The Buzz
Overview
The Capstone is a requirement for all Human Biology majors, and can be fulfilled in several ways outlined below. More detailed information can be found in the Capstone Handbook.
- Practicum, 1 unit, reflection-oriented option completed throughout your senior year. You will connect academic, extra-curricular, and pre-professional experiences through workshops, portfolio, presentation and essay.
- Synthesis, 6 units, individual project where you design and create a culminating work of scholarship and presentation at the Gelles Senior Symposium. Past projects include community service projects, artistic expression, and long-form journalism. Requires a faculty mentor and an application due in Autumn of your senior year.
- Honors, ~10-15 units (see Honors handbook), research intensive where you work closely with a faculty member on an individual research project, culminating in an thesis and presentation at the Gelles Senior Symposium. Requires an application in your junior year.
Non-Human Biology programs that also fulfill the capstone requirement:
Interdisciplinary Honors
Human Biology students have commonly participated in the Interdisciplinary Honors programs listed below which have archived examples of Honors projects.
Notation in Science Communication
Capstone in Exercise Physiology
As Human Biology students, Stanford athletes, and former Exercise Physiology TAs, Kat Klass and Alex Ostberg wanted to bridge the gap between scientific understanding and application for competitive sports. We felt that there was a lack of coherent and synthesized information about how research findings could be integrated into the lifestyles and training programs of collegiate athletes. As people who firmly believe in the scientific method, we wanted to draw evidence-based practices from a field that is often littered with pseudoscience and anecdotal evidence. To do this, we researched both well-known and obscure training techniques, and tried to distill the most applicable lessons from a variety of sources.