What kind of time commitment is required for each project?

You can expect to spend about 15 hours per week on either project, but due to the nature of the lab-based NEUR 4908, the hours are much less flexible. Students doing NEUR 4908 are often working under a graduate student, or along with other undergraduate students and volunteers, and the schedule of the experiments will ultimately determine time spent in the lab. Most lab work occurs between 9am and 6pm to comply with lab safety procedures, for which you must complete training, and you must follow the timeline of the research which can vary greatly from project to project.

Outside of the lab is when you’ll be writing your thesis in successive drafts, to be reviewed by your supervisor prior to the final submission deadline.

If you have a job, are involved in extra-curricular activities, or have a very full and heavy course load and other commitments in your fourth year, you may want to consider NEUR 4907 because there is no lab training involved, and overall there is more flexibility as you are working on your own schedule even though you have to adhere to checkpoint deadlines as listed in your syllabus.