senior thesis requirement

The Senior Thesis

From the outset of their time at Princeton, students are encouraged and challenged to develop their scholarly interests and to evolve as independent thinkers.

The culmination of this process is the senior thesis, which provides a unique opportunity for students to pursue original research and scholarship in a field of their choosing. At Princeton, every senior writes a thesis or, in the case of some engineering departments, undertakes a substantial independent project.

Integral to the senior thesis process is the opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty member who guides the development of the project. Thesis writers and advisers agree that the most valuable outcome of the senior thesis is the chance for students to enhance skills that are the foundation of future success, including creativity, intellectual engagement, mental discipline and the ability to meet new challenges.

Many students develop projects from ideas sparked in the classes they’ve taken; others fashion their topics on the basis of long-standing personal passions. Most thesis writers encounter the intellectual twists and turns of any good research project, where the questions emerge as they proceed, often taking them in unexpected directions.

Planning for the senior thesis starts in earnest in the junior year, when students complete a significant research project known as the junior paper. Students who plan ahead can make good use of the University's considerable resources, such as receiving University funds to do research in the United States or abroad. Other students use summer internships as a launching pad for their thesis. For some science and engineering projects, students stay on campus the summer before their senior year to get a head start on lab work.

Writing a thesis encourages the self-confidence and high ambitions that come from mastering a difficult challenge. It fosters the development of specific skills and habits of mind that augur well for future success. No wonder generations of graduates look back on the senior thesis as the most valuable academic component of their Princeton experience.

Navigating Colombia’s Magdalena River, One Story At A Time

For his senior thesis, Jordan Salama, a Spanish and Portuguese major, produced a nonfiction book of travel writing about the people and places along Colombia’s main river, the Magdalena.

Embracing the Classics to Inform Policymaking for Public Education

For her senior thesis, Emma Treadwayconsiders how the basic tenets of Stoicism — a school of philosophy that dates from 300 BCE — can teach students to engage empathetically with the world and address inequities in the classroom.

Creating A Faster, Cheaper and Greener Chemical Reaction

One way to make drugs more affordable is to make them cheaper to produce. For her senior thesis research, Cassidy Humphreys, a chemistry major with a passion for medicine, took on the challenge of taking a century-old formula at the core of many modern medications — and improving it.

The Humanity of Improvisational Dance

Esin Yunusoglu investigated how humans move together and exist in a space — both on the dance floor and in real life — for the choreography she created as her senior thesis in dance, advised by Professor of Dance Susan Marshall.

From the Blog

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What Is a Senior Thesis?

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A senior thesis is a large, independent research project that students take on during their senior year of high school or college to fulfill their graduation requirement. It is the culminating work of their studies at a particular institution, and it represents their ability to conduct research and write effectively. For some students, a senior thesis is a requirement for graduating with honors.

Students typically work closely with an advisor and choose a question or topic to explore before carrying out an extensive research plan.

Style Manuals and the Paper's Organization

The structure of your research paper will depend, in part, on the style manual that is required by your instructor. Different disciplines, such as history, science, or education, have different rules to abide by when it comes to research paper construction, organization, and modes of citation. The styles for different types of assignment include:

Modern Language Association (MLA): The disciplines that tend to prefer the MLA style guide include literature, arts, and the humanities, such as linguistics, religion, and philosophy. To follow this style, you will use parenthetical citations to indicate your sources and a works cited page to show the list of books and articles you consulted.

American Psychological Association (APA): The APA style manual tends to be used in psychology, education, and some of the social sciences. This type of report may require the following:

• Introduction

Chicago style: "The Chicago Manual of Style" is used in most college-level history courses as well as professional publications that contain scholarly articles. Chicago style may call for endnotes or footnotes corresponding to a bibliography page at the back or the author-date style of in-text citation, which uses parenthetical citations and a references page at the end.

Turabian style: Turabian is a student version of Chicago style. It requires some of the same formatting techniques as Chicago, but it includes special rules for writing college-level papers, such as book reports. A Turabian research paper may call for endnotes or footnotes and a bibliography.

Science style: Science instructors may require students to use a format that is similar to the structure used in publishing papers in scientific journals. The elements you would include in this sort of paper include:

• List of materials and methods used
• Results of your methods and experiments
• Acknowledgments

American Medical Association (AMA): The AMA style book might be required for students in medical or premedical degree programs in college. Parts of an AMA research paper might include:

• Proper headings and lists
• Tables and figures
• In-text citations
• Reference list

Choose Your Topic Carefully

Starting off with a bad, difficult, or narrow topic likely won't lead to a positive result. Don't choose a question or statement that's so broad that it's overwhelming and could comprise a lifetime of research or a topic that's so narrow you'll struggle to compose 10 pages. Consider a topic that has a lot of recent research so you won't struggle to put your hands on current or adequate sources.

Select a topic that interests you. Putting in long hours on a subject that bores you will be arduous—and ripe for procrastination. If a professor recommends an area of interest, make sure it excites you.

Also, consider expanding a paper you've already written; you'll hit the ground running because you've already done some research and know the topic. Last, consult with your advisor before finalizing your topic. You don't want to put in a lot of hours on a subject that is rejected by your instructor.

Organize Your Time

Plan to spend half of your time researching and the other half writing. Often, students spend too much time researching and then find themselves in a crunch, madly writing in the final hours. Give yourself goals to reach along certain "signposts," such as the number of hours you want to have invested each week or by a certain date or how much you want to have completed in those same timeframes.

Organize Your Research

Compose your works cited or bibliography entries as you work on your paper. This is especially important if your style manual requires you to use access dates for any online sources that you review or requires page numbers be included in the citations. You don't want to end up at the very end of the project and not know what day you looked at a particular website or have to search through a hard-copy book looking for a quote that you included in the paper. Save PDFs of online sites, too, as you wouldn't want to need to look back at something and not be able to get online or find that the article has been removed since you read it.

Choose an Advisor You Trust

This may be your first opportunity to work with direct supervision. Choose an advisor who's familiar with the field, and ideally select someone you like and whose classes you've already taken. That way you'll have a rapport from the start. 

Consult Your Instructor

Remember that your instructor is the final authority on the details and requirements of your paper. Read through all instructions, and have a conversation with your instructor at the start of the project to determine his or her preferences and requirements. Have a cheat sheet or checklist of this information; don't expect yourself to remember all year every question you asked or instruction you were given. 

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Senior Thesis

Undergraduate Program Office 609-258-4861 [email protected]

The senior thesis is a scholarly paper focused on the policy issue in public or international affairs that is of greatest interest to the student. It is based on extended research and is the major project of the senior year.

Each student must complete a senior thesis that addresses a specific policy question and either draws out policy implications or offers policy recommendations (or both).

The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs awards several scholarships each year for travel and living expenses related to senior thesis research.

The University’s requirement for a senior comprehensive examination is satisfied in the School by an oral defense of the thesis. Students prepare a response to written evaluations from their thesis advisor and a second reader, followed by a question-and-answer period.

Senior Thesis Advising: The Senior Thesis Advisor Selection Guide  -  Students should use this to identify thesis advisors who match their interests and possible thesis topics. This tool is organized by faculty issue and regional expertise.

Senior Thesis Deadlines

Thesis Proposal Form Due                                 Friday, September 20, 2024

You must submit your thesis proposal form, signed by your advisor, via email to [email protected] by 12pm (noon) on Friday, September 20, 2024.

First Semester Progress Report Due                Monday, December 9, 2024

You must submit your first-semester progress report to your advisor and to [email protected] by 12pm (noon).

Complete Draft                                                     Monday, March 10, 2025

First drafts of all of your chapters are due to your thesis advisor by 12pm (or earlier per any agreement with your thesis advisor).

Thesis Due                                                           Friday, April 4, 2025

An electronic copy must be submitted to the Undergraduate Program Office ( [email protected] ) by 12:00 p.m. (noon).  Upload a PDF of your thesis, for archiving at MUDD Library, via the centralized University Senior Thesis Submission Site . See page 9 of the Senior Thesis Guide for additional thesis deadline information.

Oral Examinations                                               May 7th – May 8th, 2025

The University’s requirement for a senior comprehensive examination is satisfied by an oral examination based on your thesis.

Guide to Senior Independent Work

Please review this document completely and thoroughly for more information on your senior thesis.

Getting Started in Data Analysis: Topic Selection and Crafting of a Research Question -  Independent research projects start with the selection of a topic and the crafting of a feasible research question. This video maps the initial steps to help...

All independent work that involves research with human subjects must first be reviewed and approved by the University’s  Institutional Review Board . The mission of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) is to protect the rights, privacy, and welfare of human participants in research conducted by faculty, staff, and students. 

If you plan to conduct research involving human subjects for your Senior Thesis,  you must first consult with IRB prior to beginning your interviews to determine whether an IRB application, review, and approval are required for our project.  The department recommends Seniors should complete the process in October or November, if possible. 

Email a synopsis of the proposed activity (3 paragraphs) to the IRB: [email protected] . Include the draft measurements (survey, questionnaire, interview guide), if applicable. 

