BIOL BC3597 Guided Research is a variable-credit, one-semester course open to students beginning in their first year. It can be taken during any fall or spring semester. Enrollment in this course is recommended for students who wish to receive academic credit for unpaid research. This course does not fulfill any Biology major or minor requirements.

If you decide to enroll in BIOL BC3597, contact a Barnard Biology faculty mentor and then fill out the Project Approval Form at the beginning of the semester.

BIOL BC3591-BC3592 Guided Research & Seminar is a year-long 8-credit course (4 credits/semester) which fulfills two upper-level lab course requirements for the Biology major. This course is only available as a fall to spring sequence. As a requirement for this course, students must work on the same unpaid independent research project for 9-10 hours/week for both semesters. By the end of the year, students write a scientific paper, give a 1-minute talk, and present a poster their work at the Barnard Biology Research Symposium.

Seniors enrolled in this course must take BIOL BC3590 Senior Seminar to fulfill their capstone requirement, since this course cannot be taken at the same time as BIOL BC3593-3594.

BIOL BC3593-BC3594 Senior Thesis Research & Seminar is a year-long 8-credit course (4 credits/semester) which can only be taken during a student's senior year to fulfill the biology senior capstone requirement. As a requirement for this course, seniors must work on the same unpaid independent research project 9-10 hours/week for both semesters. At the end of the year, seniors write a scientific paper and give a 15-minute presentation of their work at the Barnard Biology Research Symposium.

Seniors enrolled in Senior Thesis Research & Seminar may not concurrently enroll in Guided Research & Seminar.

You may work in a faculty lab here at Barnard or in a lab at another institution. Once you have found a mentor, you should meet to discuss potential projects. Your mentor will likely suggest projects to you, but may also seek your input in making a final choice.

If your lab is outside the Barnard Biology Department, you will need a faculty member within the department to serve as your internal advisor. Your internal advisor will ideally work in an area of research that is similar to your lab. For a list of faculty research areas, see: Faculty in Biology

You should discuss your availability and your project's specific scheduling demands with your research mentor. You may need to be in lab for many consecutive hours to complete a particular experiment, or you may occasionally need to check in on experiments at odd hours such as early mornings, nights, or weekends. Be certain that you are able to fit in the specific scheduling requirements for your project or make arrangements with your mentor that you both agree on.

If you plan to obtain major credit for your research, you will need to commit to 9-10 hours of research per week for a full academic year. If you plan to obtain academic credit for your research without fulfilling major requirements (BIOL BC3597), you will need to commit to 3-12 hours per week for one semester (3 hours per point of academic credit).

If your lab is not on campus, do you have a reliable form of transportation? Have you budgeted transportation time into your schedule? Transit time does not count toward research time.

Also consider transportation when discussing scheduling requirements (see #3, above). Be sure to discuss your mentor’s expectations and your availability, and make arrangements that you both agree on.

Before you begin, please...

• Ask your research mentor about trainings and requirements needed to work in their lab
• If your research is at Barnard, review the Undergraduate Research FAQs maintained by the Barnard Biology laboratory manager
• Complete any required trainings and requirements

If you will be working with human subjects, live vertebrate animals, or dangerous materials including radioactive or biohazardous materials, you will need to complete training sessions before beginning work in any lab. At Barnard/Columbia trainings and approvals are offered through the Barnard or Columbia University Institutional Review Board (IRB), the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) office, respectively. Check with your research mentor to determine what approvals you will need, and for instruction on how to sign up for training sessions. Please note that approval for work with human subjects can take up to 6 months, so plan accordingly.

Scope and time requirements for BIOL BC3591-3592 and BIOL BC3593-3594

Your Barnard research mentor (if your lab is at Barnard) or internal advisor (if your lab is elsewhere) must approve your planned research before you enroll in either year-long course. Your project must be appropriate in terms of (i) scope and (ii) time requirement for a 4-credit course both semesters.

(i) Is the scope of the project appropriate?

Your project can be in any area of biological research, including clinical research, but it must aim toward generating original data. In addition, you should be contributing substantially to your project. This does not mean that you should take the lead on it; you will likely be working with another lab member who leads the project (a PI, grad student, postdoc, or research technician), but it is important that you spend the majority of your lab time doing experiments for this project.

