Undergraduate Research (AE 196) and Independent Study (AE 199) Enrollment Request

AEROENG 196 Undergraduate Research – 2 to 4 units

Undergraduate students in good standing who have completed a satisfactory number of science and engineering courses may pursue original research under the supervision of a faculty member. A minimum of 3 units of AEROENG 196 may be considered as equivalent to one technical elective course in the Aerospace Engineering major subject to the approval of the Director of Aerospace Engineering program in the College of Engineering.

If you wish to carry out research for credit in Aerospace Engineering (AE), here are the steps to take:

1. Reach out to Professor Panos Papadopoulos, Faculty Director of Aerospace Engineering or Professor Mark Mueller, Associate Faculty Director of Aerospace Engineering to request to be your research mentor and instructor of record. 
2. If either Professor Papadopoulos or Professor Mueller agrees to sponsor your research units and if you and the faculty agreed on a suitable research topic and scope, you next need to decide on the following:
   1. Do you want to use the research credit to count towards your AE technical elective (TE) credit? If so, you must take it for a letter grade option and  enroll in at least 3 units. If you don’t need it to count towards TE credit, P/NP is acceptable and can take it for at least 2 units.
   2. Decide on the number of units of credit. One unit is notionally equivalent to an average of three hours of effort per week throughout a 14-week semester. Up to three units of graded credit can be used towards AE TE requirements during your career at Berkeley. You can take more or fewer than 3 units of research over your time at Berkeley, but only 3 units can count as TE credit.
3. Once the above have been decided, send an e-mail to Karren Tanisaki (karren@berkeley.edu), cc’ing your faculty mentor/instructor of record, with the following details:
   1. For how many units (must be at least 3 units for TE credit)
   2. Which semester (Fall, Spring or Summer)
   3. Name of faculty mentor and/or instructor of record (either Professor Papadopoulos or Professor Mueller)
   4. Whether you want to take it for a grade or P/NP (must be letter graded if counted towards TE).
   5. Agreed upon format and length of required written report to be submitted at the end of semester to your faculty mentor (e.g. 2 pages)
   6. Once your research proposal has been approved, enrollment instructions will be sent to you by email for either AEROENG 196.
4. Deadlines: The deadline to submit AEROENG 196 proposal for Fall and Spring semesters is the last day of the third week of the semester. Students must enroll and make any enrollment changes for AEROENG 196 by the regular campus add/drop deadlines.

5. End-of-semester requirements:
   1. If taking research for a grade, a written report will be due to your faculty mentor at the end of term. The format, length, etc… will be agreed with your faculty mentor. 
   2. Whether taking research for a grade or P/NP, a short (e.g. 2 pages), non-confidential abstract describing work undertaken should be e-mailed to your faculty mentor at the end of the term.

AEROENG 199 Supervised Independent Study – 1 to 4 units

Undergraduate students in good standing who have completed a satisfactory number of science and engineering courses may pursue supervised independent study under the supervision of a faculty member.

Number of Units and Grading Option

• AEROENG 199 can be assigned 1, 2, 3 or 4 units. The number of units depends on the amount of class contact hours and/or study. Academic Senate regulations prescribe that a student do 3 hours per week per term for each unit of credit received. AEROENG 199 units are agreed on in advance with the expectation that each unit represents 45 hours of class contact and/or study. Please note that 3 and 4 unit independent studies are exceptional and are only approved when accompanied by substantial proposals.
• AEROENG 199 Independent Study credit cannot be received for internships, whether paid or unpaid. 
• Students must complete 60 units prior to participating in an individual Independent Study.
• No more than 4 units of directed group/independent study is allowed per semester.
• AEROENG 199 is offered on a P/NP basis only (no letter grades).
• No more than 16 units total of directed group/independent study may be used for degree requirements.

Actionable Steps for AEROENG 199 Supervised Independent Study

Independent Study courses need a faculty sponsor from the Aerospace Engineering (AE) program. It is the student’s responsibility to find a faculty sponsor. One resource is the AE Faculty directory.

After you have identified a faculty sponsor, discuss your independent study idea together and develop a semester-long outline for the work involved. This applies to students completing a URAP project with AE faculty as well.

Please also ensure your proposed units align with the AEROENG 199 unit requirements listed above. Once the above have been decided, send an e-mail to Karren Tanisak (karren@berkeley.edu), cc’ing your faculty mentor/instructor of record, with the following details:

• Clearly state the topic and method of study
• Include a timeline with intermediate goals and tentative due dates
• Describe how many hours will be spent on each component
• Explain how the project will be evaluated (e.g. final report due during final exam week).

AEROENG 199 Independent Study credit cannot be received for internships, whether paid or unpaid.

Deadlines: 

The deadline to submit AEROENG 199 proposals for Fall and Spring semesters is the last day of the third week of the semester. The deadline to submit AEROENG 199 proposals for summer is the end of the first week of Session C.  Once approved, you will receive enrollment instructions for AEROENG 199 by email. Students must enroll and make any enrollment changes for AEROENG 199 by the regular campus add/drop deadlines.