NEU 99/199 and NEU 191 Research

Eligible students interested in receiving academic units for research experience can register for NEU 99 or 199: Supervised Independent Study or NEU 191: Senior Research Thesis through the NEU department. For tips on how to find a research position, see our Undergraduate Research Page.

NEU 99/199: Supervised Independent Study 

To receive NEU 99/199 credit, students must be declared in Neuroscience or be in a Neuroscience faculty’s lab. NEU 99/199 are graded on a pass/no pass basis. NEU 99/199 must be sponsored by a NEU faculty member.

Faculty Sponsorship:
NEU 99/199 must be sponsored by a NEU faculty member. If you are in a NEU lab, then the faculty principle investigator (PI) is your sponsor. If you are in a non-NEU lab, you must find a NEU faculty member to sponsor the units. Typically, students will check with their PI for existing collaborations with NEU faculty members or approach past instructors. Note: If you are in a non-NEU lab on campus you can probably get units through that department.

Credit:
Students may earn 1 unit of credit for every 3 hours of work per week in the lab, up to a maximum of 4 units per semester. 
            Note: No more than a total of 16 units of special studies courses may be used to meet the requirements for a bachelor’s degree. 

Prerequisites:

  • NEU 99: Completed fewer than 60 semester units of undergraduate study and be in good academic standing (3.3 GPA or better)
  • NEU 199: Completed at least 60 semester units of undergraduate study and be in good academic standing (2.0 GPA or better)

NEU 191: Senior Research Thesis

NEU 191 is intended for seniors in their graduating term wishing to pursue an independent research project under the mentorship of a Neuroscience faculty member. To apply, the research project must be rigorous and provide significant training in biology. NEU 191 must be sponsored by a NEU faculty member, though the research may be in any related lab. 

Credit:
NEU 191 is a 4-unit, letter graded course and assumes an average of at least 12 hours of work per week in a lab with the completion of a final research thesis. NEU 191 is not repeatable for credit. Students may not get credit for both NEU 191 and NEU H196B (Honors Research Thesis)

Prerequisites:

  • Be declared in the Neuroscience major and in your graduating semester
  • Must have at least 1 semester of credited research from a previous semester (e.g. NEU 199, UGIS 192C, etc)

How to apply for NEU 99/199 or NEU 191 credit:

  1. Discuss your proposed project with your lab group's faculty principle investigator (PI). If the lab is outside of the NEU department, find a NEU faculty member to sponsor your research. Be prepared to discuss the following with your NEU faculty sponsor:

    1. Description of the proposed study that will be undertaken for the course credit
    2. Description of the work upon which the grade will be based (paper, project, website, etc.)
    3. Description of preparatory background in this area of study and discussion of how this work is relevant to the overall course of study
    4. Description of the amount of time to be spent working independently each week and frequency of meetings with the instructor 

  2. Submit the NEU Research Application online form by the Friday of the third week of the semester (must be logged in to Berkeley email). This form requires student information from CalCentral, lab information (PI/sponsor name and email, lab department, lab location), project title, and project proposal (up to one page). 

  3. If the proposal is eligible for the units requested, the PI is sent an email with a copy of the student's application. If approved, the NEU faculty sponsor, if applicable, is also asked for approval.

  4. Once approved, the advising office will send students their class numbers to enroll in research units on a daily basis. Students must enroll themselves by the campus add/drop deadline: Wednesday of the fourth week of instruction.

    1. Please note that a late add fee of $5 per course is charged to students who add classes after the Friday of the third week of instruction.

  5. FOR NEU 99/199: If required by PI/NEU sponsor, submit a written report on the research project to your PI and/or NEU sponsor at the end of each semester. Expectations should be discussed with your PI and/or NEU faculty sponsor prior to the completion of the semester. 

FOR NEU 191: To receive a passing letter grade, you must submit a copy of your research thesis paper, along with the Senior Research Thesis Approval Form signed by your PI. This form will be provided to you via email and can be submitted to the NEU advising office via Google form. This is due by the last day of RRR week in the MCB 191 semester. Expectations should be discussed with your PI and/or NEU faculty sponsor prior to the completion of the semester.