UofC

Location: Math Sciences Building, Room 462
Program number: 403.220.6299
Fax: 403.282.5150
Email address: gradapps@math.ucalgary.ca
Web page URL: math.ucalgary.ca/graduate

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Master of Science (MSc), course-based and thesis-based

The Master of Science (course-based) degree may be completed on a part-time basis. The normal course load for a full-time course-based Master of Science student is 9 units (1.5 full-course equivalents) per term.

Specializations:

• Mathematics
• Statistics

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

Master of Science

a) Normally, bachelor’s degree, or its equivalent, in the subject of the specialization to which the application is made, or a closely related area.

b) For applicants required to provide proof of proficiency in English, a minimum TOEFL score of 580 (paper-based); or 97 (Internet-based), or minimum IELTS score of 7.0; or minimum MELAB score of 83; or minimum PTE score of 68.

c) Three Reference Forms with reference letters.

Doctor of Philosophy

a) A master’s degree or equivalent in the subject of the specialization to which the application is made.

b) For applicants required to provide proof of proficiency in English, a minimum TOEFL score of 580 (paper-based); or 97 (Internet-based test); or minimum IELTS score of 7.0; or minimum MELAB score of 83; or a minimum PTE score of 68.

c) Three Reference Forms with reference letters.

d) Excellent students, admitted to the master’s program, may be transferred to the PhD program after having demonstrated exceptional performance at the graduate level, subject to endorsement by the supervisor and approval by the Graduate Committee. Such transfer requests are to be initiated by the supervisor and are to include information about research ability.

The deadline for submission of complete applications is January 15 for September admission. After this date, complete applications may be considered if space is available.

The applicant must make advanced credit requests as part of the admission process. Credit will not be given for course work taken as a requirement of another completed degree/diploma. The determination for advanced credit will be made prior to entry into the program.

Course requirements are taken from the following lists of courses:

List A: Mathematics 601, 603, 605, 607
List B: Mathematics 617, 621, 625, 627, 631, 641, 661, 681, 685, Statistics 701
List C: Statistics 701, 703, 721, 723

In addition to Faculties of Graduate Studies and Science requirements, the Department normally requires that:

Master of Science (thesis-based)

All students must take course work to the equivalent of an honours bachelor's degree plus at least 15 units (2.5 full-course equivalents), or 12 units (2.0 full-course equivalents) if completing program in one year (not counting the seminar courses Mathematics 600 and Statistics 600) at the graduate level. In addition:

a) Mathematics students must include two courses from List A.

b) Statistics students must include three courses from List C.

Master of Science (course-based)

All students must take 24 units (4.0 full-course equivalents) (not counting the seminar courses Mathematics 600 and Statistics 600) at the graduate level. In addition:

a) Mathematics students must include two courses from List A.

b) Statistics students must include three courses from List C.

All students must complete a project resulting in a written report.

Doctor of Philosophy

Course requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy beyond those for a master's degree are determined on an individual basis, but the following rules apply: doctoral students must include 24 units (4.0 full-course equivalents) graduate-level courses in their total graduate program (MSc and PhD). In addition:

a) Mathematics students must include at least 15 units (2.5 full-course equivalents) taken during their doctoral program at the University of Calgary. Two of these courses must come from List A and a third from List A or List B.

b) Statistics students must include three courses from List C.

All MSc graduate students are required to register in one of the seminar courses Mathematics 600 or Statistics 600 in the first year of their program.

All PhD students are required to register in one of the seminar courses Mathematics 600 or Statistics 600 in the first or second year of their program.

The Seminar courses are not counted in the calculation of the number of required courses in each program.

All Mathematics PhD students are required to give three invited or contributed presentations during their doctoral degree, not including presentations that are required as part of a graduate course or the 600 seminar course.

Graduate-level credit may be given for courses taken below the 600-level. 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 may credit be given for courses numbered 500–599.

The expected completion time for full-time master’s students is two years. The maximum completion time allowed for a thesis-based master’s program is four years, and for a course-based master’s program is six years. The expected completion time for a doctoral student is four years, and the maximum completion time is six years.

The Graduate Program Director, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, assigns supervisors based upon the graduate student’s proposed program admission.

Doctoral students must pass written Preliminary Examinations during first year but no later than eighteen months from the beginning of their doctoral programs and before the oral candidacy examination.

Mathematics PhD students must pass Preliminary Exams on material for three courses, two of which must come from List A and the third from List A or List B.
Statistics PhD students must pass two Preliminary Exams, one in Statistics and the other in Probability.
Doctoral students must pass an Oral Candidacy Examination no later than twenty-eight months from the beginning of their doctoral program and after their Preliminary Examinations.

Revised candidacy requirements will be posted in the 2017-2018 academic year.

Thesis Examination

Final thesis oral examinations are open.

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

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. However, it is strongly encouraged that whenever reasonable the Internal Examiner should be external to the home program.

Further details about the written and oral examinations may be obtained from the Department website: math.ucalgary.ca/graduate/programs.

At least three months before a PhD Oral Candidacy Examination, a research proposal, prepared by the student and approved by the supervisor, will be submitted to the student’s Supervisory Committee. The Committee will inform the student of the material (topics, books, articles, etc.) to be mastered for the Oral Candidacy Examination. The material will be based upon the proposal, and will be agreed upon with the student.

None.

Financial assistance may be available to qualified students. For information on awards, see the Awards and Financial Assistance section of this Calendar. Successful applicants may be offered departmental teaching assistantships and/or research stipends in their offer letter.

None.

Information about current faculty and their research interests is available from the Department website math.ucalgary.ca/research/research_areas and from individual faculty members’ web pages.