Departmental Honors

Graduation with Departmental Honors in neuroscience signifies that a student has taken advantage of special opportunities. These opportunities include participation in the intellectual environment of courses with extra challenges as well as the stimulation of individual research that culminates in an honors thesis.
The Neuroscience Departmental Honors Program is separate from the College Honors Program. College Honors credit for Departmental Honors courses may require a separate Honors Contract. Please see the Division of Honors in A-311 Murphy Hall for more information on the College Honors Program. College Honors status is not required to pursue Departmental Honors.
Eligibility Requirements
Eligibility is restricted to neuroscience majors who have completed the preparation coursework for the major with at least a 3.0 GPA and have achieved at least a 3.2 GPA overall at UCLA. Students may initiate participation in Departmental Honors prior to completing all of the preparation courses for the major, but will be dismissed from Departmental Honors if they do not complete all of the preparation courses with the required 3.0 GPA.
There is no formal application or admission process to pursue Departmental Honors. There is an optional Neuroscience Departmental Honors Program Interest Form to express interest in pursuing the Neuroscience Departmental Honors program. Students may submit the interest form and/or schedule an advising appointment with a neuroscience advisor to review the requirements.
Please note that submission of the interest form or meeting with a neuroscience advisor is not required to pursue Departmental Honors – submission of your first honors contract will indicate participation in the Departmental Honors program.
Program Requirements
1. Two Honors Contracts: At least one of honors contract must be completed for a core major course (NEUROSC M101A/B/C), while the other can be completed for a second core course or an upper division major elective. These courses must be completed with a grade of “B” or higher, and the terms of the contract must also be completed to receive honors credit. For NEUROSC M101A/B/C, the terms of the contract will involve participation in the NUS Journal Club; this is a pre-approved activity that all students will complete for the core courses, so a faculty signature is not required on these honors contracts. For major electives, students will need to work with the professor of the course to find an appropriate assignment/activity to complete; these honors contracts will require a faculty signature.
The terms of the contract for courses contracted for honors credit will vary widely. While a special term paper or readings may form the basis of the contract, other programs of study can be developed. Some suggestions are:
- Use of primary sources and original documents.
- Supplementation of coursework with independent study, research, surveys, field work, and on-the-scene experience.
- Presentation of the student’s work in class or a part of the class by preparation of a lecture on one of the topics in the course (I.e. TED talk style) or the preparation of audio-visual supportive materials. Students could test new experiments, develop working models or demonstrations, and present them to the class.
- Honors work should enable students to “dig beneath the surface”, to individually explore particular areas of interest and points of view, and to design and execute special projects.
- Application of coursework outside of class.
- Take advantage of local resources such as regional libraries and community projects.
- Form a group which meets regularly to explore current literature and new trends in the field.
- Attend research meetings or department colloquia or regional or national scholarly meetings or other meetings pertinent to the course.
- Organize honors discussion sections or laboratories.
Download the Neuroscience Departmental Honors Contract here:
Fall 2024 Departmental Honors Contracts Deadline:
Departmental Honors contracts and NEUROSC 189HC contracts (for students pursuing both Departmental Honors and College Honors, and created via MyUCLA), can be submitted via the Bruin Learn website.
Neuroscience Departmental Honors contracts (see form above) are due to the Bruin Learn website by 4PM on Friday of Week 2.
NEUROSC 189HC contracts (created through MyUCLA) are due to the Bruin Learn website by 12PM on Wednesday of Week 2.
- Please ensure that 189HC contracts created for courses in other departments (i.e. PHYSCI, PSYCH, etc.) are submitted to those departments, approved by them, and that you are enrolled by Friday of Week 2.
2. Honors Thesis: Honors theses are based on empirical research with scholarly review of related literature. To complete the Honors thesis, the student must enroll in NEUROSC 198A/B (prerequisites: NEUROSC M101A + SRP 99/departmental 199). It is important that the student contact potential faculty sponsors well in advance, because one or more quarters of preparation may be necessary before the start of the thesis. NEUROSC 198A/B will be used in lieu of NEUROSC 199A/B, and the student must follow all rules and meet all deadlines for Neuroscience 199s. The thesis will be evaluated by the sponsoring faculty member and a second reader. The second reader must be a tenure track faculty member in a closely related field and must also hold an Academic Senate title. The readers will make recommendations to the Chair of the IDP concerning the quality of the thesis (Not Honors, Honors, or Highest Honors).
3. NEUROSC 191H: (prerequisite: one Statistics course) This course must be taken during the winter quarter of the academic year that the student enrolls in NEUROSC 198A/B. This seminar is designed to bring honors students together to discuss scientific communication, ethics, and current literature with a faculty member. This course is not applicable toward the elective requirements for the major; it is applicable toward the university upper division requirement. The neuroscience advisors will reach out to students during the fall quarter to collect enrollment information from students planning to enroll in this course.
4. GPA Requirement: To be awarded Departmental Honors, students must have completed all required courses, have a major GPA of at least a 3.4 (not including the prep) and at least 3.2 overall, and the student’s thesis must be given a rating of Honors or Highest Honors by both readers. For Highest Honors, the major GPA (not including the prep) must be at least 3.7, the overall GPA must be at least 3.5, and the student’s thesis must be given a rating of Highest Honors by both readers.
