PhD PROGRAM REGULATIONS

Duration and Registration  

The duration of the Ph.D. program is four years if entering from an MSc degree or five years if entering directly from a bachelor’s degree.  Registration is normally on September 1 although registration on May 1 is also possible. 

Financial Support

PhD students are guaranteed an annual stipend for four years if entering from a Master’s program or five years if entering from a Bachelor’s.  For students without external scholarship support (e.g. NSERC, OGS, CIHR, Connaught), this stipend comprises a Research Assistantship, a 140-hr Teaching Assistantship and a University of Toronto Fellowship (UTF).  For students with external scholarships the Teaching Assistantship is reduced to 70 hours and a UTF “top-up” is given in addition to the guaranteed minimum.  Further details are available on the EEB web page.  Students who do not complete their thesis within four or five years are not eligible for any further financial support from Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.  Arrangements must be made with the thesis supervisor.

Coursework

Students entering directly from a Bachelor’s program should take four one-semester graduate courses comprising the Faculty Research Course (EEB1100H) and/or Philosophy and Methods (EEB 1310H) (more details about content of these two courses appear in the previous paragraph and in the course descriptions at http://www.eeb.utoronto.ca/graduate/courses), a special topics course (one of EEB1420H, 1440H or 1470H), and two other courses, one of which may be from another department.  Those entering from an MSc program in another department are required to take three one-semester courses.  The generic departmental recommendation is for  EEB1100H or EEB1310H, a special topics course and an elective.  The supervisor and advisory committee may offer more personalized advice.  Students already in EEB who transfer from the MSc to the PhD program are required to complete the same number of credits as those entering from a bachelor’s program minus those credits completed while in the MSc program.

Supervisory Committee

The student’s research supervisor is responsible for recommending the composition of the student’s Supervisory Committee to the Graduate Office within four weeks of the student’s registration.  This committee comprises the research supervisor (and co-supervisor if relevant) plus two other professors from EEB.  The committee should meet shortly after registration and at least once per academic year thereafter by the end of May (hence two meetings are required during the first academic year).  During the first committee meeting, which should be held as soon after registration as possible but no longer than four months after, the student’s academic background is reviewed and the thesis research discussed.  For the annual committee meetings, the student must prepare a brief written report of research progress and plans, and send it to committee members at least three days in advance of the meeting.  The supervisor is responsible for completing a report for all meetings (see EEB website), ensuring each committee member and the student sign it, and submitting it and a copy of the progress report to the graduate office within one week of the meeting.  A final supervisory committee meeting should be held approximately three months before the final thesis exam to ensure the student is adequately prepared and that thesis is in a late stage of writing.  In general, PhD students are expected to complete an original independent research program that makes substantial and innovative contributions to their field of research, and will typically publish a number of primary scientific papers based on their research. 

Departmental Seminars 

PhD students are expected to attend all seminars in the primary EEB or Biology seminar series on their campus. 

Appraisal Examination

All students are examined on the progress of their PhD program at an Appraisal Examination held 14 to 20 months after registration (between 14 and 26 months for students who entered directly from an undergraduate degree or students tranferred from MSc to Ph.D.). The purpose of this evaluation is to ensure that the research proposal is sound and that the study can be completed within a normal PhD program.  The examination consists of a public seminar given by the student on the thesis work to the whole department (approximately 20 minutes plus 10 minutes of questions from the audience), and an in camera part.  During the in camera phase the student is expected, during approximately two hours of questioning by committee members, to demonstrate senior undergraduate competence in general biological principles, mastery of fundamental ecological and evolutionary concepts, advanced expertise in their research specialization, and to defend a strong research proposal.  The Graduate Office will remind students that a proposal is due, schedule the student into the departmental seminar series, book the exam room, and circulate a formal announcement to the examining committee.  The student should give the title of their talk, an abstract, a list of committee members and a personal data form (see EEB webpage) to the Graduate Administrator at least two weeks before the seminar and appraisal.  The Appraisal Committee consists of five members chosen by the student and supervisor: the supervisor (and co-supervisor if relevant), the two members of the supervisory committee and two other EEB faculty members.  The graduate office will choose the exam chair from those members not on the supervisory committee.  Students are responsible for booking their own audiovisual equipment.  Two weeks prior to the exam the student should provide committee members with a written research proposal that is a maximum of 20 pages of double-spaced 12-font text including tables, figures and references.  Both the written proposal and the public seminar should present the conceptual framework of the study, hypotheses or objectives, methods and timeframe for completion of the research, and preliminary data if available.  Questioning by the exam committee will explore the candidate’s grasp of principles and concepts underlying the study, ensure that methods are appropriate, and make suggestions for improvement of the research program.  The emphasis will be on the theory and proposed approach, rather than on progress to date.  At the end of the exam the student will be asked to leave the room while the committee discusses the student’s performance.  A positive vote of at least four members of the committee confirms that the student has passed.  A negative outcome requires that the student retake the exam within four months by considering suggestions offered by the committee for improving the thesis research proposal.  The outcome of the second exam will be either pass or withdraw from the program.  The chair of the exam committee is responsible for returning appropriate documents and a copy of the research proposal to the graduate office after the exam. 

