Students interested in learning more about a given topic may choose to complete an independent research project (IR) for credit. Interested students should identify a supervising faculty member and work with him or her to draft a proposal for the IR, then complete the Independent Research form on the Babson Hub to request approval for the IR from their supervising faculty member, Division Chair, and Student Success Advisor. IRs must be approved by all parties before add/drop ends for the semester in which the IR will occur. Independent research projects are letter-graded courses that appear on a student’s transcript and are treated as any other course in which the student is enrolled for the semester. The following guidelines apply to independent research projects:
- The supervising faculty member must come from the area from which the student seeks credit; i.e. to receive liberal arts credit, the supervising faculty member must be from a division that awards liberal arts credit.
- Only one independent research project may be undertaken per semester, and students must complete all work by the last day of classes of the semester for which the project is approved.
- Up to 4 credit hours per project in a semester may be granted for an approved independent research project.
- Students may complete no more than two independent research projects over the course of their enrollment in the undergraduate program at Babson, and no more than one in any given semester. Babson does not consider Honors Program projects as independent research projects as it relates to the two IR maximum.
- A student may not pursue an independent research project and an Honors Program project during the same semester.