College Of Agricultural And Life Sciences

CALS Honors

CALS Honors Scholars Certificate

The CALS Honors Scholars Certificate Program is for students who have:

Declared a major in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Accumulated at least 60 credits toward graduation
A 3.75 or greater overall Upper-Division GPA

CALS Honors coursework is identified as such on the transcript. Students that successfully complete the CALS Honors Program are designated as CALS Honors Scholars, and receive a Scholars Medallion and certificate. Successful completion of the CALS Honors program (GPA, courses, and thesis) automatically qualifies students for graduation from UF with magna cum laude or summa cum laude honors.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are The Deadlines For Submitting A Proposal and Final Thesis?
- If you are graduating Spring 2026: Proposal is due to CALS Honors Program Director by Friday, September 26, 2025.
- Thesis (signed and approved by your thesis mentor and Departmental Honors Coordinator) is due to CALS Honors Program Director by Friday, March 27, 2026. Please note, if you are a CALS Biology major and wish to be considered for the Biology Honors Awards, you need to turn your completed thesis into Dr. Mutahi by March 15, 2026.
- If you are graduating Summer 2025: Proposal is due to CALS Honors Program Director by Friday, February 7, 2025.
- Thesis (signed and approved by your thesis mentor and Departmental Honors Coordinator) is due to CALS Honors Program Director by Thursday, July 3, 2025. Please note, if you are a CALS Biology major and wish to be considered for the Biology Honors Awards, you need to turn your completed thesis into Dr. Mutahi by June 20, 2025.
- If you are graduating Fall 2025: Proposal is due to CALS Honors Program Director by Friday, May 30, 2025.
- Thesis (signed and approved by your thesis mentor and Departmental Honors Coordinator) is due to CALS Honors Program Director by Friday, November 7, 2025. Please note, if you are a CALS Biology major and wish to be considered for the Biology Honors Awards, you need to turn your completed thesis into Dr. Mutahi by October, 20, 2025.
What is an Honors Thesis?
- An Honors thesis is a written report of a creative, scholarly project dealing with teaching, research, or outreach. It has clear objectives and conclusions and involves original, independent work of the student. It is NOT a book report or literature review of a topic, an opinion paper on why something is good or bad, or a paper that lacks novel and critical analysis.
How Long is A Typical CALS Thesis?
- There is no length requirement; typically theses are 10-50 pages double spaced, not counting figures, tables, literature cited, and appendices. The focus is quality, not quantity.
Should I Do An Honors Thesis?
- Are in the CALS Honors Program
- Wish to graduate UF with magna or summa cum laude Latin Honors
- Like to work one-on-one with distinguished faculty
- Can devote up to several hours per week to your project
- Are self-motivated and manage time effectively
- Wish to enhance your qualifications for graduate or professional school admission

Courses

CALS Honors Scholars Certificate courses are designed to give you individual and small-class interactions with faculty and fellow students. Faculty get to know CALS Honors Scholars Certificate students, and can help with letters of recommendation and advice on employment and higher degree opportunities.

To complete the CALS Honors Scholars Certificate, you must take ALS 3923 (1 credit Honors Orientation), XXX 4915 (3 credit Honors Project) plus 4-6 additional credit hours of honors courses taken as part of an Honors Course Contract (see below). The 4-6 additional hours must come from upper division courses not previously counted for credit.

To graduate with Honors from UF without completing the CALS Honors Scholars Certificate you must write an honors thesis as part of the coursework requirement.

NOTE

You can write an Honors Contract on upper-division courses in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences only! We cannot change course titles in other colleges to include Honors - only CALS.

Graduate Courses and UF Honors Courses: UF Honors courses numbered 3000 or above and not previously counted for credit will also satisfy CALS Honors course requirements if you go through the CALS Dean's office, using an Honors Contract form signed by your instructor to create an honors section of a course you are currently enrolled in. Graduate courses are those numbered 5000 and above, and they require the consent of the instructor for you to enroll; contact the instructor directly.

Questions about coursework? Ask your Departmental Honors Coordinator, or the CALS Dean's office.

ALS 3923 -- Honors Orientation (1 cr)
- This course orients students to the CALS Honors Program and assists them in getting started with a thesis project. The course features guest lectures, class discussions, interactive exercises, and online assignments.
XXX 4915 - Honors Project (0-3 cr)
- Each CALS department has "Honors Project" or "Honors Research" courses, to be taken while you are working on your thesis project. Outside of CALS, departments may not have a XXX 4915 course, so consult your to determine what to take if your mentor is not a member of CALS. You can use ALS 4915 for this purpose. View the ALS 4915 undergraduate honors project student contract that must be completed before you register for this honors project class.
Honors Course Contracts involve scholarly inquiry and faculty mentoring linked to upper division courses within your major. Together with your instructor, unique course requirements are developed, and the course receives Honors status. Students must submit the Honors Contract form to the Dean's office no later than 3 weeks after the first day of classes of the semester in which the course is taken. This is the most common way that CALS Honors coursework is completed.

