• Your proposed project (research and writing) must encompass three quarters.  You will NOT be submitting proposals with your 198B and 198C contracts.
• Your proposed project must involve molecular- or cellular-level research with an MCDB faculty member or an outside faculty member listed on the “Approved MCDB Faculty Research Mentor” list.
• You must be either a junior or senior with an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher, and 3.5 or higher major GPA (upper division courses that fulfill major requirements), and completed LS3, 23L, and 4 or LS7A, 7B, 7C, 23L, and LS107 at the time of application.  SRP 99 is NOT a pre-requisite for MCDB 198A.

NOTE:  If you wish to petition a project being conducted in a faculty members lab who is NOT on the “Eligible Faculty Research Sponsors for MCDB majors” list, all required materials must be submitted along with the sponsor’s curriculum vitae and project timeline to the online submission form (see below) no later than 5:00PM, Monday of Second Week.  These petitions are rarely approved – it is recommended that you consult with the MCDB Undergraduate Counselor prior to review the petition process before submitting your paperwork.

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT ALL MATERIALS:  5:00PM, MONDAY OF SECOND WEEK

Your proposal will not be accepted, nor will you be enrolled, if any of the following is missing or incorrectly prepared:

1. Acknowledgement Form– This form acknowledges that you have read and understand all the information on the MCDB 198ABCD webpages.
2. Project Proposal– Both the sponsor and the student must sign the proposal before it is turned in to the MCDB Undergraduate Office.
3. Contract – Follow the directions titled “Contract Instructions” near the bottom of this page when completing your contract on MyUCLA.  The instructions on the MyUCLA website differ from the MCDB instructions – follow the MCDB instructions.
4. Outside Sponsor Agreement– If you are working with a faculty member who is NOT an MCDB faculty member, but who is listed on the “Approved MCDB Faculty Research Mentors”, you must submit this form along with a timeline for each quarter of your project.  NOTE: All MCDB faculty members on the Eligible Faculty Research Sponsors list have a notation (MCDB) after their name.  If your faculty mentor does not have this notation, you must submit this form with your other materials.

Lab Safety Fundamentals Certificate – Effective Fall 2020 You no longer need to submit a safety certificate.  My UCLA will verify your safety training status when contract is created.  For more information see Laboratory Safety.

When your proposal has been approved:

• The MCDB Undergraduate Counselor will enroll you in MCDB 198A no later than 5:00PM, Friday of second week – do NOT expect to be enrolled immediately after submitting your paperwork.  Please see the information below regarding 198B, 198C, and 198D enrollment requirements.
• IMPORTANT NOTE:  If the four-unit 198 course puts you over the 19-unit limit, the enrollment will not go through.  To avoid delays, please make sure that you are enrolled in 15 units or less, or petition for more units at your College Academic Counseling unit (A316 Murphy Hall).  Note:  If you are an AAP student, petition for more units at 1211 Campbell Hall.  If you are in the Honors Program go to A311 Murphy Hall).
• DO NOT KEEP A “BACK-UP” COURSE ON YOUR SCHEDULE IF THAT COURSE WILL PRECLUDE ENROLLMENT IN THE RESEARCH COURSE DUE TO THE 19 UNIT STUDY LIST LIMIT!  YOU WILL NOT BE CONTACTED AND ASKED TO DROP YOUR BACK-UP CLASS! If you are working with a faculty mentor who is on the MCDB approved list, and your faculty mentor has signed your proposal and contract, and you have turned in all the required paperwork, you should expect to be enrolled in this research course.

MCDB 193 (Journal Club) and MCDB 194A (Lab Meeting) credit:

If you are working in an MCDB faculty member’s lab, you may be enrolled in these units.  See “MCDB 193/194A Enrollment”.

MCDB 198B and 198C Enrollment:

Create and submit an MCDB 198B and 198C contract with your sponsor’s signature.  You do NOT have to attach your proposal or outside sponsor agreement.

MCDB 198D Enrollment:

Create and submit an MCDB 198D contract signed by your faculty sponsor, along with a revised research proposal.

IMPORTANT:   Any individual faculty member can take on no more than seven students per quarter in each MCDB research course (198A-D, 199, 199A-D).  If more than seven students apply for enrollment with a particular faculty member, enrollment will be limited to the first seven students whose applications were received through the online submission form.

Contract Instructions:

• Logon to MyUCLA
• Click on Contract Courses (listed under MyUCLA Features)
• From the My Contract Courses page, you can view the status of previously created contracts as well as create a new contract.  Select Submit a New Contract.
• Select YEAR and TERM.  Below the year and term, it asks you to Please select the course you wish to enroll in.  Select Honors Research (198).  NOTE:  You will select the letter (A, B, C, or D) later in the process.
• Read the enrollment instructions, which is specific to the course number you have selected, and then click Continue.  Remember that these instructions on MyUCLA may differ from these instructions – follow these printed steps.
• Select the subject area for the course – MCD BIO, click Continue.
• Choose a course number.  There is a drop down box.  Select the course you want to enroll into (198A, 198B, 198C or 198D).  Click Continue
• Choose a faculty mentor.  (Please note:  This means you will need to know how to properly spell your research sponsor’s name before you begin the contract.) Click Continue.
• Select grade type and number of units.  Note:  Because all MCDB 196/198/199 courses are fixed at “4-units” and “Letter Grade”, you may not have to select anything on this page.  Click Continue.
• Enter description of project and tangible evidence.  For project description and nature of faculty supervision, please write, “See attached proposal.”  The tangible evidence as proof of work completed will always be “Quarterly Research Paper”.  Click Continue.
• Review Contract.  Carefully review the contract you have just made to make sure that you have the correct course number and instructor information, and that you have appropriately completed any other parts of the contract, as detailed above.
• Terms/Requirements:  You may receive a screen that asks you to acknowledge, “I meet all eligibility requirements for this contract”.  Select this option, and click Continue.
• Print the completed contract.
• Signatures:
  • Faculty Mentor Signature and Date:  Obtain your faculty mentors signature
  • Faculty Mentor’s Department Chair Signature and Date:  DO NOT OBTAIN A CHAIR’S SIGNATURE.  You will submit the contract to the MCDB online submission form without this signature.