ubc thesis timeline

• FAQs for Prospective Students
• How to Apply
• Master’s & PhD Program
• Tuition & Fees
• Awards and Funding
• Role of the Supervisor
• Conflict within Committee
• Student Responsibilities
• Incoming Students
• Thesis, Defence and Graduation
• Master’s
• Doctoral (PhD)
• RES Forms & Policies
• Finance/HR Forms
• Core Faculty
• Administrative Staff
• Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Associates
• Master’s of Arts and Science Students
• PhD Students
• Alumni Interviews
• IRES Student Society
• Research Themes
• Theses & Dissertations
• IRES and Open Access
• Information for Authors
• Research Map
• RES Graduate Courses
• Methods Courses
• Undergraduate Courses taught by IRES Core Faculty
• Non-RES Courses
• Non-UBC Courses
• Vancouver Summer Program
• IRES Newsletter
• Seminar Videos
• Media Coverage
• External Opportunities
• Departmental Award Recipients

Graduate Program

Doctoral thesis timeline, ideal timeline for res phd students, year 1: september - april.

• Attend UBC Graduate Student Orientation in late August.
• You have until the second week of term to add/drop courses most courses.
• Begin your courses and attend the IRES Orientation/Welcome Back BBQ during the first Sept!
• Apply for Awards and Funding starting in late summer and continuing through the fall.
• Is a potential supervisory committee member a non-G+PS Member? If so, you must complete a Recommendation for a Non-G+PS member to serve as part of your supervisory committee .
• You must complete and submit an RES Supervisory Committee Composition Form to the Graduate Program Manager once your committee is confirmed.
• An RES Committee Meeting Report form must be submitted to the IRES Graduate Program Manager for each committee meeting held.
• Your first Committee Meeting Report Form and the Committee Composition form are due to the Graduate Program Manager by the end of May of your first year in program.
• complete your required coursework
• form your supervisory committee
• when supervisory committee meetings should be held
• hold your Comprehensive Exams
• complete your Thesis Proposal
• Advance to Candidacy
• conduct any fieldwork
• write up your thesis
• Go through the External Examination and Final Oral Defence process

Year 2: September - April

• Complete any outstanding course requirements.
• If you haven't already, form your supervisory committee and complete the RES Supervisory Committee Composition Form
• Committee Meeting Report Forms are due at the end of May of each year of your program once your supervisory committee is formed.
• Hold your Comprehensive Exams - this must be completed no later than 30th month in program.
• ensure both student and supervisor(s) are clear of the program requirements, expectations and the student is on-track to complete their program (ideally) within 4 years.
• provide an opportunity for the student to voice any questions or concerns they may have and be able to provide feedback on the program, the courses they have taken, how their last year has been, etc.
• provide an opportunity for the supervisor(s) to comment on the student's progress in program and ask any questions.
•  Towards the end of the meeting, the supervisor(s) will be asked to leave the meeting to allow for a discussion with only the student, Graduate Advisor and Graduate Program Manager. This time can be used to provide any additional feedback the student may have.
• An email confirmation from your supervisor(s) to the Graduate Program Manager is sufficient to confirm that your thesis proposal has been approved by your supervisory committee step - no form to fill out!
• you must Advance to Candidacy by the end of your 36th month in program, but ideally this is done in your second year in program (within 12-24 months).

Year 3: September - April

• Hold the RES Fall - Year 3 Review .  All third-year PhD students must fill out the required form, together with their supervisors, and submit the completed form to the Graduate Program Manager.  While there is no mandatory meeting, students may request to schedule a meeting with the Graduate Advisor and the Graduate Program Manager to discuss their program.
• Committee Meeting Report(s) due at the end of May (or shortly after a meeting is held).
• Conduct any fieldwork for your doctoral dissertation.
• Start planning in detail when these steps will be taken to complete your program on time.
• Doctoral Exam Timeline
• Doctoral Exams FAQ's
• Doctoral Exams Deadlines