Please visit the eRIA-IRB training site for more information.

Should you have questions as you prepare the materials, please consult IRB at [email protected] or your advisor for assistance. 

SPIA Thesis Funding   -  Students can apply for funding by accessing the online application in the  Student Activities Funding Engine (SAFE)

In addition to your consultations with your thesis advisor, we strongly recommend that you meet regularly with the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Writing Advisor, for assistance in conceptualizing and organizing your thesis, developing your arguments, and reviewing your writing. They can best help you if you meet with him early in (as well as throughout) the process.  Writing advisors can be reached at [email protected] . 

Library Resource Guide   -  A guide for seniors who are conducting thesis research

An excellent senior thesis can be 75 pages or less. No thesis should be longer than 115 pages. Any page after 115 may or may not be read by the second reader. A thesis longer than 115 pages will not be considered for a SPIA thesis prize.

The 115-page limit includes:

• the abstract
• the table of contents
• ancillary material such as tables and charts
• all footnotes

The page limit does not include:

• the title page
• the dedication
• the honor code statement
• the bibliography

Include the Honor Pledge, and your signature on the last page.

Use a 1-inch margin on the left, right, top and bottom.

Double-space all text (except long quotations, footnotes and bibliography).

Number your pages.

Make sure the thesis is single sided.

Use a 12‑point size type and a readable font. Avoid the use of multiple fonts and type sizes(other than footnotes, which may be in a smaller font).

Indent paragraphs and avoid paragraphs longer than a page.

Within chapters, use only two levels of headings, either in bold or underlined and placed at the left margin or centered. The primary heading is all caps, the secondary is caps and lower case:

Pages should be organized as follows:

Title page (see format on next page)

Second page: Dedications (optional)

Third page: Acknowledgements

Fourth page: Table of Contents

Fifth page: Abstract

Last page: The last page must contain the following: This thesis represents my own work in accordance with University Regulations. Your signature

Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript   Library  Senior Thesis Catalog  - is a catalog of theses written by seniors at Princeton University from 1926 to present

The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs will grant extensions only for severe personal illness, accident, or family emergency. The request for an extension must be made in writing. Extensions to a date no later than the University’s deadline for submitting senior independent work may be granted by the Undergraduate Program Faculty Chair, Susan Marquis, [email protected] . After this deadline, extensions may be granted only by the Dean of your residential college.

Under no circumstances will extensions be granted for any reason connected with computer problems . Students should therefore save, backup, print their work in a manner designed to prevent last-minute crises.

One-third of the thesis final grade will be deducted for each four days (or fraction of four days) that the thesis is late. Please see the  Guide to Independent Work  for more information.

Submit one electronic copy in PDF format to the SPIA undergraduate office, [email protected] , by the Deadline. Must also upload a PDF of your thesis, for archiving at MUDD library, via a centralized University  Senior Thesis Submission Site .

The thesis is graded by the thesis advisor, who is the first reader of the senior thesis, and by a second reader assigned by the Undergraduate Program Office. The grade is calculated as follows:

• If the readers' grades are identical, that is the final grade.
• If the readers' grades differ by one full grade (e.g., A to B) or less, the average grade is the final grade.
• If the readers’ grades differ by more than one full letter grade, the two readers consult to determine the final grade; if they are unable to agree, the Faculty Chair of the Undergraduate Program determines the grade.

The Undergraduate Program office will determine any penalty for lateness, which will be included in the grade reported to the Registrar .

A thesis that receives a grade of A or higher and a statement of support from both readers (and is within the page limit) may be considered for a Princeton School of Public and International Affairs thesis prize. Prizes are awarded by a specially appointed School faculty committee that weighs the relative merits of all theses under consideration. Prizes are presented at the Class Day ceremony.

SPIA Prize Theses  -  Sample Prize theses from 2017 to present

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Search the site, search suggestions, preparing for a senior thesis.

Every year, a little over half of Harvard’s senior class chooses to pursue a senior thesis. While the senior thesis looks a little different from field to field, one thing remains the same: completion of a senior thesis is a serious and challenging endeavor that requires the student to make a genuine intellectual contribution to their field of interest.

The senior thesis is a significant task for students to undertake, but there is a variety of support resources available here at Harvard to ensure that seniors can make the best of their senior thesis experience.

Wandering the library stacks at Widener.

I do most of my research in Widener Library. Hannah Martinez

As a rising senior in the History department, I am planning on pursuing a senior thesis on the history and use of the SAT in college admissions, and I am using the following support systems and resources to research and write my thesis:

• Staff at the History department. Every student within the department is assigned an academic advisor, who is a graduate student studying History at Harvard and knows the support available within the department. My academic advisor has helped me throughout the thesis process by connecting me with potential faculty members to advise my thesis and pick classes with a lighter course load so I can focus on completing my thesis. The Director of Undergraduate Studies in History (the History DUS) has also been pivotal in making sure that I attended a lot of information sessions about what the thesis looks like and how much of a commitment it is.
• History faculty at Harvard! All of my professors in History have been incredibly helpful in teaching me how to write like a historian, how to use primary sources in my essays, and how to undertake a serious research project over the course of a semester. Of course, while the thesis will require me to go far beyond what I’ve ever done before, I feel prepared to take on such a task because of the unwavering support from the History faculty. My mentor, Emma Rothschild, is one of the members of the faculty who has been invaluable in encouraging me to go as far as I am able.
• And last but certainly not least: funding. Funding, whether in term-time of the summer before senior year, is crucial towards making the senior thesis possible. Harvard’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships is dedicated to connecting Harvard students to funding sources across the university so they can pursue their research and get paid for it. This summer, I received a grant from the university of almost $2,000 so I am able to travel to libraries, buy books, and potentially take time off of work and do my research. Without such a grant, it would be incredibly difficult for me to do enough research so I can write a thesis this upcoming fall.

As you can see, there are multiple avenues for support and resources here at Harvard so your senior thesis is as easy as possible. While the senior thesis is still a challenging project that will take up a lot of time, Harvard’s resources make it possible for senior students to do their very best in all of their theses. I’m excited to start writing this fall!

Hannah Class of '23 Alumni

Hello! My name is Hannah, and I am a rising senior at Harvard concentrating in History from southeast Los Angeles County.

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• Senior Thesis Writing Guides

The senior thesis is typically the most challenging writing project undertaken by undergraduate students. The writing guides below aim to introduce students both to the specific methods and conventions of writing original research in their area of concentration and to effective writing process.

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Senior Theses

• Categories: Strategies for Learning

Doing a senior thesis is an exciting enterprise. It’s often the first time students are engaging in truly original research and trying to develop a significant contribution to a field of inquiry. But as joyful as an independent research process can be, you don’t have to go it alone. It’s important to have support as you navigate such a large endeavor, and the ARC is here to offer one of those layers of support. 

Whether or not to write a senior thesis is just the first in a long line of questions thesis writers need to consider. In addition to questions about the topic and scope of your thesis, there are questions about timing, schedule, and support. For example, if you are collecting data, when should data collection start and when should it be completed? What kind of schedule will you write on? How will you work with your adviser? Do you want to meet with your adviser about your progress once a month? Once a week? What other resources can you turn to for information, feedback, and support? 

Even though there is a lot to think about and a lot to do, doing a thesis really can be an enjoyable experience! Keep reminding yourself why you chose this topic and why you care about it. 

Tips for Tackling Big Projects:  

