Senior Thesis

Overview of Program

What is a senior thesis?

A senior thesis is a paper which highly-motivated senior undergraduates may write to present the results of a major, independent research or creative project. Unlike most term projects, papers, and lab reports written in undergraduate courses, a senior thesis addresses questions or issues for which no known or generally accepted answers exist.



The Senior Thesis Program allows you to explore your aptitude for research within a more extended and individualized framework than that generally afforded by courses. It deepens your participation in the University's community of scholars through your close contact with your thesis director and committee members, other interested faculty, graduate and postdoctoral students, and fellow undergraduate researchers. As the most widely recognized and respected hallmark of undergraduate distinction, a senior thesis demonstrates to graduate schools, fellowship committees, and employers your intellectual achievement and sophistication as well as your initiative and self discipline. As the capstone of your undergraduate experience, a senior thesis provides you with the opportunity to draw upon everything you have learned in your college experience and make a significant contribution of your own.



What is a Degree with Distinction?

The term “Distinction” is included in a baccalaureate degree title when the recipient has conducted original research or creative work, written a senior thesis or produced a creative project and successfully defended the work before a committee of University faculty. The University of Delaware offers Degrees with Distinction (DWD) to students who successfully defend a Senior Thesis and who meet all of the requirements listed below. While it is possible to write a Senior Thesis without receiving Distinction, most students do graduate with Distinction. To graduate with Distinction is to graduate with a different kind of degree (e.g., a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with Distinction).



For Honors students who successfully create and defend a Senior Thesis, it is possible to graduate with an Honors Degree with Distinction (HDWD). The HDWD recognizes a student's completion of the research requirements for the Degree with Distinction in addition to the successful completion of 30 credits in Honors courses through the degree program. The Honors Degree with Distinction is listed on each student's University of Delaware official transcript.

What is involved in writing a senior thesis?

  • Research, write, and defend a thesis.

  • Enroll in UNIV 401 & 402 (for specific course info, see handbook)

  • Present at the Undergraduate Research Symposium (optional)

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    To learn more about how to apply to this program, as well as what goes into being a part of the Senior Thesis Program, please refer to the Senior Thesis Handbook or contact the URP office to set up an advisement appointment (undergradresearch@udel.edu).

    Undergraduate Research Symposium

    A symposium that showcases the work of senior thesis candidates in all disciplines. Senior thesis candidates may present their work as a poster or as a brief talk. Held each May in Perkins Student Center, the Undergradate Research Symposium is open to everyone on campus. For more information, contact Meg Meiman (meiman@udel.edu).