Junior Year Interdisciplinary Experience

The program course requirement for the junior year is intended to foster an appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of the sciences and to strengthen the program cohort. The student is encouraged to go above and beyond the minimum requirements stated here. Extracurricular activities can boost the resume and are a frequent topic in job interviews.

By the end of the junior year, a Hyman Science Scholar must meet the requirements stated below, and submit a reflection on their experiences to the director. Reflection prompts and information on submission will be sent via email to students during the spring semester of their junior year.

Options for Meeting Requirement

The Hyman Science Scholars Program program requires the student to fulfill the requirement by completing one of the following options prior to the end of the junior year spring semester:

• Take a course from an approved list that is part of the student's major, and participate in at least 24 hours of extracurricular STEM activities.
• Take a course from an approved list that is required by the student's minor but is not required of their major.
• Take a course from an approved list that is an elective of the student's major.
• Do a summer internship or summer research experience for the equivalent of at least 10 weeks full-time. This experience must be completed prior to September of the junior year. The work must be submitted to the Loyola Undergraduate Student Research and Scholarship Colloquium, and presented if accepted, by the spring semester of the junior year.
• Do STEM-related extracurricular activities from an approved list for at least 24 hours.

Approved Courses or Activities

The following is a list of program-approved courses and experiences, some of which may satisfy a major or minor requirement. Other courses may be considered with approval by the program director. The table notes whether the course or experience fulfills the requirement, fulfills the requirement only with approval, cannot be used to fulfill the requirement, or requires an additional activity to fulfill the requirement.

Course/Experience Option	Math/Stat	Physics	Computer Science	Data Science
Partial differential equations course	fulfills	fulfills	does not fulfill requirement	does not fulfill requirement
Matlab Course (MA302)	requires additional extra curricular activity	fulfills **	does not fulfill requirement	does not fulfill requirement
Data Science Course (DS303)	fulfills	fulfills **	does not fulfill requirement	requires additional extra curricular activity
Data Science Course for CS Majors (CS403) ***	fulfills	fulfills **	fulfills	fulfills
Other courses such as a special topics course	needs approval	needs approval	needs approval	needs approval
Internship for credit during the academic year *	fulfills	fulfills	fulfills	fulfills
Internship/research during the summer *	must submit to colloquium	must submit to colloquium	must submit to colloquium	must submit to colloquium
STEM Extracurricular	fulfills with at least 24 hours of work	fulfills with at least 24 hours of work	fulfills with at least 24 hours of work	fulfills with at least 24 hours of work

* Summer internships or summer research needs to occur prior to September of the junior year. If the program is at least 10 weeks full-time, it can replace the course requirement. The student is required to submit the work to the Loyola Undergraduate Student Research and Scholarship Colloquium held in April.

** Physics students on the applied science track who wish to take the Matlab or Data Science course as their interdisciplinary course and have it count as a major elective, must receive permission from the Physics chair. Physics students on the analytic track may take the Matlab or Data Science course to meet the program requirement, but the course will count as a free elective for their major.

*** CS403 is a more advanced version of DS303, with additional CS courses as prerequisites. It counts toward the DS303 requirement for Data Science majors, and should be taken by a CS/DS double major to meet that requirement instead of DS303.

Approved Extracurricular Activities

The following activities can be used in conjunction with a course that requires an additional extra curricular activity, or can be used the fulfill the requirement in its entirety if done for at least 24 hours:

• Bridges (part of CCSJ): Tutoring STEM at Belvedere Square
• Loyola Robot Roadtrip: Work with kids and robotics at a local school.
• Math Modeling Contest: Participate in an international contest that occurs once every spring semester. Students receive the problem on a Thursday and submit a solution the following Monday. It entails at least 2-3 full days of work.
• Hack-a-thon. The computer science department often advertises local hack-a-thons, which generally occur over the course of a weekend at a university.
• Loyola Undergraduate Student Research and Scholarship Colloquium
• JHU Whiting School of Engineering Center for Educational Outreach
  • SABES: Work with Baltimore city elementary and middle schools in an after-school STEM program.
  • One-time volunteer work in April or May at a science expo held at an elementary, middle or high school
• Other (needs approval from program director)

Examples of Student Experiences that Meet the Requirement

These examples of how students may meet the requirement are only suggestions to help clarify the requirements, and do not represent all options. Please contact the director with any questions on if your planned course/activity meets the requirements:

1. A math major takes the Matlab course, which is required for the major. The student does 24 hrs of extracurricular activities and writes a reflection about the activities and Matlab course.
2. A math or stat major with a data science minor is required to take a data science course as part of the minor. A reflection is written.
3. A physics major on the applied science track elects to take the data science course as a physics elective. A reflection is written.
4. A physics major on the analytic track elects to take the Matlab course as a free elective. A reflection is written.
5. A student participates in the Hauber summer research program as a rising sophomore or rising junior. The work is submitted to the Loyola student research colloquium and a reflection is written.
6. A student participates in a hack-a-thon that lasts 2-3 full days. If the student works 8 hrs/day for 3 days, the total amount of work is 24 hrs. A reflection is written.
7. A student works once per week in the Bridges program as a STEM tutor. If the work entails 2 hrs/day, 1 day per week for 12 weeks, the total is 24 hrs. A reflection is written.
8. A computer science student takes the data science course as an elective in their major. Although that is enough to meet the requirement, they also compete in two hack-a-thons. A reflection is written.