Undergraduate Research Honors Program

Department of Biomedical Health Sciences

The criteria below include requirements for the Undergraduate Research Honors Program for both Microbiology and Health Sciences degrees.  Students should designate their concentration on the application and refer to the appropriate "Check Sheet" below. 

Beginning Fall 2023, all Honors in Discipline students will receive a $2500 scholarship each year that is stackable with other ETSU scholarships. Incoming students beginning Fall 2023 will have the opportunity to apply for research funds up to $1250 to be used towards their thesis projects.  Students will need to apply and submit a budget for use of the funds (details and application will be available Summer 2023.)

 

  • Admissions Criteria
    1. The applications for the admission to the honors program will be accepted from the students in the second semester of their freshman year. However, their admission will be contingent upon their final grades on completion of their freshman year.
    2. Both ETSU students and transfer students must have an overall minimum GPA of 3.7 with a minimum GPA of 3.5 in science courses.
    3. In addition, the student must submit as one of the admission criteria a written essay on a topic or a question posted online, accessible to applicants here.
    4. Students must enter no later than spring semester of their sophomore year.
    5. Students must align themselves with a research mentor and upload the Letter of Support form within their applications.  The mentor may complete the form and email the completed PDF to the applicant. If the mentor signs a paper copy, it must be scanned into PDF form.  (For assistance, please contact Dara Young at youngdc@etsu.edu)

    *Note: A maximum of 5 applicants will be accepted per semester.

  • Application Process
    • The application portal will open in early January 2025, and URHPs will begin accepting applications.
    • The deadline for all students (new, transfer, and current ETSU) to submit applications for Fall '25 admission into a URHP will be March 1, 2025. After that date, no applications will be accepted.
    • Program Coordinators and their evaluation committees will rank their applications in the InfoReady system by April 1, 2025.
    • The URCA Office will use each program's rankings and recommendations to send offer letters to applicants for each program. Prospective URHP students will have until April 15 to accept or decline the offer. If necessary, the URCA Office will send out a second round of offer letters with a final deadline of April 22.
  • Check Sheets
  • Program of Study

    Number of Credit Hours required

    The HSCI Undergraduate Research Honors Program will consist of a minimum of 18 credits, including 12 credits of HSCI honors enriched courses and 6 credits of honors thesis research.

    Types of Courses

    1. Honors-enriched Courses (12 credits): Several HSCI upper level and some lower level courses will be enriched with an addition of a variety of experimental and/or theoretical project components specifically designed to expose an honors student to a higher level of learning experience.
    2. Honors Biomedical Techniques (3 credits): Introduces students to laboratory skills that utilize equipment, technology, and skilled techniques commonly found in cellular and molecular biomedical sciences. Topics may include nucleic acid and protein experimentation to investigate human health and disease.
    3. Honors Thesis Research (6 credits). Students will identify and initiate a research project appropriate for the Honors Thesis. An Honors thesis may be completed based on either an experimental (6 credit hours) or a theoretical (3 credit hours) research problem.

    Course Descriptions

    Honors-Enriched Courses:

    1. HSCI 3000-088 Honors Human Anatomy (4 credits): (Prerequisite: General biology). A study of the human body with an emphasis on functional gross anatomy is presented to facilitate an understanding of body structure and function. Laboratory provides a learning experience through the use of anatomical specimens, models, and charts. Six hours lecture and lab combined per week.
    2. HSCI 3020-088 Honors Human Physiology (4 credits):
      (Prerequisite: HSCI 3000). A study of the homeostatic mechanisms in man as they pertain to normal physiology and mechanisms of disease. The teaching laboratory provides the students an opportunity to learn by measuring many of the vital physiological processes. Three hours lecture and lab per week.
    3. HSCI 3030-088 Honors Introduction to Biochemistry (4 credits): (Prerequisite: CHEM 1110/11 and CHEM 1120/21). An introduction to general biochemistry of eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Includes study of the cell chemistry, mechanisms of energy production, enzymes, basics of macromolecular structures and transcription and translation of genetic information. Laboratory includes techniques involved in studying the biochemistry of cells. Three hours lecture and three hours laboratory per week.
    4. HSCI 3320-088 Honors General Microbiology (4 credits) (Prerequisites: Recommended one year college biological sciences and one year inorganic chemistry.  Corequisites: HSCI 3321.)  Presents a comprehensive basic course emphasizing biological, biochemical and morphological properties of microorganisms and their interactions with humans.
    5. HSCI 3510-088 Honors Pathogenic Microbiology (4 credits): (Prerequisite: HSCI 3320 General Microbiology). A lecture and lab course presenting the key concepts and mechanisms of the infectious disease process and its prevention and control with an emphasis on bacterial pathogens and how they cause disease. In addition, the laboratory component is designed to introduce the student to the basic techniques for the isolation and identification of pathogenic bacteria.
    6. HSCI 3540-088 Honors Immunology (3 credits): A lecture presenting current concepts of the basic mechanisms of immunity and selected laboratory techniques to study the development of the immune response.
    7. HSCI 4067-088 Honors Neurology (4 credits): (Prerequisites:Human anatomy 3000 and Human physiology 3020). A basic study of human neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. This course explores the motor and sensory pathways, as well as the integration systems of the central nervous system. Laboratory work utilizes preserved human specimens, models, slides and charts. Two hours lectures and two 2hour labs per week.
    8. HSCI 4480-088 Honors Clinical Parasitology (4 credits): Prerequisites: One year of biological science or equivalent. Lecture and discussion of parasites of public health importance Life cycles, pathology, and diagnostic stages are emphasized Standard procedures of specimen collection, staining, concentration, and parasite identification are studied in the laboratory Two hours lecture and (2) two-hour labs per week.
    9. HSCI 4607-088 Honors Bacterial Physiology (4 credits): (Prerequisites: HSCI 3320 and Organic Chemistry required. Completion of a biochemistry course is recommended). A consideration of the microorganisms. Includes biochemical nature of the growth of studies of bacterial cytology, enzymes, nutritional requirements, metabolic pathways, and genetic regulation. Laboratory includes studies of selected aspects of metabolism during bacterial growth and the use of bacterial vectors for cloning DNA. Two hours lecture and three hours laboratory per week.
    10. HSCI 4730-088 Honors Molecular and Microbial Genetics (3 credits): (Prerequisite(s): HSCI 3320). An introduction to microbial genetics, focusing on the genetics and molecular biology of bacteria and bacteriophages. The course will include basic techniques of microbial genetics and gene manipulation with emphasis on the application of molecular genetics in basic and applied research.
    11. HSCI 4770-088 Honors Virology (4 credits): Prerequisite(s): HSCI 3320 or equivalent). An introduction to the pathogenesis and molecular biology of viruses including methods of isolation, cultivation, and characterization. Two hours lecture and two 2hour labs per week.
    12. HSCI 3400-088 Honors Biomedical Techniques (3 credits): Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.  Introduces students to laboratory skills that utilize equipment, technology, and skilled techniques commonly found in cellular and molecular biomedical sciences. Topics may include nucleic acid and protein experimentation to investigate human health and disease. 

