Senior Thesis Center

---

Congratulations!  You've made it to PH 488, the capstone, the final hurdle to graduation, the cherry on top of your educational experience here at BYU-Idaho.  But what is a Senior Thesis?  Where do you begin?  What are the instructors looking for in the final draft?  So many questions.... so little time.  But let's start with a few basics:

 

 

What is a Senior Thesis?

       A Senior thesis is required in order to graduate with a BS in physics.  This course is designed to help prepare you for and in part imitate graduate school.  This course is focused on bringing a student's research experience to conclusion by writing the formal thesis and presenting its contents to the faculty and other students.

 

Where do you begin? 

       Most if not all of your information will come from your research experience from either your internship or senior research or both.  Your research project should be finished before you enroll in PH 488, the senior thesis class is just to help you write about it.  So when can you start?  Well, today is a good day.  Basically, the earlier you start, the better.  Check out the research page  to find out about projects currently going on in our department. That way you can get some ideas and also get involved in real research.

 

What are the instructors looking for in a final draft?

   Essentially you will be graded on the following:      

       1. Formally write a report of the internship or senior resarch in AIP Format, including the

           literature search, a description of the research, conclusions drawn as a result, and areas

           of future research.  (Click here for examples from previous students)
       2. Report progress in a weekly class meeting.
       3. Defend the thesis in front of a faculty committee.
      

Some other important things to cover and general hints:

   The Senior Thesis is designed to give you help and experience in the following areas: 

       - Experience with writing research proposals

       - Experience editing in committees

       - Help with the process of research and help with putting together respectable

         bibliographies that will defend your credibility

       - Gives the opportunity to learn to set your own deadlines and work under your own 

          initiative, an experience you don't often get with undergraduate course work. (Hint: that's

          what a big part of what you're graded on.) 

  

 

Although we can't (or won't) do it for you, here are some examples of what we are looking for:

 

 

 A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z

(alphabetically listed)

 

 

Dumais, Heidi: True Color BVR Imaging From Astronomical Exposures; Fall 2008

 

-Back to Top of list                                                                                                      -Back to Top of Page

 

 

Francom, Brian: X-ray Fluorescence Instrument Calibration; Fall 2008

 

-Back to Top of list                                                                                                      -Back to Top of Page

 

 

Heilmann, Nathan: Extreme Ultraviolet LIght Polarimetry; Winter 2009

 

-Back to Top of list                                                                                                      -Back to Top of Page

 

 

Sanders, Cameron: Characterization and Applications of 100-300 MEV Electron Beams; Fall 2008

 

Schaeffer, Daniel: Fabrication of Tungsten Fiber Arrays in Glass and Electrochemical Etching of Tungsten Wire; Fall 2008

 

Starks, Berkley: The Effect of the E1 Strength Function on Neutron Capture Cross Sections; Winter 2009

 

-Back to Top of list                                                                                                      -Back to Top of Page