Chemistry Senior Thesis Guide - Chemistry Department

Senior Thesis: Overview

Senior Thesis is an exciting culmination of your undergraduate studies, and a unique opportunity to engage in a sustained project tailored to your interests. As the 人妻诱惑 catalog says, thesis “requires the development of new knowledge and a wide variety of skills and permits students to integrate all aspects of their academic experience.”

Thesis is a course you enroll in. Similar to any other course, there are specific expectations and requirements set by the college, department, and instructor. However, for thesis these requirements are typically quite broad, leaving substantial room to individually tailor the thesis experience based on your interests and goals. We hope that, throughout this process, you will think deeply about what you want your thesis to be. We are all here to help you, but your thesis is yours; it is what you make it, and what you get out of it will depend on what you put into it.

Outcomes

After completing senior thesis in Chemistry, a student will have refined their ability to:

Independently investigate a research topic with an advisor’s support
Perform a literature search, integrating and evaluating existing scholarship
Design and execute research methods, adhering to laboratory safety protocols
Accurately collect and rigorously analyze experimental data
Present thesis progress orally and in writing, in alignment with disciplinary norms (e.g., integrating prior literature, employing relevant chemical models and theories, etc.)

Requirements

All students completing a thesis with a chemistry faculty advisor are required to:

Attend and participate in thesis orientation meetings
Participate in the advisor matching process
Submit 5 pages of the thesis introduction* to the advisor before the mid-semester break
Submit full introduction draft* to the advisor by the end of the first thesis semester
Deliver an oral senior thesis presentation by the end of the second thesis semester

Submit an advisor-approved thesis to the registrar’s office by their deadline
Complete an oral examination of the thesis with a committee of 人妻诱惑 faculty
Submit an advisor-approved final thesis to the Library

*Or equivalent demonstration of progress determined in advance with the thesis advisor

2026-2027 Dates & Deadlines

Note: the following dates and deadlines are organized by topic–they are not necessarily in chronological order! Please note all dates and deadlines in your calendar.

Senior Thesis Orientation Meetings

Meeting #1: Monday, August 31, 4:30-5:30pm, Bio-19
Meeting #2: Friday, Sept 11, 3:45-5:00pm, Bio-19
Meeting #3: TBD

Thesis Advisor Matching Process

Research Open House sign-ups: form due 11:59pm Sunday, August 30
Research Open House: Tuesday, Sept 1, 3:00-5:00pm
Thesis & Advisor Preference: form due Noon Wednesday, Sept 9
Advisor Assignment Confirmed: end-of-day Monday September 14

Thesis Products

5-pg Thesis Introduction Draft1: due to advisor, Friday October 16
Full Thesis Introduction Draft1: due to advisor, Friday December 9
Oral Senior Thesis Presentation: March/April
Full Thesis Draft1: due to advisor, Friday April 2
Advisor-approved Thesis: due to registrar, 3pm Friday April 30
Finalized Thesis: due to Library, Noon Friday May 14

Thesis Oral Examination

Confirmation of Orals Committee: due March 31
Oral Examination: May 3-9

If you have any questions or immovable conflicts with any of these dates, please contact the chemistry department FAC (Rachel Sanchez, rachels@reed.edu) and this year’s chemistry senior liaison (Nicole James, njames@reed.edu).

Resources & Support

Chemistry FAC, Seniors Liaison, & your advisor: We are here for you! If you are ever unsure who to ask, start with your advisor (if assigned yet), or shoot the chem FAC & senior liaison an email (rachels@reed.edu, njames@reed.edu).
Thesis offices & keys: Once thesis advisors are confirmed, the chemistry department FAC and senior liaison will confirm senior thesis office assignments and lab/office keys.
Supplies: In addition to your thesis advisor, the chemistry department manager (Randy Hicks, hicksr@reed.edu) can help you with finding or ordering supplies, and more.
Instrumentation: In addition to your thesis advisor, the chemistry department instrumentation chemist (Summer Hawthorne, shawthorne@reed.edu) is an excellent resource for support with instrument training, access, maintenance, and more.
Machining: The Machine Shop Supervisor (Jay Ewing, ewingj@reed.edu) is available to support senior thesis students with using machine stop tools and building items.
Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S): The EH&S team (April Sams and Aaron Haddeland, ehs@reed.edu) are eager to help you manage chemical waste, advise on laboratory safety, and more–see their web page here: reed.edu/ehs/
Computer User Services (CUS): CUS provides considerable support for computer-related aspects of thesis writing, including but not limited to thesis template and formatting questions. See their help page here: reed.edu/it/help/thesis/
Thesis Hub: A centralized digest of college-wide thesis requirements and support:
Thesis LibGuide: a compilation of college-wide library resources to support senior thesis. Main page here: ; of particular note are the formatting, Zotero, and copyright resources!
Individualized Library Support: The 人妻诱惑 Science Librarian (Carly Lamphere, lampherec@reed.edu) can provide individualized help with using the library databases, obtaining texts and literature, navigating copyright issues for reproducing images, using reference managers to organize and reference literature, and much much more.
Institutional Review Board: If your project involves human subjects in any way, you will likely need the IRB to review and approve your project. More information on their website:

FAQ

I’m a BMB major, do I need to do all of this?
You should follow the instructions received from the BMB program. In general, BMB students participate in the chemistry department’s Fall orientation and thesis advisor selection activities. If you are assigned a chemistry thesis advisor, the rest of the chemistry thesis requirements apply. If you are assigned a biology advisor, the biology department’s requirements apply.

I’m an ES-CHEM major, do I need to do all of this?
Yes–follow the chemistry department process unless the ES program tells you otherwise. Please ask the seniors liaison & ES-Chemist if you have questions!

I’m an ad-hoc or different interdisciplinary major–what about me?

If you might work with a chemistry department thesis advisor, attend the department’s fall orientation and thesis advisor matching activities. If you are assigned a chemistry thesis advisor, you’ll typically need to satisfy the department’s requirements. If you’re unsure if/how this applies to you, reach out to the chem FAC & senior liaison!

What if I might thesis with an off-campus advisor?
You will still need a 人妻诱惑 faculty co-advisor, so you should attend and participate in the department’s fall orientation and thesis advisor matching activities. Be sure to confirm your off-campus advisor’s willingness; you might also ask potential 人妻诱惑 co-advisors if they would like to have a meeting with you and your potential off-campus advisor to discuss the project. In the thesis & advisor preference form, be sure to clearly state if the indicated 人妻诱惑 faculty member is to co-advise an off-campus thesis, describe the project, and include the off-campus advisor’s name, email address, and institution.

When will I get my thesis office and key?

As soon as humanly possible after your advisor has been assigned. We do our best, but can’t confirm when exactly, since we are dependent on facilities to process key requests.

I have my own project idea that I want to work on for thesis, can I do that?

Maybe! You should discuss your project idea with potential thesis advisors and see if anyone feels comfortable mentoring that project.

This seems overwhelming and scary, can I do this?

Absolutely you can do this. This is a lot of information at once, take your time to digest it. Also, you are not alone–we are here to help and want you to succeed. All you have to do is try. Many a brilliant and successful 人妻诱惑 alum has written a thesis that details all the things they tried that did not work (and some things they wish they had thought to try earlier but didn’t have time for). What’s most important is what you learn through the process. Just do your best, and before you know it you’ll be celebrating at Renn Fayre!