Honors Junior/Senior Projects

The Honors Program curriculum culminates with a Junior/Senior Honors Project in your major. This project – usually in thesis or project form – allows upper-class students the opportunity to carve out a research initiative under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Such a project pulls together both the skills acquired to undertake the project with a particular topic of interest. For example, a recent project included original document research in libraries in both Washington, DC and in Prague where one of our students put traditional archival research skills to work along with language skills. Another student spent time in Panama, working on a National Science Foundation undergraduate grant and living in the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute while studying ants. Many projects, however, are closer to home, sometimes undertaken in sites in the metropolitan Boston area, where recently one student studied gorilla tool-building strategies at the Franklin Park Zoo.

Students not in the Honors Program can also develop a proposal for a project. Honors Program staff will work with students interested in completing advanced research in their major. For strategies on how to find a faculty mentor, develop a proposal, apply for research funding, and submit the project for such on-campus research events as the annual Experiential Education Research Expo and the Honors Evening, contact the Honors Program Office.

The requirements for an eight credit junior/senior project are defined by each college. The project is primarily a form of independent research or creative activity (sometimes students undertake advanced coursework). A junior/senior project can take nearly any form: a thesis, multimedia presentation, performance, website, or another format appropriate to your field.

Since each college has specific guidelines for meeting the requirements for this upper-class research, the first step students should take is to meet with an Honors advisor either in their sophomore or junior year to discuss possible options and to be directed to the appropriate faculty liaison in their college or department. Students should also consider attending a Junior/Senior Project Workshop that is offered several times each year by the Honors staff. During this workshop, specific questions about the Junior/Senior Project and examples of previous projects are discussed.

Please contact Sheryl Mayuski for more information: s.mayuski@neu.edu.

Browse Completed Junior/Senior Projects

Students may review Junior/Senior Projects at the Snell Library through IRIS, the Institutional Repository System. IRIS is a great resource for viewing projects completed in your field. The link for IRIS is included below. After entering IRIS, search for the Honors Program which will have a link to view Junior/Senior Projects. All students who complete a project are required to send the Honors Program a PDF copy of their paper to be posted on IRIS. The Honors Program has also worked with the University Library to archive over 15 years of Junior/Senior Honors Projects. The University Archive Hours in the Snell Library basement are Monday-Friday, 9am-4 pm.

Students who are approved for a research thesis or similar activity as juniors or seniors may apply for funding to help support their research through the Provost Undergraduate Awards and, if eligible, the Honors Program Junior/Senior Honors Grants.

Honors Project Archival Search Engine

Please follow this link to see completed Honors Projects:
Institutional Repository for Honors Projects

Please follow the link to submit your Junior/Senior Project:
Junior / Senior Project IRIS Submittal Form