Distinction in Research and Creative Works

Honors Thesis & Distinction in Research and Creative Work

Honors Thesis

An honors thesis is an independent research project conducted by advanced undergraduates in the mathematics major, under the close supervision of a faculty member. It typically lasts for one academic year, and it culminates in a written thesis and a public oral presentation.

Components

1. Thesis committee.

Each honors thesis must have a thesis advisor, who is responsible for supervising the research and evaluating its write-up and oral presentation. It must also have a second reader, who will also be evaluating the write-up and oral presentation. These two comprise the thesis committee.

The thesis committee is chaired by the thesis advisor unless that is not a tenured, tenure-track, or teaching-track professor in the Rice University Department of Mathematics. In that case, the second reader must hold such a position, and will be the thesis committee chair instead.

2. Write-up.

The thesis write-up must be done in LaTeX and be a minimum of 20 double-spaced pages. It must be original written work. Originality may take a number of forms:

- Proof of a new theorem.

- Computations illustrating a mathematical principle, known or conjectured.

- A novel proof or presentation of an existing theorem.

The work must be documented in a detailed, precise, and mathematically rigorous form; the exposition must include mathematical proofs, even if the underlying contribution is computational in nature. The thesis must be original written work, written by the student alone.

3. Oral presentation.

There must be an oral presentation of the honors thesis. It should last between 45-60 minutes and must be open to the mathematics department public.

Timeline and Milestones

1. Identify a thesis advisor and a research topic. Consult with potential advisors early, typically during junior year. We strongly encourage you to explore our Directed Reading Program and independent reading courses with various faculty members prior to this.

2. Conduct research under the guidance of the thesis advisor. This is typically done over the course of one academic year. Enroll for 1 credit in MATH 479 (Mathematics Undergraduate Research) with the thesis committee chair for every semester of honors thesis research.

Consider applying for a Rice Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship for the summer after junior year, and the Rice Undergraduate Scholars Program for senior year.

3. The student is responsible for meeting these spring semester of senior year (*) deadlines:

- 5PM Friday Week 2: Schedule the thesis oral presentation (day, time, location) with the thesis committee.

- 5PM Friday Week 8: Submit a preliminary thesis write-up to the thesis committee.

- 5PM Friday Week 11: Hold the thesis oral presentation.

- 5PM Friday Week 12: Submit the final version of the thesis write-up to the thesis committee.

It is the student’s responsibility to meet these deadlines.

Distinction in Research and Creative Work

Distinction in Research and Creative Works in Mathematics recognizes original written work. Examples of eligible work include an Honors Thesis, described above, as well as work done at an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) program at Rice or another university.

Students applying for Distinction must submit:

- Written work that has been authored or co-authored by the student.

- At least one letter of support, from a Rice faculty member or other research supervisor.

- This letter must attest to the originality of the student's contribution.

These should be submitted to the Chair of the Undergraduate Committee by 5PM Friday of Week 12 of spring semester senior year (*). Submissions will be reviewed by the Undergraduate Committee, which will be solely responsible for deciding which merit Distinction.

(*) or fall, if graduating in December