    HSCI 4018 Honors Thesis (6 credits): The Department of Biomedical Health Sciences will require the completion of an honors thesis (HSCI 4018) as the capstone course. The course is usually divided into two 3-credit hour courses taken each of the student's final two semesters.  A faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Health Sciences, chosen by the student, will direct the thesis project. Two additional faculty members, one from Health Sciences and one from outside the Department, will serve on an advisory committee with the project director and also act as readers of the thesis. A formal thesis will be submitted and publicly presented at the project's conclusion. This presentation may be at the ETSU Boland Undergraduate Research Symposium during the spring semester. Regardless of when the public presentation is made, the thesis must have been read by the three readers prior to the presentation. A minimum of two of the thesis readers must be present at the presentation. Announcements regarding the presentation must be posted a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the presentation. A student must make a B or higher in the honors thesis to get Honors recognition on their transcript.

    Specific Honors-Enriched Course Requirements

    In each of the honorsenriched courses listed under C. 1. in addition to the above mentioned course curricula, an honors student will meet with the instructor and sign a contract agreeing to carry out one or more of the enrichment experiences listed below. The program coordinator will keep the contract on file.

    1. Research a topic for weekly discussions with the instructor
    2. An oral presentation on selected topics
    3. Prepare critiques on several research articles
    4. Extension of laboratory experiment(s) for further study
    5. A book reading
    6. A study on a special topic followed by an exam
    7. An internship
    8. Any other component decided by the instructor
  • Scholarships
    Visit the Honors College website for more information.
  • Retention Requirements
    1. A student must remain registered for a minimum of 12 credits per semester. A student receiving an Honors-in-Discipline scholarship, whether in-state or out-of-state, must enroll in at least 15 credit hours per semester. An exception is the capstone semester when scholarship recipients may register for only 12 hours. All scholarship recipients must maintain a cumulative grade point average consistent with program standards. An honors student who fails to meet program standards will be allowed one probationary semester before his/her scholarship is revoked. Questions regarding Honors-in-Discipline scholarships should be directed to the Director of Honors-in-Discipline Programs.
    2. Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.7 with a minimum GPA of 3.5 in science courses. 
    3. Honors students who do not meet these requirements may be granted one semester of probation by the Honors Program Coordinator. If the student meets the retention requirements after the probationary period, he/she is allowed to remain in the Honors Program.
  • Thesis Information

    HSCI 4018 Honors Thesis (3-6 credits):  The Department of Biomedical Health Sciences will require the completion of an honors thesis (HSCI 4018) as the capstone course. Students are expected to talk/discuss with a faculty member and choose an advisor for the honors thesis by the end of the second semester of their junior year at the latest. A faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Health Sciences, chosen by the student, will direct the thesis project. Two faculty members, one from Health Sciences and one from outside the Department, will serve on an advisory committee with the project director and also act as readers of the thesis. A formal thesis will be submitted and publicly presented at the project's conclusion. This presentation may be at the ETSU Boland Undergraduate Research Symposium during the spring semester. Regardless of when the public presentation is made, the thesis must have been read by the three readers prior to the presentation. A minimum of two of the thesis readers must be present at the presentation. Announcements regarding the presentation must be posted a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the presentation. A student must make a B or higher in the honors thesis to get honor recognition on their transcript.

    Once a student has talked to the various faculty regarding their involvement on the thesis committee, the faculty should sign this form indicating their agreement to be a member of the committee and their role on the committee. This applies to the faculty mentor and the thesis readers.  The form must be submitted with Dr. Forsman within the first two weeks of the first semester they take senior honors thesis.

    Thesis Committee Document

  • Freshman Instructions
    1. The applications for the admission to the honors program will be accepted from the students in the second semester of their freshman year. However, their admission will be contingent upon their final grades on completion of their freshman year.
    2. Both ETSU students and transfer students must have an overall minimum GPA of 3.7 with a minimum GPA of 3.5 in science courses.
    3. In addition, students must submit as one of the admission criteria a written essay on why they want to be in the honors program and why they should be accepted into the honors program.
    4. Students must align themselves with a research mentor and upload the Letter of Support form within their applications. The mentor may complete the form and email the completed PDF to the applicant. If the mentor signs a paper copy, it must be scanned into PDF form. (For assistance, please contact Dara Young at youngdc@etsu.edu)