• When you’re approaching a big project, it can seem overwhelming to look at the whole thing at once, so it’s essential to identify the smaller steps that will move you towards the completed project. 
• Your advisor is best suited to help you break down the thesis process with field-specific advice. 
• If you need to refine the breakdown further so it makes sense for you, schedule an appointment with an Academic Coach . An academic coach can help you think through the steps in a way that works for you. 
• Pre-determine the time, place, and duration. 
• Keep it short (15 to 60 minutes). 
• Have a clear and reasonable goal for each writing session. 
• Make it a regular event (every day, every other day, MWF). 
• time is not wasted deciding to write if it’s already in your calendar; 
• keeping sessions short reduces the competition from other tasks that are not getting done; 
• having an achievable goal for each session provides a sense of accomplishment (a reward for your work); 
• writing regularly can turn into a productive habit. 
• In addition to having a clear goal for each writing session, it’s important to have clear goals for each week and to find someone to communicate these goals to, such as your adviser, a “thesis buddy,” your roommate, etc. Communicating your goals and progress to someone else creates a useful sense of accountability. 
• If your adviser is not the person you are communicating your progress to on a weekly basis, then request to set up a structure with your adviser that requires you to check in at less frequent but regular intervals. 
• Commit to attending Accountability Hours at the ARC on the same day every week. Making that commitment will add both social support and structure to your week. Use the ARC Scheduler to register for Accountability Hours. 
• Set up an accountability group in your department or with thesis writers from different departments. 
• It’s important to have a means for getting consistent feedback on your work and to get that feedback early. Work on large projects often lacks the feeling of completeness, so don’t wait for a whole section (and certainly not the whole thesis) to feel “done” before you get feedback on it! 
• Your thesis adviser is typically the person best positioned to give you feedback on your research and writing, so communicate with your adviser about how and how often you would like to get feedback. 
• If your adviser isn’t able to give you feedback with the frequency you’d like, then fill in the gaps by creating a thesis writing group or exploring if there is already a writing group in your department or lab. 
• The Harvard College Writing Center is a great resource for thesis feedback. Writing Center Senior Thesis Tutors can provide feedback on the structure, argument, and clarity of your writing and help with mapping out your writing plan. Visit the Writing Center website to schedule an appointment with a thesis tutor . 
• Working on a big project can be anxiety provoking because it’s hard to keep all the pieces in your head and you might feel like you are losing track of your argument. 
• To reduce this source of anxiety, try keeping a separate document where you jot down ideas on how your research questions or central argument might be clarifying or changing as you research and write. Doing this will enable you to stay focused on the section you are working on and to stop worrying about forgetting the new ideas that are emerging. 
• You might feel anxious when you realize that you need to update your argument in response to the evidence you have gathered or the new thinking your writing has unleashed. Know that that is OK. Research and writing are iterative processes – new ideas and new ways of thinking are what makes progress possible. 
• It’s also anxiety provoking to feel like you can’t “see” from the beginning to the end of your project in the way that you are used to with smaller projects. 
• Breaking down big projects into manageable chunks and mapping out a schedule for working through each chunk is one way to reduce this source of anxiety. It’s reassuring to know you are working towards the end even if you cannot quite see how it will turn out. 
• It may be that your thesis or dissertation never truly feels “done” to you, but that’s okay. Academic inquiry is an ongoing endeavor. 
• Thesis work is not a time for social comparison; each project is different and, as a result, each thesis writer is going to work differently. 
• Just because your roommate wrote 10 pages in a day doesn’t mean that’s the right pace or strategy for you. 
• If you are having trouble figuring out what works for you, use the ARC Scheduler to make an appointment with an Academic Coach , who can help you come up with daily, weekly, and semester-long plans. 
• If you’re having trouble finding a source, email your question or set up a research consult via Ask a Librarian . 
• If you’re looking for additional feedback or help with any aspect of writing, contact the Harvard College Writing Center . The Writing Center has Senior Thesis Tutors who will read drafts of your thesis (more typically, parts of your thesis) in advance and meet with you individually to talk about structure, argument, clear writing, and mapping out your writing plan. 
• If you need help with breaking down your project or setting up a schedule for the week, the semester, or until the deadline, use the ARC Scheduler to make an appointment with an Academic Coach . 
• If you would like an accountability structure for social support and to keep yourself on track, come to Accountability Hours at the ARC. 

Department of Physics

Senior Theses

The senior thesis is the capstone of the physics major and an opportunity for intellectual exploration broader than courses can afford. It is an effort that spans the whole academic year. The thesis is a great opportunity to dive into research on an aspect of physics which most engages you. Whether your thesis is on biophysics, gravity and cosmology, condensed matter, or string theory, writing it is way to put to use all that you have learned in coursework so far—and to make a contribution to scientific knowledge. Even for topics outside of the mainstream of physics, for example with a focus on policy, or neuroscience, or finance, we expect you to apply your undergraduate physics education to the problem you focus on.

You can build on previous work in your senior thesis, for example summer work or a junior paper. However, it is equally acceptable to start a brand new project in the fall of your senior thesis with an adviser you have not previously worked with. In any case, in order to have a level playing field, your thesis will be evaluated based on work done during the academic year.

You must submit your choice of adviser and topic in Canvas by 3:00pm October 3. Your adviser must have a full-time faculty appointment at Princeton University. Your adviser can be one of your junior paper advisers, but need not be. If your adviser does not have their primary appointment in the Physics Department, you must communicate your choice of second reader in Canvas by October 3, and this second reader must have a full-time faculty appointment at Princeton University with their primary appointment in the Physics Department.

You must turn in a draft of content for your senior thesis by 3:00pm January 16, as explained in the section entitled Fall term draft .

The final version of your senior thesis is due by 3:00pm of the University's deadline for submitting the senior thesis, April 29. The requirements for formatting and submitting your final senior thesis are somewhat detailed;  please consult the section entitled Thesis Formatting and Submission . The page on important dates gives a complete listing of dates and deadlines relevant to the senior thesis. In case of any confusion about dates and deadlines, the page on important dates should be regarded as authoritative.

An oral examination conducted by the the Senior Committee at the end of the senior year serves as the senior departmental examination. This exam is described in more detail below in the section entitled Oral Examination .

Department of Physics Independent Work Guide

Senior committee.

A committee of several faculty in Physics oversees all the senior theses. In AY 2024-2025, the committee members are Professor(s) William Jones (chair), Lyman Page, Shinsei Ryu and Jason Puchalla. The senior committee is assisted by Karen Olsen, the Undergraduate Administrator. The committee meets with the seniors at the beginning of the academic year to outline what is expected and to help them get started on choosing advisers and topics. The committee may establish milestones during the year (e.g. a due date for a thesis outline and/or an oral progress report) in addition to the ones indicated on this webpage; any such additional milestones will be announced to all seniors via e-mail and clearly indicated on the important dates  page. You are encouraged at any time to approach members of the senior committee with questions or concerns about the progress of your thesis work.

Getting Started

The best advice in finding an advisor is to go to several faculty members in areas of research that you are interested in, and see what topics they propose. If you have a topic to propose yourself, great: shop it around to faculty and see what they think. Most topics come from faculty as part of the work their research groups are conducting. When you have a tentative topic in mind, start by reading some of the literature, ideally at the Scientific American level, in order to understand the highlights and context of the work you'll embark on. If you're undecided between topics, this first stage of reading should help you choose. Make sure to circle back to your prospective adviser with questions, and confirm with them before the deadline that they are in fact prepared to advise you on a topic that you have both agreed on. It's important to start this process at the very beginning of term, because false starts are possible.

The most important advice we can give is to make a fast start on your senior thesis, and focus on it particularly at the start of the fall term. Adjust your courses accordingly; for instance, senior fall is not the right time to shop five courses. Experience suggests that distractions and delays occur from time to time, both expected (e.g. grad school applications) and unexpected (e.g. your adviser disappears to a conference just when you need help). If you have a good start on your thesis you can put it aside briefly when such a delay occurs. If you don't, it becomes harder and harder to catch up. Regardless of where you are in the term—and especially early on—the best advice is to set your senior thesis at top priority.

Students considering thesis topics mostly or entirely outside of physics should consider the application procedure outlined in the section below entitled Alternative grading rubric .  Please note that time is of the essence in applying for an alternative grading rubric.

Fall Term Draft

A draft of content to be included in your senior thesis must be turned in to Canvas by 3:00pm on January 16. The second reader must be identified in Canvas at the time you turn in this draft of content. (Even if you have previously identified your second reader, e.g. because you are working with a primary advisor outside the department, please confirm this choice at the time of turning in your draft of content.) This draft of content will be assigned a P/D/F grade by your advisor and second reader, and the grade will be reported to the senior committee; however, it will not appear on your Princeton transcript. The draft of content is intended to serve as a status check and a way to start the conversation with your advisor and second reader about the spring term end game for your thesis. The guidelines for the draft of content are as follows:

• The minimum length is 7 pages, plus front matter and bibliography.
• The document should be written in full sentences and paragraphs, in the style you intend for the final version of your senior thesis. An outline of work to follow can be included at the end, but the main focus of the document should be on what you have understood and done so far.
• Formatting should be the same that you intend to use in the final version of your senior thesis; in particular, front matter (including the Student Acknowledgment of Original Work, signed), introduction, main body, and bibliography should be present, with all the formatting as you intend for the final version of your senior thesis. In short, follow the guidelines in the Primary grading rubric .  Indicate clearly in the front matter that the document is a draft of content.
• While it is anticipated that your results will be quite incomplete, do make an effort to communicate the background in an accessible fashion that starts with the fundamentals and demonstrates your understanding of the context of your ongoing work.

Thesis Formatting and Submission

You must submit your thesis electronically as a PDF file.  The first few pages of your senior thesis are called the front matter.  Front matter must include in the first two pages the title, the student's name, an abstract, the Student Acknowledgment of Original Work, and a signature following this acknowledgment. The wording of the Acknowledgment must be as set forth in the current edition of Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities: "This paper represents my own work in accordance with University regulations.”   The Page formatting should be suitable for printing on standard 8.5" x 11" paper with one to one and a half inch margins all around the main text. All fonts should be between 10 and 14 points, and line spacing should be anywhere between double spacing and 1.5 spacing. Pages should be numbered, with numbers no closer than half an inch to any edge of the page. Figures should be clear and legible, with descriptive captions.  Figures should be  your original work or else credit should be clearly given in the caption to the figure creator.  You should request permission to re-use figures made by colleagues.  There is no length requirement, but a total length (including front matter, bibliography, figures, appendices, etc) of 50 to 100 pages is about right for most topics.