Year 4: September - April

• Under normal circumstances, this process takes about four months to complete.
• Use the Doctoral Exam Timeline to plan your submission and the Doctoral Exams tools to help you complete all steps.
• Post-Final Oral Defence - Doctoral Forms: Mandatory
• Provided you have met all other degree requirements, your program will be closed as of the date on your G+PS thesis receipt (email).
• Please contact the Tuition Fee Payment Office at Brock Hall to request a refund of any remaining portion of the term's tuition fees. Only full months of tuition can be refunded.Tuition Fee Payment Office 2016–1874 East Mall Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 604.822.9836
• students are able to have their degrees awarded on any one of four dates in a given year; dates in September, November, February, and May. Once the degree has been awarded by the UBC Senate, a notation will appear on the transcript. However, formal conferral at Congregation ceremonies and official degree parchments will remain available in May and November only.
• Doctoral Citations for Graduation
• Graduation Ceremonies - held in May and November of each year.

• Library Home
• General (Summon)
• Books & Media (Catalogue)
• Indexes, Databases & Articles
• Research Guides
• UBC Research
• UBC Open Collections
• UBC Vancouver
• Asian Library
• Biomedical Branch Library
• Chapman Learning Commons Help Desk
• The Chung | Lind Gallery
• David Lam Management Research Library
• Education Library
• Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
• Koerner Library
• Law Library
• Music, Art and Architecture Library
• Rare Books and Special Collections
• Research Commons
• University Archives
• Woodward Library
• X wi7 x wa Library
• UBC Okanagan
• The Commons (Okanagan)
• Okanagan Library
• Special Collections & Archives
• UBC Virtual
• AskAway Chat Services
• Borrowing Services
• My Library Account
• How to Get Library Access
• See More...
• Electronic Access
• Connect to Library Resources
• OpenAthens Login Overview
• Computers & Technology
• Print, Copy, Scan
• Public Computers & Software
• Group & Silent Study Spaces
• Technology Spaces
• Guides for Library Users
• Undergraduate Students
• Faculty & Instructors
• Planning Your Research
• Getting Started on Your Research
• Finding Resources
• Journal Articles
• Evaluating & Citing Sources
• Evaluating Information Sources
• How to Cite
• Publishing Research
• Getting Started with cIRcle
• Building Your Academic Profile
• Collections
• Policies, Procedures and Guidelines
• Work with Us
• Accessing Library Resources?
• OpenAthens Login
• Add Browser Extension for Access
• Managing Your Account?
• My Library Account Login
• Need Citation Management?
• Citation Management Tools

JavaScript is disabled: Site features and functionality may be limited.

• Library Home /
• Search Collections /
• Open Collections /
• Browse Collections /

UBC Theses and Dissertations

Open collections, limit this search.

The UBC Theses and Dissertations collection promotes open and comprehensive access to a significant body of unique knowledge created by graduate students to support further research and for private study. The authors retain copyright ownership and moral rights to their theses. The content of theses and dissertations may not be re-purposed or exploited for commercial gain without the explicit permission of the authors. 

See Theses and Dissertations at cIRcle: Discovery and Use to learn more about finding and using openly available theses and dissertations in Open Collections. 

UBC graduate students began submitting their theses online via cIRcle, UBC’s digital repository, in fall 2007, a practice that both simplified the submission process and also ensured the availability of this research to a global audience in a timely manner. As of March 2012, UBC Library has digitized and made openly accessible the full-text of more than 32,000 theses submitted by graduate students between 1919 and 2007. In addition to providing information about specific fields of study these theses also reveal important information about changes in pedagogy at the University and within academic disciplines. Authors concerned about having their pre-2007 theses included as part of this collection can notify [email protected] to have their thesis removed. Similarly, if copyrighted material appears in a thesis the copyright owner can request that material be removed.

