Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Department of Physiology

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:

The Honours Research Project (total 75 points) comprises three assessment components:

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:

 

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
Dr Glenn McConell
Room N525
Department of Physiology

Tel: 61 3 8344 5844
Email:  mcconell@unimelb.edu.au

Honours Administration
Ms Lesley Robinson
Room N212
Department of Physiology

Tel: 61 3 8344 7755
Email: lesleyr@unimelb.edu.au

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