By the end of the year, students enrolled in BIOL BC3591-3592 will write a scientific paper and give a poster presentation of their work at the Barnard Biology Symposium. Students enrolled in BIOL BC3593-3594 will write a scientific paper and orally present their work at the Barnard Biology Symposium.

(ii) Is the time requirement met for the project?

In addition to time spent preparing for the seminar, you should plan to spend 9-10 hours/week in your lab conducting research both semesters. Transit time to your lab does not count toward these 9-10 hours/week of research time.

Scope and time requirements for BIOL BC3597

Your Barnard research mentor (if your lab is at Barnard) or internal advisor (if your lab is elsewhere) must approve your planned research before you enroll. Your project must be appropriate in terms of (i) scope and (ii) time requirement for the number of credits in which you are enrolled.

(i) Is the scope of the project appropriate?

Your project can be in any area of biological research, including clinical research, but it must aim toward generating original data. In addition, you should be contributing substantially to your project. This does not mean that you should take the lead on it; you will likely be working with another lab member who leads the project (a PI, grad student, postdoc, or research technician), but it is important that you spend the majority of your lab time doing experiments for this project.

(ii) Is the time requirement met for the project?

You may enroll in BIOL BC3597 for between 1-4 credits per semester. As a rule of thumb, you should be spending approximately 3 hours per week per credit on your research project. Transit time to your lab does not count toward research time.

You may choose to enroll in BIOL BC3597 Guided Research if...

• You would like to receive academic credit for research without fulfilling biology major requirements
• You do not wish to engage in extra coursework outside of your research
• You wish to start your research project in the spring semester
• You wish to commit to one semester of research
• You are a first year or sophomore (upperclassmen also welcome)
• You are not a biology major but you are conducting research in a biology lab (biology majors also welcome)

You may choose to enroll in BIOL BC3591-3592 Guided Research & Seminar if...

• You wish to fulfill two upper-level lab requirements for the biology major
• You are a junior or senior biology major (sophomores occasionally accepted)
• You can commit to two semesters of research beginning in the fall semester for 9-10 hours per week
• You do NOT plan to enroll in Senior Thesis Research & Seminar (BIOL BC3593-3594) for senior capstone credit at the same time

Note: Seniors taking BIOL BC3591-3592 for lab credit must take BIOL BC3590 Senior Seminar for senior capstone credit.

You may choose to enroll in BIOL BC3593-3594 Senior Thesis Research & Seminar if...

• You are a senior biology or environmental biology major

• You wish to fulfill your senior capstone requirement

• You can commit to two semesters of research beginning in the fall semester for 9-10 hours per week
• You do NOT plan to enroll in Guided Research & Seminar (BIOL BC3591-3592) for lab credit at the same time

You may not enroll in credit for research if...

• You are conducting research outside of the fall or spring academic semester
• You are receiving pay for your research
• You are conducting less than three hours of research per week

To sign up for one of the yearlong courses (BIOL BC3591-3592 or BIOL BC3593-3594):

1. Confirm your project with your research mentor.
2. If your research mentor is not a Barnard faculty member, discuss your research with your internal advisor.
3. Contact the course instructors and follow the instructions they provide.
4. Enroll in the appropriate course. You will automatically be placed on the waitlist. Then, the course instructors will admit you into the course.

To sign up for BIOL BC3597 Guided Research:

1. Confirm your project with your research mentor.
2. If your research mentor is NOT a Barnard faculty member, discuss your research with your internal advisor.
3. Complete and submit a Project Approval Form. Your digital signature will confirm that your project fulfills the above requirements and a copy will be made available to your internal advisor. Project Approval Forms are due before the end of registration at the start of each semester (for BIOL BC3597) or before the end of registration in the spring prior to enrollment (for BIOL BC3591-3592 or BC3593-3594).
4. Enroll in the correct section of BIOL BC3597 for the correct number of points.

• Each Barnard Biology faculty member has their own section of Guided Research. You should sign up for the section assigned to your Barnard research mentor. If your lab is outside of Barnard, you must sign up for your internal advisor’s section. Make sure you're signed up for the correct number of credits!
• You should complete three hours of work per week for each point of academic credit that you sign up for.
• You will automatically be placed on the waitlist. Then, the course instructors will admit you into the course.