PhD: HSR Program Details

If you started the program before September 2025 you can find your degree requirements as published in past SGS Calendars. Select the year your studies began, open the calendar, search for HPME and then for your degree and/or emphasis.

Thesis Requirements:

The purpose of the dissertation is to undertake an original theory-driven investigation characterized by rigorous methodology and capable of making a significant contribution to knowledge about the subject under study. The dissertation supervisor must have their primary graduate appointment in the Institute of IHPME.

The dissertation process includes:

• Preparation and oral defense of a dissertation proposal
• Preparation of the written dissertation
• Presentation and oral defense of the dissertation.

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Program Requirements:

Students meet annually with their supervisor and their Emphasis Lead to review their progress and to plan course work and other activities for the following year.

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Candidacy Requirements:

Students achieve candidacy when they have completed all coursework, and defended their thesis proposal.

All PhD students must achieve candidacy by the end of the third year of registration (MSc-PhD transfer and PhD direct entry students must achieve candidacy by the end of the fourth year of registration). The student’s date of registration is the beginning of the first term in which the student attended classes. For most students, this is the fall term.

Students can designate themselves as a PhD candidate (PhD(c)) only after achieving candidacy.

Comprehensives:

The comprehensive examination is the culmination of HSR course work. The examination will usually be completed during the Ph.D. students’ second year (could be completed in later years as appropriate, such as for some Flex-time students). It is a major milestone in the doctoral program that illustrates the ability of the students to build on previous coursework and the research skills that would enable them to move on toward independent research and candidacy. The examination is intended to test the students’ grasp of the breadth of knowledge within HSR field and particularly their emphasis, as well as the students’ ability to communicate their understanding of it. The comprehensive examination should demonstrate:

• General mastery of HSR topics, theory, and methodology, as well as well as specific topics related to one’s own research and emphasis;
• The ability to gather information, synthesize/analyze, and present it in a coherent and clear manner;
• Critical thinking and critical appraisal skills (e.g., on theory or methodology); and
• Originality and contribution to scholarly knowledge (e.g., proposing novel solutions or perspectives to problems in the field, application of concepts and methods to new topics, etc.)

The comprehensive examination involves three components:

1. Participation in critical discussions in connected to the HSR Seminar series; students can select 3 of the 10 seminar discussion topics based on their areas of interest.
2. Comprehensive scholarly written paper: topics will be set by January 31 of the academic year in which a student plans to sit for the comprehensive exam. Final papers will be due by May 15, ahead of the oral examination component.
3. Oral examination component: oral defense of the comprehensive paper to be held at the end of June. Exact dates will be communicated in January.

For more details, please see the Comprehensive Exam Handbook.

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Course Requirements: 

• A minimum of 9 half-year courses (4.5 FCEs).
• PhD students will be required to complete a graduate level statistics course while in the program. A pre-requisite for successful completion of this course is familiarity with introductory statistics up to and including regression. All students are strongly advised to take an applied introductory statistics course over the summer, or review the material independently.
• Transfer of maximum 1 FCE credits (two half-courses) will be allowed only to those students who have successfully completed graduate level courses at accredited universities, and if no degree was awarded for completion of those courses.
• For students who have completed their MSc degree with IHPME, consideration for required course equivalents may be available at the discretion of the Emphasis Lead. The graduate coordinator will determine whether the courses are sufficiently similar and if so forward the request to the School of Graduate Studies for final approval.