This document should be read by all graduate students and members of the Biology Graduate Academic Unit on a regular basis. Additional information and regulations appear in the U.N.B. Graduate Calendar (now available on the UNB web site)
Registration
During registration ALL graduate students should meet with the Graduate Secretary (Ms. Linda Allen) to obtain their personal identification numbers for on-line registration and their Graduate School information package.
Return to top
Program of Study
A Program of Study form should be completed and signed by the graduate student and all members of the Supervisory Committee within one month of the student's official starting date. The original form should be forwarded to the Director of Graduate Studies, copies being kept by the student and the supervisor. Any changes to the Program of Study must be transmitted in writing to the Director of Graduate Studies.
All graduate students are required to take a research methods course (Biology 6910 or approved equivalent) during their first year of graduate studies and a seminar course (Biology 6003 (for MSc students, BIOL6103 (for PhD students) or an approved equivalent) at some time during their graduate program. (See Appendix A for further details.) Students must also register every year in the appropriate course for their thesis (Biology 6997 or 6998, respectively, for MSc or PhD).
Any additional requirements are determined by the Supervisory Committee in consultation with the graduate student. For PhD candidates, the Supervisory Committee should discuss the areas in which the student will be examined in his/her Qualifying Examination and build the first year of the program to strengthen these areas, if necessary. In addition, the PhD Qualifying Examination Committee may, following the examination, add course requirements to the Program of Study.
Return to top
Supervisory Committee
A. Composition
Supervisory Committees are established by the graduate student's supervisor in consultation with the graduate student and the proposed committee members. The committee consists of a minimum of three members, including the supervisor(s), all of whom must be full faculty members, adjunct faculty members, or honorary research associates. At least two of the members on any supervisory committee must be full faculty members of the Biology Graduate Academic Unit.
B. Committee Meetings
Once research commences, the Supervisory Committee should meet with the graduate student at least once a year to complete a Progress Report form. The original form should be forwarded to the Director of Graduate Studies, copies being kept by the student and the supervisor. Additional meetings may be requested by the graduate student or any member of the Supervisory Committee. It is important that the progress of the student be documented appropriately. The Biology Graduate Studies Committee (BGSC) recommends that w written progress report be attached to the Progress Report form. It is essential that these yearly meetings be documented.
C. Thesis Examination
The Supervisory Committee should examine the thesis for scientific content as well as proper form and grammar. On the first draft, a committee member should return the thesis to the student within three weeks of receiving the complete thesis. It is important to communicate with your supervisor/committee member so that you know exactly when to expect their comments. Revisions should normally be processed within two weeks of receiving the complete revised versions. A thesis must receive final approval by the Supervisory Committee before it is submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies. Approval should be conferred by completing an approval form and must not be contingent upon any modifications that have not been examined by the committee (i.e., it is in its final form). If the Supervisory Committee is not unanimous in its approval of the thesis, the BGSC will review the situation and establish a Departmental examination before the thesis goes to the University Examining Committee. Before a Ph.D thesis is submitted to the School of Graduate Studies (via the Biology Graduate Office), the Supervisory Committee will submit the names of four potential external examiners that includes a statement of research interests and a list of publications from the last 6 years for each suggested external examiner. This package should then be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies. For the selection of external examiners, we follow the NSERC guidelines regarding conflict of interest. In short, the supervisor and/or the student must not have a close, personal friendship with the proposed examiner or have collaborated on a research project/publication within the last 6 years. It is the responsibility of the student/supervisor to declare any conflicts of interest. These names will be taken under advisement by the Biology Graduate Studies Committee (BGSC) who will select the external examiner for recommendation to the Graduate School.
D. Other Duties
The Supervisory Committee acts on behalf of the student in requesting a transfer from a MSc program to a PhD program and in requesting the extension of a graduate program. In both cases, the committee should meet with the student and then present any recommendations to the Director of Graduate Studies. See the appendix for further information.
E. The Time Required to Review a Thesis
It is the obligation of the supervisor and supervisory committee members to review theses in a reasonable time-frame to facilitate the timely completion of degrees. Students can expect to receive comments back from their committee within approximately three weeks following submission. This is a guideline and there may be times when more than three weeks will be required to review the thesis (due to vacations, field work, conferences etc.). When a thesis is submitted the supervisory committee should communicate with the student such that a mutually satisfactory time when comments will be provided to the student. If there are any delays beyond the agreed time, the student should contact the committee members to enquire about the thesis. If this does not yield results, then the student inform the Director of Graduate Studies who will contact the committee members.
