Below is a list of advising frequently asked questions (FAQ). If you do not find the answer to your question here or need additional information, please feel free to contact us.
If you would like to change tracks, please contact icons@cns.umass.edu and provide a statement of why you would like to change tracks.
Yes, for most majors, but please contact icons@cns.umass.edu to double-check with us.
You follow this two-step process:
- Add into the class required by your major.
- Notify the iCons staff to request that we add you into your next iCons class by furnishing the following information: Name, SPIRE ID, iCons class, major class, and major class instructor name.
Yes, you will need to enroll in your subsequent iCons classes.
The four iCons 3 courses are:
- ICONS 389H Team-Oriented Lab Discovery in Renewable Energy
- ICONS 390BH Integrated Discovery Lab in Biomedicine
- ISOM class (check with iCons staff about availability)
- Public Policy class (check with iCons staff about availability)
Aim to find a lab/project where the academic work is interesting to you and where you can draw a connection to your iCons problem area (Biomedicine/Biosystems, Food-Water-Climate, or Renewable Energy). Read UMass Amherst faculty research websites, listen to your gut about what you find interesting, and then write a short email to each of the professors whose research interests you. Make sure to do the following in your message:
- Introduce yourself: Name, major, iCons theme
- Express your sincere interest in their research and explain that you are looking to join a lab or work on a project ASAP.
- Ask if they are planning to take in any undergraduate students and, if so, would they be willing to meet for 15 minutes to discuss common interests sometime soon.
If you get a meeting, make sure to prepare for the meeting by downloading a paper of theirs and read it, generating thoughtful questions and even some of your own ideas for future work. If the first meeting goes well and you remain interested in their work, ask for a follow-up meeting where you talk about the possibility of joining their lab/research team, eventually leading to your having your own project. Then, if/when you join their lab/research team, be a good team player and a careful, creative, honest, and hard-working scientist. That's all :)
- iCons 1 and iCons 2 (iCons 2 may be taken concurrently with iCons 3)
- One lab course in a life science
- One additional lab course in a laboratory, computational, or field science
- iCons 1 and iCons 2 (may be taken concurrently with iCons 3), with a grade of C or higher.
- Calculus 127 and 128 or Calculus 131 and 132 with a grade of C or higher.
- Science lab courses (or science courses with associated labs, such as Chem 112 or Physics 132) from at least two different departments, with a grade of C or higher.
iCons 4 is made up of 6 credits of research or project work (outside of iCons courses) and two 1-credit iCons seminars taken in your final two semesters of college. Here is how it breaks down:
- 6 credits of an “Advanced Study” Project -- 3 credits in semester one, 3 credits in semester two (other combinations that add to 6 credits can also work)
- 1 credit iCons “Integrative Team Science Seminar” (ICONS 489FH) - semester one
- 1 credit iCons “Integrative Science Senior Exposition Seminar” (ICONS 489SH), semester two
Advanced Study Options:
- Honors Thesis Lab Project (499Y 3 credits, 499T 3 credits, or some combination adding to 6 credits)
- Honors Thesis Course Project (499E 3 credits, 499F 3 credits, or some combination adding to 6 credits)
- Senior Design Project (for Engineering students) (6 credits total)
- Other Independent Study (496 for 6 credits total)
If you are unsure about your Advanced Study plans, please email icons@cns.umass.edu to ask for advice.
No, there is no iCons thesis. If you are in Commonwealth Honors College, you will do your thesis through your department.
A structured research or design project of 6 credits taken over 2 semesters, such as:
- Departmental 499 Y/T Senior Thesis/Research Projects
- Engineering Senior Design Projects
- Departmental 496 Independent Study
To be considered an “iCons Advanced Study Project” the project must meet the following criteria:
- The project counts for at least 6 credits over 2 semesters
- The project is supervised by a qualified research/project adviser
- A written report is produced that is evaluated by the adviser
- The project involves advanced study sufficiently rooted in particular field of study, in service of solving a problem connected to a societal problem
In general, the iCons 4 (i4) research adviser offers advice to help you succeed in your research project. Such advice might involve (but is not limited to) help in choosing topics and questions, in framing hypotheses and designing experiments, and in analyzing and interpreting data. Your research adviser may also provide encouragement and perspective along the way of your research experience.
From an administrative perspective, your i4 research adviser provides constructive criticism on your proposal, and eventually accepts the proposal and hence gives you the green light to do the work. Your i4 research adviser then meets with you in a mutually-agreed-upon meeting schedule, to help supervise the research. Then your i4 research adviser provides constructive criticism on your work and eventually gives you a grade on your work.
Your i4 research adviser is NOT involved with the peer support teams, the cohort-wide meetings, the integrative experience, or any of the Senior Expo planning.
No. Many potential advisors won't welcome you into their lab at the start of senior year or late summer. Advisors typically do not allow new research projects to begin then, as there is too little time for students to get up to speed. To convince advisors, you'll need to show you've done summer reading to be ready in the Fall, which is much harder to argue if you approach them late. We strongly suggest finding a research advisor by junior year at the latest.
It is where you left it.