Graduate Research

All full time graduate students in the FIS Master’s Degree Program are required to complete a research thesis. This thesis can be completed at IUPUI in the laboratory of one of the professors, or as part of an extended internship. In the latter case, the student has a research advisor at the host laboratory. The supervisor, the student and a member of the FIS faculty, negotiate the terms of the project including subject, work plan, length, etc. The research is then begun at the host laboratory as the major component of an internship. It is unlikely that the research will be completed during a 14 week internship. To complete the research, the student may continue at the lab for an extended internship (with approval of the host lab and the FIS program) or may complete the research at IUPUI. There is no hard and fast rule about how long a master’s thesis project will take, but it is generally about two semesters.

Part time MS students who have a full time job in a forensic science or related laboratory, have the option of not completing a thesis. These students still must design a research proposal and defend it so as to get the experience of researching and constructing a thesis topic.