The senior honors thesis is the capstone experience of the honors program within an academic department or program. It is a two-semester sequence during which students work, under the supervision of an advisor, on a substantial piece of original research and writing. Students must then defend their theses to an advisory committee. The thesis requires a major commitment of time and energy, and ordinarily attracts only a small percentage of graduating seniors. Only those who have successfully written and defended a thesis can graduate with Honors, High Honors or Highest Honors. Senior honors theses on paper (from 1950 to 2013) can be found in Brandeis Library OneSearch and may be consulted in the University Archives.
Since the creation of the Brandeis Institutional Repository, 400 theses are available to view and offer a great look into the scholarship produced by our undergraduate community.
As an author of a Senior Honor Thesis, it is important to know that "Authors retain copyright to their work."
If you are writing a thesis and you are interested in submitting your work to the Brandeis Institutional Repository, please read on for more information about the submission process. Senior thesis writers also have the option of submitting a paper copy of their work to the University Archives.
When getting ready to submit your thesis, also check with your department for particular procedures. Most departments require a cover sheet. Below you will find a PDF template of a cover sheet that you can use.
From the main BIR page, on the right-hand side under My Account click on Login.
On the next page, you will login with your UNET ID. After logging in, Under My Account, you will select Submissions.
You will start a new submission. You will then select a collection. From the dropdown menu, you will select Brandeis University Honors Theses.
On the next page you will fill in the information. Check the BIR to see the proper way to enter your advisor’s name properly and select Next
The next page you will select the language of your thesis, fill in the abstract. For copyright follow the format: Copyright by FirstName LastName Graduation Year. Ex. Copyright by Jane Smith 2019 and select Next
You will then upload your file. Make sure it is a PDF and the name of file follows this format. LastNameThesisDate. Ex: SmithThesis2019 You do not need to fill in the file description. Select Upload File and then next
After you uploaded the file, you can review the information you provided. If everything looks ok, select Next
The next page will be a Distribution License. Please read. Once you have finished reading, please check the “I Grant the Licence” box and “Complete submission”
After you have submitted your thesis, it will be reviewed to make sure that it meets all BIR requirements. If any changes need to be made, you will be contacted.
If you would like your thesis to be embargoed, please contact us with the details including the length of the embargo and the reason. You can contact us at: http://bir.brandeis.edu/cgi-bin/bir_feedback.pl