The Honours Program
Honours is very different from earlier undergraduate years, allowing and requiring a greater degree of independence and flexibility that will help develop the maturity and skills for transition to employment in a range of occupations and industries or a research higher degree. Overall the Honours year adds value to your basic degree, provides you with an additional undergraduate year to demonstrate academic excellence and sets you apart as a student with extended experience of research methodology and with practical research credentials.
Entry Requirements
There are two Faculty entry requirements which must be satisfied.
Applicants must hold a Bachelor of Science (BSc) or equivalent qualification recognised by the Faculty of Science. Applicants currently enrolled in a BSc combined course at the University of Melbourne are not required to have completed their combined course to be eligible for Honours. These combined course applicants are required however, to have completed sufficient points to be eligible for the single BSc.
Graduates of the University of Melbourne BSc single degree must normally have a Faculty Honours Score (FHS) of at least 70%. The FHS is a weighted average based on a student's performance in their best 87.5 points of science study at the third year level. For combined course students the Faculty calculates a weighted average mark for the third year level science subjects that have been completed. Applicants who have completed their degree at other institutions must demonstrate that they have achieved an average of 70% for the third year science subjects they have studied.
Honours students commence studies in Semester 1.
Honours Research Project
The Honours Research Project in Physiology is designed to:
- Provide an introduction to the process and practice of physiological research;
- Enhance understanding of biological and medical sciences across a wide area;
- Strongly develop the ability to critically analyse and independently evaluate experimental data;
- To develop oral and written communication skills to levels expected of a practising scientist;
- To enhance the process of life-long independent learning.
The Honours Research Project (total 75 points) comprises three assessment components:
- Two oral presentations covering Project background, methods & research outcomes (12.5pts)
- A literature review of less than 5,000 words on a nominated topic in Physiology (12.5 pts)
- A written report (Thesis) at the end of the year, not exceeding 10,000 words (50 pts).
To successfully complete the Honours program in Physiology, students must obtain an overall weighted average of 65% or better for all course components combined, with a pass in both Core Discipline subjects and the Research Project.
How to Apply for Honours
Step 1: You will need to decide which Department or Institute(s), Supervisor(s) and Project(s) that you wish to apply for. To do this, you must speak to potential supervisors. Department and Institute Honours project booklets and websites, the MDHS Honours expo, and individual information sessions held by Departments and Institutes are all ways of helping you make contact with potential honours supervisors. It is important to discuss your interests with potential supervisors so that you can make informed preference selections and so that your potential supervisors can determine whether they might accept and prioritize your application.
Step 2: You must lodge an online application for Honours to the Faculty of Science through the SIS {for current local students: https://sis.unimelb.edu.au/cgi-bin/course-application.pl; for local students who have not studied at University of Melbourne: https://sis.unimelb.edu.au/cgi-bin/course-application.pl/register/, and then take a hard copy of the application to the Science student Centre for confirmation as instructed. You need to do this whether you are a BSc, BBiomedSci or external local student. International students however will need to apply through the International Office. After submitting your application, you will be sent an Application ID number by email. You will need this Application ID for Step 3. It is therefore essential that you carry out Step 2 BEFORE you carry out Step 3. Note that the closing date for the Step 2 Application is 20 Nov 2009.
Step 3: After having decided on a project(s) and submitting your application through SIS, you will need to lodge your project preferences with MDHS through HATS. It is essential that you have already identified which projects you wish to apply for by speaking to potential supervisors (i.e. Step 1) and have applied for Honours through SIS (i.e. Step 2) BEFORE you carry out Step 3.
To carry out Step 3 in HATS you will need to:
- Enter your Application ID into HATS.
- Click on Preferences then Search Projects. Use this search to make sure that the project(s) you wish to apply for are present in HATS. If you cannot find the project you are interested in, you should contact the supervisor of these projects, who will be able to take steps to have the project details entered into HATS.
- Click on Preferences then Lodge/Update Preferences to lodge your project preferences with HATS. You can update/change your preferences as many times as you wish. However, you must ensure that your final preference list (in order of 1-10; you must enter one preference, and you can enter up to ten) is lodged by 11:00pm on Sun, 29 Nov 2009. This list will be supplied to Departments to allow them to carry out their selection process in early December 2009.
You will receive a round one offer letter for the highest preference project you have been offered by mail before Christmas. You can choose to accept the offer or not. If you choose not to accept, you will be considered for selection by Departments for the second round of selection in mid January.
The key dates are:
Aug-Nov 2009 Contact potential supervisors to discuss honours projects (Step 1)
20 Nov 2009 Closing date for Honours application through SIS (Step 2)
11:00pm 29 Nov 2009 Closing date for project preference submission through HATS (Step 3)
3rd week Dec 2009 First round of offer letters sent by mail to students
6 Jan 2010 Closing date for acceptance/rejection by students of First Round offers
11 Jan 2010- Second round of selection and mailing of offer letters begins
Feb 2010 Honours 2010 begins (check with individual Departments/Institutes for
specific starting date and other details
Enquiries
Honours Coordinator Tel: 61 3 8344 5844 |
Honours Administration Tel: 61 3 8344 7755 |