Browse Theses & Dissertations

• {[{degree.key}]} ({[{degree.doc_count}]})

• Getting Started
• Books/Ebooks

New Statistics Theses

• Citing Sources
• Research Data Management

View all  UBC statistics theses  via UBC Open Collections. Here are some of the most recent UBC statistics theses:

• Bielefeld Academic Search Engine
• EThOS UK e-theses online service (UK's national thesis service)
• NDLTD: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations A collaborative effort of the NDLTD, OCLC, VTLS, and Scirus, the NDLTD Union Catalog contains more than one million records of electronic theses and dissertations.
• Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD)
• OpenAire Explore

• SciELO Scientific Electronic Library Online
• UBC Library Guide: Theses and Dissertations A research guide for locating theses and dissertations from UBC, British Columbia, Canada, and International databases and repositories.
• UBC Theses and Dissertations UBC graduate theses and dissertations are available through the Open Collections portal dating back to 1919.
• << Previous: Books/Ebooks
• Next: Websites >>
• Last Updated: Jul 25, 2024 11:20 AM
• URL: https://guides.library.ubc.ca/statistics

• Graduate School
• Current Students
• Final Doctoral Exam

Doctoral Deadlines

There are four deadlines doctoral candidates must meet in order to be eligible for the respective end/graduation date.The Doctoral Examination deadlines are suggested in order to guide doctoral candidates through each step of the doctoral examination process in time to meet requirements for specific program end dates or for graduation ceremonies. Please note that if deadlines are not met, doctoral candidates may not be able to fulfill requirements for intended program completion dates or for graduation ceremonies.

Oral defences are not normally held between mid-December and mid-January. Candidates on extensions ending December 31 must complete oral examinations before the blackout period.

It is in the best interest of the candidate to meet the deadline for each step of the doctoral examination process.

All deadlines provided below assume that the candidate wants his/her degree conferred at the earliest time. To meet deadlines all forms and documentation must be received within usual business hours, typically before 4pm PDT.

August 31, 2024 Program End Date

Friday, 12 april 2024, friday, 14 june 2024, friday, 2 august 2024, friday, 30 august 2024, fall 2024 graduation, friday, 31 may 2024, friday, 26 july 2024, friday, 20 september 2024, friday, 18 october 2024, december 31, 2024 program end date, monday, 19 august 2024, tuesday, 15 october 2024, friday, 13 december 2024, friday, 10 january 2025, spring 2025 graduation, friday, 22 november 2024, friday, 21 march 2025, thursday, 17 april 2025, april 30, 2025 program end date, friday, 6 december 2024, friday, 7 february 2025, friday, 4 april 2025, wednesday, 30 april 2025.

• Why Grad School at UBC?
• Graduate Degree Programs
• Application & Admission
• Info Sessions
• Research Supervisors
• Research Projects
• Indigenous Students
• International Students
• Tuition, Fees & Cost of Living
• Newly Admitted
• Student Status & Classification
• Student Responsibilities
• Supervision
• Managing your Program
• Health, Wellbeing and Safety
• Professional Development
• Dissertation & Thesis Preparation
• Final Dissertation & Thesis Submission
• Life in Vancouver
• Vancouver Campus
• Graduate Student Spaces
• Graduate Life Centre
• Life as a Grad Student
• Graduate Student Ambassadors
• Meet our Students
• Award Opportunities
• Award Guidelines
• Minimum Funding Policy for PhD Students
• Killam Awards & Fellowships
• Dean's Message
• Leadership Team
• Strategic Plan & Priorities
• Vision & Mission
• Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
• Initiatives, Plans & Reports
• Graduate Education Analysis & Research
• Media Enquiries
• Newsletters
• Giving to Graduate Studies

Strategic Priorities

• Strategic Plan 2019-2024
• Improving Student Funding
• Promoting Excellence in Graduate Programs
• Enhancing Graduate Supervision
• Advancing Indigenous Inclusion
• Supporting Student Development and Success
• Reimagining Graduate Education
• Enriching the Student Experience

Initiatives

• Public Scholars Initiative
• 3 Minute Thesis (3MT)
• PhD Career Outcomes

• Undergraduate Programs
• Graduate Programs
• Professional Degrees
• Online Certificates
• Indigenous Portal
• Haida Gwaii Institute
• Undergraduate Portal
• Graduate Portal
• Research Areas
• Research Award Recipients
• Research Forests
• Research Resources
• Centre for Wildfire Coexistence
• Centre of Indigenous Land Stewardship
• BioProducts Institute
• Forestry News
• In the Media
• Branchlines
• Tuning into the Forest Podcast
• Areas you can Impact
• Support in Action
• Ways to Give
• Message from the Dean
• Strategic Plan
• Departments
• Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
• Career Opportunities
• Privacy Policy
• Forestry Safety

Doctorate of Philosophy in Forestry

Graduation requirements & timeline.

