MCDB 198A-D

MCDB 198A-D – Honors Research in MCDB

MCDB Departmental Honors

At the time of graduation, to be awarded MCDB Departmental Honors, students must…

• Have a minimum 3.0 overall GPA and minimum 3.5 upper-division major GPA;
• Have completed at least three quarters of MCDB 198A-D;
• Submit a final thesis;
• Have completed one seminar from the following list – MCDB 180A-B, MCDB 191, BMD RES 193H, or BMD RES 194H.
  • Please note that neither BMD RES 193H nor BMD RES 194H are accepted as MCDB-approved electives, but either will fulfill the seminar requirement for MCDB Departmental Honors.

With approval of the final thesis by the MCDB Departmental Honors committee, students are awarded either:

• No Honors
• Departmental Honors

Overview

Students conducting ongoing, advanced, individual research under the guidance of an MCDB-approved faculty mentor may enroll in MCDB 198A-D (maximum one course per quarter / four units per quarter / letter grading).

Students must be working on a comprehensive research project, designed to broaden and deepen their knowledge of some aspect of molecular, cell, and developmental biology. Although familiarity with the scientific literature is essential to research, students must be conducting experimental laboratory research. A literature search, literature evaluation, or survey work is not sufficient to enroll in MCDB 198A-D. Students are expected to commit a minimum of 12 hours per week to their research project. Given that Departmental Honors projects should be more demanding, students should expect to work closer to 15-20 hours per week in the lab.

Check out the MCDB 198A-D Syllabus for more information.

Eligibility Requirements

At the time of enrollment, students must…

• Be in the Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology major;
• Be entering their senior year;*
• Have a minimum 3.0 overall GPA and minimum 3.5 upper-division major GPA;
• Have completed LIFESCI 7A, 7B, 7C, 7L, and 107;
• Have prior experience in their faculty mentor’s lab (such as SRP-99, SRP-199, or volunteer);
• Not be working for pay in their faculty mentor’s lab;
• Be working with a faculty mentor who is included on the MCDB-Approved List of Faculty Research Mentors.**

*Only students who commit to graduating early, by officially changing their Degree Expected Term, are permitted to begin the series sooner than Fall quarter of senior year. See Enrollment Policies below for more information.

** If a student is working with a faculty mentor who is NOT included on the MCDB-Approved List of Faculty Research Mentors, they may petition their research in order to enroll in an upper-division MCDB research course. More information about the petition process can be found here.

Enrollment Policies

• To begin the series, students must commit to at least three consecutive quarters of research (MCDB 198A-C). Students must enroll in MCDB 198A, followed by MCDB 198B the next quarter, and then MCDB 198C. Enrollment in MCDB 198D is optional.
• Students are permitted to enroll in MCDB 198A in Fall quarter of their senior year. Only students who commit to graduating early, by officially changing their Degree Expected Term, are permitted to begin the series sooner than Fall quarter of senior year. Students who commit to graduating in Fall or Winter quarter of senior year may enroll in MCDB 198A no sooner than Winter quarter of junior year. Students who commit to graduating in Spring of junior year may enroll in MCDB 198A no sooner than Fall quarter of junior year.
• Students may not enroll in MCDB 198A-D in Summer Sessions.
• Students will not be permitted to enroll in MCDB 198A-D if they have outstanding Incomplete or NR grades in previous upper-division research courses with the same faculty mentor.
• Students are permitted to enroll in a maximum of one upper-division MCDB research course per quarter.
• Students are not permitted to enroll in an upper-division MCDB research course and another SRP-99 or SRP-199 course under the same faculty research mentor in the same quarter.

Enrollment

Please review below the list of materials required to enroll in each upper-division MCDB research course.

MCDB 198A

To enroll in MCDB 198A, you will need the following:

1. MCD BIO 198A Course Contract – Must be signed by your faculty mentor. You do NOT need the Chair’s signature.
2. Project Proposal – Must follow proposal guidelines and be signed by you and your faculty mentor.
3. Outside Faculty Mentor Agreement* – Signed by your faculty mentor.

* If your faculty mentor is NOT listed as an MCDB faculty member on our Faculty webpage, then you must submit the Outside Faculty Mentor Agreement.

