neuroscience honors thesis brown

Graduate School

Biotechnology master’s student, ilayda top awarded for outstanding academic accomplishment.

Well-rounded, service-oriented scholar honored for her research to advance therapeutic options for patients experiencing brain ischemia.

Top graduated from Brown with honors in 2020, earning a Sc.B in neuroscience. She returned to her alma mater in 2022 to pursue a Sc.M. in Biotechnology. Her thesis advisor, Associate Professor of Medical Science and Engineering, Diane Hoffman-Kim notes, “I have known Ilayda since 2018 and had the pleasure of being her research advisor for her neuroscience honors thesis. We were all very excited when Ilayda returned to Brown for her master's work to focus on a very important area.”

Top’s area of research is ischemic brain injury, which occurs when there is disruption of blood flow to the brain, such as in stroke or severe traumatic brain injury. Despite decades of research, there are few therapeutic options for patients. Using a 3D brain microtissue model, Top and Hoffman-Kim et al. developed a brain ischemia model, which replicated many of the features of ischemic brain injury. Their promising findings were recently published in the journal, In vitro models. Read more .

Cognitive and Psychological Sciences

• Undergraduate Study

CoPsy's Honors Program gives undergraduates a special opportunity to design and carry out an independent research project under the direction of a faculty member. The program allows students to develop an understanding of research and acquire research skills and background. We encourage all concentrators to consider the Honors Program.

Honors Advisor

Elena festa, finding a sponsor.

Sponsors for Honors thesis research should be faculty at the rank of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Senior Lecturer or Lecturer, whose primary appointment at Brown is in the Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences. Faculty from other departments and those who hold Research or Visiting appointments in the CoPsy department may also be able to serve as sponsors, if approved by the Departmental Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (DUCC). Please contact the honors advisor early in the process if you would like a sponsor who is not in the CoPsy department. Please note that this can be a lengthy process and there is no guarantee that individuals outside of the CoPsy department will be approved. Please also note that permission must be obtained from the Honors Advisor if the sponsor is on sabbatical or leave during the thesis experience.

Generally, it is best to call or email a faculty member and make an appointment to discuss the possibility of working with them on a thesis project. Any questions concerning the appropriateness of research for Honors should be addressed to the Honors Advisor.

Because each faculty member can advise only a limited number of students each year, there may be more students interested than there are available openings in a lab. Thus, it is important to establish a relationship with potential faculty sponsors by your 6th semester, if not sooner. Depending on the field, you may want to begin your research earlier than senior year. In this case, you should consult with potential sponsors by the fifth semester.

Admission to the Honors Program

Prerequisites.

Honors candidates in Cognitive Science, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Psychology must have completed the statistics requirement (e.g., CLPS 0900 or equivalent) and at least one lab course (1900 or 1901 is preferred, but other lab courses may be appropriate with permission of the honors advisor). Candidates in Behavioral Decision Sciences should speak with their concentration advisor to determine whether they are eligible to pursue honors.

Application Details

Each prospective honors student should submit a declaration of honors form to the Honors Advisor, which includes the following information:

• Proposed research topic or project title
• Faculty advisor
• Second reader ( must be a CoPsy faculty member )
• Information on the plan for completing the project
• Faculty advisor's mentoring plan
• Signature of approval of the project from faculty advisor

Declaration Due Date

Applications to the honors program need to be submitted to the honors advisor prior to the end of shopping period. 

• Graduating May 2025: application is due  Friday, September 13 at 5pm  
• Graduating Dec 2026: application is due Friday, January 31st at 5pm

Honors Research Courses

Students are required to take two semesters of independent research in conjunction with their honors thesis research during their senior year.

• Cognitive Science, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Psychology students must take two semesters of CLPS1980.
• Behavioral Decision Sciences students must take CLPS1960 in the Fall semester followed by CLPS1980 (or a comparable independent study course) in the Spring semester.
• Students register for the section # of their faculty advisor. Non-CoPsy faculty will be assigned a section # after the project has been approved by the DUCC.  

Application Form

Declaration of Honors Application form PDF

Timetable for Honors Research Activities

Honors students are expected to complete the following activities below over the course of their senior year. Because the demands of each Honors project vary, students should work out a specific schedule of deliverables with their faculty sponsor. Address further questions to your faculty advisor and the honors advisor.