PhD Requirements and Timeline to Graduation The major requirement for the PhD in Forestry is the completion of a research dissertation that meets the requirements of the Faculty of Graduate & Post-doctoral Studies.

Advancement to Candidacy must be achieved within 24 months of the start of studies, the requirements of which include a comprehensive examination .

Course work is not required for the Forestry PhD, although many doctoral students do complete courses (either for credit or audit) as recommended by their supervisory committee.

Time in the program for Forestry PhD students varies, depending on the nature of the student’s research.  The current average is 5 years.

View our completed Forestry theses and dissertations online via the UBC Library .

PhD Sidebar

Meet Roseanna

Phd student.

Roseanna has made her mark in her field of interest and blended her passion for genetics, conservation, and ecosystem management. Her project allows her to consider protection efforts for a native species on Haida Gwaii while developing lasting and meaningful relationships with the Nations of Haida Gwaii. How will your research impact the world?

Looking for more Information?

Ready to learn more about UBC’s Faculty of Forestry's graduate programs?

• Our EDIDA Resources
• Faculty & Emeriti
• ECPS Job Opportunities
• Department Spotlight
• Counselling Psychology
• Human Development, Learning, and Culture
• Measurement, Evaluation, and Research Methodology
• School and Applied Child Psychology
• Special Education
• Current Students
• Prospective Students
• Student Wellness and Academic Support
• Indigenous Culture Resources
• Current Events
• Past Events
• News & Stories
• Recent Publications
• Psychological Services & Counselling Training Centre
• Institute for Veterans Education and Transition (IVET)
• ECPS Course List
• Communications & Media
• Forms & Resources
• Meeting Room Bookings
• Policies & Procedures
• Key Contacts

UBC MA Thesis and Research Procedures

Ma research supervision.

As early as possible in their program of study, students should identify a faculty member from the department who is willing to act as their Research Supervisor and work with them to develop a thesis proposal. The Research Supervisor need not be the student’s program Advisor.

After the student has completed most of his/her coursework, and tentatively identified a research topic for the Thesis, the Research Supervisor and the student will establish a Thesis Research Committee. This Research Committee will supervise the student’s research and completion of the Thesis. The Research Committee is chaired by the Research Supervisor and consists of a least one other faculty member. A third faculty member joins the committee as an examiner just prior to the final oral examination. Under special circumstances approved by the Graduate Advisor and with permission of the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the Research Committee may include a person who is not a member of the UBC Faculty of Graduate Studies. See below for more details about the structure and function of the Research Committee.

A major part of the MA student’s work will consist of a Thesis summarizing the results of original research. The MA Thesis is intended to serve as a vehicle for developing the student’s research and scholarly capability. Ideally, the Thesis involves the student in all the rigors of critical reading, evaluation and analysis of research and theoretical literature, problem definition, research design and analysis, and the written and oral presentation of findings and conclusions. The nature of research may be theoretical, empirical, historical, qualitative, ethnographic, or analytical, according to what is appropriate to the student’s area of study.

The Behavioral Sciences Review Committee of the University must approve the acceptability of all studies (including theses) that involve human subjects. This approval is required when any human being is subjected to experimental procedures or when an invasion of privacy may be involved (e.g., by examination of records, by interview, or by administration of a questionnaire). Information and all necessary forms for securing human subjects approval are available from the Office of Research Services (Ethics Division) . Human Subjects (ethics) approval and approval of the Research Committee must be secured prior to embarking on a research project. The completed Thesis is submitted to the University Library and must in all ways comply with the University requirements. Students are referred to the document, “Instructions for Preparation of Graduate Theses”, for details regarding thesis requirements, available from the Library, the Faculty of Graduate Studies, or online at: http://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/dissertation-thesis-preparation .

