Advising FAQ

Yes, for most majors, but please double check Page 4 of the iCons at a Glance document. If your department is not listed, please contact icons@cns.umass.edu.

The two section of iCons 2 meet at different times:

1. Section 1 - Biomedicine/Biosystems: Tuesday/Thursday from 10:00 to 11:15. 
2. Section 2 - Renewable Energy: Tuesday/Thursday from 11:30 to 12:45.

1. The normal sequence of iCons courses is:
2. Spring Freshman year – iCons 1
3. Spring Sophomore year – iCons 2
4. Fall or Spring Junior year – iCons 3
5. Senior year – iCons 4 
6. Students taking this sequence receive priority enrollment in all iCons courses.

Aim to find a lab where the research is interesting to you, and where you can draw a connection to your iCons problem area (either Biomedicine or Renewable Energy -- for now). Read UMass Amherst faculty research websites, listen to your gut about what you find interesting, 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 ASAP 
• Ask if they are planning to take in any undergraduate students, and if so, would 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 1st 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, eventually leading to your having your own project. Then, if/when you join their lab, be a good team player and a careful, creative, honest, and hard-working scientist. That's all :)

There are two sections of iCons 3 Biomedicine/Biosystems (Bio 383H):

1. Section 1 - Monday 12:20 - 4:25/Wednesday 1:25 - 4:25
2. Section 2 - Tuesday 11:30 - 4:05/Thursday 1:00 - 4:05

1. iCons 1 and iCons 2 RE, with a grade of C or higher. 
2. Calculus 127 and 128 or Calculus 131 and 132 with a grade of C or higher. 
3. 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.

If you are NOT a member of the Commonwealth Honors College, the Senior Design Project may count for 6 credits of Advanced Study in iCons 4. The requirements are:

1. The project counts for at least 6 credits over 2 semesters
2. The project is supervised by a qualified research/project adviser
3. A written report is produced that is evaluated by the adviser and an iCons faculty member
4. The project involves advanced study sufficiently rooted in science and/or engineering, in service of solving a problem connected to a societal problem
5. The iCons Curriculum Committee (iCons director and iCons 4 instructor) agrees that the proposed substitution meets iCons 4 criteria, making judgments about (1) the extent of rooting of the work in science and/or engineering, (2) the connection of the problem to a societal problem, and (3) the sufficient qualifications of the adviser.

Enroll in "Dept" 396(H) for an independent study ("H" if you are in the Commonwealth Honors College), where "Dept" is the name of your major department. For example, if you are a biology major in CHC, you would sign up for Bio396(H).

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 written thesis, and eventually gives you a grade on your written thesis. 

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.

Choose a project that offers a balance between: (i) Your intellectual interest in a given topic and (ii) The topic's potential for transformative science.

How do you know if a topic has scientific potential? Ask yourself whether it will allow for the application of the Scientific Method.

The steps of the Scientific Method:

• Ask a question
• Pose a hypothesis (essentially an educated guess for the answer of the question)
• Design a study to test the hypothesis
• Carry out the study, fixing its flaws along the way
• Collect, analyze, and interpret data
• Determine if data are consistent with hypothesis
• If yes, party hardy
• If not, revise hypothesis until it becomes consistent with available data, and then party hardy
• Write up results in scientific format