The deadline for submission of the senior thesis is 3 pm April 29. For the spring semester of 2024, no hard copy submission will be required.   By that deadline, you must submit your thesis electronically in Canvas.  You must provide an electronic signature for the Student Acknowledgment of Original Work.  Your signature will serve as confirmation that the  submitted version is the official version.  By the end of the day on April 29, you must also send electronic copies of your thesis to your advisor and second reader.  You must also submit your thesis electronically to Mudd Library in order to graduate. Details on the Mudd Library submission process will come by email.  

To set high goals for the thesis, and at the same time to accommodate the breadth of experience that physics majors seek, the Physics Department has a dual rubric approach to grading. The primary grading rubric for the senior thesis is the one set forth in detail in the section below entitled Primary grading rubric .  It should be used for all theses which are primarily focused on a topic in physics, broadly construed. Applied physics, biophysics, astrophysics, plasma physics, and mathematical physics (among others) are fields in which this primary rubric should be used. Every student is advised to take pains to make their thesis accessible to physicists outside their discipline. Doing so is part of good presentation, and it is part of showing the student's own mastery of their topic. The physical principles involved should be explained clearly, starting at the level of undergraduate physics courses. Any necessary jargon should be introduced with clear explanations.

Written presentation is also important and will affect the final grade. Good presentation includes all aspects of scholarly writing, including clear explanations, organization, and citations; correct spelling, grammar, and formatting; a style that is at once accessible and precise; and a logical structure including front matter, introduction, main body, conclusion, and bibliography. 

Primary grading rubric

The main basis for the final grade will be the physics content contained in the thesis as a document. Physics content could include, for example, theoretical ideas, calculations, modeling, and predictions; experimental methods, description of apparatus, results, and data analysis; and an assessment of the significance of the work reported in the thesis against the backdrop of the larger field of which it is part. Physics content can be particularly noteworthy—for instance a really new theoretical idea or a genuinely impactful experimental result—but humbler advances, such as verification or extension of published calculations, or successful calibration of an experimental device, are also highly esteemed. In short, new research results are desirable but not required for even the highest grades.  Scholarly substance is the key.

Written presentation is also important and will affect the final grade. Good presentation includes all aspects of scholarly writing, including clear explanations, organization, and citations; correct spelling, grammar, and formatting; a style that is at once accessible and precise; and a logical structure including front matter, introduction, main body, conclusion, and bibliography.

Grade recommendations from the adviser and second reader are communicated to the senior committee, along with short text descriptions describing and assessing the thesis. The letter grade from the Oral examination will count for 10% of the senior thesis grade. The following grade descriptions are representative of Physics Department grading practices. Any individual thesis may have qualities spread across several of these descriptions, and it is ultimately up to the judgement of the Physics Department faculty to balance the considerations in any given case in order to come up with the final grade.

• A+. A substantial, professional-level contribution to some field of physics, with outstanding presentation and truly impressive content. For example, there may be original results suitable or almost suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal which physicists working in this field often publish in. Or the thesis may be a brilliantly written review paper which could usefully be shared with professional colleagues. A written statement from the advisor justifying the A+ must be included.
• A. The thesis deals with some topic in physics in an unusually thorough way, with unexpected insights and/or an especially clear presentation. The advisor should have learned new things from it. This grade should be used for work that goes far beyond "doing a good job."
• A-. The thesis covers some topic in physics well and goes into significant depth. It is written in a professional style with only minor flaws. The student shows mastery of the subject.
• B+. The thesis covers a topic in physics well, and in some depth. The presentation and physics content are good but leave room for improvement.
• B. The thesis covers a topic in physics fairly well. Presentation and physics content are fairly good, but some deficiencies may be noted.
• B-. The thesis addresses a topic in physics but without the depth expected for senior independent work. There may be significant errors or an inadequate presentation.
• C+. The thesis contains an overview of a topic in physics, but the physics content is mostly superficial. The presentation may be inadequate, and there may be significant errors or omissions.
• C. The thesis contains a partial or superficial overview of a topic in physics. The thesis gives little evidence of understanding of the relevant physics. The presentation is sloppy, and there are significant errors or omissions.
• C-. The thesis contains some correct information about a topic in physics, but it fails to show understanding of the relevant physics. The presentation is incomplete, with serious errors or omissions.
• D. The lowest passing grade. The thesis is deficient in multiple respects, with minimal physics content, poor presentation, and/or poor scholarship.
• F. There are several ways an F can result. One way is for the thesis to be largely incomplete and incorrect. A second way is for the thesis not to be turned in on time, accounting for any extensions granted, or for a document to be turned in without a clear written indication that it is the official version of the student's senior thesis. A third way is for the thesis to be turned in on time but with issues that prevent it from being accepted. Examples of this last are omitting from the first two pages the title, the student's name, the abstract, the Student Acknowledgment of Original Work, or a signature following this acknowledgment. Formatting that renders the thesis unreasonably difficult to read may also prevent it from being accepted and result in an F.

Alternative grading rubric

Students wishing to branch out and work on a senior thesis topic that is mostly or entirely outside of physics will have their theses graded using an alternative grading rubric customized to their field of work, provided they receive approval from the senior committee of a proposal submitted electronically in Canvas no later than 3pm October 10.  The proposal must consist of the following points:

• Student's name.
• Adviser's name. The adviser must sign next to their name to indicate their endorsement of the proposed grading rubric.
• Second reader's name. As with all theses in the Physics Department, your adviser and the second reader should both have full-time faculty appointments at Princeton University, and at least one of them should have their primary appointment in the Physics Department.
• A tentative thesis title (200 characters or less).
• Summary of proposed work (1500 to 2000 characters).
• Give us a simple description of the area of scholarship your thesis falls in. For example, "Climate policy" or "Behavioral neuroscience."
• Provide a short explanation of why you are interested in this area, and why it should be of general interest to professional physicists.
• Provide an adaptation of the primary grading rubric that you feel is suitable to your thesis work. The text to adapt is the entire contents of the section entitled Primary grading rubric . Leave the second, third, and fourth paragraphs unchanged, as these sections will be applied in any case; likewise the criteria for an F cannot be changed. Changes to the rest of the text should be at the minimal level needed in order for it to be fairly applied to the work you are going to do. For example, if you are working on climate policy, replacing "physics" by "climate policy" throughout should be a good start. Topics which have some physics content but are primarily outside of physics should include in the grading rubric some measure of how well the physics is developed and presented.

The senior committee may adjust or rewrite the grading rubric you propose before approving it, and the final rubric will go to your adviser and second reader as well as to you.

Proposals that are approved will allow a thesis to be graded at the same standard as other Physics Department senior theses, but in a different direction. Students who do pursue a topic outside of physics should make a particular effort to make their thesis accessible to physicists and students of physics, and this effort will be counted as part of a good presentation. If a proposal is not received on time by the senior committee or is not approved, thesis work will be graded according to the Primary grading rubric : In particular, the physics content will then be the main basis for the final grade.

A fall term draft of content as outlined in the section entitled Fall term draft is required for all theses.

Oral examination

The oral examination will be scheduled near the end of the academic year, after you have turned in your senior thesis. You should prepare a presentation with a planned duration of 20 minutes. Use standard visual aids, i.e. PowerPoint or similar. Presentations should be well organized and thoughtful; in particular:

• If you want to use a laptop, you are responsible for making sure things work!
• Have enough paper copies of your presentation material so that every committee member can have their own copy. Paper copies are useful even when you use PowerPoint from a laptop and serve as a backup in case of a technical glitch.
• Limit your main presentation to approximately 15 slides (depending on your style). If you have more material, prioritize it and put extra material at the end as backup slides.
• Do not expect committee members to flip through your thesis during the exam; your presentation should be self-contained.
• Emphasize graphical material in your slides (including key equations).
• If you have text in your slides, focus on terse summaries and avoid long segments of text.
• Rehearse! You can rehearse before a group of friends, or your advisor, or a graduate student, or an empty room.

The senior committee is entitled to ask questions both about the thesis and about undergraduate physics. The grade for the oral depends on both the quality of the presentation and your ability to answer questions.

The oral examination will be assigned a letter grade by the senior committee.  The letter grade for the oral examination will count for 10% of the senior thesis grade.

Psychology Junior Paper and Senior Thesis Guide

• Research Consultations
• Junior Paper Guidelines

Senior Thesis Guidelines

Senior thesis requirements.

• Examples of Senior Theses
• Psychology Literature
• Keyword Searching
• Literature Mapping This link opens in a new window
• Evaluating Articles
• Finding the Full Text
• Reference Managers
• Peer Review

Current guidelines for Psychology Senior Theses can be found on the Department of Psychology's website .

Students can conduct an experimental thesis, a computational thesis, or a theoretical thesis. All formats require a review of the literature .