Return to top
Qualifying Examination for PhD Students
A. Purpose
The primary purpose of the qualifying examination is to determine whether the student has suitable ability and background to continue as a PhD candidate. In addition, it should reveal any critical gaps in training or understanding that can be remedied as the student continues the PhD program. Preparation for the examination permits the student to review selected fields of biology complementary to the proposed area of study.
B. Scheduling
The Qualifying Examination follows the Research Proposal Presentation (See Section V), and must be held within one year of the student's official starting date. Part-time students must complete the qualifying exam within 18 months of starting their program. Areas of examination will be determined by the Graduate Studies Committee based on a letter from the Supervisor stating the nature of the student's research and suggesting the four areas of examination. The student must take the examination within six months of written notification of approval of examination areas and examiners by the Director of Graduate Studies. Students who do not schedule their own examination within this period will have it scheduled by the Director of Graduate Studies.
C. Nature of the Examination
The examination will normally be oral and conducted by four examiners, with the Director of Graduate Studies as Chair (to maintain a degree of uniformity of standard and fairness). A student's supervisor may attend the examination, as an observer, but will not participate in the discussion or voting of the Examination Committee.
Areas for examination should be selected to ensure that the candidate is able to deal with fundamental related areas at the undergraduate level, and can show an ability to consider problems and to integrate knowledge.
Prior to this examination, most information will have been presented in isolated courses - perhaps as isolated segments to be learned and represented on examination. It is not the purpose of this examination to establish that all these details are still remembered, but rather to present an opportunity to see if the candidate can integrate and use information about fundamental areas relevant to his/her main area of study and research.
As soon as possible after the Examination Committee has been established, the candidate should ensure that he/she has an adequate opportunity to discuss the topic with each examiner in order to discover the general extent of coverage expected and to receive suggestions for preparatory reading.
The student is responsible for setting the time and location of the exam with the agreement of all examiners and the Director of Graduate Studies before the six month deadline, for booking the location of the exam, and for reminding all examiners and the Director of Graduate Studies one week before the exam date.
D. Procedure
The examination is usually oral and of less than three hours duration. Each examiner will question the candidate for no more than 10-15 minutes, after which a second round of questioning can begin.
Individual examiners should endeavour to determine whether the student can utilize the information obtained through previous training. This may entail some questions of a less than philosophical nature, but it is important to bear in mind that the examination is designed to evaluate the candidate's potential for PhD work. Should serious weakness(es) become apparent, however, this might become a basis for advising remedial action for a candidate who shows obvious ability to carry on with the PhD work.
E. Result
Following the examination, the Committee may make one of five recommendations:
1. Unconditional pass
2. Conditional pass: conditions may include additional course work to expand understanding in a particular area.
3. Repeat examination: may include all or a select number of topics.
4. Registration in a M.Sc. program: only if the candidate does not have a M.Sc. degree.
5. Required withdrawal from the graduate program
The Chair of the Qualifying exam must submit details of any questions to the director of Graduate Studies in writing within one week of the exam. A student may appeal a decision of the examination committee. Appeals must be made in writing and should indicate the basis of the appeal and the requested change. The Director of Graduate studies will then forward the appeal to the Examination Committee. For any change to be accepted, it must be endorsed by the examiner of the topic in question and a majority of the Examination Committee.
Return to top
Research Proposal Presentation
All graduate students must present a Research Proposal to the Biology Graduate Academic Unit within eight months of beginning a MSc or twelve months of beginning a PhD. Part-time PhD students have 18 months to complete their Research Proposal. The purpose of this presentation is to assist the student in the development of their proposed research by providing constructive criticism. The Supervisory Committee is expected to provide assistance to the student in preparing for the presentation, to attend the presentation, and to provide guidance in revising the research plan according to the issues raised by the presentation. The presentation will be open to the entire University community and public. This presentation does not relieve the student, Supervisor, or Supervisory Committee of their respective responsibilities with respect to the research. It is expected that this presentation will be of assistance to the student in developing their research program, and will result in an acceptable end product. If a student has been working on a project prior to officially starting a graduate program, the BGSC strongly encourages the student to complete the research proposal requirement as soon as possible.
