PSYC501 Honours Thesis

• Application window: Monday, February 24 to Monday, March 3, 2025, 4:00pm

• Interview phase: Thursday, March 6 to Friday, March 28, 2025

• Rankings due (from both students and supervisors): Monday, March 31 to Friday, April 4, 2025, 4:00pm

• The completion of PSYC 302/3.0 by April 2025 with a minimum grade of C+ (unless on approved Exchange in Winter 2025 term);

• A minimum GPA of 2.60 between PSYC 202/3.0, PSYC 203/3.0, PSYC 301/3.0, and PSYC 302/3.0;

• A minimum PSYC GPA (not including Supporting Science or PSYC_Subs credits) of 3.30 (equivalent to a B+), following submission of winter term grades.

NOTE: Students must have a minimum PSYC GPA of 3.00 ("B" average) at the time of application. Students with a GPA below this threshold who apply will be advised of their ineligibility.

Students who are needing to defer their final exams and/or assignments need to be aware that the deadline to meet academic eligibility is the last day of the Winter deferred exam period.

Please make use of the ASC "GPA Calculator" to see if it is likely that you will meet the GPA requirements by the end of the winter term.

Please note that all students who meet the minimum criteria may apply for PSYC 501/9.0. However, not all students who meet the minimum criteria will be accepted into the thesis option.  Because PSYC 501/9.0 is an intensive course of study, involving a significant amount of commitment from both the student and their Faculty supervisor, we can only accept a limited number of students. Acceptance is based primarily on (1) academic performance in Psychology courses, and (2) match in research interests with a potential supervisor.

1. Download and review the PSYC_501 Student Application Form (MS Word doc) so you know what is needed to complete the form.

2. Identify Faculty members with whom you would like to work. Please see the PSYC501 Supervisor List 2025-26 below for a list of Faculty accepting students for PSYC501 next year. Only Faculty members listed here can serve as a Thesis supervisor. Look at their websites. Download and skim their papers to find out more about their research area. We ask you to identify at least 6-8 potential supervisors whose research you are interested in. That might seem like a lot, but see point 5.

3. Between Monday, February 24 and Monday March 3, 2025, 4:00pm (EDT), access the “2025/26 PSYC501 (Thesis) - Application Submission and Supervisor Selection Form” link (link will be added here in time). You are asked to upload your completed PSYC_501 Student Application Form (see Step 1) and select the supervisors you wish to apply for on this form. NOTE: Do NOT send your application to individual Faculty – We will do that for you. You are, however, encouraged to send an email of interest to Faculty you are applying to, between February 24 and March 3. This should be a short personal statement of intent for your research interest in a particular lab. Do not send emails of interest prior to the start of the application window (i.e., before February 24). The purpose of the email of interest is to introduce yourself, not to begin discussing potential projects. The time to discuss potential projects is during the interview phase.

4. Over the next weeks, Faculty members to whom you applied, may contact you for an interview. The interview phase runs from March 6 to 28.

5. By Monday, March 31, you should have a list of potential supervisors and be comfortable listing them in order of preference with the one you would most like to work with numbered 1. To increase your chances of matching, we encourage you to rank several (4-6) potential supervisors. Do NOT rank faculty whom you do not want to work with.  Also, do NOT rank faculty you have not interviewed with unless they explicitly told you that they do not schedule interviews.

6. Complete the PSYC 501 Supervisor Ranking Form after you have met with potential supervisors, and between March 31 and April 4.

7. Once final grades for Winter term are in and academic eligibility is confirmed, matches between students and supervisors will be generated. This will happen late May/early June. Your preference ranking (i.e. the order in which you ranked potential supervisors on the supervisor ranking form) and the faculty’s preference ranking are the primary considerations in assigning students to supervisors. We will do the best we can to match you with a thesis supervisor as far up your list as possible. Some research areas are much more popular than others, however, and faculty typically only supervise 2 thesis students per year. It is in your interest to check out potential supervisors from a few different areas and rank multiple potential supervisors. We will never assign you to someone that you haven’t listed on your application. If a match isn’t possible given the list you’ve submitted, you will be invited to participate in a second round of matching students and supervisors, pending space available for the Thesis after round 1.

8. Late May/early June, you will be informed via email who your thesis supervisor will be. If you did not get matched but meet the academic criteria you will be invited for the second round of matching, pending space available for the Thesis after round 1.

9. In the event that you are not matched with a faculty supervisor in the second round, you will not be able to enroll in PSYC501. Please consult with the Undergraduate Office for alternative options for gaining research experience in the Department (e.g., PSYC570/575).

10. If you have any questions, please contact either the Undergraduate Office at ug.psyc@queensu.ca or a PSYC 501 Coordinator.