Honours Research Thesis (ENSC 4906)

Undergraduate Research Courses for Credit

Students may register in the following courses as part of your degree. To find a supervisor, visit the website of Faculty in Environmental Science and related disciplines to learn more about their research programs. and approach a professor or adjunct to discuss research opportunities in their lab as part of an Undergraduate Research Course for credit. Once you have reached arranged a supervisor, email the completed ENSC 4906 Registration Form must be submitted to environmentalscience@carleton.ca for permission to register.

• ENSC 4901 Directed Special Studies [0.5 credit] (up to 1.0 credit of Directed Study may be completed)
• ENSC 4906 Honours Research Project [1.0 credit]

Directed Study-ENSC 4901

Independent or group study, for fourth-year students to explore a particular project, in consultation with a Faculty supervisor. May include directed reading, written assignments, tutorials, laboratory or field work.

Thesis/Capstone Courses – ENSC 4906

What are Thesis/Capstone courses, and how do these courses differ from a regular course?

An independent investigation into an aspect of environmental science supervised by a member of the faculty. Projects will include experimental design, data collection\analysis, undertaken in the field and/or the laboratory.

On graduating with a B.Sc. Honours designation, you are expected to be a critical thinker (quantitatively, analytically, and in argument) and to be an effective oral and written science communicator.  Thesis/Capstone is the ‘final assignment’, designed to prepare you for the B.Sc. Honours degree.

Thesis/Capstone courses are two-term courses (Fall & Winter, or Early & Late Summer).  Students should plan on average 10 hrs/week towards your capstone course.

ENSC 4906 FAQ’s

How to go about emailing a professor to ask to be a thesis supervisor?    Students should think about professors who taught courses of interest to them and who may have discussed their research during their course.   Most professors have research websites for their labs.    Students are encouraged to review faculty publications in Google scholar, Scopus etc. to learn about their current research

Timing? When is a good time to begin looking for thesis supervisors? (ex. When is too early and when is considered too late).   Usually fall term of third year is a good time to begin researching areas of interest and to start emailing professors.   Students may want to think about having 2-3 options for supervisors in case professors are on sabbatical or already have committed to their maximum number of thesis students.   If research is to be completed outdoors during the summer months, it is recommended to have a supervisor arranged by May. It is often too late to arrange a thesis supervisor by the time registration\time tickets are active in July for the student’s 4th year registration.

Who exactly is eligible to be a supervisor or co-supervisor?  Full time faculty members at Carleton may supervise undergraduate students.  Contract Instructors or Instructors are not eligible.   If an external supervisor is arranged, a full time faculty member from Carleton must be arranged as the Co-supervisor.

External Supervisors are experts who are employed outside of Carleton.  Research Scientists from federal government, hospitals, labs in the region may be available as supervisors. Lists of potential external supervisors (Adjuncts) can be found in various departments in science. You may need to do some research to find their primary organization, lab website, recent publications to get a sense of their research areas.  You may also have your own connections to a potential supervisor via networking or employment For the latter, you must email the Administrator with the researcher’s name and nature of the project in order to get approval. When discussing potential supervision with a researcher outside of Carleton you can ask them if they currently collaborate with a faculty member at Carleton.  If so, that would be the first person to approach about co-supervision. Otherwise, please email the IEIS Administrator for more information as to how to proceed.

Do students pick their thesis topic or do their supervisors? Students should have ideas and areas of interest when meeting the potential supervisor.   A topic can be formulated from discussions and based on mutual interests.  Supervisors will ensure the “scope” of the topic is within reason for the successful completion of the thesis.

Difference between directed study and a thesis and what it means to complete one or the other, or both?  Directed Study is non-experimental, literature based review and smaller in scope.  Thesis must include some hands on, experimental research including field work, laboratory work etc.

Is funding necessary? (ex. when would you apply for funding and how would you go about it) No, funding is not necessary to complete an undergraduate Honours thesis. However, occasionally professors may have funds available to hire a student to work as a summer field technician or in some other capacity.

