Direct Entry PhD

Direct Entry PhD Program students are expected to complete the PhD studies over the course of 5 years. Financial support will be guaranteed for up to five years

Students must complete:

• Successful completion of 7 half-courses, JDE1000H Ethics in Graduate Research seminar (3 hours).

Seven (7) half courses

All courses must be at graduate level, which includes 1000-level and 500-level courses. Your course selections must conform to the following criteria, selected in consultation with and approved by the supervisor:

• Four (4) courses must be from MIE
• At most one (1) APS course
• At most one (1) 500-level course
• At most one (1) Reading course**

Course add/drop form here.

**Reading courses must be assigned by the supervisor

Seminar is offered by the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering twice a year (Fall term, Winter term).  It is a 3-hour non-credit seminar. Seminar schedule will be announced when information is available.  Students do not enroll JDE1000H on ROSI themselves.  The MIE Graduate Office will arrange a “CR” to be assigned on ROSI for those students who attended the seminar. Students will be notified via e-mail when the date and time are released.

Students must attend 70% of MIE weekly seminars during the first year and second year of registration, a PhD thesis

To  keep track of attendance record,

1. Students must swipe their T-card after the seminar outside of the seminar room.
2. Student must arrive before the presentation begins; otherwise, the attendance will be void..

For students who attended 70% of the seminars during their first year and second year of registration, A CR for SRD4444YY Doctoral seminar series will be assigned on their ROSI record in the Winter terms.

Click here to see how many you've attended so far.

Seminar Student Guide

The thesis is the primary component of the PhD program and the end result of a PhD student's research. The research must lead to an original and significant contribution to knowledge in a subject field, and be fully reported in the thesis document. It is also expected that the work will be published in the open literature, whether during or after the PhD program. The research is carried out under the direction of a student's supervisor, and overseen by a supervisory committee.

The supervisory committee consists of the student's supervisor and at least two other professors appointed as SGS Graduate Faculty, with expertise relevant to the thesis topic. The majority of committee members should be from the Department of MIE.

SGS has published guidelines on graduate supervision, a document that offers excellent advice to both students and supervisors on how to establish and maintain a productive and supportive relationship.

A student must meet with the supervisory committee at least annually to remain registered in the program. Each year, the committee evaluates recent progress, in order to assess whether the student remains in good academic standing, which requires that the student meet the requirements of the program described here, and is making satisfactory progress towards the completion of the degree.

A qualifying exam, and subsequent annual committee meetings are arranged by the student, in consultation with the supervisor.

Students who have started their PhD program since September 2015, must use the Graduate Management System (GMS) to notify the graduate office of their qualifying exam or committee meeting (ten business days before the exam/meeting is to take place). Prior to using the GMS, students must schedule the meeting with their committee members and book a meeting room to obtain a confirmation through MIE Reception (reception@mie.utoronto.ca).

MIE PhD qualifying exams and committee meetings are open to other students, unless otherwise requested.

The PhD qualifying exam must be held within 12 months of registration for students who begin their program in September, within 14 months for January or May registrants, within 16 months for students in the flex-time option, and within 8 months of a fast-track transfer from the MASc program into the PhD. The qualifying exam evaluates both the student's background knowledge and the proposed research.

Prerequisites

Before a qualifying exam will be scheduled, a student must have successfully completed at least four courses, with at least a B+ average. A student who does not meet this requirement will not be allowed to sit the qualifying exam, and a recommendation to terminate the program will be submitted to SGS.

Research Proposal

Once a qualifying exam has been scheduled, the student must submit a research proposal to the committee members, at least ten working days prior to the scheduled exam. This document must be double-spaced and no longer than 10 pages (including figures, tables, and a short list of references). Click here for advice on how to write a good proposal.

The Exam

The qualifying exam begins with a student presentation of no more than 20 minutes, that summarizes the proposal. This is followed by questions from the committee. Following the exam, the committee assesses progress to date and suitability for the PhD program. If the assessment is "unsatisfactory", the committee decides whether to adjourn the exam and allow the student another opportunity to pass the exam within three months, or to fail the student and recommend termination of the PhD program.

Students who have started their PhD program since September 2015, must use the Graduate Management System (GMS) to notify the graduate office of their qualifying exam or committee meeting (ten business days before the exam/meeting is to take place). Prior to using the GMS, students must schedule the meeting with their committee members and book a meeting room to obtain a confirmation through MIE Reception (reception@mie.utoronto.ca).

Students that have started their PhD program before September 2015 can submit a PhD EXAM/MEETING REQUEST FORM when a qualifying exam or committee meeting has been arranged (ten business days before the exam/meeting is to take place).

MIE PhD qualifying exams and committee meetings are open to other students, unless otherwise requested.

Following the qualifying exam, a PhD student must meet his/her supervisory committee at least annually for a progress review meeting. These meetings allow the committee to assess the progress of the student, in order to decide whether the student remains in good academic standing.

Progress Report

Ahead of each progress review meeting, the student prepares a report of no more than 10 double-spaced pages, that (i) summarizes recent progress in the research, (ii) lists the major tasks that remain, and a timetable for completion of the program, and (iii) lists the papers (journal and conference, published and submitted) and presentations that have resulted from the work. The student may include additional material as appendices to the report (and should refer to this material in the report); the committee, however, is not obliged to read this additional material. The report must be submitted to the committee at least ten working days prior to the scheduled meeting.

The Meeting

Similar to the qualifying exam, a progress review meeting begins with a student presentation of no more than 20 minutes, followed by questions from the committee. Following the meeting, the committee assesses progress since the last exam/meeting. If the assessment is "unsatisfactory", another meeting will be scheduled for within three months, to determine whether to allow the student to remain in the program.

When all other requirements have been met, and the PhD student has prepared a polished draft of the thesis, the student submits the draft to the supervisory committee. Based on a review of the draft, the committee decides whether to require that the student sit a Departmental Oral Exam, or whether the student may proceed directly to the SGS Final Oral Exam (FOE).The rules of the Departmental Oral Exam are similar to those of the SGS FOE. The student summarizes the thesis in a presentation of no more than 20 minutes. This is followed by questions from the committee.

Following the exam, the committee decides whether the thesis is acceptable, as is or with corrections, or not acceptable. If acceptable, and once corrections have been made, the student may proceed to the SGS FOE. If not acceptable, another Departmental Oral Exam will be held within three months.

Detailed information on the SGS FOE is available here. Students approaching the end of their program are strongly encouraged to review this information.

SGS requires that a quorum of four voting members attend the FOE.

SGS allows no more than three members of the supervisory committee to vote, and requires that the FOE committee include two members who have not previously been involved with the student and thesis.

As a result, the Department of MIE requires that the FOE committee have five voting members:

• the thesis supervisory committee
• one other examiner from the University of Toronto not closely involved in the supervision of the thesis
• an examiner external to the University of Toronto.

The student's supervisor must submit an Examination Committee Nomination Form to the Graduate Studies Office at least eight weeks before the proposed exam date.

SGS must approve the external examiner, based on criteria posted here. Once approved, the thesis may then be sent to the external examiner, who must return a written appraisal at least two weeks before the exam, to be distributed to the student and the exam committee.

After the SGS Final Oral Exam

Following a successful SGS FOE, and once the thesis has been finalized, the PhD student must submit a final thesis.Students are also required to submit the MIE Graduate Clearance Form to the Graduate Studies Office.