Guidelines for Examinations and Thesis Preparation
Graduate Examinations
The Department of Immunology conducts several types of examinations. As described below, a qualifying exam isrequired for students who wish to continue in the PhD program. Thesis defense exams are held for students in the Fundamental MSc program and for students in the PhD program.
The general procedure for these exams is as follows. After consultation with their supervisory committee, the student prepares their proposal (qualifying exam) or thesis (thesis defense exams). After the supervisory committee has approved the proposal or thesis, the appropriate approval forms and the Examining Committee Pre-Approval form should be sent to the Graduate Office, along with an electronic version of the thesis/proposal abstract. The student should ascertain a range of dates for the exam that are suitable for the student, supervisor and supervisory committee members. Once this is established, the Graduate Office will recruit the remaining members of the examination committee. The supervisor may suggest appropriate examiners, however the final decision as to who is on the examining committee rests with the Associate Chair, Graduate Studies.
Once the thesis has been approved by the supervisory committee and is sent to the broader examining committee (including the external examiner) the student must not engage with the examining committee prior to the exam in order to maintain the integrity of the exam process.
Detailed guidelines can be found in the following documents:
- MSc Final Oral Exam
- Qualifying Exam - updates coming soon
- PhD Final Oral Exam
Thesis Preparation
The thesis functions both as a vehicle for judging the student's accomplishments and as a repository for the data which the student has generated during the thesis research. Below are important guidelines and steps for the preparation of a thesis for the Department of Immunology.