Getting your thesis published (Carleton Undergraduate journal?) Getting a thesis published depends largely on the quality of the thesis and a student’s ability to stick with the submission and revision process, which typically extends well beyond a student’s graduation date. Pursuing publication is typically at the discretion of a student’s supervisor (in part because a professor has to pay too have the research published and so the quality of the thesis must warrant that expense), but submitting to something like Carleton’s Undergraduate Journal of Science is also an option that a student should discuss with their supervisor (does not require grant funds to publish in it).

Useful link for more information including an Email template. Undergraduate Research-SSSC

Fall Term, 3rd Year

In the fall term of your 3rd year, students may begin researching and approaching potential supervisors.

Starting this early gives you three advantages:

1. Provides you an opportunity to discuss with your potential supervisor whether you should register for a specific course that would benefit your research (or is required by some supervisors) for example; ENSC 4901 during the winter term, of your 3rd year. These Directed Topics courses are an excellent opportunity to obtain a background literature review of your intended thesis topic – before you actually start your thesis. Similarly, these courses could be used to train you in specific skill sets necessary for your thesis, or it can be used to develop a detailed research proposal. If your thesis involves summer field work, a directed topics course could be used to develop a summer research proposal.
2. Provides you an opportunity to apply for a NSERC Summer Research Fellowship with your potential supervisor. Applications are due in January, hence the need to discuss with your potential supervisor.  Note: NSERC fellowships are based solely on grades.  Recent cutoffs have been above 10.5 GPA.
3. Provides you the opportunity to pick and choose who you would like to work with – and to choose a research project that interests you most. Delaying the process until fall of your 4th year limits your opportunities significantly as most professors have already committed to a number of students.

Choosing Supervisors

1) To choose a Supervisor for your ENSC 4906 Honours Thesis, you may wish to consult the Environmental Science Faculty websites. Using their websites, you can learn about and review their specific research interests.

2) Considering asking the Professor of a class that you particularly enjoyed to know if there are any opportunities or can suggest someone else who might.

3) The National Capital Region is also blessed with many Research Scientists or Adjunct Scientists working within the federal and provincial governments, NGO’s and private industry.  Students are encouraged to seek out those people to see if their research interests match what you want to study.  A faculty member in Environmental Science would be required as a Co-supervisor.

Contacting potential supervisors by e-mail to introduce yourself and set up a meeting. Be sure to put your best foot forward by writing in a professional manner. Do your homework before your appointment: familiarize yourself with the research complete by the lab you’d like to join. Review the Professors most recent publications in Google Scholar. While we do not generally expect that students will design their own research projects before seeking a supervisor, you should think about how you see yourself fitting in to your potential supervisor’s research program.

Winter Term, 3rd Year

By the end of the winter term of 3rd year, students should have completed thesis or directed study arrangements with their supervisor to ensure understanding of the commitments and expectations, a description of summer work (if required) and a work agenda for fall and winter of your 4th year.

Summer between Third and Fourth Year

Depending on the nature of your thesis project, some students may conduct summer research in the field between their 3rd and 4th years. This requirement may or may not be compatible with having a full-time summer job.

Fall term, Fourth Year

For students entering their 4th year who plan to conduct their thesis through the current academic year, and have not yet identified a supervisor to work with, you must do so by mid-September – the last day to drop & add for fall or fall/winter courses.  Note that waiting until this time imparts significant limitations on what can be accomplished.

Students that have arranged a thesis supervisor should email their signed and completed ENSC 4906 form or send an email from the supervisor to Michelle Santoianni indicating a willingness to supervise is appropriate.

Winter term, Fourth Year

Students should read the ENSC 4906 course syllabus for end of year deadlines.

End of year expectations for Environmental Science Honours Thesis students:

The Environmental Science Thesis Presentation Day where each thesis student will present their project to Faculty members of the Institute, their supervisors and their peers and submitting final written thesis to their supervisors for grading.

Environmental Science Faculty Coordinator 24-25: Dr. Jesse Vermaire

The program assigns a faculty member each year to serve as a point of contact for students participating in the thesis course.  The faculty member can assist with any conflicts (with supervisor) and provide direction on requirements for the thesis (to the student and their supervisor if the supervisor is unfamiliar with the expectation for ENSC).  The faculty member will send reminder emails to those registered in the course regarding appropriate milestones and expectations.