Thinking about doing Honours?
Basic Information About Honours
Structural Options
Eligibility and Applications
Candidature
University Medals
Basic Information About Honours in the Discipline of Environmental Science
The Honours programs offered by the Environmental Science provides students with the opportunity to undertake supervised research in a chosen area of interest and enables them to enhance their academic qualifications and general experience in Environmental Science for employment purposes. Honours students in Environmental Science are required to undertake a supervised research project (16 credit points) and 8 credit points of coursework. In special cases students may write an 8 credit point dissertation plus take 16 credit points of coursework.
If you are interested in Honours (or Masters) talk to us now! Even if its early in your second year. We often encourage potential Honours students to do vacation work, which may include a scholarship, at the end of their second year or between semesters in their third year. Even if such students decide not to proceed with Honours, this is useful experience. Additionally, as the 1-year full-time/2 years part-time term is quite a tight time-line for resarch-based projects, there are some practical limits on topics which need to be considered by students and their supervisors.
Students intending to do Honours should discuss possible projects with a potential supervisor in the semester before commencing candidature, at the very latest. Talk to academic staff about your interests, supervision arrangements, possible topics, and how you might decide on a project. We strongly encourage students to seek advice and assistance from any available source as co-supervision between staff in Environmental Science and staff in other Departments is common. We need lots of lead time for Honours projects as they commonly require purchase of maps, data, software or discussion with external agencies and these arrangements can take many months to put in place. For potential supervisors, have a look at the Environmental Science Research page and the Division's Research Groups and Expertise listings to identify our research areas and associated staff. Please feel free to contact staff members to discuss their research areas and how they could be integrated into your research plans.
The Discipline of Environmental Science prefers that students use the major thesis approach to Honours, i.e., coursework equivalent to 8 credit points and a thesis equivalent to 16 credit points.
One of the units normally taken by all BA and BSc Honours students in Environmental Science is GEOS862 Research in Physical Geography , the content of which is tailored to meet individual needs. Included in this unit are joint meetings between staff and students designed to improve topic selection and supervision and to present the student workshops and seminar which are part of the general Honours requirements. The second unit will be selected after consultation with your supervisor and confirmation by the Department.
The following Honours degree programs are available:
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Physical Geography/Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Physical Geography
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (Geographic Information Science)/Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Geographic Information Science)
Eligibility for Admission to Candidature
To be eligible for admission to a place in one of the above degree programs an applicant must have:
- qualified for the award of the corresponding Bachelor degree;
- have completed satisfactorily a program of study prescribed by the Dean of the Division in which they desire to undertake the Honours program;
- attained in the units completed for the Bachelor degree a standard of achievement approved by the Dean of Division.
For Macquarie University graduates the following grade point average attainment is required:
- an overall grade point average of at least 2.5; and
- a 300-level grade point average of at least 2.5.
- A GPA at this level does not guarantee admission as suitable supervisory arrangements must be in place for Honours candidature to proceed.
Application for Admission to Honours
Application forms and information may be obtained from the Undergraduate Studies Section on telephone (02) 9850 7314. Applications should be lodged by 31 October for the following academic year and not later than the first week in June for mid-year admission.
Application forms and further University information is available from:
http://www.reg.mq.edu.au/undergrad/current/honours/index.htm
Candidature for Honours Programs
Candidature is for a single full-time year, or two years' part-time. The formal commencement of candidature for the honours degree is the date set down in the Principal Dates as the date of commencement of the half-year.
University Medals for Honours Graduates
Upon the recommendation of the Division a University medal may be awarded to a candidate who has obtained the Degree of Bachelor with Honours Class 1 and shown exceptional academic achievement.