Departmental Honors Program

The application for the 2024-25 academic year is now closed.

The 2024-2025 program faculty coordinator is Dr. Naomi Eisenberger. For additional information about the program, please watch the 2021 information session.

Psychology Departmental Honors Program

Departmental Honors is a year-long program with two components:

  1. Individual research under the guidance of a Psychology faculty advisor, culminating in a full thesis.
  2. Weekly seminars (Wednesdays from 3:00 to 5:00pm, every quarter) with the Program Faculty Coordinator, which serve as support for the research and writing processes and introduce students to graduate school options, research presentation methods, and career paths.

Students who successfully complete the program will earn an “Honors” or “Highest Honors” notation on their diploma. Departmental Honors Students will earn 12 units of credit toward graduation for completing this program. If the entire series is completed, the last of these 4-unit courses can count as a Psychology Elective. Psychobiology and Cognitive Science majors may petition for elective credit if their research aligns with their major. Cognitive Science majors may alternatively use the last of the 4-unit courses towards the fieldwork/research requirement.

The Departmental Honors program is designed for students in their final year at UCLA. Students who are not seniors will not be admitted to the program, and are encouraged to instead apply during their senior year. If you are a student graduating early (e.g. after 3 years), you can apply to the program for your third (and final) year at UCLA. Please note this on your application.

Please contact the Psych Advising office with any specific questions about the honors program.

Eligibility

Preparing to Apply

Selection Process

Psychology Departmental Honors Awards*

Timothy Chheang Memorial Award: Each Spring, one student receiving Highest Honors for his or her Psychology honors thesis project will be presented with the Timothy Chheang Memorial Award.  The recipient will receive an approx. $1k award.

Nissim and Arlyne Levy Endowed Award: Each Spring, one student receiving Highest Honors for his or her Psychology honors thesis project will be presented with the Nissim and Arlyne Levy Endowed Award.  The recipient will receive an approx. $1k award.

*Students are not eligible to receive both awards.