Chemistry 393, 394, 493, and 494 are graded courses and that will demand 10 - 15 scheduled hours per week in the laboratory at times mutually agreed upon by the faculty mentor.
Prior to beginning laboratory work in the first semester of Independent Study, all majors participating in Independent Study must complete the university's general on-line safety training. Later the major is expected to receive specific safety instruction from the department in which the major is carrying out his/her research project. The following link takes you to the general on-line training area of the OESO website.
Chemistry 295 , Introduction to Independent Study, 0.5 cc, is open to all majors, but is required for majors who are enrolling in their first semester of independent study in chemistry, Chemistry 393 or in a related area, and who intend to pursue graduation with distinction in chemistry, or who intend to pursue a BS degree that is certified by ACS. Majors may take Chem 295 for Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory or regular letter grades depending on their needs. Those taking it for letter grades will also earn 0.5 cc toward the writing requirement (W). The writing component will focus on writing a research proposal and on writing progress reports for the major's project. The course is recommended for all majors.
At the end of each semester of research independent study, majors are required to submit a written progress report to Dr. Siburt. See http://www.chem.duke.edu/undergraduate/research-independent-study for contents.
One of the university's graduation requirements is a competency in Writing which involves taking Writing 20 plus two courses coded W for Writing-in-the-Discipline. Most majors are aware that P-chem labs count as 0.5 cc for writing(W) each. Majors may be less familiar with the fact that they can also earn a maximum of an additional 1.0 cc W through participation in independent study. The procedure for W-credit for Independent Study is as follows. Prior to the end of Drop/Add of your final semester of participation in independent study, you can go to the Trinity resources site, then select "Independent Study (Research), W Coding (form included)" and print a form for requesting W-credit for one Independent Study course. Fill out the form, have your research mentor and DUS sign it, and deliver the completed form to room 011 Allen Building prior to the end of Drop/Add.
Requirements for Completing Independent Study Requirements for the final semester of independent study include a poster session and a scholarly research report. The easiest way to meet these requirements is to take Chemistry 496, Graduation with Distinction in Chemistry. Whether a major takes Chemistry 496 or not, s/he must fulfill the following two requirements in order for independent study to count toward fulfilling requirements for a degree in chemistry:
Research Report (senior thesis). A final research report will be required of all students, with copies to be given to the Coordinator of Independent Study and to the student's research director. The rough draft of the paper, in the style of a technical paper in the scientific literature, will be due to the research director on the Monday before the Poster Session. The final copy, which must be approved well in advance of submission by the faculty mentor, will be due the Monday following the Poster Session. Note: this report is both a department and university requirement and cannot be waived by the research director.
Poster Session The last Friday of the spring semester all students who are completing Independent Study projects (i.e. those students who do not intend to pursue their projects further in any future semester) will present their work at a Poster Session open to the general scientific public.
