Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Honors Pathway

The Chemistry and Biochemistry department offers a pathway such that students may graduate with “departmental honors.” This pathway is distinct from the Suffolk University Honors program. To receive departmental honors, students must fulfill the following requirements: 

1. Students must major in one of the majors offered by our department.

2. Students must have an overall GPA of 3.5 or higher and a major GPA of 3.5 or higher.

3. Students must complete an independent project in CHEM 428/429 or FS 436 that is pre-approved by the faculty. Students should submit an application (see next page) to the department for pre-approval. For departmental honors, thesis work must be of outstanding quality and must involve original independent laboratory or field research and/or in-depth analysis. For example, students may complete a project in the lab or one that requires data analysis. Job shadowing, data collection/organization (without analysis), or research summaries will generally not be sufficient for consideration. The application is due in the early fall of the same academic year that the capstone research project (CHEM 428/429) or forensic science practicum (FS 436) is completed. We highly recommend that students begin looking for and meeting with their capstone project advisor as early as possible (such as in their junior year) to begin planning their project.

4. Students must present the research project or forensic science practicum work to the faculty with both a formal oral presentation and written paper upon completion of CHEM 429 or FS 436.

The departmental honors subcommittee, along with the faculty of the department, will determine whether the application and the final research project qualify for departmental honors.

The departmental honors subcommittee members are:
Dr. Doris Lewis

Dr. Daniel Fox

Dr. Melanie Berkmen

Please click here for the application:  Departmental_Honors_Updated_11_10.pdf