Chemistry, Biochemistry, Medicinal Chemistry


Faculty Honors Advisors

Kevin Redding
Alexandra Ros
Wade Van Horn
Scott Sayres

About this opportunity

Our Bachelor degree programs train students to be successful in a wide variety of careers including scientific research, health professions such as doctors, dentists, and pharmacists, teaching, forensics, regulation and policy. Our students also develop life skills such as communication in speech, writing and teamwork. The Schools offers superb advising and a friendly and supportive community with a history of mentoring award winning undergraduate students.

The School of Molecular Sciences also offers opportunities for students to get involved in trans-disciplinary research and learn how molecular science can address contemporary societally relevant problems.

For more details, please see our website: https://sms.asu.edu

Thesis

Generally, thesis projects in SMS involve original research in (bio)chemistry or closely related field.

Barrett students are required to complete an Honors Thesis/Creative Project. SMS students should enroll for 3 credits of CHM/BCH492 (Honors Thesis Research) in the semester before they plan to defend their thesis. In the following semester, they should take CHM/BCH493 (Honors Thesis) for their thesis defense. Note that the 493 course is not repeatable for credit. Please submit your Thesis Prospectus to the professor in charge (currently Prof. Chad Borges) when you register for 492 to ensure that your thesis topic is appropriate for SMS and that your committee is properly constituted (see details below).

It is expected that in most cases a student will have started their research project before taking CHM/BCH492. Students can take research for credit as CHM/BCH392 in that case. Remember that students taking research for credit will be expected to spend at least 4 hours per week in the lab on average for each credit hour received. Most people will take research for 3 credits each semester and work at least 12 hours (on average) per week on their project.

Students may choose any area of interest to complete their project. For credit in CHM/BCH 492/493, the student must (1) be a chemistry or biochemistry major, and (2) be engaged in a thesis project with substantial (bio)chemistry content. It is not necessary that the project be undertaken in the laboratory of an SMS faculty member. (Majors doing research in other areas can always get credit in HON 492/493.) All chemistry and biochemistry students are encouraged to consider the opportunities within SMS and elsewhere at ASU, as well as in the Phoenix area or at other research institutions.

Tips for undertaking research in chemistry/ biochemistry at ASU can be found at:
https://sms.asu.edu/student-life/undergraduate-experience/undergrad-research-opportunities.
The American Chemical Society provides exceptional guidance for the advantages and challenges of undergraduate research in chemistry as well as tips for selecting a supervisor on their website. There are books on the topic as well. (Getting In by Oppenheimer and Grey is an excellent book published in 2015 and available on Amazon in softcover.)

Guidelines for membership of your Thesis Committee: The Director must be an ASU faculty member (per Barrett’s rules) and preferably a member of SMS. Although Barrett specifies a minimum of 2 thesis committee members, SMS requires all majors to have 3 members on their committee. The Director and Second Committee Member are required to be ASU tenure-track faculty. At least one member of the committee must be a faculty member of SMS. The Third Committee Member must have a PhD and does not have to be a faculty member but cannot be a subordinate of either of the other two members (e.g. postdoctoral fellow or research professor in the same research group). For a student doing research with a mentor who is not an ASU faculty member (e.g. at TGen, Barrow, VA Hospital), the research mentor would have to be the Third Committee Member and the student would have to recruit from among the ASU faculty (preferably in SMS) a Director who is nominally in charge of the thesis.

Academic Preparation

No specific courses required. Due to safety and other concerns, every laboratory has its own requirements.

Recommended Timeline

It is important to remember that a worthwhile research/thesis experience does not happen overnight. The following offers some milestones towards staying on track for a successful research experience. In general, just remember that the earlier you get started the more opportunities you have to be successful.

