Graduate program navigator

For information regarding registration please see the registration information for all graduate students on the Academic Calendar.

This agreement must be completed online before submitting the first Progress Report. However, you may benefit from completing it as soon as you start your program. Completing this task gives you and your supervisor the opportunity to agree on mutual responsibilities.

Learn more about Advisor Student Guidelines (ASG).

If you are a Master's student, you must take two mandatory courses that cover the requirement of 6 credit hours. The two mandatory courses are MBIO 7010 and MBIO 7040, delivered in the Department of Microbiology.

If you have transferred from our Master's program to the PhD program, you must take courses for 6 additional credit hours. The mandatory course is MBIO 7020 (3 credit hours). An additional course can be chosen from our departmental offerings or from outside our department upon discussion and approval of your supervisor.

If you are a PhD student with a previous Master's degree from a different university,  your previous course work can be credited up to 6 credit hours. You must still complete an additional six credit hours within the departmental offerings or university graduate courses.

Explore the list of graduate courses in our department and view Course numbers and CRNs by searching the Class Schedule link on Aurora.

The Advisory Committee's role is to provide guidance during your studies, review your Annual Progress Report and form part of the Examining Committees for candidacy (if you are a PhD student) and thesis exam. The Advisory Committee can also mediate if there are disagreements between you and your supervisor. For MSc students, the committee is normally formed by your supervisor and two members, usually a member of the Department of Microbiology and a member outside the department. However, there is no absolute requirement for an external member. For PhD students, one additional member is recommended.

To constitute your committee, talk to your supervisor and identify faculty members who are a good fit for your thesis (personally and in terms of the topic of study). Ask your supervisor if they prefer you to contact them. Otherwise, your supervisor will ask those individuals (personally or by email) whether they agree to be on your committee. Your supervisor will also request approval from the Graduate Chair through email. Once you have confirmed your committee, you or your supervisor must contact the Department of Microbiology office, as there is a formal approval process. The contact person is Kerry Nemet (office assistant, graduate studies). Please complete the appropriate form (see forms below), then email it directly to Kerry; she will circulate them for signatures and send them to the faculty of graduate studies. You can download copies from the links provided to get familiar with these forms.

Required forms:

• Masters thesis practicum proposal and appointment of examiners
• PhD program of study appointment of Advisory Committee

Write your proposal in consultation with your supervisor. In general, a proposal may contain a brief review of the relevant background literature, rationale, hypothesis, research objectives and the general experimental approach to be undertaken. If you have made progress in your research, you can briefly describe it. The proposal is expected to be 6 to 10 pages long (letter size 12, double space), not including references and figures.
An example or template generously shared by one of our graduates, Dr. April Gislason, is provided here as an example: Master Proposal Template.

Once you and your supervisor are happy with the thesis proposal, share it with your committee members at least seven days before the anticipated date scheduled for proposal presentation and approval (usually, the proposal is approved during your first annual review meeting). In preparation for that date, complete the appropriate form (see forms below), then email it directly to Kerry Nemet (office assistant, graduate studies). She will circulate them for signatures. Kerry will prepare the required documents, distribute them for signatures and send them to the faculty of graduate studies. To get familiar with these forms, you can download copies from the links provided.

Required forms:

• Masters thesis practicum proposal
• PhD thesis proposal
   

The annual review is a very important milestone in your studies. Please, take it seriously! Normally, your annual review will occur during April-May of each year. In consultation with your supervisor, schedule a meeting with your Advisory Committee. Discuss with your supervisor how to proceed. Some supervisors arrange the dates themselves; others ask the students to organize the annual review dates. If you are asked to arrange the annual review date, please note that most professors expect it to happen during May. May is ideal as classes will have finished.

Please note that the deadline for having your annual review is June 1 of each year.

If you asked to organize the annual review meeting, be aware that your committee members may have other appointments, so start with plenty of time! You may want to know if your supervisor and committee members keep an updated Outlook calendar and if they share their schedules within the University. If they do, you may "peek" at their schedules to see their availability. Once you find a window, you can email them to see if they are available. Alternatively, some students prefer to send a Doodle poll for potential dates. If you send a Doodle poll, don't add too many dates (add 2 or 3 different dates over one or weeks). Once you have a tentative date, email office assistant Jo Davies to book a suitable room for the meeting. Once you have the date, room and members agreement, email all the information to Jo Davies. Jo will send a calendar invitation to all involved parties.

Please note that the annual review is not required for students graduating in June or October each year.

In preparation for the annual review, you must submit a double-spaced report, not exceeding 5 pages (letter size 12, double space, not including references and figures), at least 7 days before the anticipated date of the Annual Review Meeting. Write your report in consultation with your supervisor. While the report format is free, most reports should consider a brief introduction, hypothesis and objectives, experimental designs, and progress so far. If this is your first annual review meeting and you are preparing your thesis proposal, prepare a document that includes your thesis proposal followed by your progress so far.

