In order to be considered a candidate for honors, students will be expected to maintain an outstanding record in concentration courses. In addition, students should take at least one semester, and are strongly encouraged to take 2 semesters, of reading and research with a CCMB faculty member or approved advisor to complete their research. Students must submit to a public defense of their theses to be presented in an open forum to the CCMB community scheduled in the latter half of April.

2025-2026 Deadlines:

• October 5, 2025
  • Submit the Comp Bio Honors Registration form to register your honors thesis and advisor.
  • Submit a 1-2 page outline of your project to ccmb@brown.edu. This outline should include the working thesis title and a few brief paragraphs describing the research project, the lab you will be working with, methodology you will be using, and your desired end goal for the project. You must CC your advisor and second reader on this submission.
  • Important note: Your thesis advisor or second reader (or both) must be a current CCMB core or affiliate faculty member. If your thesis advisor is not a CCMB faculty member, you must have identified and confirmed a CCMB faculty member to be your second reader by this October deadline.
• February 8, 2026
  • Submit a short progress report regarding your research project to ccmb@brown.edu. These reports are typically 3-5 pages but can be longer depending on progress. The format and requirements of the progress report are flexible depending on your advisor's preferences but some key features include: working title, names of your project advisor and second reader, objective of the project, methodology overview, current status of research, any limitations experienced so far, and next steps. You must CC your advisor and second reader on this submission.
• 2nd Week in April (* this deadline will be finalized based on University deadlines that have not been released yet)
  • Submit a complete draft of your thesis to your advisor and second reader. Your advisor and reader may provide feedback at this time to incorporate into your final submission.
• 3rd Week of April  (* this deadline will be finalized based on University deadlines that have not been released yet)
  • Submit your final thesis to your advisor, your second reader, and ccmb@brown.edu. The format and requirements of the progress report are flexible depending on your advisor's preferences but some key features include: abstract, introduction and previous work, methods, results with figures, discussion of limitations and future directions, conclusion, references.
  • Present your thesis project and findings in the Comp Bio Honors Thesis presentations.