MCDB 198B

To enroll in MCDB 198B, you will need the following:

1. MCD BIO 198B Course Contract – Must be signed by your faculty mentor. You do NOT need the Chair’s signature.

MCDB 198C

To enroll in MCDB 198C, you will need the following:

1. MCD BIO 198C Course Contract – Must be signed by your faculty mentor. You do NOT need the Chair’s signature.

MCDB 198D

To enroll in MCDB 198D you will need the following:

1. MCD BIO 198D Course Contract – Must be signed by your faculty mentor. You do NOT need the Chair’s signature.
2. Project Proposal – Must follow proposal guidelines and be signed by you and your faculty mentor.

Check out the following webpages to learn how to:

• Create a contract
• Prepare a project proposal

Ready to Submit?

Please submit the required materials to this form for enrollment: https://sa.ucla.edu/forms/p/mcdbresearch

The deadline to submit all materials is 5:00 PM on Monday of Week 2 of the quarter you wish to enroll. You will be enrolled by the end of the day on Friday of Week 2.

Note: You must submit the form each quarter you wish to enroll in an upper-division MCDB research course.

Assignments

For each quarter enrolled in MCDB 198A-D, students must report on their research progress by completing a final paper that will be submitted to and graded by the faculty research mentor. Students will also submit a copy of the final paper, signed by their faculty mentor, to the MCDB Department via Bruin Learn.

Final Paper Guidelines

The final paper must be written by the student (with guidance from the faculty research mentor) and outline the student’s own experiments. A copy of a multi-authored publication or paper submitted for publication will not be accepted in place of a final paper.

Please fill out and attach this Title Page as the first page of your final paper.

The final paper should be in the format of a journal article. Although the format can vary slightly, the paper should contain the following information:

• Title
• Author(s)
• Summary (Abstract)
• Introduction
• Results
• Discussion
• Experimental Procedures (Methods)
• Acknowledgements
• References
• Figures and Figure Legends
• Tables and Table Legends (if applicable)

The final paper should be long enough to capture and describe well the required information, at least 10-15 pages in length (double-spaced) (including figures and references).

Course-Specific Guidelines

MCDB 198A

The MCDB 198A final paper should include at least the introduction, experimental procedures, and references. Please include preliminary results, if possible.

MCDB 198B

The MCDB 198B final paper should include a thorough summary, including how your project has changed from the first quarter, refined introduction and experimental procedures, preliminary results and analysis (if analysis is possible at this point), and references.

MCDB 198C

The MCDB 198C final paper is the final thesis.*

*If you plan to enroll in MCDB 198D, you may choose to submit your final thesis upon completion of MCDB 198C or 198D. If you plan to submit your final thesis at the end of MCDB 198D, then your MCDB 198C final paper should be a continuation of your MCDB 198B final paper. Please notify the MCDB undergraduate advisors that you will be submitting your final thesis at the end of MCDB 198D.

For students who plan to attend Commencement in Spring, but plan to complete MCDB 198D in the subsequent Fall quarter, you must submit your final thesis for MCDB 198C if you wish for the Departmental Honors designation to appear in the Commencement program. 

MCDB 198D

The MCDB 198D final paper is a continuation of the final thesis.*

*If you did not submit your final thesis for MCDB 198C, then your MCDB 198D final paper is the final thesis.

Submitting your Final Paper

Please follow the steps below to submit your final paper to your faculty mentor and the MCDB department.

1. Draft your final paper with the guidance of your faculty mentor, as needed.
2. Ensure that your faculty mentor reviews your final paper before submission. Ask your faculty mentor to sign your final paper to confirm they have reviewed it. 
3. Submit your final paper, signed by your faculty mentor, to Bruin Learn by the submission deadline.

Final Paper Submission Deadline

5:00 PM on Friday of Week 10*

*If you are enrolled in MCDB 198C in Spring quarter, the Final Thesis is due by 5:00 PM on Wednesday of Week 9.

Grading

Your faculty research mentor will assign a letter grade for MCDB 198A-D. Unit and grade credit for MCDB 198A-B are assigned upon completion of MCDB 198B. Please be aware that the transcript will always show an IP (In Progress) grade for MCDB 198A, but eight units and the final grade are assigned for MCDB 198B. Unit and grade credit are assigned for MCDB 198C and 198D separately.

Grading will be based on successful participation in individual meetings, completion of required assignments, and specific research deliverables defined per project. Specific grading criteria and expectations vary and should be discussed with the faculty mentor before the student begins research. The student and mentor should establish clear grading criteria and a work schedule before the quarter begins. This ensures:

• Both parties have a shared understanding of expectations.
• There’s clarity on when the student should be in the lab.
• Both agree on what constitutes a successful quarter.

MCDB 198A-D FAQ

General

Final Paper

Grading