Thesis Development and Supervision

A designated Research or Thesis Supervisor and Research Committee will supervise development and completion of the MA Thesis. The procedures for formation, membership, and changes in the Research Committee are as follows:

Thesis or Research Supervisor

At least one faculty member, acting in the capacity of Thesis Supervisor will oversee the development and completion of the Thesis. The Thesis Supervisor must be a member of the Department, normally one affiliated with the student’s area of specialization, with relevant substantive knowledge in the student’s area of study. Frequently, the Advisor can serve as the Thesis Supervisor. It is the responsibility of the student to approach relevant faculty members and discuss the possibility of service as Thesis Supervisor. Once a faculty member has agreed to serve as the student’s Thesis Supervisor, this agreement must be verified in writing to the Department Graduate Office in a memo, which is signed by the student, and the Thesis Supervisor. Identification of the Thesis Supervisor must also be indicated on the student’s Program of Graduate Studies (PGS).

It is important that the student identifies and consults with his/her Thesis Supervisor when he/she is prepared to begin to work on a Thesis, but prior to the development of a Thesis Proposal.

Research Committee

In consultation with the Thesis Supervisor, the student must also specify a Research Committee. This should be done as early as possible in the student’s program. Each student’s Research Committee consists of a minimum of one other faculty member (with a third person becoming involved at the time of the final oral examination). This person should be a faculty member with knowledge and expertise within the student’s chosen area of study and who can provide advice and assistance throughout the conduct of the Thesis project.

Normally, the Thesis Supervisor serves as Chair of the student’s Research Committee, but the Chair must be a member of the Department, and should be an individual with research and/or relevant substantive knowledge in the student’s program and Thesis area. This “expertise match” is an important part of the basis for successful completion of the degree, and neither students nor faculty should minimize its importance. Other members of the Research Committee should be selected to supplement the expertise and experience of the Chair. Although a full-time, senior member of faculty must chair each supervisory committee, the committee may include individuals who are not full-time faculty members. In particular, professors emeriti, honorary faculty, adjunct faculty and off-campus professionals who are academically qualified to advise graduate students may be members of the committee if approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The student must notify the Department Graduate Office, usually by a memo to the Graduate Advisor, of the Research Committee membership. The membership of the Research Committee must also be noted on the student’s Program of Graduate Studies form. Students must also notify the Department Graduate Office regarding any changes that occur in the membership of his/her Research Committee, usually through a memo to the Graduate Advisor.

Much of the work of the Research Committee is typically accomplished by means of informal meetings between the candidate and members of his/her Research Committee. Other meetings or working sessions of the Research Committee may, of course, be held at the discretion of those involved.

Examination of the Thesis

Student performance on the MA Thesis is formally examined on two occasions: the defense of the proposal or Thesis Proposal Hearing and the Final Oral Examination or defense of the completed Thesis.

Thesis Proposal Hearing Guidelines and procedures for the Thesis Proposal Hearing are described below.

