Requirements for graduation from Ph.D at Queen's University

• Completion of courses
• Sucessful completion of Part A comprehensive exams
• Completion and defence of Part B- Research Proposal
• Completion and defence of thesis

Courses

Direct to Ph.D

4 Courses

Promoted from MaSc.

7 Courses

• At least one outside of the department, which can be a 400 level course
• All others must be masters level or above

Part A comprehensive exams

• Must be taken within the first 4 months of registration in Ph.D
• Focus on three major categories chosen by student. A list of possible topic areas can be found here
• Exams are oral and typically all three are taken in the same week, but never on the same day.
• A failure of comprehensives means they must be re-taken at the next sitting of the comprehensives (another 4 months)
• A failure of the second round of comprehensives means removal from the program.

Part B research proposal

• Must be submitted within 16 months of registration in Ph.D
• Outlines proposed research for the Ph.D, it must not exceed 40 pages. Outlines and writing hints are found here
• Defended to a committe determined by the supervisor, not neccesarily the same as the thesis defence committe
  • One from students department
  • One from external department
  • One defence chair (Head of department or delegate)
  • Any other members of supervisory committee
• Proposal must be submitted to committe at least two weeks before the defence
• The time of the defence is at the discretion of the supervisor and Supervisory Committee
• A Pass or referred decision will be made within an hour of the defence. If referred, the proposal must be defended again within three months

Defence of Thesis

• The thesis committee must consist of
  • Committee Chair-appointed by School of Graduate Studies
  • Academic External to University
  • External to Department
  • Internal to Department
  • Supervisors
• Thesis must be submitted 25 working days (typ. 5 weeks) prior to thesis defence
• Thesis can be submitted in hard copy or digitally, at the discretion of individual members of the thesis committee

Ph.D awards and deadlines

• NSERC & OGS- Typicical deadlines are October of the year before funding.
  • eg. For funding in Sept. 2012, deadlines are in Oct.2011