The proposal will include a 2-4 page written summary (typed single spaced) and a 25-45 minute oral presentation followed by an open question period.
The Research Proposal shall include:
(1) Background - Literature Review
(2) Statement of Problem - Objective & Hypothesis/es & Significance
(3) Methods - Experimental Design
(4) Anticipated Results & their Analysis
The written summary and an abstract should be presented to the Director of Graduate Studies for circulation to the Biology GAU and other interested persons not less than one week before the presentation.
The presentation and question period will be chaired by a Faculty member of the Biology GAU who is not a member of the Supervisory Committee. The Chair will, in consultation with the Supervisory Committee, provide the student and Director of Graduate Studies with a written summary of the suggestions and comments given during the presentation.
The student is responsible for setting the time and booking the location of the presentation.
Noncompliance with the above regulations will result in a review of the student's continuation in a MSc or PhD program by the Graduate Studies Committee.
Return to top
Thesis Examination and Defence
A. Regulations and Guidelines
Copies of regulations and guidelines for the preparation and submission of graduate theses are available from the School of Graduate Studies. These should be adhered to in order to avoid unnecessary delays in final acceptance of the thesis.
Note that the regulation that "an articles thesis would involve the integration of no fewer than three published works" is not presently adhered to by the School of Graduate Studies. The decision of whether to submit a "traditional" or "articles" format thesis is left to the graduate student in consultation with the Supervisory Committee.
B. MSc Thesis Examination and Defence
A M.Sc. thesis must receive final approval by the Supervisory Committee before it is submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies. Approval should be conferred by completing an approval form and must not be contingent upon any modifications that have not been examined by the committee (i.e., it is in its final form). If the Supervisory Committee is not unanimous in its approval of the thesis, the BGSC will review the situation and establish a Departmental examination before the thesis goes to the University Examining Committee. Once a thesis has been approved by the Supervisory Committee, it will be submitted to an Examining Committee by the Director of graduate Studies. The examining committee is assembled by the supervisory committee and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. The Examining Committee consists of the Supervisor(s) (1 vote), at least one member of the Biology Graduate Academic Unit (who chairs the Examining Committee), and a member of another UNB Graduate Academic Unit. The Committee may also have an external examiner. This Committee will meet to discuss the thesis within three weeks of receiving it. If the Committee finds the thesis acceptable, they will schedule an oral presentation and examination of the candidate.
The oral examination is chaired by the Director of Graduate Studies or his/her designate and is open to the whole academic community. The candidate is required to present a brief (20-30 minute) account of their research. The general audience will first be allowed to ask questions (no more than 10 minutes) followed by two rounds of questioning from the examiners (10-15 minutes each round). The second round of questions from the examiners may be held with only the Examining Committee and other full faculty members present. Following the session, the Examining Committee meets and evaluates the oral presentation and defence of the thesis. If the candidate is successful, the necessary forms are signed and forwarded, together with the corrected thesis, to the Dean of Graduate Studies.
C. PhD Thesis Examination and Defence
The Biology Graduate Academic Unit shall institute a PhD Graduate Academic Unit defence when the Supervisory Committee has accepted a student's thesis as complete and ready for submission to the Graduate School. Though an internal evaluation is not normally required, a supervisory committee can recommend that one be completed to decide if the thesis is ready for external examination. Under such circumstances, the thesis will be read by a Committee of two full members of the Biology GAU who have not served on the student's supervisory committee. These two individuals will determine whether (a) the thesis can go forward to the School of Graduate Studies for external examination and (b) an internal oral defence of the thesis must be held before the thesis can go forward for external examination. If an internal defence is required, the two person evaluation committee, the Director of Graduate Studies, one person appointed by the DoGS, and the students supervisor will determine if the defence is acceptable. The only possible outcomes of an internal defence shall be:
1. Acceptable (thesis to go on for external examination)
2. Inadequate (defence shall be repeated a second time for reconsideration)
3. Not acceptable (student withdrawal from the Ph.D. program recommended)
Before a Ph.D thesis is submitted to the School of Graduate Studies (via the Biology Graduate Office), the Supervisory Committee will submit the names of four potential external examiners that includes a statement of research interests and a list of publications from the last 6 years for each suggested external examiner. This package should then be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies. For the selection of external examiners, we follow the NSERC guidelines regarding conflict of interest. In short, the supervisor and/or the student must not have a close, personal friendship with the proposed examiner or have collaborated on a research project/publication within the last 6 years. It is the responsibility of the student/supervisor to declare any conflicts of interest. These names will be taken under advisement by the Biology Graduate Studies Committee (BGSC) who will select the external examiner for recommendation to the Graduate School.