• The Thesis Proposal is viewed as a “Letter of Agreement” between the student and his/her Research Committee. As such, it is to be a written document containing a clear statement of the intended Thesis topic, justification of the intended topic by reference to and critical evaluation of related research and theory, and careful description of the procedures intended for use in the exposition of the Thesis project. Often, students choose to develop a proposal that will serve, with very little modification, as the initial three chapters of their Thesis, but this is not a formal requirement. The format of presentation of the proposal will vary, depending on the problem, the student’s style, and the character of the Research Committee, although proposals should follow APA (American Psychological Association) style.
• A completed Thesis Proposal should be submitted to the student’s Thesis Committee at least 3 weeks prior to the Proposal Hearing. The proposal is then formally presented and defended at a meeting of the Research Committee to which others may be invited if the student and his/her Committee deem it desirable. The student defends his/her selection of a problem and his/her intended procedures for evaluating this problem empirically. The Proposal Hearing is as important as the ultimate defense of the Thesis itself. Collecting the Thesis data, or otherwise proceeding with subsequent steps in the production of a Thesis, is contingent upon the acceptance of the Thesis Proposal by the Research Committee. Thus, students must not proceed with their proposed research project until after their Thesis Proposal has been successfully defended and approved.
• Normally, all other degree requirements must be completed prior to the Proposal Hearing.
• The cover sheet of the Thesis Proposal should contain space for the signatures of the student and the Committee members, signifying that all parties concerned have agreed to the terms of reference for the Thesis as outlined in the Thesis Proposal. It is acknowledged here that changes (especially in the ‘Procedures’ aspect) often are introduced during the operational phases and thus the proposal is not binding in any strict sense. Signatures of the student and the Research Committee members, however, do indicate that all parties have agreed in good faith to the problem and the general procedures described in the Thesis Proposal. Any subsequent changes are to be negotiated as the need arises between the student and the Research Committee.
• A copy of the signed proposal cover sheet is to be filed by the student in the student’s file in the Department Graduate Office following a successful Thesis Proposal Hearing.
• Intervening work may be, and often is accomplished by means of informal meetings between the student and members of his/her Research Committee. Other meetings—work sessions—of the Research Committee may, of course, be held at the discretion of those involved.

Final Oral Examination

Prior to the presentation of the completed Thesis and the Final Oral Examination, the candidate’s Research Committee must be satisfied that the Thesis has been satisfactorily completed. At this time, the Research Committee selects an appropriate Departmental or extra-departmental examiner to serve on the thesis examining committee and determines a date for the Final Oral Examination. The Committee responsible for evaluating the thesis must include a minimum of two people: the thesis supervisor or designate, and a person who is not involved in advising the student in his or her research. The Final Oral Examination is an open examination and is advertised at least two weeks prior to the defense, at which time a copy of the Thesis is made available for review in the Department Graduate Office. At the Final Oral Examination, the candidate makes an oral presentation, normally of 20–30 minutes duration, often supplemented with audio-visual material, and responds to questions related to the topic. Following the Final Oral Examination, some revisions to the thesis may be required and in some cases the Thesis may need to be re-examined.

The guidelines and procedures for the Final Oral Examination are described below.

• A student’s Thesis must be prepared according to the procedures and in the form described in the leaflet entitled, “Instructions for Preparation of Graduate Theses, and should also conform to APA (American Psychological Association) style requirements.
• The Departmental or extra-departmental examiner should be from within the UBC academic community and will be appointed by the Research Supervisor to join the Examination Committee, based on recommendations from the candidate’s Research Committee. The examiner will be a selected for his/her general expertise in the area of the thesis topic and related areas.
• The Thesis Supervisor arranges for a time and date for the Final Oral Examination through the Department Graduate Office. At this time and 2 weeks prior the proposed Final Oral examination the candidate must provide one copy of the Thesis as accepted by his/her committee the Department Graduate Office.
• At least four weeks before the Final Oral Examination the candidate must supply enough copies of the approved form of the Thesis for delivery to each member of the candidate’s examination committee.
• The candidate is to make arrangements for any audio-visual needs for the final oral at least one week before the Final Oral Defense.
• The Final Oral Examination is open to all members of the University. Notice of the examination will be given in the form of a printed program announcing the title of the candidate’s thesis, date and place of the examination and the members of the Examination Committee. The Research Supervisor is to forward the program information to the Department Graduate Office at least two weeks prior to the defense.
• The Examining Committee will consist of a quorum of the candidate’s Research Committee, including the Thesis supervisor, and the external examiner.
• The candidate will be required to make a 20- to 30-minute oral presentation summarizing the research completed. Following the presentation, members of the Examination Committee may ask questions of the candidate with reference to the thesis or to areas related to the thesis topic. After completion of this questioning, the candidate and visitors will be asked to leave the examination room so that the Committee may decide upon acceptance and percentage grade to be assigned to the thesis. After deliberations are completed, the candidate will be invited to meet the committee.
• The title page of an accepted thesis is to be signed by at least two members of the Examination Committee. In the instance of a pass with major or minor revision decisions, the signature of the Chairperson of the candidate’s Research Committee is withheld until final corrections are made. The Chairperson must also sign the abstract of the thesis.
• Upon receipt of a copy of the signed Thesis by the Special Collections Division of the Library, the candidate will have completed all MA degree requirements. Copies of the Special Collections Division receipt and a copy of the approved thesis are to be filed, by the candidate, with Department Graduate Office.