• An experimental thesis should include a comprehensive literature review, findings from at least one original research study (an experiment or a field study) with appropriate statistical analyses, and a general discussion of the findings.
• A computational thesis should include a review of the literature and description and discussion of the computational models that the student has completed.
• A theoretical thesis should include a comprehensive review of the research literature on a psychology topic of importance, including an extensive evaluation of the findings and original interpretations, theoretical proposals, or a proposed program of research to add further scientific knowledge.
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• Last Updated: Apr 16, 2024 11:35 AM
• URL: https://libguides.princeton.edu/psyc_jp_thesis

Department of History

Senior Thesis Guidelines

Your thesis must be printed or typewritten in black-letter type upon plain white paper (any kind of paper is acceptable). The text must be double-spaced, with wide margins and paragraphs clearly indented. Although there is no fixed requirement, you should be careful to leave enough space on the left to allow for binding, and enough on the right, top, and bottom so that your thesis will look presentable. (An inch and a half on the left and an inch on the right, top, and bottom should be adequate.) It must be a single-sided document.

The title page should contain the title, name of author, date, and the following statement: "A senior thesis submitted to the History Department of Princeton University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts."

On a separate page you should certify that "This paper represents my own work in accordance with University regulations" and sign your name.

A table of contents listing the title and page number of each chapter should follow the title page. On a page preceding the table of contents, you may wish to acknowledge any special assistance or support that you received in writing your thesis.

The prescribed minimum length of text only, excluding appendices, charts, bibliography, illustrations, or images, is 75 pages. The prescribed maximum length is 100 pages. No thesis may exceed 100 pages unless permission of the thesis adviser is obtained in advance. Font size is required to be similar to Times New Roman 12, though it need not be in Times New Roman. The text must be double-spaced, with wide margins and paragraphs that are clearly indented. (Margins of an inch on the left, right, top, and bottom should be adequate.) It can be printed double-sided.

A PDF copy of the thesis must be submitted electronically. A copy must also be deposited with the Mudd Library Thesis Archive. Submission details will be sent to seniors one month before the deadline. For 2021 hard copies are not required.

The following guidelines provide advice on general styling and formatting questions.

General Usage

Use quotations sparingly, keep them brief, and work them into the flow of your own narrative. If a long quotation must be used, take it out of the body of the text, indent, and single-space. Quotations treated in this manner are called block quotations. Quotation marks are not used for block quotations.

The omission of a word or phrase from a quotation is indicated by an ellipsis, or three spaced periods (. . .), at the point of omission. If the omitted words would have ended a sentence, a fourth period should be added to indicate the normal terminal punctuation.

A quotation must conform to the original in every detail. Do not correct misspellings or other errors, but insert after them the Latin word sic in brackets [ sic ] to show that the error was in the original. Brackets, not parentheses, are used to insert a clarifying word or phrase of your own into quoted material. When your thesis is completed, you should check all quotations against the original sources to ensure absolute accuracy.

Footnotes must be used to indicate the sources of:

• all quotations and statistical data;
• all facts not generally known to historians; and
• all opinions or interpretations that are not your own, whether quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.

Footnotes may also include your comments on the sources, remarks on disagreement among authorities, additional quotations, or essential information that cannot appropriately fit into the text. Generally speaking, anything worth saying at all is worth saying in the text. Do not use your footnotes as a dumping ground for surplus data.

Start a new set of footnotes, starting at 1, with each chapter. The footnote number, elevated above the line of type, should come at the end of the sentence for which a citation is needed. If the material in one or more paragraphs is all derived from a single work, put your footnote at the end of the section containing this material. If a single sentence or paragraph contains material from a number of sources, the sources may all be cited in the same footnote, separated by semicolons.

Footnotes should be placed at the bottom of the page upon which the material in question appears. They should be separated from the text by a short black line beginning at the left hand margin. Subject to your adviser’s approval, notes may be typed consecutively at the end of each chapter. In either case, the notes should be single-spaced with the first line of each note indented.

There is no single, universally accepted set of rules for citations. You probably will notice in your reading that different publishers and authors use different forms of footnotes. However, most historians follow the so-called Chicago style, which is based on the Chicago Manual of Style , and this is the format recommended by the Department of History. Still, the most important criterion is clarity and consistency: your notes should present all the pertinent information in as direct and simple a fashion as possible, and you should use the same format throughout your thesis.

The first time you cite a book, give the author's full name, the full title of the book as it appears on the title page, the place of publication, the publisher's name, the date of publication, and page from which your material has been drawn. Note that the publication data is enclosed in parentheses. For example:

• Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Robert Kennedy and His Times (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978), 231.

Multivolume Work

When all the volumes in a multivolume work have the same title, a reference to pages within a single volume is given in the following manner. (Note that the volume number is given in Arabic numerals and that the volume and page numbers are separated by a colon.) For example:

• James Schouler, History of the United States of America, under the Constitution (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1904), 4:121.

When each volume in a multivolume work has a different title, a reference to pages within a single volume is given as follows:

• Forrest C. Pogue, George C. Marshall, vol. 4, Statesman, 1945-1959 (New York: Viking, 1987), 31.

Article in a Scholarly Journal

For the first citation of an article, give the author's full name, the full title, and the name, volume number, month and year, and page number of the journal or quarterly. For example:

• Edwin S. Gaustad, “The Theological Effects of the Great Awakening in New England,” Mississippi Valley Historical Review , 40 (March 1954), 690.

Subsequent Citation

Subsequent citations of the same book or article should give only the author's last name and an abbreviated (short) title. For example:

• Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy , 295.
• Gaustad, “Theological Effects of the Great Awakening,” 693-695.

Use of the Abbreviation 'Ibid'

If a footnote refers to the same source that was cited in the immediately preceding footnote, the abbreviation ibid. (for ibidem , which means “in the same place") may take the place of the author’s name, title of the work, and as much of the succeeding material as is identical. For example:

• Ibid., 699.

Collected Works

In citing printed collected works such as diaries or letters, the author’s name may be omitted if it is included in the title. The name of the editor follows the title, preceded by a comma and the abbreviation “ed.,” which stands for “edited by.” For example:

• An Englishman in America, 1785, Being the Diary of Joseph Hudfield , ed. Douglas S. Robertson (Toronto: Hunter-Rose, 1933), 23.

In citing correspondence from manuscript collections, give the full names of the writer and recipient, the date the letter was written, and the manuscript collection in which it may be found. The first time a collection is cited, its name should be given in full and its location should be indicated. Subsequent citations should abbreviate the name of the collection and omit location of the collection. For example:

• James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, May 6, 1791, Andre De Coppet Collection, Firestone Library, Princeton University.
• James Madison to George Washington, Feb. 18, 1788, De Coppet Collection.

In the case of large collections, you should indicate the number of the box (or designation of the file) in which the cited material may be found. For example:

• Adlai E. Stevenson to John F. Kennedy, Jan. 12, 1961, Adlai E. Stevenson Papers, Box 310, Seeley G. Mudd Library, Princeton University.

Article in a Popular Magazine

It is not necessary to cite the volume or issue number of a magazine of general interest. Note, however, that the abbreviation “p” is required to distinguish clearly between the date of publication and page number. For example:

• Michael Rogers, “Software for War, or Peace: All the World’s a Game,” Newsweek , Dec. 9, 1985, p. 82.

For reference to a newspaper, the name of the paper and date usually are sufficient. However, for large newspapers, particularly those made up of sections, it is desirable to give the page number. For example:

• Washington Globe , Feb. 24, 1835
• Richmond Enquirer , May 15, 1835.
• New York Times , Oct. 24, 1948, p. 17.

Include as much of the following information as is available: author, title of the site, sponsor of the site, and the site’s URL. When no author is named, treat the sponsor as the author. For example:

• Kevin Rayburn, The 1920s , http://www.louisville.edu/~kprayb01/1920s.html .

The Chicago Manual of Style does not advise including the date that you accessed a Web source, but you may provide the date after the URL if the cited material is time sensitive.

Abbreviation

Should you cite certain sources repeatedly, you may wish to develop a system of abbreviations to simplify your footnotes. In this case, a page explaining the abbreviations should follow the table of contents. For example:

DOHC - Dulles Oral History Collections FRUS - Foreign Relations of the United States NYT - New York Times

Sample Footnotes

• Edwin S. Gaustad, "The Theological Effects of the Great Awakening in New England," Mississippi Valley Historical Review , 40 (March 1954), 690.
• Gaustad, "Theological Effects of the Great Awakening," 693-695.
• James Madison to George Washington, Feb. 19, 1788, De Coppet Collection.
• Washington Globe , Feb. 24, 1835; Richmond Enquirer, May 15, 1835.
• Kevin Rayburn, The 1920s , http://www.louisville.edu/~kprayb01/1920s/html .

For additional guidance and examples of Chicago-style documentation, see Footnotes made easy: a guide for history majors , which is posted in the Department of History’s Library Resources . (Do not hesitate to ask your thesis adviser for assistance in determining the appropriate format.)

Bibliography

General requirements.

The bibliography should list all primary and secondary sources that are actually used in writing your thesis. Bibliographies of theses that draw upon archival and manuscript sources normally are divided into sections. Sources are listed alphabetically by author, editor, or publishing agency (when no author or editor is given). Single-space each item with double-spacing between items and sections of the bibliography. The following is an acceptable model for delineating various categories of primary and secondary sources.

