Minimum requirements for the PhD degree

The required period of enrolment for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree is six terms from the completion of a Master's degree, or nine terms from the completion of an Honours Bachelor's degree. The actual time taken to satisfy the degree requirements may be considerably longer. For information on required full-time attendance at the University refer to the Definitions - students section. The acceptance of the transfer of credits for prior enrolment at another university will be determined in individual cases by the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty at the time of admission to the program.

Completion of PhD degree requirements

The requirements for the degree must be completed within the time periods stipulated by the Senate of the University. A maximum of 18.0 terms from an Honours Bachelor's degree or its equivalent, 12.0 terms from a Master's degree or its equivalent, and 15.0 terms from a Master's degree or its equivalent for the PhD in Clinical Psychology. Students must petition the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies to continue their enrolment beyond these limits. Progress of students who have been granted extensions will be reviewed every term. For more information on time limits see the Enrolment and time limits page.

Students whose work does not measure up to the standards of their program may be required to withdraw from the program. Such students may be readmitted although there will be a limit on the time-span in which readmission may occur.

Candidates must remain continuously enrolled at the University to the end of the term in which they complete the degree requirements. For additional information, see the Continuous enrolment section of the Enrolment and time limits page.

For further information the minimum degree requirements specified by each Faculty should be consulted.

The PhD degree is granted by the University to candidates who have demonstrated both achievement in independent research in a particular field and a broad knowledge of that field.

The first requirement is satisfied when candidates have demonstrated a broad knowledge of their field to the satisfaction of the Faculty, normally by the successful completion of an assigned program of courses and the passing of a comprehensive examination, as determined by the department in which they are enrolled.

The second requirement is satisfied when candidates have presented and defended a thesis embodying the results of their own original research on an approved topic.

Comprehensive examination

The departmental Graduate Officer will establish a Comprehensive Examination Committee (and advise the student of the membership of the Committee), which will submit an examination to the Graduate Officer or Graduate Committee for approval, where there are written or oral examinations. In certain departments the comprehensive requirement is met by a series of examinations or other special assignments rather than by a single examination. In both cases, such procedures must begin within four academic terms of the student's first enrolment in the PhD program and completed within at least seven academic terms from initial enrolment. Candidates who fail to pass the comprehensive the first time or who are required to complete additional requirements must satisfy the comprehensive requirement of their department within one calendar year after the unsuccessful attempt, provided the decision made at the time of the comprehensive allows for another opportunity. Students who fail to meet these conditions will be required to withdraw.

Language requirement

When a department considers that a candidate must have some level of competence in a particular foreign language or languages, the successful demonstration of this competence becomes a requirement for the degree.

Program of study and supervision

Candidates shall have their program of study and research approved by the department (or delegated committee) in which they are enrolled. In certain Faculties, a candidate will be responsible, upon entry to the program, to a supervisor who will be approved by the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty. In other Faculties, the candidate will be responsible to a provisional supervisor to be approved by the departmental Graduate Studies Committee.

Advisory Committee

When a department wishes to appoint a supervisor (at the latest a month after the comprehensive), the departmental Graduate Officer shall consult with the candidate about an Advisory Committee and shall recommend to the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty the composition of that three to five person Committee. In certain Faculties the Advisory Committee is appointed upon the passing of the comprehensive examination. This Committee must consist of the supervisor(s) and at least one other faculty member from the department. The supervisor must be a regular member of the University faculty with Approved Doctoral Dissertation Supervisor (ADDS) status; or, when a supervisor has adjunct status, another on-campus professor must serve as co-supervisor. The Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty has the authority to waive the co-supervision requirement on the recommendation of the department / school. Two other faculty members, one of whom may be external to the department or Faculty, may also participate in this Committee. In any event, the Advisory Committee must have a minimum of the supervisor and two other faculty members or a maximum of two supervisors and three other faculty members.

PhD thesis examination

The PhD thesis examination is the culmination of the candidate's research program. It exposes the candidate's work to scholarly criticism by members of the University and gives him or her the opportunity to defend it.

All PhD candidates must successfully present and defend their thesis according to the procedures outlined in the Graduate Thesis Regulations.

Recommendation re: awarding of the degree

On the basis of the PhD Thesis Examining Committee's report and its own records of candidates' progress in their assigned program of study, the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty, or a committee specifically appointed by a faculty for this purpose, decides whether candidates have fulfilled the requirements for the PhD degree. If the decision is that they have, he or she forwards the supporting documentation to the Associate Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs with the request that he or she recommend to Senate that the degree be awarded. The Associate Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs examines this request in light of the report from the Chair of the thesis examination. If the Associate Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs has any reason to feel that the acceptance of the thesis is open to dispute, the Associate Vice-President will take the matter before the Associate Deans (Graduate Studies) for advice or, if necessary, to the Senate Graduate and Research Council, which is specifically given authority to decide in such cases.

Thesis submission

When the thesis is accepted by the department and Faculty, and all other requirements for the degree have been met, the student must provide the University with an electronic copy of their approved thesis as a final University degree requirement. Theses must be prepared and submitted as outlined in the Graduate Thesis Regulations.