Behavioural Neuroscience Honours

The two-semester Behavioural Neuroscience honours program will provide you with the opportunity to work closely with a Psychology faculty member on original research related to the area of Behavioural Neuroscience. You will gain valuable research training by planning, conducting, and presenting research, and guidance about applying to graduate school. In the honours seminar, you will be exposed to a wide range of research being conducted by fellow cohort members. This experience will connect you to likeminded students and prepare you for graduate programs. Students are also encouraged to speak with the Psychology Undergraduate Advising team should they have questions prior to applying to the Behavioural Neuroscience honours program.

The application requirements for Behavioural Neuroscience students wishing to work with a Psychology faculty member (in the Cognitive & Neural area in a topic related to Behavioural Neuroscience) are noted below. If students wish to work with a BPK faculty member instead, please connect with the BPK Advisor at bpkadvisor@sfu.ca.

To apply to the Honours program, please review the prerequisites below before submitting your application to the Psychology Undergraduate Advisor (psycadvs@sfu.ca) by June 1. When BNS Honours applications are submitted, they will be reviewed by the Co-Chair of the Behavioural Neuroscience program for approval. If approved, students will receive an email confirmation from the Undergraduate Advisors.

Prerequisites:

1. Completion of 75 units, with a minimum CGPA of 3.00.

2. Completion of PSYC 301 or BPK 304W with a minimum grade of a B.

To submit your application, please send the following to the Psychology Undergraduate Advisors (psycadvs@sfu.ca) before June 1st:

1. Submission of the BNS Honours Program Application form, with approval and signature of a Psychology faculty member willing to supervise the Honours Project. 

Primary supervisors and independent readers must be regular Psychology faculty members (including lecturers) in the area of Cognitive & Neural Science. If you have questions about this, please email psycadvs@sfu.ca.

2. Submission of the Tri-Council Ethics Certificate or the Animal Care Services training (depending on the nature of your project)

3. Current Advising Transcript

PSYC 457: Behavioural Neuroscience Honours Thesis Proposal / Honours Seminar  (4 units, Fall term)

PSYC 457 (co-listed with PSYC 490, the Psychology Honours Seminar) will meet as a regularly scheduled class during the fall semester and a Psychology Department faculty member will serve as the instructor. Activities in PSYC 490/457 typically include student presentations of their Honours proposal, discussion of methodological issues, and preparation for graduate school applications (e.g., preparation of CVs and personal statements). Although students should be developing their proposal with consultation and feedback from their primary supervisor (and the independent reader where appropriate), the instructor of the Honours Seminar will also provide feedback on the proposal. The grade for the proposal will be determined by the Honours Instructor of PSYC 457/490. Students will submit the proposal and a form signed by their supervisor indicating the readiness for submission of the proposal to the Honours Instructor according to the timeline stated in the syllabus for PSYC 457/490.

PSYC 459: Behavioural Neuroscience Undergraduate Honours Thesis (9 units, Spring term)

Students will be given permission by the Undergraduate Advisors to enroll in PSYC 459 in the spring term to represent their involvement in the final semester of the Honours Project and the work conducted with the Primary Supervisor and Independent Reader. There is no regularly scheduled seminar associated with this course number. The final grade for PSYC 457 will be determined by the Honours supervisor based on common criteria. 

Upon admission into the Psychology portion of the Behavioural Neuroscience Honours program, please refer to the forms below for information regarding continuation in the Honours program and Honours project guidelines.