Admission Procedures
Admission standards are listed in the Calendar of the SGPS.
To apply for entry to the graduate program, a student must first complete an online application. The instructions for online applications can be found on the SGPS website.
Reference letters are to be submitted online; as are transcripts from any post secondary institution attended.
Applications are reviewed by the Program Committee. If the applicant is considered to be academically acceptable, the student must find a research supervisor before receiving final acceptance (see Responsibilities of the Supervisor). There are no established rules for the matching of a student with a supervisor. Students are advised to contact and visit the laboratories of potential supervisors. These meetings can be arranged directly with the faculty member or through the Program Coordinator. A list of faculty and their current research interests is available on the Neuroscience Program web site.
Only the SGPS can grant final confirmed admission to the graduate program and does so by issuing an official "Offer of Admission and Permit to Register" form.
Students entering the program after completing an undergraduate degree, and those with graduate degrees from foreign countries whose academic transcripts are difficult to assess, are admitted to the MSc program. They may subsequently change their registration to the doctoral program upon satisfying their Advisory Committee and the Program Committee that their progress has been exceptional. An MSc to PhD transfer (known informally as “roll over”), must occur before the end of the fifth academic term of study. When considering a request for transfer to the PhD program the student's Advisory Committee will consider whether the student's research project is of sufficient scope to expand into a PhD project. The student should present a progress report of the completed work (5 page limit waived) and a plan outlining the PhD projects at the advisory committee meeting. The committee will also consider the student’s CV. The student, the supervisor, and the advisors have to agree to a MSc to PhD transfer.
Students contemplating a combined graduate-medical degree should consult with the Director of the Program as early as possible before enrolling in medicine to discuss the nature and timing of their program.
Our graduate program is highly interdisciplinary and students enter with a variety of academic backgrounds. Some students admitted to the program will be required to enroll in Neuroscience 9000: Fundamentals of Neuroscience. The course better prepares new graduate students in Neuroscience that may lack training in the biological sciences and hence lack a fundamental knowledge of the language of neuroscience. This course combines graduate level skills training with learning about fundamentals in Neuroscience, with an emphasis on sensory systems and cellular/molecular Neuroscience. Enrollment in this course will better prepare students for the required Neuroscience 9500 course. It will not count towards the required credits for degree completion. In consultation with potential supervisors, applicants identified by the Program Committee to require this course are notified through their admission offer letter.
