program registration, of the many that are offered throughout the Claremont Colleges.
• If you are completing the second semester of a two-semester summer research thesis this spring, you are required to submit 6 seminar summaries.
• There are a variety of seminar programs in biology, chemistry, and physics. For six of these, write a one-page summary of the talk. Give these summaries to your first reader (or DNS reader if your first reader is off-campus).

See the Thesis Calendar for deadlines.

Progress/Effort

• For 188L (2f) students, there will be a brief oral presentation early in the first semester. See Thesis Calendar for Deadlines.
• For 190L (2S, 2sR) and 191L (1s) students, there will be a poster session at the end of the semester. Your presentation will be evaluated by a panel of faculty. See Thesis Calendar for Deadlines.
• For 188L (2f) students, a substantial progress report is due to your first and second readers late in the first semester. This should consist of at least seven pages of literature survey and proposal, as well as three pages of materials, methods, and a description of progress to date. It should also include a bibliography. This is a minimum, as your first reader may want additional pages or materials.

Meetings with Thesis Readers

• Your readers are responsible for submitting your grade, so it is your responsibility to meet regularly with them and keep them informed about your progress.

Thesis Program Communications

• Email communication goes out via the DNS Front Office, so it is critical you enter your thesis details and contact info via the DNS Thesis Registration Page
• All seminars are posted on the Seminars page
• All changes to your thesis enrollment/registration must be communicated to Lauran Soto in the front office: LSoto@natsci.claremont.edu
• You should be reaching out and staying in touch with your First Reader/Research Advisor for scheduling all meetings during the semester

Satisfactory Work and an Admonition

• Thesis is usually one-fourth of your academic load, and you should expect to devote 10-15 hours per week to the effort. Successful field or laboratory work often requires a significant amount of continuous effort – schedule your work week accordingly.
• Students doing two-semester theses will be graded on their first semester work.
• A thesis project may be terminated and/or converted to a one-semester thesis if, in the judgment of the thesis readers, inadequate effort has been made and successful completion is unlikely.

Animals

• Any and all theses involving experimental work with animals (including fieldwork) require formal approval from the DNS Animal Care and Use Committee, which in turn is bound by complex legal regulations. See the Vertebrate Animal Research page for more information.
• You must contact Jenna Monroy, JMonroy@natsci.claremont.edu, for details and forms.
• The deadline for turning in these forms is usually the third week of the semester. See Thesis Calendar for deadlines.
  There are no exceptions – miss the deadline and you cannot use animals in your research.

Experimentation Involving Humans

Experimentation involving humans requires the approval of the appropriate “Institutional Review Board”; each college has its own.

See your first reader as soon as possible.

• Pitzer College Institutional Review Board
• Scripps College Institutional Review Board
• Claremont McKenna College Institutional Review Board

See our Human Subject Research page for more information.

Penalties for Late Theses

• i. One grade point reduction (i.e., A to A-) for theses turned in up to 24 hours late.
• ii. Two grade point reductions (i.e., A to B+) for theses turned in from 24 to 72 hours late.
• iii. Three grade points (i.e., from A to B) for theses turned in from 3 days to one week (5 days) late.
• iv. Additional full letter grade (three grade points) for each subsequent week (5 days) of lateness (or part thereof).