Students in the MSc program can transfer to the PhD program. If you are a Master's student planning to transfer to the PhD program, you may want to discuss this possibility well ahead of the deadline, as the recommendation should be made within 24 months from the start of your Master's studies. Be aware that the transfer may impact the continuation of a Master's scholarship. If you hold an award as a Master's student, check the conditions of your award before deciding to transfer.

To be eligible for transfer to the PhD program, you must have completed six credit hours at the MSc level and obtained a minimum GPA of 3.75. Once you have the consent of your supervisor, you need to write a 5 to 10-page thesis proposal consisting of 1) an overview of the relevant background literature, 2) a brief description of progress made to date, and 3) a description of future research objectives and the proposed methodologies.

Then, you will distribute your proposal to your Advisory Committee at least one week before a pre-scheduled meeting with the Advisory Committee. Discuss with your supervisor if an additional member of the committee is necessary. If so, you or your supervisor may contact that person and share the proposal with them. Some committees do not need more than your proposal to approve your transfer.

A good idea is to discuss the transfer to the PhD program during the annual review meeting. If the supervisor and the advisory committee support your transfer, they will sign the forms below during the annual review meeting. Please contact Kerry Nemet ( office assistant, graduate studies) with your completed form (see forms below), then email it directly to Kerry Nemet. Kerry will review the form, circulate it for signatures and send it to the faculty of graduate studies. To get familiar with these forms, you can download copies from the links provided.

Important: Your supervisor must provide you with a signed letter stating that they and the advisory committee support your transfer.

The next step is for you to fill in a new online Admissions Application to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Under "name of Institution," write transfer to PhD. Under "preferred supervisor," upload the letter of support. Fill in the application during the term before the one you want to start. Please note that the admission deadlines also apply to transfers. If you are late with the deadline, choose the earliest term possible and contact Silvia Cardona, the associate head (graduate), as soon as possible so she can help you speed up your application.

Once the application is approved, you can call yourself a PhD student!

Required forms

• PhD thesis proposal
• PhD program of study appointment of Advisory Committee

The Candidacy Examination aims to ascertain whether you are capable of the independent and thoughtful research required for a PhD degree. The exam is based on writing a research proposal and defending it during an oral examination conducted by your Advisory Committee.  Another member of the Graduate Student and Program Review Committee (GSPRC), normally the associate head (graduate) Silvia Cardona, will act as the Chair of the exam.

Our departmental regulations require that you do your Candidacy Exam no later than 26 months from your first registration in the PhD program. With the agreement of your supervisor, you can combine your candidacy exam with an annual review meeting.

Students in the Microbiology PhD program must present one 50-minute seminar on their research. The PhD seminar is an internal requirement. While there is no form to submit to the faculty of graduate studies, the PhD seminar is a mandatory requirement for PhD candidates. 

Please ensure you meet this requirement no later than three years from your first registration in the PhD program. Before the Fall term starts, let the coordinator of the departmental seminars (ask the microbiology office who the person is, as it varies every year) and the associate head of graduate studies. Once the coordinator gives you a tentative date, share it with your supervisor and advisory committee, as they should be present during your presentation. Once the date is arranged, send a title and a brief bio to the coordinator so the information can be circulated in the department.

Prepare a 45-50 min PowerPoint presentation. Include background information, rationale or knowledge gap, hypothesis, objectives, methods and results, conclusions and future work. After your seminar, the audience will ask questions coordinated by the Graduate Chair. The delivery of the PhD Seminar is expected to help you to prepare well for your PhD Thesis defense.

When is the research considered satisfactory and sufficient to start preparing your thesis This question is answered in consultation with your supervisor and your advisory committee. In general, you should begin writing at least 6 months (Master's students) or 1 year (PhD students) before you plan to graduate.

Please note that the maximum time for completion of your Master's program is 4 years. For the PhD program, the maximum time for completion is 6 years from your first admission as a Master's student (if you transferred) or your admission as a PhD student.

Please note that the 6-year deadline is to graduation, not your thesis oral examination date.

Please be aware of the graduation deadlines. Plan your thesis writing, submission and oral examination so that your graduation is within the six years allowed! Only in exceptional circumstances are time extensions granted.

Registration

• Register for GRAD 8000 (Ph.D. oral examination) in the last term before graduation:
  • Graduation in February: Register in the Fall term
  • Graduation in May: Register in the Winter term
  • Graduation in October: Register in the Summer term
• Registration for GRAD 8000 is important so that FGS can load a PASS when the thesis is successfully submitted to MSpace.

