First-Year Project

Students are required to complete and submit a research project during their first year.

Fall Semester

The student should enroll in Psyc 571 (First Year Project) and agree on a topic of mutual interest with their advisor. The advisor will guide the student to relevant literature. The student should become immersed in the literature, consulting the advisor on a regular basis. Weekly meetings are typical. With the advisor’s guidance, students should begin formulating specific plans for research. In practice, the advisor often plays a large role in formulating and designing the student’s First Year Project, with the student learning from this experience how projects develop from an abstract idea to a concrete design and procedure.

By the last day of finals of the first semester, students are required to submit a paper to their advisor. The paper should include a review of the relevant literature and should demonstrate that the student has command of the relevant prior work. At the end of the paper, the student should propose a project motivated by the literature review.

Spring Semester

The collection of data for the First Year Project may occur during the first semester, but more likely will begin in the second semester. However, during the first semester first year students often are expected to help conduct ongoing projects directed by their advisor. This experience provides new students with valuable knowledge about the actual procedures of research, as well as aiding their advisor.

The advisor may help in analysis and interpretation of the data, and may make suggestions about how the report should be written, but the report should represent the student’s own work. If the research is not quite complete, it should be written as completely as possible.

Submit a pdf version of your project to the graduate director and a paper version to your advisor by 5:00 pm on the last day of finals for the spring semester. This is a hard deadline and not subject to extension.