Requirements

Consider applying to the CALS Honors Scholars Certificate program if you meet the following admission requirements:

You are a student in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
You have earned at least 60 credits toward graduation
You have an overall UF upper-division GPA of 3.75 or greater (check your degree audit to see this)

Hours: 9 credits with minimum grades of C or S

Students earning the CALS honors scholar certificate must complete at least nine credit hours of honors coursework and an undergraduate honors thesis. The coursework, thesis topic and thesis adviser are unique to each student and are subject to approval by the CALS honors program director.

Maintain an upper division GPA (last 60 hours) of at least 3.75.
ALS 3923 Honors Orientation (1 credit).
XXX 4915 Honors Project (or similar independent study/research course to be completed as the student is working on their thesis research) (3-4 credits). In each department, there is a course designated for this purpose; register for this during the semester that you are performing or writing your honors project. The zero credit option for XXX 4915 will NOT count towards the CALS Honor Scholar Certificate.
Additional Honors courses. Honors course work is identified as such on your transcript. These additional credits of honors coursework (4-5 credits) are taken as:

Existing 3000/4000-level honors courses, approved by the honors program director
Existing 3000/4000-level CALS courses taken as honors contract courses, approved by the honors program director
CALS graduate-level courses, approved by the honors program director

Complete an Honors thesis, approved by the research mentor, department honors coordinator and honors program director.
Be sure to double check with your Departmental Honors Coordinator for any additional requirements.

Graduating With Honors

You do not have to participate in the CALS Honors Program to graduate from the University of Florida with Honors.

Graduating with Honors from UF requires only the following:

Cum laude (with honors) - a 3.5 minimum upper-division GPA
Magna cum laude (with high honors) - a 3.75 minimum upper-division GPA, PLUS an Honors Thesis. You are not required to sign up for honors research credits (XXX 4915). If you need the credits, you can sign up for 1-3 credits of XXX4915. At a minimum the University would like you to sign up for the zero credit XXX 4915 every term you are conducting research.
Summa cum laude (with highest honors) - a 3.85 minimum upper-division GPA PLUS an Honors Thesis. You are not required to sign up for honors research credits (XXX 4915). If you need the credits, you can sign up for 1-3 credits of XXX4915. At a minimum the University would like you to sign up for the zero credit XXX 4915 every term you are conducting research.

However, students who complete the CALS Honors Program will graduate from UF magna cum laude or summa cum laude automatically, since the CALS Honors Program requirements exceed the UF and CALS requirements.

Special note for Microbiology and Cell Science students:
In addition to the thesis and GPA requirements noted above, you will need to enroll in a minimum of 4 credits of MCB 4911 (Supervised Research) or MCB 4915 (CALS Honors Supervised Research) to conduct research that will be used for the Thesis. These may be taken for a maximum of 6 credits and a maximum per semester total of 0-3 for the fall and spring semesters. For summer A or Summer B, you can register for a maximum of 0-1 credits and for Summer C a maximum of 0-2 credits. Once you max out at 06 credits, you may continue to register for 0 credit hours. Summer enrollment: if MCB4915 or MCB4911 is the only course on your schedule and you choose to register for 0 credits, you will be charged fees for 01 credit.

Please see the Microbiology and Cell Science Department web site.

Be sure to double check with your departmental for any additional requirements.

CALS Honors students may qualify for paid research opportunities such as those available through the University Scholars Program.

Application Deadline to submit to CALS: February 6, 2026

Eligibility & Selection of Scholars: 2026-2027 Academic Year

Undergraduate students from any college who wish to conduct research with a faculty member in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (this includes the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences and School of Natural Resources and Environment) are eligible to compete for this award although preference is given to students in the college. Students should complete the University Scholars’ Program Application (link above) and submit to the Dean's office.

We anticipate a total of 20 awards will be given to students with CALS faculty mentors. A CALS student who wishes to work with a faculty member in a college outside of CALS, MUST apply in the college of the faculty and not in CALS. Each award is a $1,750 student stipend for the supervised research, disbursed in two payments (Sept. and May). The faculty mentor will also receive $500 that can be used for travel or other research-related needs.

Selection Process

The college will choose the student research projects from all applications submitted based on the following criteria:

Sound background and justification
Clear objective(s)
Sound methodology and approach

Students and faculty mentors will be notified of their selection approximately four weeks after the application deadline.

Expectations During Scholars Program

Students are encouraged to register for undergraduate research during at least one of the semesters within the award period. See your departmental advisor on how to sign up for undergraduate research as part of the University Scholars program.

If you are using the University Scholars program as part of the CALS Honors Scholar Certificate then you will need to sign up for XXX4915 Honors Thesis Research (you will need a total of 3 credits for the certificate) in the name of your major (substitute your departmental code for the XXX).