PhD Exit Seminar

All PhD students are required to give a formal seminar on their thesis research at the end of their program.  This seminar should be delivered on the same day as the final thesis examination (see below) but if this is not practicable, it should be held no more than two months before the final exam.  The student should contact the graduate office well in advance so that a date and place for the seminar can be arranged and announcements distributed. 

Thesis and Final Oral Examination

The Final Oral Exam (FOE) is conducted by the School of Graduate Studies.  A written thesis following SGS guidelines must be approved for examination by the supervisor (and co-supervisor if relevant) and one member of the advisory committee, all of who must sign the “Approval of PhD Thesis for Final Oral Exam” form (See EEB website).  The examining committee comprises the supervisor (and co-supervisor if relevant), an external examiner, at least one but no more than three members of the supervisory committee (including supervisor/co-supervisor), and other professor/s from EEB or a related department for a total of at least five, but no more than six members.  An exam chair is chosen by SGS.  The supervisor and student should discuss potential external examiners and other committee members.  The supervisor nominates one potential external examiner using the "Choose Final PhD External Examiner" form on the EEB web page.  The name of the external nominee, the Approval of Thesis form, suggestions for exam committee members, the date of the exam, a current student CV including publications and presentations, and a one-page, double-spaced abstract with thesis title should be submitted to the graduate office at least seven weeks prior to the intended exam date (use "PhD Final Oral Exam Booking Sheet" on the EEB web page).  The Graduate Office and SGS must approve the external examiner and the other exam committee members.  The student should provide the graduate office with one copy of the thesis for the external examiner at least six weeks before the exam date, and at this time the remaining committee members should be informed of the exam date and given a copy of the thesis.  Although the FOE can be held at any campus, it is strongly recommended that it be held at SGS on the St. George Campus because the candidate and exam committee chair must complete paperwork at SGS immediately following the examination.  The graduate office will book a room for the examination and must be informed of any special requirements for equipment or venue. Traditionally, students begin the FOE with an oral presentation about their thesis. Then they answer questions about their research and related general knowledge for approximately two hours. Recently, we have recognized that there can be some flexibility about the presentation. According to SGS regulations, at the beginning of the FOE "The candidate is ... invited to summarize the research and conclusions of the thesis orally, in no more than twenty minutes." This statement makes clear that the oral presentation is a choice, not a requirement. Given that the exit seminar required for EEB students covers this same ground, candidates may elect to arrange that the voting members of the examining committee attend the exit seminar as a replacement for the traditional oral presentation at the beginning of the formally scheduled FOE. The key complication of this arrangement is being able to ensure that the external examiner can attend. The FOE booking sheet allows students to make this substitution, and requests the date and time of the exit seminar, so that SGS can notify the FOE chair about the arrangement and give them the option of attending the seminar (The chair's attendance at the oral presentation is not a requirement). The student will be given the external examiner’s written assessment of the thesis about two weeks before the examination. Students are encouraged to submit their final thesis in digital format through the School of Graduate Studies.

TRANSFER FROM MSc to PhD PROGRAM

Exceptional students may transfer from the MSc to the PhD program by demonstrating research excellence.  This can be done during the second MSc supervisory committee meeting held eight months after registration or at another meeting held no later than 11.5 months after registration.  In either case the successful candidate would register as a PhD student on the one-year anniversary date of their first registration.  No special procedures are required at this committee meeting other than a thorough assessment of the student based on the written research report and past performance.  Typically the thesis supervisor will indicate to the student in advance of the meeting that consideration of transfer to the PhD will be made, and discussion at the meeting should consider both the student’s wishes and academic potential.  If transfer is approved, the thesis supervisor should ensure that an explicit statement to this effect, along with a brief rationale, is contained in the committee meeting report that should be submitted to the graduate office no later than one week after the committee meeting.  The graduate office will assist the student in transferring registration from MSc to PhD.