Primary Sources

Government Archives

• Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Record Group 218. National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C.

Manuscript Collections

• Stevenson, Adlai E. Papers. Seeley G. Mudd Library, Princeton University.

Government Documents

• U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Naval Affairs. Hearings on H.R. 9218 . 75th Cong., 3rd sess., 1938.
• U.S. Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1944. Vol. 4, Europe . Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1966.

Memoirs and Collected Papers

• Hudfield, Joseph. An Englishman in America, 1785, Being the Diary of Joseph Hudfield . Edited by Douglas S. Robertson. Toronto: Hunter-Rose, 1933.

Contemporary Journals and Newspapers

• New York Times , 1921-1923.

Secondary Sources

Books and Articles

• Campbell, Mildred, The English Yeoman under Elizabeth and the Early Stuarts . New Haven: Yale University Press, 1942.
• Gaustad, Edwin S. "The Theological Effects of the Great Awakening in New England," Mississippi Valley Historical Review , 40 (March 1954), 681-706.
• Schouler, James. History of the United States of America, under the Constitution . 6 vols. Rev. ed. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1904.

Unpublished Material

• Rigby, David Joseph. “The Combined Chiefs of Staff and Anglo-American Strategic Coordination in World War II.” Ph.D. dissertation, Brandeis University, 1996.

Submission and Readers

You should remember that theses are submitted to the Department of History and not only to your individual thesis adviser. The adviser is just one of the readers who will grade the thesis; the final evaluation of your work will be the product of deliberations between your adviser and a second reader (and in some instances, a third reader). Still, there should be no problem submitting an acceptable thesis as long as you work closely with your adviser throughout the year and respond to his/her guidance.

Each reader of your thesis will prepare written comments. Usually these take the form of a general evaluation of your work, but you may find that a reader has prepared more detailed comments about particular points of substance and style. Thesis comments and grades will be emailed to you upon receipt of your Personal Statement prior to and in preparation for the Senior Departmental Examination.

Useful Links

Independent Work in History Library Resources Academic Integrity Senior Calendar

Senior Thesis

During the senior year, each student writes a thesis. The senior thesis is expected to make an original (or otherwise distinctive) contribution to broader knowledge in the field in which the student is working. It is important that the thesis be situated explicitly in relation to existing published literature. The senior thesis must be judged satisfactory by two members of the faculty, at least one of whom must be a member of the Department of Politics. 

It is common, but by no means required, for junior paper topics, especially in the spring term, to serve as starting points for a senior thesis topic. The Department encourages students to use the summer between junior and senior year for work on the senior thesis.

Your senior thesis may expand upon ideas that you explored in the JP. You may draw on and cite your own JP just like you would use other resources. In addition, you may re-use a limited portion of your JP in your senior thesis; for instance, the literature review could be re-used across the two. Whenever material from the JP is re-used, you must add a footnote noting the duplication across the JP or senior thesis. Note this policy does not affect the standard university guidelines for attributing ideas and research findings, whenever appropriate. The same policy holds with respect to incorporating the Fall junior research prospectus into either the Spring JP or senior thesis.

The length of a senior thesis is generally about 100 double-spaced pages and rarely under 80 pages. No thesis should be longer than 125 pages, including appendices. (This limit does not include the ancillary pages for the title, dedication, table of contents, abstract, bibliography and honor code statement.) Any pages after 125 may or may not be read by the second reader. A thesis longer than 125 pages will not be considered for Politics thesis prizes.

• Senior Thesis Project Planning Map and Timeline
• Research Advice
• Senior Thesis Funding
• Submission and Grading of Independent Work

Also, seniors are required to prepare and present a professional poster describing their senior thesis results.

The Senior Thesis

From the outset of their time at Princeton, students are encouraged and challenged to develop their scholarly interests and to evolve as independent thinkers.

The culmination of this process is the senior thesis, which provides a unique opportunity for students to pursue original research and scholarship in a field of their choosing. At Princeton, every senior writes a thesis or, in the case of some engineering departments, undertakes a substantial independent project.

Integral to the senior thesis process is the opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty member who guides the development of the project. Thesis writers and advisers agree that the most valuable outcome of the senior thesis is the chance for students to enhance skills that are the foundation of future success, including creativity, intellectual engagement, mental discipline and the ability to meet new challenges.

Many students develop projects from ideas sparked in the classes they’ve taken; others fashion their topics on the basis of long-standing personal passions. Most thesis writers encounter the intellectual twists and turns of any good research project, where the questions emerge as they proceed, often taking them in unexpected directions.

Planning for the senior thesis starts in earnest in the junior year, when students complete a significant research project known as the junior paper. Students who plan ahead can make good use of the University's considerable resources, such as receiving University funds to do research in the United States or abroad. Other students use summer internships as a launching pad for their thesis. For some science and engineering projects, students stay on campus the summer before their senior year to get a head start on lab work.

Writing a thesis encourages the self-confidence and high ambitions that come from mastering a difficult challenge. It fosters the development of specific skills and habits of mind that augur well for future success. No wonder generations of graduates look back on the senior thesis as the most valuable academic component of their Princeton experience.

Navigating Colombia’s Magdalena River, One Story At A Time

For his senior thesis, Jordan Salama, a Spanish and Portuguese major, produced a nonfiction book of travel writing about the people and places along Colombia’s main river, the Magdalena.

Embracing the Classics to Inform Policymaking for Public Education

For her senior thesis, Emma Treadwayconsiders how the basic tenets of Stoicism — a school of philosophy that dates from 300 BCE — can teach students to engage empathetically with the world and address inequities in the classroom.

Creating A Faster, Cheaper and Greener Chemical Reaction

One way to make drugs more affordable is to make them cheaper to produce. For her senior thesis research, Cassidy Humphreys, a chemistry major with a passion for medicine, took on the challenge of taking a century-old formula at the core of many modern medications — and improving it.

The Humanity of Improvisational Dance

Esin Yunusoglu investigated how humans move together and exist in a space — both on the dance floor and in real life — for the choreography she created as her senior thesis in dance, advised by Professor of Dance Susan Marshall.

From the Blog

The infamous senior thesis, revisiting wwii: my senior thesis, independent work in its full glory, advisers, independent work and beyond.

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Senior Thesis & Undergraduate Research

Every year, approximately 45%-55% of senior History concentrators choose to cap their Harvard careers by writing a senior honors thesis.

The senior thesis tutorial is a two-semester sequence  comprising Hist 99a and Hist 99b . While the overwhelming majority of students who start a thesis choose to complete it, our process allows students to drop the thesis at the end of the fall semester after History 99a (in which case they are not eligible for departmental honors).

The senior thesis in History is a year-long project involving considerable primary- and secondary-source research and a good deal of writing; finished theses are expected to be between 60 and 130 pages in length , and to make an original contribution to historical knowledge.

The department’s senior thesis program is one of the strongest in Harvard College. In recent years, one quarter or more of our thesis writers have received  Hoopes Prizes , which is well over the College average.

History 99 Syllabus 2022–2023

History 99: Senior Thesis Writers’ Tutorial Wednesdays, 6–7 and 7-8 PM Robinson Conference Room

Click here to view the History 99 syllabus for this year.

A Sampling of Past History Thesis Titles

For a list of thesis titles from the past five years, please click here .

Senior Thesis Conference

The History Department's annual Senior Thesis Writer's Conference is an opportunity for thesis writers to present their projects as members of three-to-four person panels moderated by a faculty member or advanced graduate student, to an audience of other faculty and graduate students. Their aim is to get the critical and constructive feedback they need to clarify their arguments, refine their methods, and ultimately transform their research projects into theses.

Like our faculty, our student presenters are conscious of their reliance on other disciplines in almost every aspect of their work. This conference supplies opportunities to engage in cross-disciplinary dialogues. Audience members also learn from these dedicated and talented young scholars even as they teach them new ways of conceiving and pursuing their projects.

For more information about the conference or the Department's thesis program as a whole, please write to the  Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies in History, or visit the Senior Thesis Writers Conference and History 99a website. The  Conference is open to all active members of the Harvard community.

All seniors writing theses receive as part of the History 99a and 99b seminar materials a Timetable for Thesis Writers which lists approximate deadlines for staying current with work on this large-scale project. (For current copies of these documents, please click here .) Many thesis writers will submit work in advance of the deadlines listed on the timetable, following schedules worked out with their individual advisers. Several of the deadlines listed on the timetable must be met:

• Students who wish to enroll in History 99 must attend the first meeting of the seminar on Wednesday, September 5th at 6:00 pm in the Robinson Lower Library.
• By the beginning of the fall reading period, students must submit substantial proof of research to both their adviser and the 99 History instructors. This usually takes the form of a chapter or two of the thesis (20–30 pages).
• Theses are due to the History Undergraduate Office (Robinson 101) on Thursday, March 10, 2022  before 5:00 pm. Theses that are handed in late will be penalized.

