Policies and Procedures
See Graduate General Regulations for university level policy surrounding graduate programs at SFU.
Contents
Each student's supervisory committee must consist of, at minimum, the student's supervisor (or co-supervisors) and two additional committee members. At least one of those two committee members must be from within the BPK department or a BPK adjunct.
If adding an external committee member, ie a faculty member who is not from SFU or an SFU adjunct, please provide a contact email and short biography of the committee member when submitting your approval of supervisory committee form. A link to a bio on their home instututions website is typically sufficient.
In the case of co-supervision even if both co-supervisors are SFU faculty or SFU adjunct faculty, an additional SFU faculty member will still be required.
Supervisory committees must be officially approved using the approval of supervisory committee form found on the graduate studies forms page.
See Financial Aid for minimum funding policies for both MSc and PhD students.
MSc Research Proposal
The research proposal helps you to establish the objectives, methodology, and scope of your thesis project at an early state of your degree and provides an opportunity for your committee to influence the direction of your research at an early stage. It is not a rehearsal for your defense.
Timing: The MSc proposal should take place in the 2nd or 3rd semester of the Master's proposal.
Content: The proposal should contain the background and rationale for the project, a concise summary and critical interpretation of the literature, your hypothesis and specific aims, the techniques and methodology you propose to use, and plans for how you will conduct experiments, analyze data and interpret findings. It does not have to contain data, but if you have some data at the time of the proposal, it should be included as preliminary data.
Forms: BPK 895 - MSc Proposal Enrolment Form
Format: The proposal may not be more than 5 single-spaced pages of text, not including tables, figures and references.
Preparation for your proposal
8-10 weeks: Ensure that all of the appropriate individuals are included on the official "Supervisory Committee Form". This form will be on file with the Graduate Program Assistant. Please speak with the Graduate Program Assistant to secure a Chair for the MSc proposal. The Chair for all Graduate examinations will be the GPC Chair (or designate)
Submission to your committee
4-6 weeks: Submit your proposal to your committee members. Ideally, you will have had extensive interaction with all and you will have solicited their advice.
2-4 weeks: After addressing any comments expressed by your committee members, submit a revised proposal to members of your committee. Each committee member will be required to send an email to the Graduate Program Assistant and Graduate Program Chair stating the following: "I have read this M.Sc. proposal in its entirety. This is a suitable topic for a M.Sc. thesis and I am in general agreement with the principles of research design and methodology." If member(s) refuse to sign, make sure that it is clear to both parties the reasons for the refusal and proceed to address these issues as soon as possible.
Provide the Graduate Program Assistant with a half-page abstract (electronic) and title, and confirm the date, time and place for your oral proposal presentation.
At the proposal
Have a 20-30 minute presentation prepared with appropriate audiovisual support. The presentation should cover identification of the problem in question and the rationale for the approach chosen. Relevant experimental design and detail should be provided along with any preliminary or proof-of-concept data already collected. The presentation should provide an experimental plan that outlines how the findings will address the initial question. The examining committee will pose questions to assess feasibility and utility of the project and relevant specific and fundamental knowledge, as well as how the data might be interpreted and applied. Typically, each committee member will have ~20 mins for questions.
Answer questions posed to you by your committee members.
Following the proposal
Meet with your senior supervisor and committee to address any concerns and discuss the next steps in your research studies.
Last revised: June 2019
PhD Comprehensive Exam Guidelines
Full guidelines and checklist - Contains detail on procedures, expected timelines, rating scale, and checklist items
Overview and Purpose of the PhD Comprehensive Exam
One purpose of the exam is to help PhD students build their skills in important areas, including formulating their ideas and plans in the form of a research proposal, reviewing literature related to their area of research, and presenting and defending their ideas verbally. The second purpose of the comprehensive exam is to ensure that those students who continue in the PhD program are performing at the level expected of a PhD student. An additional value of the comprehensive exam process is that examiners may provide constructive suggestions regarding the research proposed.
PhD students who already have a MSc should normally expect to complete their comprehensive exam within the first 4 semesters. Those who transfer from the MSc program should complete the comprehensive exam within 6 semesters of enrollment, approximately 3 semesters following transfer.
Note: If you plan to schedule your comprehensive exams during the Fall semester, your proposal will need to be distributed to your approved committee by no later than September 30th.
See full guidelines and checklist linked above for further details and procedures.
PhD Seminar Guidelines
Students enrolled in the BPK PhD program are required to give two seminars during their degree.
Purpose:
- To provide an opportunity for students to develop their communication and presentation skills.
- To provide a forum for students to inform members of the BPK Department about the student's research.
Topics:
- Two seminar topics to be approved by the student's senior supervisor and the BPK GPC Chair.
- The topic of the second ‘exit’ seminar should be directly related to the student's thesis research.
Duration:
1) The Departmental Seminars shall typically be 30-40 minutes in duration, followed by an opportunity for the audience to ask questions.
Audience:
- The first seminar may be presented to the BPK Department (e.g., during a regularly scheduled Department seminar time slot). Alternately, the Graduate Program Committee encourages students to participate in appropriate scientific meetings and conferences. As such, approval of formal conference oral presentations will typically be granted for the first seminar.
- The second seminar must be an ‘exit’ seminar on the thesis work presented to the BPK department. Exit seminars are usually scheduled a few weeks prior to the thesis defence.
Process:
BPK PhD students are to enroll in BPK 897 (using the BPK 897 Enrollment Form) twice, once for each of their two seminars.
