Academic Year Research Opportunities

Eligibility & Requirements

All students are encouraged to think about this option, whether they are certain about the type of research project they want to do or not. But they should indicate their interest in their application form along with their proposed field of study. The Program Director will subsequently contact them to discuss their suggested topic and help them develop their proposal. Ideally, students should have a certain degree of familiarity with their chosen area of study or at least a strong passion and interest. The Director will also help students estimate the value and scope of their proposed project, along with the workload implications.

Students, however, may also register for this option once in Paris. They are encouraged to meet with the Program Director to receive the appropriate help to develop their project.

Once the students’ projects have been approved, they are assigned a Research Director with whom they will work with on a weekly basis and complete a Mémoire - a research paper of 25 pages for 4 points. At the end of the semester, students also give an oral presentation of their research, and should be prepared to discuss their topic in front of their peers and other research directors present at their presentation.

Students will devote a minimum of two hours of work per week for each credit awarded for the Directed Research project (24 clock hours per semester; thus, a 4-credit course will entail an average of 8 hours per week over 12 weeks).

Process & support

Phase 1: Defining a topic and bibliography

Fall semester: September-October

Spring semester: January-February

The student will initially meet with his/her research director on a weekly basis for one hour meetings to flesh out the student’s topic and define a working bibliography composed of primary and secondary sources. Once these initial meetings have been set up, two-hour meetings can be held every 2 weeks, depending on the work required (e.g.: reading or writing). It is the student’s responsibility to do the recommended readings suggested by the director.
 

Phase 2: Outline

Fall semester: end of October

Spring semester: end of February

Once the student has well identified a topic and assimilated the readings associated with the bibliography, the student must draw up an outline of his/her Mémoire.

Phase 3: Writing

Fall semester: end of October

Spring semester: end of February

3. From the beginning of November (1st semester), or from the beginning of March (2nd semester), the student will give the director written parts of the Mémoire so that he/she can judge the coherence and organization of ideas. The student must take into account the remarks and/or corrections of the director and integrate them into his/her work (end of November, 1st semester, end of March, 2nd semester).

4. The student must hand over the first written version of the Mémoire to its director and second reader, chosen by the Program Director, early December (first semester), or early May (2nd semester). This will serve as a basis for a defense composed of a short oral presentation in French, followed by a few questions, remarks and advice from the director as well as from the second reader. The first written version must be given to them at least three working days before the oral date.

5. This defense will be noted. The mark, agreed by the research director and the second reader, will represent 25% of the final mark. To help the student progress, it will be based on an evaluation grid that you can look up online under Recherche Dirigée.

6. Following this oral presentation, the student will submit or send 2 copies, bound or thermocollated, of his/her Mémoire, typewritten, double-spaced, in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Program and according to the MLA style Sheet (including footnotes and a bibliography). The due date for final submission is 15 January or 15 June at the latest. These 2 copies will be given to the second reader or sent to the following address:

Name of the second reader

Columbia Undergraduate Programs in Paris

4, rue de Chevreuse

75006 Paris

France

7. The director draws up a short appraisal of all the student's work. He/she assigns a mark for the written work, accounting for 55% of the final mark. The final grade will be averaged with the score obtained for the oral presentation (25%) as well as with attendance and participation in the collective sessions (20%). The student receives a grade between 1 and 20.

For further support, all students engaging in a Directed Research will have opportunities to meet in collective sessions over the course of the semester to share their progress and learn to present their ideas in a scholarly fashion to their community of peers. These roundtable sessions will help students learn to become active researchers and break down the writing of their Mémoire into a manageable timeline. The Academic Coordinators will also provide students with a listing of helpful research guides and writing tools.

Grading & evaluation

20% attendance and participation to the collective sessions

25% oral presentation at the end of the semester

55% Mémoire – every student will be assigned an academic advisor as second reader

In addition to the final grade, students will receive a written evaluation of their progress throughout the semester by their Research Director.