Writing your thesis

• Start writing by using the thesis template provided below to write your thesis. After changing the titles of the different sections, figures and tables in the text, update the Table of Contents, List of Figures and List of Tables by right-clicking on them and choosing "update field," then "update entire table."

• Read general guidelines by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
• Find recent thesis submitted by previous students on MSpace.
• Write your thesis in consultation with your supervisor.

Distributing your thesis for internal review

Once your thesis is ready, distribute it internally to the committee members. Committee members may take some time to review it. Check with your committee members about their preferences for this (internal but formal) step of thesis revision. Your committee members must sign the "Approval to Proceed to PhD Thesis Examination." To that end, please contact Kerry Nemet (office assistant, graduate studies) with your completed form (see link to form below). Kerry will review your form. Once the committee approves your thesis for thesis examination, Kerry will circulate the form for signatures and submit it to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Form required

Approval to proceed to PhD thesis examination

Submitting your thesis for external review

Once you have the signed "Approval to Proceed to PhD Thesis Examination" form, submit your PhD thesis through JUMP and the thesis portal, together with the "Approval to Proceed to PhD Thesis Examination" form.

After submitting your thesis, ensure your supervisor has received the request from FGS to enter external reviewers' contact information and has uploaded the CVs of the potential external reviewers to the system.

Wait as FGS evaluates the potential external reviewers and sends invitations. This step should typically take a week. Once the external reviewer is identified, FGS distributes the thesis to the committee. The committee members have three weeks to review the thesis. Please note that during this time, you are not allowed to contact the reviewers of your thesis.

Oral examination

Your supervisor will receive an email with the thesis reports and will share this information with you. A favourable evaluation means that you can proceed to the oral examination! Ask your supervisor to find a Chair and a tentative date for the oral examination. Once a tentative date has been set, contact Kerry Nemet (office assistant, graduate studies) and Jo Davies (office assistant) to book a suitable room for the oral examination. Once the Chair, date and room have been arranged, let Jo Davies so she can send a calendar invitation to the Department of Microbiology.

More information can be found in section 7.12 of the supplementary regulations and the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Remember that graduation requires the final submission of the revised thesis (thesis after oral examination) to FGS according to the deadlines posted for Graduation and University Convocation on the Academic Schedule.

Registration

Register for GRAD 7000 (Master's thesis oral examination) in the corresponding term according to the following schedule:

• Graduation in February: Register for the Fall term
• Graduation in May: Register for the Winter term
• Graduation in October: Register for the Summer term

Planning

To plan your writing, submission, oral examination and Graduation, read the guidelines, with particular attention to the required action according to each graduation date (table).

Around three months before you plan to defend your thesis, ask your advisor if the thesis examiners are the members of your Advisory Committee (Usually, this is the case).

Drafting your thesis

Draft your thesis in consultation with your supervisor. When your thesis is ready, and your advisor has approved it, distribute your thesis is distributed to the examining committee. Some supervisors may distribute the thesis on your behalf. The examining committee will review the thesis and, within a month, will inform the associate head (graduate studies) in writing that the exam can proceed. The associate head will notify you and your supervisor that the oral examination can proceed, usually within two weeks of receiving the reports. 

Oral examination

To organize the oral portion of your exam, follow the same procedure as for the annual review. Please note that the associate head (graduate studies), Silvia Cardona, will chair your exam, so you must also check for her availability. Please send your updated CV to Silvia Cardona so you can properly be introduced during the event. If Silvia Cardona cannot be available, she will ask a member of the Graduate Committee to act as the Chair of your exam.

Once a tentative date has been set, contact Kerry Nemet (office assistant, graduate studies) with your completed form (see forms below). Kerry will review your form, send it to the selected chairperson and circulate it for signatures. In addition, email office assistant Jo Davies to book a suitable room for the meeting. Once you have a date, room and members agreement, email all the information to Jo Davies so she can send a calendar invitation to all involved parties and departments.

Tip: While waiting for the committee to read your thesis and for the oral examination date to be established, work on your thesis presentation!

Required forms

Masters thesis practicum Pproposal and appointment of examiners (if not completed before) The completion of this task can be performed at the beginning of your studies. Still, the form must be submitted to FGS at least two weeks before your oral examination.

Masters thesis practicum final report

What happens during your Master's thesis defence?

The Chair will introduce the examiners, give a short introduction about you to the audience and ask you to deliver a 20–30-minute thesis presentation. This presentation will be followed by one hour of questions by your examining committee.  After completing the questioning period, you will be asked to leave the room while the examining committee discusses your performance. Then, the Chair will let you know the results. Even if you are approved, your supervisor may hold on to the final report form until you make the final revisions of the thesis. The last step is submitting your final thesis to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Continue to check the guidelines. The Microbiology Office will also submit the signed Final Report to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.