Thesis Readings

Each History thesis is read by at least two impartial members of the Board of Tutors, assigned by the Department. The Board of Tutors consists of (1) all department faculty in residence and (2) all graduate students teaching History 97 and/or a Research Seminar, as well as those advising senior theses. If History is the secondary field of a joint concentration, there is only one History reader. Each reader assigns an evaluation to the thesis (highest honors, highest honors minus, high honors plus, high honors, high honors minus, honors plus, honors, or no distinction), and writes a report detailing the special strengths and weaknesses of the thesis.  Theses by students with a highest honors-level concentration GPA and one highest-level reading will automatically be assigned three readers. Additionally, a thesis by any student may be sent to a third reader when the first two evaluations are three or more distinctions apart (e.g., one high honors plus and one honors plus).

Department Standards for the Thesis Program

Seniors who wish to write a thesis must meet certain prerequisites:

• a ‘B+’ average in the concentration;
• a ‘B+’ average on a 20-page research seminar paper
• the recommendation of their Research Seminar tutor(s).

Students who do not meet the above standards may petition the  History Undergraduate Office for admission to the senior thesis; successful petitions must include a detailed thesis proposal, and will be evaluated at the discretion of the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies (Asst. DUS).

The Awarding of Departmental Honors in History

THE AWARDING OF DEPARTMENTAL HONORS IN HISTORY

 Nominations for departmental honors are made by the Board of Examiners at the degree meeting each spring.  In making its nominations, the Board first takes two elements into account:  the average of course grades in History and thesis readings.  All students who may be eligible for a recommendation of highest honors will then be given an oral examination by the Board of Examiners; performance on this exam will be considered in determining the final recommendation.  The standing of those students at the border of two different degrees may also be determined through an oral examination administered by the Board of Examiners.

To be considered eligible for highest honors in history, a student will ordinarily have a grade point average greater than or equal to 3.85 in courses taken for departmental credit, and have received at least two highest -level thesis readings.  In addition, the student must convince the Board of Examiners of their qualifications for the highest recommendation through their performance on the oral examination.  Whether any particular student falling into this numerical range receives highest honors in history will be determined in part by the performance on the oral examination. 

To be considered eligible for high honors in history, a student will ordinarily have a grade point average greater than or equal to 3.7, and will ordinarily have received two high -level readings on the thesis. 

To be considered eligible for honors in history, a student will ordinarily have a grade point average greater than or equal to 3.3, and will ordinarily have received two honors -level readings on the thesis. 

Please note that the Department recommends students’ English honors (highest, high, honors, no honors) and sends these recommendations to the College which determines students’ Latin honors based on total GPA.  Please visit:   https://handbook.fas.harvard.edu/book/requirements-honors-degrees    for more information on how the College awards Latin honors (summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude, no honors).  In addition, you should consult with your Resident Dean.  Any degree candidate who does not receive the A.B. degree with honors in History will be considered by the FAS for the degree of cum laude.  

Departmental Support

Students who do decide to enter the thesis program benefit from a great deal of departmental support. The Department encourages its thesis writers to consider the possibility of devoting the summer prior to their senior year to thesis research, whether on campus or around the world. Each year a large number of rising seniors find funding for summer thesis research. The Undergraduate Office holds a meeting to advise students on how to write a successful fellowship proposal. In addition, we maintain a  listing of organizations that have supported concentrators’ thesis research.

The Department also supports its senior thesis writers through two semesters of a Senior Thesis Seminar, History 99a and 99b , which provide a useful framework for thesis writers as they work through the intermittent difficulties that all thesis students inevitably encounter. For many seniors, their thesis will turn out to be the best piece of writing done while at Harvard. It will also be the longest and most complicated. Consequently, the seminars will focus much attention on the unique challenges of writing an extended, multi-chapter work. History 99a and 99b also provide a common forum in which seniors can share with thesis-writing colleagues their feedback, successes, frustrations, interests, and techniques. This kind of collegiality and exchange of ideas is at the heart of the academic seminar, and it can be the most rewarding aspect of the seminar series.

Students must enroll in the Thesis Seminars in order to write a thesis by obtaining approval from the Asst. DUS  on their study cards.

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What is a Senior Thesis?

A senior thesis is a paper which highly-motivated senior undergraduates may write to present the results of a major, independent research or creative project. Unlike most term projects, papers, and lab reports written in undergraduate courses, a senior thesis addresses questions or issues for which no known or generally accepted answers exist.

The Senior Thesis Program allows you to explore your aptitude for research within a more extended and individualized framework than that generally afforded by courses. It deepens your participation in the University’s community of scholars through your close contact with your thesis director and committee members, other interested faculty, graduate and postdoctoral students, and fellow undergraduate researchers. As the most widely recognized and respected hallmark of undergraduate distinction, a senior thesis demonstrates to graduate schools, fellowship committees, and employers your intellectual achievement and sophistication as well as your initiative and self discipline. As the capstone of your undergraduate experience, a senior thesis provides you with the opportunity to draw upon everything you have learned in your college experience and make a significant contribution of your own.

What is a Degree with Distinction?

The term “Distinction” is included in a baccalaureate degree title when the recipient has conducted original research or creative work, written a senior thesis or produced a creative project and successfully defended the work before a committee of University faculty. The University of Delaware offers Degrees with Distinction (DWD) to students who successfully defend a Senior Thesis and who meet all of the requirements listed below. While it is possible to write a Senior Thesis without receiving Distinction, most students do graduate with Distinction. To graduate with Distinction is to graduate with a different kind of degree (e.g., a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with Distinction). The GPA requirement for a Degree with Distinction is a 3.0 cumulative GPA and a 3.5 in your major.

For Honors students who successfully create and defend a Senior Thesis, it is possible to graduate with an Honors Degree with Distinction (HDWD). The HDWD recognizes a student’s completion of the research requirements for the Degree with Distinction in addition to the successful completion of 30 credits in Honors courses through the degree program. The Honors Degree with Distinction is listed on each student’s University of Delaware official transcript. The GPA requirement for an Honors Degree with Distinction is a cumulative 3.4.

What is involved in writing a senior thesis?

• Research, write, and defend a thesis.
• Enroll in UNIV 401 & 402 (for specific course info, see handbook)
• Present at the Undergraduate Research Symposium (optional)

Most students spend about 5-8 hours each week on their thesis from the research through the writing phase.

To learn more about how to apply to this program, as well as what goes into being a part of the Senior Thesis Program, please refer to the Senior Thesis Handbook  or contact the URP office to set up an advisement appointment.

When is the deadline to apply?

• Students graduating in the spring need to apply by May 15th of their junior year. 
• Students graduating in the fall or winter need to apply by November 15th of their junior year.   [Note:  education majors who will engage in student teaching during the spring semester of their senior year can write a thesis, and often start during the fall semester of of their junior year.]

What do I need to do to get started?

• Find a thesis director.  (Oral confirmation from them is fine.  Make sure this is a faculty member you know, and have had classes with.)
• Register for UNIV 401 — register for section 000 if you’re non-honors, section 080 if you’re honors.
• When registering for UNIV 401, be sure to choose your thesis director as your faculty instructor.  If you don’t see them on the list, email Lauren Barsky, and she will add them.
• If you’re taking a course that conflicts with UNIV 401, register for the other course first.  Then email Lauren Barsky telling her which section of 401 you want to take, the number of credits, and the name of your thesis director. Then Dr. Barsky will give you an override for UNIV 401.
• Find a second reader.  (Again, oral confirmation is fine.  If you’re not sure whom to ask, see if your thesis director can suggest someone.)
• Draft your senior thesis proposal, and email it to your director and second reader for their sign-off.  Consult the Senior Thesis Handbook   or the Thesis Application System for more information about what to include in your proposal.
• Once you revise your proposal to your director and second reader’s liking, upload it to the senior thesis system.
• Please read over the Senior Thesis Handbook. It’s not the most exciting read, but it will help explain many things that you might have questions about.
• Make an appointment with Dr. Barsky ( [email protected] ).  We need you fill out some paperwork, and ask about your course load for your senior year.  The Honors Program will also need you to fill out a form for your Honors Degree with Distinction; the deadline for that form is also May 15.

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Writing a senior thesis: is it worth it.

Before coming to Yale, I thought a thesis was the main argument of a paper. I quickly learned that an undergraduate thesis is about fifty times harder and fifty pages longer than any thesis arguments I wrote in high school. At Yale, every senior has some sort of senior requirement, but thesis projects vary by department. Some departments require students to do a semester-long project, where you write a longer paper (25-35 pages) or expand, through writing, the research you’ve been working on (mostly applies to STEM majors). In some departments you can take two senior seminars and complete a longer project at the end of the semester. And other departments have an option to complete a year-long thesis: you spend your senior year (and in some cases your junior year), intensely researching and writing about a topic you choose or create yourself.

