Other departments, however, believe in more “central planning,” and that the process of finding thesis advisers can be improved.

“Certainly there could be some benefits from some formalization of the system,” says Earth and Planetary Sciences Head Tutor John H. Shaw.

Shaw suggests organizing a series of events designed to bring students and faculty members together in small conversations which could also inform students of “what types of theses have worked out in the past.”

Another way of acquainting science concentrators with advisers to guide their thesis research, according to Chemistry DUS Eric N. Jacobsen, can be offering more research-oriented classes aimed at getting students into labs.

He says the Chemistry department is considering creating a class designed for just that: providing students with research experience to help prepare them for labwork-heavy theses and to get them in contact with potential advisers. The idea for this class was partially inspired by MCB 100: “Experimental Molecular and Cellular Biology,”

which was created last year.

The compilation and dissemination of information about the thesis-advising process would benefit students as well, according to Biochemical Sciences Head Tutor Richard M. Losick.

“Some centralization would help, including an explicit advising system and a website with University-wide information on research opportunities,” Losick wrote in an e-mail.

Bernstein says Social Studies keeps a database of potential thesis advisers available to its concentrators.

Wootten says he thinks “there should be some oversight by...the College...over all thesis writing,” especially now that honors requirements have changed.

Some department administrators, however, resist this idea.

“I wouldn’t want it to be more centralized than [at the department level] since a faculty member in the field is very much needed to help admin[istrator]s understand subtle differences of emphasis within fields and to talk with faculty with strong feelings,” New wrote in an e-mail.

To hone the thesis-advising process, the Astronomy and Astrophysics department appointed a Senior Thesis coordinator, who is currently Ramesh Narayan, according to Head Tutor Bryan M. Gaensler.

Whether departments take a more “central planning” or a more “market-oriented” approach depends on characteristics and circumstances such as department size and honors requirements.

“Small departments may feel they don’t need at all to formalize this commitment and that it should remain a matter of mutual trust between adviser and advisee,” Greene wrote in an e-mail.

—Staff writer Tina Wang can be reached at tinawang@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Lulu Zhou can be reached at luluzhou@fas.harvard.edu.