Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Chemistry

In addition to the Faculty of Graduate Studies requirements and Faculty of Science requirements, the Department requires:

For students entering with a four-year Honours BSc degree or equivalent:

• 10 units at the 500 level or above, chosen in consultation between the student, the supervisor, and the Graduate Program Director:

  • a minimum of 6 units will be Chemistry courses;

  • course;

  • 6 units of Chemistry courses

  • 3 units of electives (Chemistry or other Faculty/Department).

For students entering with an MSc degree or equivalent.

• A minimum of 3 units and a maximum of 10 units. The number of courses will be determined by consultation between the student, the supervisor, and the Graduate Program Director.

Students who transfer to the doctoral program will be given credit for courses taken in the MSc program.

In addition, students must register in course and course research seminars in their first year and are expected to present two seminars before completion of their degree.

All students are expected to attend CHEM601/603 seminars in their research area, as well as Departmental seminars for their entire time in the graduate program.

Copyediting

The department does not allow copyediting in students' theses.

Advanced Credit

Advanced Credit for graduate courses taken as an unclassified student, or qualifying student may be given for courses in which the student obtains a grade of “B” or higher.

A reduction in course requirements may be given for students who completed graduate courses at other institutions. This will be determined on program entry and after consultation with the research supervisor and the graduate office.

Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade)

The Department of Chemistry will allow students to pursue the Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade) with the exception of Chemistry 601 and 603.

Students may choose the CG grade for a course taken extra to load.

The use of the CG grade will not affect students' eligibility for internal awards.

Credit for Undergraduate Courses

At least one-half of a graduate student’s course work must be at the 600 level or higher and only where appropriate to a student’s program will graduate credit be given for courses numbered 500-599, which are considered undergraduate courses. In addition to course prerequisites, consent of the department is required.

Time Limit

Expected completion time is four years for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Maximum completion time is six years.

Supervisory Assignments

Applicants must contact faculty members directly regarding supervision of their graduate program, prior to submitting an application. The Department does not accept students unless at least one faculty member has indicated a willingness to act as supervisor. For both MSc and PhD programs, the supervisor, in consultation with the student, selects a Supervisory Committee consisting of the supervisor and at least two other faculty members whose research experience will be beneficial to the student's graduate program.

Required Examinations

Candidacy

All doctoral students must successfully complete a written thesis research proposal that is evaluated and approved by the Candidacy Field of Study Oral Examination committee.

Doctoral students are required to complete written and oral candidacy examinations. Further details may be obtained from the Department’s Handbook of Graduate Studies available at: http://www.ucalgary.ca/chem/graduate/current_students/grad_students_handbook.

The oral examination component will include questions on the research proposal.

Thesis Examination

In addition to the Faculty of Graduate Studies requirements for Thesis Examinations, the Department requires:

Scheduling of the Examination
Before an examination can be scheduled, all members of the Supervisory Committee must have reviewed the student’s research, including a relevant written sample of the materials related to the thesis.

Composition of the Committee
The Internal Examiner may be internal to the home program.

Thesis examinations are open.

Financial assistance is normally available to all qualified students in the form of Teaching Assistantships and Trust funded Assistantships. Assistantship funding is not normally available beyond fifty-two months in a doctoral program.

For further information on awards, see the Awards and Financial Assistance section of this calendar.