Guidelines for Undergraduate Research in Biology

Presently, students who wish to be engaged in a formal research experience in the biology department enroll in our research courses, BL481 and BL482. Students can elect to enroll for variable credit (1, 2 or 3 credits) in each course, with the amount of credit dictating the number of expected hours of commitment toward the project.

Each student must obtain written permission to enroll in a research course from the faculty member who has committed to serving as the research mentor. The expectations for our research courses are dependent on the number of credit hours and also vary somewhat by faculty mentor but consistently students are required:

• to maintain a research notebook that is used each time the student is working in the laboratory and/or field;
• to develop a technical paper that is submitted at the conclusion of the course;
• give a presentation a lab meeting;
• actively participate in the research project;
• often, but usually not required, students give a departmental seminar on their research, particularly if the student participates in BL 482

Frequently, students move from a research course to a Summer Hauber Fellowship at Loyola, or from a Hauber Fellowship to BL481. Typically, the biology department sponsors 1-2 students in the Hauber Research Program each year.