Original research supervised by a faculty member constitutes the major component of work toward the PhD degree. A Doctoral degree is expected to take five years.
PhD students are not required to complete course work unless it is recommended by the thesis committee or unless the student has been admitted without a Master's degree (see point 4).
All PhD students are required to present a research proposal and pass a comprehensive examination on their research area within 18 months of their program start date. Each PhD student is expected to deliver a one-hour lecture on their completed doctoral research in one of the departmental lecture series before their doctoral dissertation examination (for details, please see information below).
First term
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Second term
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Second year
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Third and fourth year
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Dissertation submission
Please keep in mind that your program will not be closed until the final submission instructions have been completed. If you're aiming for a particular completion date/graduation, give yourself at least a month between the oral examination and your target deadline. After the defence, students are generally given a month to make revisions if needed, and G+PS will close your program about 1-2 weeks after the final submission paperwork and dissertation have been submitted and accepted. And remember to apply for graduation! Graduation happens in May and November of each year. You can apply for graduation even if you haven’t defended yet (but you won’t be approved to graduate without having completed all your requirements so check the Deadlines page for when your program requirements should be completed for a specific graduate ceremony). |
The Doctoral Dissertation exam is administered through the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
Dissertation & Thesis Preparation
Thesis template/formatting (Word)
Final Dissertation & Thesis Submission
You are encouraged to use the planning tool and checklist on the G+PS website.
Note that the deadlines for scheduling these exams are sometimes quite early in the term. You can find defense, graduation, and thesis submission deadlines by consulting the G+PS Deadline Centre.