Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Sustainability Management

The program information below was valid for the fall 2018 term (September 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018). This is the archived version; the most up-to-date program information is available through the current Graduate Studies Academic Calendar.

The Graduate Studies Academic Calendar is updated 3 times per year, at the start of each academic term (January 1, May 1, September 1). Graduate Studies Academic Calendars from previous terms can be found in the archives.

• Admit term(s) 
  • Fall
• Delivery mode 
  • On-campus
• Program type 
  • Doctoral
  • Research
• Registration option(s) 
  • Full-time
  • Part-time
• Study option(s) 
  • Thesis

• Minimum requirements 
  • A Master’s degree with distinction (typically an overall average of at least 80%, or equivalent).
  • Facility with research methods is expected, whether through the presentation of specific graduate courses or original research at the graduate level.
• Application materials 
  • Résumé
  • Supplementary information form
  • Transcript(s)
• References 
  • Number of references:  3
  • Type of references: 

    academic references are required unless a professional reference is specified.

• English language proficiency (ELP) (if applicable)

Thesis option:

Graduate Academic Integrity Module (Graduate AIM)

Courses 

• Students must complete the following courses:
  • SUSM 701 Advanced theories
  • SUSM 702 Research design and methods
  • 2 elective courses
• Students may request permission from the SEED Graduate Advisor to enrol in elective courses in other graduate programs that will complement their program of study.

Link(s) to courses

• Sustainability Management (SUSM) courses

PhD Professional Development Seminars

• The PhD Professional Development Seminars will allow students to prepare for jobs inside and outside of academia and focus on the application of theories, concepts and methods that students have acquired in their core courses. They are oriented to enable students to achieve skills in academic research, consulting and evaluations and to conduct knowledge mobilization. In these seminars students develop a project proposal, an evaluation plan, or the outline for a consulting project. The results will be marked by the course instructor, the students’ supervisors, and an external ‘client’ of the course project.

PhD Comprehensive Examination

• The PhD Comprehensive Examination requires students to demonstrate their knowledge of the literature in sustainability management and be assessed on their breadth and depth of their knowledge as well as their ability to present their arguments in a coherent, logical and scientific manner. The comprehensive examination has to be conducted during the fourth academic term of the student's first enrolment in the PhD program. The comprehensive examination committee will be set each year and consists of the school’s graduate officer and at least two committee members from the school, depending on the candidates being examined. The comprehensive exam consists of a single written question based on a list of publications that will be set each year by the school. The written comprehensive exam will be on a set date each fall. The student’s response must be submitted within a stipulated time frame (likely to be 8 to 24 hours) following receipt of the question and must be no longer than 5,000 words, not including the bibliography. Exams will be marked by (at least) two comprehensive examination committee readers and results will be compiled by the graduate officer. In case of disagreement by the committee, or where it would be fairer to the candidate (e.g., in some English-second language cases) the candidate would additionally be examined orally by the committee. The oral examination, if required, is chaired by a faculty member of SEED who is not a committee member. Accommodations to this process will be determined for students unable to write the exam on the set date or other circumstances, as appropriate.

PhD Thesis Proposal

• Students present the research proposal to their doctoral advisory committee that has been set up, consisting of the supervisor, two committee members from the school, and one internal-external member who is not appointed or cross-appointed as SEED faculty. The research proposal consists of a written and an oral part. The milestone will be completed shortly (within a term) after the comprehensive examination. Students send the proposal in a written form to the committee members, gets their feedback and integrates the feedback into the proposal. The research proposal is accepted if all committee members agree to accept it. The decision will be communicated to the school’s graduate officer. The approved proposal is binding to both the student and the advisory committee.

PhD Thesis

• The thesis should address original research and can be written either in form of a monograph or as a paper-based thesis. The thesis has to be presented in a public defense in front of a doctoral defence committee consisting of the members of the student’s doctoral advisory examination committee and an external member who is not a faculty member of the University of Waterloo and who has not been involved in the candidate’s research. After the presentation the committee asks questions about and provides comments to the thesis and the presentation.