Honours Thesis in Psychology

The Honours Thesis (PSY 4276) is a key component of the Psychology program at the University of Ottawa. This page outlines the eligibility requirements, registration procedures, and how to find a supervisor for your thesis. It also includes important deadlines and additional resources for successful completion.

Honours Thesis – PSY 4276

Learn more about PSY 4276 in the uOttawa course catalogue.

Eligibility criteria

Honours B.A. with specialization in Psychology

  1. Completion of the courses PSY 2106/2506, PSY 2116/2516 and PSY 2174/2574
  2. Completion of the course PSY 3307/3707 (Note: this course may be taken concurrently with the Thesis). (It is recommended to register to PSY 4130 in 4th year)
  3. Have completed a minimum of 81 credits after the Winter 2024 trimester.
  4. Have a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of at least 8.0 after the Winter 2024 trimester.

* The Thesis may be replaced by 6 optional PSY course units at the 4000 level.

PLEASE NOTE: No exception will be granted

Honours B.Sc. with Specialization in Psychology

  • Completion of the courses PSY 2106/2506, PSY 2116/2516, PSY 2174/2574
  • Completion of the course PSY 3307/3707 (Note: this course may be taken concurrently with the Thesis).
  • Completion of all 1st and 2nd-year science courses.
  • Have completed a minimum of 81 credits after the Winter 2024 trimester.
  • The Thesis may be replaced by 6 optional PSY course units at the 4000 level.
  • Have a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of at least 8.0 after the Winter 2024 trimester.

Registration procedure

Registration is not accessible through your student center. Please submit a Modification/Cancellation of Enrolment form through the online form portal. You have from May 30th  to June 30th 2024 to submit your enrolment form for registration to the 2024-2025 academic year. 

Finding an Honours Thesis supervisor

You will find below the list of full-time professors who are available to supervise 4th-year undergraduate honours thesis students. This list also includes cross-appointed faculty members, emeritus professors, and clinical professors who have been approved.  To be able to monitor and ensure training of high quality, only professors appearing on this list will be authorised to supervise the honours thesis.  The maximum number of Honours theses that a professor can supervise in 2024-2025 appears in italics. Once the maximum number of students that we can supervise in 2024-2025 is achieved, that is 90, students will not be able to register anymore.  

Please note, that the students who are officially registered will have until September 10th to find a supervisor and to communicate the name of their supervisor to the Honours thesis Coordinator, Charles Collin ([email protected]). The students should include their supervisor in their message so that they can confirm that have agreed to supervise their Honours thesis.

Students who are not successful in finding an Honours Thesis supervisor by September 10th will have to withdraw from the Thesis.

Finding an Honours Thesis supervisor should be done only when all eligibility criteria are fulfilled. 

  • Consult the list of Honours Thesis supervisors for 2024-2025.
  • Approach the professor(s) who have an area of research that interests you, by communicating with them via e-mail, to ask for an appointment. During that meeting, you will have to establish the modalities and the research to begin. This approach is normally done starting in June.

2024-2025 Information Session

Additional Information – Brightspace

When you are registered to the course, you will have access to Brightspace developed for the Honours Thesis in Psychology.

Award for the best Honours thesis in French - 2023-2024

La familiarité de stimuli présentés successivement et le rôle de leurs différences dans l’activité enregistrée avec un EEG 
Annabelle Potvin-Pilon
Supervisor: Dr. Denis Cousineau

Award for the Best Honours thesis in English - 2023-2024

The Predictive Capacity of Oculomotor Features for Behavioural Drowsy Driving Performance
Aidan Smith
Supervisor: Dr. Stuart Fogel

Honours Thesis Coordinators

Charles Collin, PhD
School of Psychology
University of Ottawa
VNR 3090, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 Canada
Tel: 613-562-5800 (4296)
[email protected] 

Sylvain Gagnon, PhD
School of Psychology
University of Ottawa
VNR 3042, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 Canada
Tel: 613-562-5800 (2515)
[email protected]