Fall Semester

• Submit the application form to the Honors advisor by the Friday prior to the end of shopping period .
• Meet with the Honors advisor to discuss progress on the project before the last day of classes . The Honors advisor will email in late-November to schedule a meeting.
• Submit a rough draft of a portion of your thesis (e.g., introduction and methods) to your faculty advisor by the last day of classes .

Spring Semester

• Monday, April 7, 2025 at 5 p.m. Submit the penultimate draft of your thesis to your faculty advisor, your second faculty reader, and the Honors advisor.
• Week of April 14 Honors Posters will be on display in Metcalf Research the second and third-floor lounge areas.  An Honors Symposium will be scheduled during that week at which students will be available to give you an "elevator pitch" of their research and answer questions during that time. Light refreshments will also be served.
• Monday, April 21, 2025 at 5 p.m. Submit an electronic pdf of the final thesis to your faculty advisor, second reader, and the Honors advisor.

Honors Research Expectations

Guidelines for the student.

The honors project must be completed to the satisfaction of the student’s faculty sponsor and the second reader in the CoPsy department. The student must submit a written thesis describing the research project. The thesis must be written independently by the student; theses written by more than one student are not acceptable. The thesis is read and signed by the faculty sponsor and second reader, and then submitted to the honors advisor for review. 

Each honors candidate will also present their work to members of the CoPsy department at a poster symposium. The presentation provides the student an opportunity to describe and answer questions about their project and the CoPsy members the opportunity to learn about the exciting research being conducted by our undergraduates within the Department.

The decision to conduct an independent research project is a significant commitment on the part of both the student and faculty sponsor. Students should be prepared to devote 10-20 hours/week to their independent research project.

Guidelines for the Faculty Sponsor

Faculty sponsors are responsible for supervising the student to ensure the student logs 180 hours of instructional time per semester. Regular meetings with the student are essential to discuss publications, data collection, and research progress, with at least one face-to-face meeting per semester. Faculty sponsors should set specific benchmarks for research activities, including deadlines for drafts, data collection, and lab presentations, and establish end-of-semester benchmarks, such as a draft of the introduction and research progress. Ensuring the student has also completed necessary training and obtained IRB/IACUC approval is another critical responsibility. Faculty sponsors must review and provide feedback on the rough draft of the thesis, the penultimate draft, and the final written thesis, as well as oversee the creation and timely submission of the student's poster presentation. Finally, faculty sponsors should discuss authorship for any published papers resulting from the project to ensure clarity and proper credit for the student's contributions.

Guidelines for the Written Thesis

Your written thesis will be evaluated on the following components. More detailed guidelines and example theses will be provided by the honors advisor. 

Completeness and Coherence of the Literature Review

• Depth and Breadth : Your literature review should be comprehensive, covering a wide range of empirical sources. This review should be more detailed than what is typically found in a journal article, demonstrating your extensive reading and understanding of the topic.
• Motivation for the Study : Clearly articulate the motivation for your study. This includes identifying gaps in the current literature and explaining why your research is necessary.
• Clear Hypotheses : Develop clear, testable hypotheses based on the literature reviewed. These should logically follow from the gaps and motivations you've identified.
• Accessibility : Write the literature review in a manner that is accessible to a broad audience, including those who might not be familiar with the specific papers you've read. This includes providing sufficient background and context for each study discussed.

Clarity of Methods and Procedures

• Detailed Description : Provide a detailed description of the methods and procedures used in your research. This should include the design of the study, the participants, materials or instruments used, and the procedure followed.
• Comprehension and Replication : Ensure that the description of your methods is clear enough for another researcher to understand and replicate your study. This includes providing enough detail about each step of your process and justifying the choices you made.
• Ethical Considerations : Address any ethical considerations relevant to your study and describe how they were handled.

Appropriateness of the Analysis

• Statistical Methodology : Use appropriate statistical methods to analyze your data. Clearly explain why these methods were chosen and how they were applied.
• Computational Modeling : If applicable, describe any computational models used, including the rationale for their selection and implementation.
• Clear Presentation : Present your analysis in a clear and understandable way, using tables, figures, and charts where appropriate to enhance comprehension.

Connection Between Literature Review, Research Completed, and Implications of the Results

• Integration with Literature : Ensure that your findings are clearly connected to the literature reviewed. Discuss how your results support, contradict, or extend existing research.
• Discussion of Results : Interpret your results in the context of your research questions and hypotheses. Discuss the implications of your findings for the field and suggest potential areas for future research.
• Clear Implications : Highlight the broader implications of your research. Explain how your study contributes to the understanding of the topic and its practical or theoretical significance.

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