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:

Each Emphasis has a Comprehensives component tailored to assess their students’ ability to demonstrate a high level of competency in the area of specialization, and satisfactory evidence of proficiency in statistics and research methods. Comprehensives are required of all doctoral programs. Some Emphases fulfill this requirement through a Comprehensives course, while other Emphases do so through a final exam at the conclusion of all Emphasis required coursework.

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Course Requirements: 

• A minimum of 10 half-year courses (5.0 FCEs).
• PhD students will be required to complete an intermediate 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.