The final examination of the PhD thesis and defence is carried out by the School of Graduate Studies. The thesis must be approved by the Supervisory Committee and received by the Dean of Graduate Studies two and one-half months before the expected date of conferral of the degree. The Examining Committee is established by the Dean of Graduate Studies in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies and the student's supervisor.
The Examination Committee consists of five members:
1. Supervisor(s) 1 vote total
2. GAU Internal (member of the Biology GAU) 1 vote
3. GAU External (UNB Faculty member not in the Biology GAU) 1 vote
4. GAU External (UNB Faculty member not in the Biology GAU) 1 vote
5. University External 1 vote
Return to top
MSc to PhD Transfer
Students wanting to transfer from a MSc program to a PhD program may do so only if they obtain the unanimous approval of the Supervisory Committee, if they entered Graduate School with First Division standing, and on the approval of the Biology Graduate Studies Committee. This should be done before the end of the second year of residence. Students wishing to enter a Ph.D. program without an M.Sc. will be required to structure their Research Proposal Presentation such that it is clear what they intend to do for their Ph.D. if allowed directly into the Ph.D., as well as what they would do for an M.Sc. if not allowed directly into the Ph.D. The decision of whether to allow the student directly into the Ph.D. program will rest with the Biology Graduate Studies committee. It is expected that the members of the BGSC will attend the presentation. A student wishing to transfer to a Ph.D. after completion of the M.Sc. research proposal will have to complete a Ph.D. Research Proposal (including a written proposal) before the end of the second year of residency.
Return to top
PhD Candidates with BSc and MSc from UNB
PhD candidates who have earned their Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of New Brunswick may be required to spend, or must have spent, a stipulated period of time away from the University of New Brunswick at another university or research institution as part of the fulfilment of their degree requirements. The time and place are subject to approval by the Biology Graduate Studies Committee.
Return to top
Graduate School Tenure
The Graduate School has set limits on the lengths of Graduate Programs: 4 years for completion of the MSc degree and 7 years for the completion of a PhD degree. If a student feels unable to meet these deadlines, the problem should be discussed with the Supervisory Committee. If the committee recommends requesting an extension, the supervisor and graduate student should make representation to the Director of Graduate Studies at least six months prior to the deadline for the student's tenure in the program. The written request must explain the reasons for requesting an extension and include a detailed timetable outlining what will be completed and by what dates (up to the point that the thesis is submitted for formal examination). The timetable must be approved by the student’s Supervisory Committee. The Biology Graduate Studies Committee will then decide whether or not to recommend to the School of Graduate studies that an extension be granted.
Return to top
Graduate Student Support
Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) and Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) funds are available to support a number of graduate students every year. Priority for funding is given to full time students during their first two years in a MSc program and first four years in a PhD program. GTA guidelines for the Fredericton campus are included in the Appendices. For further information on obtaining GRA or GTA support, interested students should contact the Director of Graduate Studies (Fredericton campus) or the Associate Director of Graduate Studies (Saint John campus). Additional Research Assistantship (RA) support should be arranged with the Supervisor of a student's graduate program.
Return to top
Grade Point Average
Graduate students must maintain a 3.0 GPA. If the GPA falls below 3.0, it must be raised again to this level within two terms. Failure to do so will result in withdrawal of all GRA/GTA/RA funding.
Return to top
Award for Outstanding Thesis (Fredericton)
Graduate students in Biology at the Fredericton campus are eligible for the A.J. Levesque Award for Outstanding Thesis in Biology. See Appendices for details
Return to top
Return to Home Page
Maintained by: casey@unb.ca
Last Update: 22 November 2007
This document: http://www.unb.ca/fredericton/science/biology/Degree_info/Regulations.html