BPK PhD students are requested to enroll in BPK 897 in advance of delivering their first seminar. For instance, if they are delivering a conference presentation in February, they should enroll in BPK 897 in that Spring semester. If necessary, students may enroll in BPK 897 in the semester immediately after their first seminar.
BPK PhD students must enroll in BPK 897 in advance of delivering their exit seminar. For instance, if their exit seminar is in December, they should enroll in BPK 897 in that Fall semester.
Last revised: June 2022
Thesis Defenses
See Oral Examination: Master's Degree or Oral Examination: Doctoral Degree for thesis defense procedures and overal timelines.
Important: Scheduling a thesis defense can take longer than expected. At minimum, please contact the BPK graduate program assistant about scheduling your defense 6 weeks prior to the approximate defense date for MSc defenses, and 8 weeks prior to the approximate defense date for PhD students.
Scheduling a thesis defense in the summer semester, especially in August, can be difficult due to many faculty taking vacation or being out of town during this period. If scheduling a defense for the end of the summer semester, start scheduling very early.
Transfer from MSc to PhD in the BPK graduate program
See Transferring within SFU for details on university wide transfer procedures and requirements.
In addition to these requirements, eligibility and the decision regarding transfer to the PhD in BPK will include the following criteria:
- Strong support letters from the senior supervisor and all committee members
- Excelled academic performance (e.g. minimum GPA of 3.67)
- Strong background in research design and statistics or modeling as appropriate to the area
- Completion of BPK 801 and STAT 603
- Evidence that the student is capable of completing and disseminating research ,and thinking critically and creatively. Such capability will be judged by research to date, publications, and letters from referees.
The steps of process are:
- The student emails the GPC chair requesting to be considered for transfer to PhD
- Hold a supervisory committee meeting to determine if the supervisory committee members are in favor of the transfer. If so, the committee meeting form should indicate this, and must be signed by all members. Note: it is not required that the student complete an MSc proposal in order to transfer, unless the supervisory committee wishes to use this as evidence of suitability for transfer. However, a student will not look productive if they have not met the expected MSc milestones.
- The student assembles a package of evidence satisfying the requirements above, including: The committee meeting form indicating that transfer is recommended, transcripts (an unofficial graduate transcript is fine), at least one example of scientific writing done by the applicant. If an MSc proposal has been done, it must be inclued, and letters of reference from the senior supervisor and all other committee members
- the GPC considers the request. Successful requests are sent forward to the Dean of Graduate Studies
- The Dean of Graduate Studies makes the final decision.
Last revised: Fall 2016. Some information has been modified to align with current program requirements.
The BPK Graduate Program Committee encourages a land acknowledgement at the beginning of presentations for MSc proposals, PhD comprehensive exams, PhD exit seminars, and thesis defenses. The student who is presenting may choose to provide a land acknowledgment themselves, or they may choose for the faculty Chair of the event to provide a land acknowledgment. The student and Chair should discuss ahead of time if a land acknowledgement will be provided and by whom.
Student-Supervisor expectations
student-supervisor expectations and questionnaire PDF
Open communication and clear expectations between senior supervisor and graduate student is a critical element that determines the success of the student in their degree progression, their research productivity, and their training. Conflict and tension can arise in situations where expectations, roles, and responsibilities are unclear or mismatched. As such, open discussion at an early stage in the student's degree program can be very beneficial.
This document is for supervisors and graduate students and is intended to be used to foster discussion and faciliate ongoing dialogue during the student's graduate degree. Part 1 is intended to assess initial perceptions and perspectives and to provide opportunity for discussion as to how to address any areas of disparate expectations. part 2 provides a list of discussion points collected into a variety of categories associated with graduate training. It is expected that these points will generate dialogue, engender continued communication, and outline clear expectations. If desired, actions plans/items may be drawn up for relevant items that c an be used and reflected upon at a future defined time. Any agreements made must not breach SFU or TSSU policies and principles.
See linked document above for full content.
Criteria for extensions, reactivation, and readmission
These BPK criteria for extensions, reactivation and readmission relate to GGR 1.12.2 (extensions), GGR 1.4.8 (reactivation), and GGR 1.4.9 (readmission).
Extensions: Students wishing to apply for an extension to their degree must submit a completed Extension Application form to the Graduate Program Assistant prior to the time limit for their program completion. Applications for extension will be reviewed by the Graduate Program Chair. Students must clearly describe the reason for their request to extend their degree and must have documented support from their senior supervisor and their supervisory committee members, e.g. committee report form. Normally, extensions will only be approved if there are extenuating circumstances, e.g. unforeseeable problems with experimental infrastructure or subjects. As per GGR 1.12.2, extensions may be granted for up to a maximum of three terms, and a second extension may be considered. Master’s students will not normally be approved for an extension of more than three terms. Doctoral students (including students who have transferred from the master’s program) who started in the program prior to Fall 2016 will not be granted extension beyond the time limit of 8 years.
Reactivation: Students who are discontinued, but have not reached their time limit, may apply to reactivate their enrollment without having to be readmitted if it is the same term as the discontinuation. Students are required to submit a completed Reactivation form to the Graduate Program Assistant for review by the Graduate Program Chair.
Readmission: Students are required to apply for readmission after being discontinued from their program for more than one term. Students wishing to apply for readmission should consult with the Graduate Program Assistant and complete the online application. The deadline to apply for readmission is outlined in GGR 1.4.9. Readmission requests will be reviewed by the Graduate Program Chair. Students recommended for readmission will be identified as being readmitted on the Recommendation for Admission form and will maintain the same start date and time limit from when they were first admitted to the program.