Both my departments––English and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration––offer all three of these options, and each student decides what they think is best for them. As a double major, I had the additional option to write an even longer thesis combining both my majors, but that seemed like way too much work––especially since I would have to take two senior thesis classes at the same time. Instead, I chose a year-long thesis for ER&M that combined my literary interests with various theoretical frameworks and the two senior seminars for English. This spring I’m taking my second seminar. Really, I chose the option to torture myself for a whole year, the end result being a minimum of 50 pages of innovative thinking and writing. I wanted to rise to the challenge, proving to myself I could do it. But there also seemed to be the pressure of “this is what everyone in the major does,” and a “thesis is proof that you actually learned.” Although these sentiments influenced my decision to complete a thesis, I know a long research paper does not validate my education or work as a scholar the last four years. It is not the end all be all.

My senior thesis focuses on Caribbean literature - specifically, two novels written by Caribbean women that really look at what it means to come from an immigrant family, to move, and to find yourself in completely new spaces. These experiences are all too relatable to my own life as a second-generation woman of color with immigrant parents enrolled at Yale. In my writing, I focus on how these women make sense of “home” (a very broad and complicated topic, I know), and what their stories tell us about the diasporic experience in general. The project is very personal to me, and I chose it because I wanted to understand my family’s history and their task in making “home” in the U.S., whatever that means. But because it’s so personal, it’s also been really difficult. I’ve experienced a lot of writer’s block or often felt unmotivated and judgmental towards my work. I’ve realized how difficult it is to devote your time and energy to such a long process––not only is it research heavy, but you have to write and rewrite drafts, constantly adjusting to make sure you’re being as clear as possible. Really, writing a thesis is like writing a portion of a book. And that’s crazy! You’re writing two or three whole chapters of academic work as an undergraduate student.

The process is definitely not for everyone, and I’ve certainly thought “Why did I want to do this again?” But what’s really kept me going is the support from my advisors and friends. The ER&M department faculty does an amazing job of providing us mentorship, revisions, and support throughout the process; my advisor has served as my editor but also the person who reminds me most that this work is important, as I often forget that. It also helps to have many friends and people in the major also writing their theses. I’ve found different spaces to just have a thesis study hall or working time, with other people also struggling through. Recently, I submitted my first full draft (note: it was kind of unfinished but it’s okay because it’s a draft!), and it was crazy to think that I wrote 50+ pages, most of which are just my own original thoughts and analysis on two books that have almost no scholarship written about them. It was a relief for sure. This week I will be taking a full break from it, but it reminded me of why I began this journey. It reminded me of all the people who’ve supported me along the way, and how I really couldn’t have done it without them. And now, I’m really looking forward to how good it will feel to turn in my fully written thesis mid-April. I’ve realized that this project shouldn’t be about making it good for Yale’s standard, but for myself, for my family, and for the people who believe in this work as much as I do.

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Guidelines for writing a senior thesis.

Except as noted below, each thesis should be about 20-25 pages in length (12 pt font, double-spaced except for abstract which may be single-spaced) and written in the style of an article to be published in a journal in the area of the research. Students should, of course, consult with their research directors about the structure of their theses; however, a suggested outline which may be used as a default follows. [Comments in brackets apply to research publications in primary literature and are generally based on material in  The ACS Style Guide .]

Title; names of student and research director; date.

[The title should be brief, grammatically correct, and accurate enough to stand alone. The purposes of the title are to attract the potential audience and to aid retrieval and indexing services. The latter is facilitated by using several keywords in the title. In a journal publication, the title is followed by the names of the authors, the address of the institution where the work was conducted, and the date on which the paper was received by the journal editor. The names of the authors are each listed in the order: first, middle initial, and surname; and include all who made substantial contributions to the research. An asterisk is placed on the name of the author to whom correspondence should be addressed.]

One-half to one page (single-spaced); a succinct summary of objectives, methods, results and conclusions.

[The purposes of the abstract are (1) to allow the reader to determine the nature and information given in the paper and (2) to allow editors to pinpoint key features for use in indexing and retrieval. State briefly the problem or purpose of the research if it is not adequately conveyed by the title. Indicate theoretical or experimental plan used, accurately summarize the principal findings, and point out major conclusions.]

Statement of objectives and significance and a review of pertinent literature, carefully cited. This section should generally be more detailed than allowed for a journal article.

[The introduction should contain a clear statement of the problem and why you are studying it. Outline what has been done before by citing truly pertinent literature. Indicate the significance, scope and limits of your work. In journals, this section is frequently not labelled.]

Methods used; instrumental, synthetic and analytical, as well as computational. Also, description of equipment built, compounds synthesized, computer programs written, etc.

[This section should include sufficient detail about the materials and methods that you used so that experienced workers could repeat your work and obtain comparable results.]

The data, complete and detailed, with sufficient description to be understood — but without interpretation.

[Summarize the data collected and the statistical treatment of them. Use equations, figures, and tables where necessary for clarity and conciseness.]

The interpretation, analysis and explanation of the results, both positive and negative; what does it all mean?

[In journal publications, the Results section is sometimes combined with the Discussion section of the paper.]

Final wrap-up statement.

[Have you resolved the original problem? If not, what exactly have you contributed? Conclusions must be based on evidence presented in the paper. Suggest further study or applications, if appropriate. This section may be omitted and its contents presented in the Discussion section.]

[The last paragraph of a journal article frequently contains acknowledgements of people, places, financing, etc.]

In the style indicated by your research director. If your research director does not indicate a specific style, use the following.  Book references.  Author or editor (last name followed by initials),book title in italics or underlined, publisher, city of publication, year of publication, page number(s). Dodd, J.S., Ed.; The ACS Style Guide, American Chemical Society:Washington, DC, 1986, pp 108-111.  Journal references.  Author (last name, followed by initials), abbreviated journal title in italics or underlined, year of publication (boldface), volume number in italics or underlined, and initial page of cited article (the complete span is better). Fletcher, T.R.; Rosenfeld, R.N. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1985, 107, 2203-2212.

Any extensive tabulations of raw data, additional spectra not needed for illustration of the main text or listings of computer programs written or modified. That is, if there is just too much data to include in the Results Section or if much of the raw data have been abstracted and/or tabulated, these abstracts and/or tables may go in the Results Section along with only representative spectra (or chromatograms, etc.), and the bulk raw data put in Appendices. NEW: An  appendix on safety  should be added to the thesis.

• All pages should be numbered consecutively.
• Each table should be on a separate sheet, be consecutively numbered, and have a caption at the top. Columns must be labeled and all labels should be explained in the caption or in footnotes.
• Each figure should be carefully drawn on a separate sheet, consecutively numbered and accompanied by a legend. The legend should normally appear below the figure but may be placed on a separate sheet, if necessary. Figures should be carefully prepared using a drawing program such as ChemDraw or ISIS. Graphs are treated as figures, i.e., they should not be labeled as "Graph 1," "Graph 2," etc. Each axis of a graph must be clearly labeled as to the variable represented and its value along the axis. Each curve on a graph should be clearly identified. Raw data displayed in graphs may also appear in separate tables. All symbols and conventions, such as broken lines or dotted lines, should be explained in the legend.
• Insofar as is practical, mathematical equations, Greek letters, special mathematical symbols, and chemical reaction schemes should be typed in the text.
• Reprints or preprints of any publications that have already arisen from the research being reported may be appended.
• Further details may be obtained from  The ACS Style Guide .
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Senior Thesis

The Honors College senior thesis is a remarkable opportunity unlike any other at the University of South Carolina. Although the thesis is a requirement for graduation from the South Carolina Honors College, we encourage you to consider it an opportunity to express the quality of your intellectual development and draw your undergraduate learning experiences together. 

What Is the Senior Thesis?

The senior thesis is designed to be the culminating experience of a student’s career at South Carolina Honors College. It is a chance for students to ask and answer meaningful questions about the natural world, social or political systems, history and culture, artistic expression, the creative process, or the application of knowledge to specific challenges. Students are free to choose their thesis topics and may elect to write a thesis or complete a project outside their majors. Students who must complete a thesis or capstone project related to their major course of study (e.g., students in the College of Engineering and Computing) will submit this project for their Honors thesis. 

Students can opt to complete either a research-based or project-based thesis:

Research Thesis

A traditional research thesis is an extended original project designed to answer a question of interest to the student. Some common research aims might include interpreting and comparing primary texts; constructing and testing models that reflect theories of human behavior, social or political systems, or the natural world; making human action, symbols and communication intelligible at the individual and collective levels; exploring how social meanings are constructed; and evaluating current practices and suggesting more effective ones (see Lipson’s How to Write a BA Thesis , 2018).

A project-based thesis might be a creative endeavor, such as original artwork, performance, novella or volume of poetry. Alternatively, students might pursue an applied project, such as developing a business plan, an app, informational pieces for a community organization, a podcast series or a video game, among others.

Benefits of Completing a Senior Thesis

Whether students complete a research-based thesis or a creative or applied project, we believe engaging in this type of work helps students develop an array of skills, many of which are highly valued by employers. These skills include creative and critical thinking, analysis and interpretation, complex problem solving, written communication, effective use of information and the ability to integrate and apply knowledge across contexts.

Examples of Recent Thesis Projects

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.