12 Credit MSc Thesis (Thesis Master's)

The 12 credit MSc thesis is equivalent in credits to four three-credit graduate courses.  

Program Requirements under This Option

• 18 credits of approved courses of which a maximum of six credits may be 300 or 400 level undergraduate courses.  All courses must be approved by the student’s advisor or supervisor, and in the case of undergraduate courses, by the Graduate Advisor as well. If you want to take 300 or 400 level undergraduate courses or transfer credits, please refer to ' Undergraduate Course registration ' or  ' Transfer Credit ' for more information. The course work in this option comprises six 3-credit graduate courses, typically taken three per term in the first year of MSc studies.  However, students have flexibility in scheduling their course work.  For those new to the Canadian educational system the transition can be eased by scheduling two courses in the first term.  The additional course can be taken in the second year.  Another typical pattern involves taking only two courses in the second term of the first year, allowing the student to explore their intended research area.  Additionally, course availability may argue for deferring the final course until the second year.  It is of course possible to defer several courses to the second year of studies, but courses may either be unavailable or scheduled in the same term, which may interfere with research progress.  
• It involves some original research results;
• It involves novel implementation techniques
• It involves the implementation of a piece of nontrivial software whose availability could have some impact on the computer science user community.  
• one supervisor and at least one committee member, or
• one primary supervisor and one co-supervisor and one committee member,
• or two co-supervisors and one committee member.
• They may not have three co-supervisors (or one supervisor and two co-supervisors). Please refer to Faculty of Graduate and Post Doctoral Studies for details.
• The thesis must be approved by a committee of at least two (the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies highly recommends three) faculty including the supervisor(s).  An external reader  (i.e., someone outside of the supervisory committee who was not involved with the student’s thesis) is not required.
• Thesis/Essay Presentation: The student is required to present the thesis at a departmental seminar. This is not necessary if material related to the thesis has  been presented at conference or other public research meeting (workshop, symposium etc.). If the thesis is presented at a department seminar, the student must send the information (date, time, location, supervisor's name, title of the thesis, and abstract) to [email protected] at least 7 days  in advance, so that  an announcement can be sent to the department. 

  Supervisory Form

• Our Program
• Our People (Supervisors, Students, Staff, PDF’s, PaSa)
• Our Centers
• Applying to our Program
• Eligibility and Requirements
• Application Process
• Finding a Supervisor
• PALM New Student Orientation
• Student Academic Accommodations
• Programs (MSc, PhD)
• Supervisory Committee Member Additions Form
• Supervisory Committee Meetings
• Forms and Downloads
• Supervisors Seeking Students
• Students Seeking Supervisor
• Postdoctoral Fellows seeking Positions
• Awards Information Presentation
• Postdoctoral Fellows
• Alumni Theses
• Alumni Events
• Supervisors

PhD Dissertation Examination Timeline

• Submit Nomination for External Examiner Form to Graduate Program (done by Supervisor) for approval and submission to G + PS (at least 8 weeks prior to dissertation submission to G+ PS).
• Supervisor and Committee Members review Dissertation and sign off on Supervisory Committee PhD Thesis Approval Form .  Submit forms and completed Graduate Program Approval Memo to Program for approval and submission to G+PS. After this has happened the Dissertation can be submitted to G+PS for the External Examiner (minimum of 6-7 weeks prior to oral examination).
• Select oral examination date and submit University Examiner Form to Program (done by Supervisor) for approval and submission to G+PS (minimum of 4 weeks prior to oral defense).
• At Oral Examination, have Doctoral Dissertation Approval Form signed.
• When Dissertation revisions are complete, submit the Doctoral Dissertation Approval Form along with the Dissertation Cover Sheet to the Graduate Program for review and submission to G+PS.