Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Military and Strategic Studies

It is strongly recommended that PhD students also take course and course.

*For candidacy examinations, students have two major fields of study. One of these will be strategic studies and the other the dissertation area. Students will be required to take 3 units preparation in each field, namely course and course.

Advanced Credit

The applicant must make advanced credit requests as part of the admission process. Credit will not be given for course work taken as part of another completed degree/diploma or for courses taken to bring the grade point average to the required level for admission.

Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade)

The Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies will not permit the Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade) for any course offered by the CMSS and the other departments from which our students take courses.

Students may not choose the CG grade for a course taken extra to load.

The use of the CG grade will affect students' eligibility for internal awards.

Time Limit

Expected completion time for the PhD in Military and Strategic Studies is four years and maximum completion time is six years.

Supervisory Assignments

An incoming student must have a proof of agreement to supervise from one or more faculty members in the student’s proposed area of thesis research. Admission will not be granted without proof that adequate supervision is available during the applicant’s studies. The selection of an eligible Permanent Supervisor is made by mutual agreement between the student, the faculty member, and the Graduate Program Director. A permanent Supervisor should normally be appointed by the end of April of the first year of registration. At the time of appointment, the Permanent Supervisor should be currently active in research in an area related to the student’s interest.

The Supervisory Committee should be appointed as quickly as possible but no later than three months after the appointment of the Permanent Supervisor.

Required Examinations

In addition to the Faculty of Graduate Studies Thesis Examination requirements, the program requires:

Candidacy

Doctoral students must complete a written thesis proposal, which is approved by their Supervisory Committee in a thesis proposal meeting, as well as pass oral and written Field of Study examinations. For complete details of candidacy requirements and examination format, see https://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/grad/current/cmss.ucalgary.ca/phd/program_requirements.

Thesis Examination

Scheduling of the Examination

All members of the Supervisory Committee must have reviewed the student's draft thesis document before an examination can be scheduled.

Composition of the Committee

The Internal Examiner may be internal to the home program.

Financial assistance may be available to qualified students. For information on awards, see the Awards and Financial Assistance section of this Calendar.