Faculty of Science School of Botany

Honours Information

Honours Projects 2013

What is Honours?

Honours in Botany is a one-year program designed to introduce undergraduate students to the techniques and principles of original research in plant science.

The Botany Honours programme is administered by the Honours Committee on behalf of the Head of School, but much of the specific guidance will be provided by your supervisor. You will be affiliated with the research group of your supervisor, and afforded most of the privileges of Botany staff and postgraduate students (Keys for after hours access, office and laboratory space, join tea club).

All facilities for your research will be provided through, and funded by, your supervisors research group (field work, laboratory expenses e.g., chemicals, photography, access to computing, electron microscopy etc).

Admission requirements
Introduction
Applicants wishing to undertake fourth year studies in the Faculty of
Science must meet both Faculty (Graduate School of Science) and department
requirements to be selected and admitted into the fourth year studies
program. International students must meet additional conditions for
enrolment to be possible.

Major changes to the process from previous years

* International applicants apply directly to International Admissions. Local
applicants apply online through the Student Information Systems (SIS)
website.

* All local applicants apply online via the SSC’s Honours website. All
contents of the previous paper-based application form are included in the
electronic version. It is important that all current Honours application
forms currently housed on department websites are removed so that the new
online application process is clear to students. The project/supervisor
nomination section of the online form has 20 allocated fields for students
who wish to be considered for multiple projects, supervisors or departments.
The applicant will complete these fields, and the department, as they always
have been, can expect to be asked for advice on supervisors and projects.

* All international applicants must now apply online through International
Admissions. These applicants will not be submitting to the Graduate School
of Science the same printed application form as local applicants; rather,
they will apply through International Admissions and submit a separate
Honours nomination form 2010 for international students found at
http://www.ssc.science.unimelb.edu.au/career/further/honours/application,
and available as a hardcopy at International Admissions and the Graduate
School of Science. This Honours nomination form 2010 will be similar to the
project/supervisor nomination area on the printed application used by local
applicants. It will have 20 allocated fields for students who wish to be
considered for multiple projects, supervisors or departments. Again, as they
always have been, the department can expect to be asked for advice on
supervisors and projects.

* Completed applications are now submitted to the Graduate School of
Science. The Graduate School of Science will forward the application to
relevant departments for consideration. The department is not expected to
directly accept applications.

In addition to satisfying the Faculty of Science entry requirements , students interested in entering the botany honours program need to complete 50 or more points of 300-level botany, or equivalent in a related field (eg. plant biochemistry, plant genetics or environmental sciences). The Head of Department may waive the prerequisites or stipulate additional requirements.

Scholarships for Honours Students
Scholarships and prizes are available from the department or the faculty.

What does it involve?

In order to be awarded an Honours qualification, students enrolled in the BSc (Honours) must pass all components and obtain an overall average mark of at least 65% for both the Research Project subject and the Advanced Coursework.

What is the benefit?

 

Projects
Download or view the 1.2MB PDF document
honours-booklet.pdf

How do I find a supervisor and project?

Think about what subjects you found interesting in 2nd and 3rd year subjects
Look at the range of possible topics at our research pages as well as the project outlines posted on the Honours noticeboard or download honours booklet PDF file.
Approach the relevant Botany staff members to discuss interests and potential projects. It's a good idea to bring the transcripts of your results so far to show the supervisors. All academic and research staff in the School of Botany supervise honours projects. There is also potential for joint supervision with some external institutions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens or other Departments such as Geography, Zoology and Chemistry.

When does it start?

Honours Timetable coming soon

How do I apply for Honours?
Application forms can now be accessed online at http://graduate.science.unimelb.edu.au/apply.php. Once you have keyed in your details online, you need to download the application, print it and submit it to the Science Student Centre.

International applicants will apply directly to International Admissions as described:
http://www.futurestudents.unimelb.edu.au/int/apply/
If you are interested in Semester 1 entry , try to start organising it as early as possible to ensure there will be a supervisor and project available

What if I have any other questions?

Dr Ian Woodrow iewood@unimelb.edu.au 8344 7503
Prof Barbara Howlett bhowlett@unimelb.edu.au 8344 5062
Dr Brendan Wintle brendanw@unimelb.edu.au 8344 4572
Dr Ross Waller rossfw@unimelb.edu.au 8344 5042
Dr Jan Carey janetmc@unimelb.edu.au 8344 3336

 

 

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