The timeline of Gemstone research is provided below according to the Gemstone website.

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Freshman Year: 

Freshman year is spent investigating various research topics as well as the ethics of quality research.  This year includes making connections with peers and and UMD staff.  Students create and vote on project sheets to determine the year's teams, which are formed by the end of the year.

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Sophomore Year:

Sophomore year is spent studying research designs and methods under the team's research questions.  The team's make their formal proposal for their research project and begin collecting data.

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Junior Year:

The data collection is continued into the junior year and preliminary research is presented at the annual Junior Colloquia and Undergraduate Research Day.  Many teams will have the opportunity to present at conferences according to their research areas.

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Senior Year:

In the final year, data collection is completed and followed by the data analysis.  Teams defend their thesis at the annual Thesis Conference in front of a panel of experts in the research area's intended field.  In completing Gemstone, the research is then submitted and published under the final thesis.