Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Psychology

Industrial Organizational Specialization

I/O students in the PhD program are required to take 12 units in I/O Psychology (course), and 6 units outside of I/O Psychology that were not completed during the MSc program.

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 a required level for admission.

Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade)

The Psychology program in the Psychology Department will not permit the Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade) for any course offered by the Psychology Program.

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.

Credit for Undergraduate Courses

Credit may be given for 500-level undergraduate courses up to a maximum of three courses.

Time Limit

Expected completion time is two years for the Master of Science program and four years for the doctoral program. See Time Limits.

Supervisory Assignments

An interim supervisor is assigned to each student at the time of admission. In no case will a student be admitted if an appropriate supervisor is not expected to be available. The shift from interim to permanent supervisor formally takes place at the end of the first year. The Graduate Program Director must approve the permanent supervisor.

Research Proposal

Students whose research involves human subjects must receive approval from the appropriate departmental or University Ethics Review Committee before beginning data collection.

Required Examinations

Candidacy

Doctoral students must pass oral and written Field of Study examinations and must submit a written thesis proposal, which is approved by their Supervisory Committee in a Thesis Proposal Meeting. For further information see Psychology Candidacy Requirements.

Thesis Examination

In addition to Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations for Thesis Examinations, the program requires the following:

Thesis oral examinations are open.

Scheduling of the Examination
All members of the Supervisory Committee must have reviewed the student's research, including a relevant written sample of the materials related to the thesis, before an examination can be scheduled.

Composition of the Committee
The Internal Examiner must be external to the home program.

Core faculty members in the Psychology and Clinical Psychology programs are not eligible to serve as Internal Examiner; however, adjunct faculty members are eligible to serve in this capacity.

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

Students applying for scholarships are advised to submit their applications to the Department by January 15.