Admission Requirements

Current UNC Charlotte Undergraduate Students

See University Admission Requirements  

Consideration for admission to the Honors Program may be initiated by the student or by any chemistry honors faculty member. The Honors Program Director of the Chemistry Department will formally approve admission. The student may be removed from the Honors Program at any time, upon his/her own request or upon the recommendation of the Honors Committee of the Chemistry Department. They will then exercise the option of (1) withdrawing from the Honors course(s) in accordance with the University policy on withdrawal or (2) switching from the Honors section of the course(s) to a regular (non-Honors) section of the course(s).  Continuation in the Honors Program is reviewed each semester and the student may be removed by the Honors Program Director if their GPA requirements are not maintained, or if they have committed any academic integrity code violations. 

Course Requirements

1. Complete at least 2 semesters, and a minimum of 4 credit hours of Directed Honors Research CHEM 4900 .  At least 2 credit hours are taken in the student’s last semester as a capstone experience. The student must form an Honors thesis committee and prepare an Honors research  proposal for submission to their thesis committee and the Honors Program Director during their penultimate semester.  This proposal must be approved, by their committee, one week prior to being submitted to the Honors College.
2. Complete an Honors Research Capstone experience and complete an Honors thesis based on their own Directed Honors Research.
3. Complete 1 hour of Honors Seminar (CHEM 4696 ), which involves a seminar presentation of the results of the Honors research and defense of the Honors thesis. The thesis must be successfully defended before the student’s Honors Thesis Committee (consisting of the Honors research advisor, plus two additional members of the Chemistry Department’s Honors Faculty).
4. Students are encouraged to join the Chemistry Honors program as early as their Freshman year.  Contact the Chemistry Honors Program Director for details on how to get started.
5. It is recommended that students interested in a Chemistry Honors degree join a research group no later than their junior year.  They should enroll in CHEM 3695  in their junior year, and CHEM 4695  in their penultimate semester.  The student’s Honors proposal and application to candidacy are due by Reading Day of their penultimate semester.

• CHEM 4696 - Chemistry Seminar (1)
• CHEM 4900 - Directed Undergraduate Research (1 to 4)

Progression Requirements

To obtain Honors in Chemistry, a student must successfully complete at least four hours of CHEM 4900  over at least two semesters, at the Honors level, one semester of CHEM 4696  at the Honors level, prepare and successfully defend an honors thesis based on their independent research, and complete the Application to Candidacy process for graduating with honors, as directed by the Honors College.  The honors notation will appear on a student’s official transcript.  

Honors students must have a GPA of at least 3.75 for all Honors work in Chemistry at UNC Charlotte. The preferred GPA for all UNC Charlotte course work is at least 3.5, with a preferred GPA  of at least 3.25 for all course work in Chemistry (CHEM) taken at UNC Charlotte. The successful student must receive a grade of “A” for at least 4 hours of Directed Honors Research (CHEM 4900 ), and receive a grade of “A” for CHEM 4696 , including the defense of their honors thesis to their thesis committee.