The Department of Infectious Diseases does not grant an undergraduate degree, but it does offer courses in faculty-mentored undergraduate research at both the CURO level and at the departmental level. Research in IDIS research courses may qualify toward a student’s undergraduate major-specific course requirements or as an upper-level elective. If you are seeking credit toward a major-specific course requirement, you should register for one of the CURO courses listed below.
CURO Courses
At the CURO level, four courses are offered: IDIS 4960R, IDIS 4970R, IDIS 4980R, and IDIS 4990R. Each of these courses has been approved as an experiential learning course, and the first three courses are research courses. For the first semester of research, a student registers for IDIS 4960R. If continuing with research in a subsequent semester with the same mentor, the student registers for the next in the series. These courses are variable-level courses (1-6 credit hours) and require a minimum of three hours of effort per week per credit for spring or fall semester, or six hours of effort per week per credit during the summer session. This time commitment includes all efforts related to your research experience: time conducting experiments, documenting experiments in a research notebook, reading relevant scientific literature, preparing and presenting your research project, attending laboratory group meetings if required by your mentor, and writing a research paper.
IDIS 4990R is a research thesis course open only to students who have completed 15 credit hours at UGA and previously taken one or more semesters of research. IDIS 4990R provides an opportunity for students to complete their research experience by writing a thesis based on accumulated research data.
To qualify to register for courses at the CURO level, a student must meet one of the following requirements:
- Completed 15 UGA in-residence credit hours and have faculty mentor approval
- Currently enrolled in HONS 1000H and have faculty mentor approval
Departmental Courses
At the departmental level, students register for IDIS 4900. This approved experiential learning course can be taken for 1-4 credit hours per semester and may be repeated for additional semesters up to a maximum of 16 credit hours. This course requires a minimum of three hours of effort per week per credit hour for spring or fall semesters or six hours of effort per week per credit hour during summer session. Students learn to conduct and document scientific research experiments. To register, a student must have faculty mentor approval. If you are seeking credit toward a major-specific course requirement, you should register for one of the CURO courses listed above.