If you want to use this research experience for both the University Scholars program and graduating magna or summa cum laude you can sign up for honors thesis credit (XXX4915) or supervised research credit (XXX4911) in the name of your major (substitute your departmental code for the XXX). You can sign up for 0-3 credits.

If you want to use this research experience for just the University Scholars program, sign up for supervised research credit (XXX4911) in the name of your major (substitute your departmental code for the XXX). You can sign up for 0-3 credits.

Students must be in good standing to receive the second payment, defined as adequate progress on the project determined by the faculty mentor, completion of all required documentation, and good academic standing. Students must submit a final typed report of the project to their mentor. Students are required to submit a final report for publication in The Journal of Undergraduate Research or another journal. The report can serve as an Undergraduate Honors Thesis to fulfill requirements for magna and summa cum laude Honors at UF.

Successful applicants are expected to attend an orientation in April 2026 and students must present their results at a university-wide symposium in April of 2027. Faculty mentors are expected to attend if their mentee's work is selected. Students will be selected for the University symposium based on an evaluation of their effectiveness in presenting and understanding their overall research project and goals achieved.

General questions should be directed to:
Dr. Al Wysocki, Associate Dean
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
2020 McCarty Hall D
352-392-1963

Applications should be emailed to:
Matt Brannan
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
2020 McCarty Hall D
352-392-1963

Departmental Honors coordinators can help you find a faculty mentor and conduct a project related to your interests:
- Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  Coordinator: Dr. Bruce Welt
- Agricultural Education and Communication
  Coordinator: Dr. Ricky Telg
- Agricultural Operations Management
  Coordinator: Dr. Bruce Welt
- Animal Sciences
  Coordinator: Dr. Antonio Faciola
- Biology
  Coordinator: Dr. Teresa Mutahi
- Botany
  Coordinator: Dr. Bernie Hauser
- Entomology and Nematology
  Coordinator: Dr. Lisa Taylor
- Environmental Management in Agriculture and Natural Resources
  Coordinator: Dr. Patrick Inglett
- Environmental Science
  Coordinator: Dr. Ramesh Reddy
- Family, Youth and Community Sciences
  Coordinator: Dr. Kim Wiley
- Food and Resource Economics
  Coordinator: Dr. Caleb Stair
- Food Science and Human Nutrition
  Coordinator: Dr. Wendy Dahl
- Forest Resources and Conservation
  Coordinator: Scott Sager
- Geomatics
  Coordinator: Scott Sager
- Marine Sciences
  Coordinator: Scott Sager
- Microbiology and Cell Science
  Coordinator: Dr. Joseph Larkin
- Natural Resource Conservation
  Coordinator: Scott Sager
- Plant Science
  Coordinators: Dr. Luke Flory
- Soil and Water Sciences
  Coordinator: Dr. Patrick Inglett
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
  Coordinator:Dr. Nia Morales

Forms & Resources

Application to Join CALS Honors Program
Center for Undergraduate Research One Stop - CANVAS one-stop-shop for all information about undergraduate research to make the process more transparent and accessible to students.
Departmental Honors Coordinators - Find/contact the Honors Coordinator for your major and ask for ideas on possible mentors for your honors research.
Honors Program Checklist - Use this form to track your Honors Program coursework and progress toward completing the program.
Honors Contract Form - Use this form to develop an Honors Contract for an existing CALS course.
Honors Contract Information - Guidelines on how to compose an honors contract.
UF/IFAS Research Volunteer Opportunities - UF students looking for an opportunity to volunteer in support of a UF/IFAS research project can search research opportunities.
Paid Undergraduate IFAS Research Internships - Interns are supervised by an IFAS faculty member and are paid for six weeks full time, or the hours can be spread out over the entire summer.
UF Database for Honors Theses - A searchable database for past theses. Only includes digital theses, not paper theses.
Directions for the UF Library's Online Submission Form
Honors Thesis Proposal Guidelines - Follow this format in developing your proposal.
CALS Honors Thesis Proposal Cover Page (fillable PDF)
Honors Thesis Research Form - Students doing a thesis must complete this form and sign up for a course ending in 4915 (e.g., ANS 4915).
Honors Thesis Guide - Read this as you begin to formulate your Honors Thesis Project.
CALS Honors Thesis Submission Form - Use this for final submission of your Honors Thesis to the CALS Dean's Office. The form must be TYPED. CALS will not accept hand-written copies.
UF Honors Program website - Theses: for specifics on submitting your thesis to UF.
Submit the final version of your thesis after your advisor, honors coordinator, and the CALS Dean's Office have signed off on your thesis. You must upload the final revision of your thesis to the UF Library by April 24 for spring semester graduates, August 9 for summer graduates, and December 5 for fall semester graduates.
University Scholars Program - Apply to this program to receive funding for your Honors Thesis project.
WebGURU - A website that guides students and faculty on undergraduate research projects.
Rotary Grants - An opportunity to travel and study abroad while being paid $10,000 - $23,000 for your service.