Fall/Spring Year 2: Approximately 3-6 months before you would like to start your research, identify faculty members in your area of research interest and contact them about possible opportunities. Make clear that you are motivated, interested in completing thesis research, and interested specifically in their research. Indicating that you have done your homework and know something of the area they work in will be a major plus. Do not be afraid to contact a faculty member working in an area in which you have not yet had formal coursework. SMS faculty members are aware that most students do not get exposed to some more specialized areas until late in their studies, but are often willing to take on a student early in their college career if there is a good chance that they will remain in the lab for a significant duration of time and make some major accomplishments. If you are interested in a particular research area, just go for it. You should also be aware that faculty members do not expect you to come to them with a full-blown project, just a genuine interest in the area in which they work. It is largely assumed that you and your research mentor will develop a project together, and that it will be related to the ongoing research within that laboratory.

Good sources of information about opportunities include ASU websites (Chemistry and Biochemistry, SOLS, Physics, SESE, Biodesign, etc.) and research centers in the Phoenix area (T-Gen, Mayo clinic, Barrow Neurological, etc.). Remember that research supervisors receive many inquiries. You will have to stand out to be successful. You should also keep in mind that the beginning of the fall semester and the end of the spring semester are popular times to look for research experiences. The competition in these times will be fierce, since most labs cannot absorb a large number of researchers simultaneously. You are advised to contact several faculty members, not just one.

If you do not receive a response to an e-mail within a week or so, consider stopping by for posted office hours or try a second e-mail or calling a few days later. Many faculty members travel extensively and a response time of minutes should not be expected. Persistence often pays off. (Most research advisors are less interested in people who are easily discouraged. Research is hard and researchers have to deal with lots of failures and setbacks. Those who are easily discouraged will not do well.)

Please keep in mind that, in general, you cannot receive class credit for undergraduate research if you are being paid to perform this research. 

After starting your project (Year 3): Meet regularly with your mentor to discuss progress. Make sure that you understand the goals and methods of the project and are not just completing assigned tasks. As you have more research experience, let your mentor know what aspects of the work you enjoy and which you find less rewarding, so that the project can be defined to meet your intellectual goals as well as your supervisor's.

At the end of the year before you plan to defend your thesis, you will need to submit a Thesis Prospectus to Barrett. This is a short document helping Barrett see that you are on track to finish your thesis. It identifies the project you plan to perform as well as your Director and the two other committee members. In the past these have been due in September of the senior year, but Barrett is now transitioning to these being due in April of the second semester of the junior year (i.e. a year before the defense would occur). SMS strongly encourages students to submit on the earlier date, as you should have begun your project before that point and there is no reason not to do it.

It is unwise to wait until year 4 to begin a thesis project for several reasons:

(1) Research takes time: An academic year is really only ~8 months, and your time will be divided between your research and your coursework. If you graduate in the spring, you will have to defend in April at the latest, which means that you will have to stop your research by the end of February to have time to write up your thesis. If you just started your project in September, you will have very little time to perform and finish a project.

(2) Letters of recommendation: If you are applying for graduate/professional programs in your senior year, your research advisor will be an excellent resource both for helping with identifying programs and providing an invaluable reference letter. (In many ways, their letter will be the most important one, and the admission committees will pay it careful attention.) If you have not yet found a supervisor or do not yet really know them, then they cannot write a very strong letter for you.

Autumn of Year 4: Begin to organize and write your thesis, as you continue your research. Writing, like research, always takes longer than you think. In particular, as this is your first long piece of scientific writing, you will face new challenges. Organizing material for your thesis also helps to identify incomplete experiments that should be undertaken to complete the project.

Spring of Year 4: Organize your defense. Your advisor, a second faculty member, and a third researcher will participate in your defense. Scheduling can sometime be tricky so please do this well enough in advance. Remember also that Barrett has funds available on a competitive basis to bring third readers from outside ASU/Phoenix. The deadline to apply for these funds is one semester before your defense. Finally, your committee will need at least a week to review your thesis before your defense. Throughout the semester of your defense, you should work closely with your advisor to assure that your thesis is satisfactory. You do not want any surprises on defense day.

Other Honors Opportunities

At this time, there are no honors sections of courses taught in SMS. Most courses allow honors contracts.  Feel free to ask your professor if they offer honors contracts.

College

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Campus

Tempe

Academic Unit

School of Molecular Sciences