Master of Science Program Guide

Good Academic Standing

To remain in good academic standing, all courses - including research courses - need to be completed with a letter grade of B- or higher. The Department may recommend to the School of Graduate Studies the termination of registration and candidacy of a student who fails to receive a satisfactory grade. Students must adhere to the specific requirements in their sub-discipline.

PhD Transfer Request

Master's students may transfer to the doctoral program after completing one year of graduate study without writing a thesis. Student must have fulfilled two graduate half-course equivalents with an academic standing of at least B+. All residence and course credits obtained in the first year are then applied toward the Doctoral requirements.

To request for a direct transfer to the Ph.D. program, Chemistry Graduate Office requires the following documents by the first Friday in July:

• A letter of request for a direct transfer to the Ph.D. program. Please indicate the month and year of first registration in the master's program, courses to date, projects involved in and reason(s) to transfer to the doctorate program;
• A letter of support from the academic supervisor;
• Research proposal for the doctorate program; and
• Request for Program Transfer form from the SGS website. The degree postcodes for MSc and Direct/Transfer PhD are CE MSc and CE PHD U, respectively.

Dual Registration

Students in the master's program who wish to continue on to the doctoral program and complete a master's thesis may apply for dual registration for one session. The student will be engaged in full-time PhD studies and part-time in the master's program. Only the appropriate PhD fees will be charged. The period of dual registration will be either September 1 to January 31 or January 1 to April 30. Dual registrant will be expected to complete all degree requirements for the master's program by the end of the period.

To request for dual registration, Chemistry Graduate Office requires the following documents by the first Friday in July:

• School of Graduate Studies graduate on-line application.
• "Offline" payment form. Payment will be processed by the Department;
• Two letters of recommendation including one from MSc supervisor;
• Letter of support from potential doctoral supervisor;
• ROSI printout of the UofT transcript

MSc Thesis Submission Guidelines

• Student should discuss the potential Second Reader for the thesis with the supervisor at least two months prior to the submission date. The submission dates are generally scheduled by School of Graduate Studies on the first Friday in October, last Friday in January and last Friday in April. Check the School of Graduate Studies website to verify the deadlines for the academic year.
• Inform the second reader. The second reader must have at least two weeks to review the thesis. Please contact the graduate faculty directly to confirm if the allotted time for appraisal is sufficient in case of other commitments.
• Forward the MSc Thesis Submission Form to Chemistry Graduate Office one week before the SGS submission deadline.
• Forward the Letter of Support from the supervisor. The letter must indicate the thesis title, verify that the thesis is acceptable in partial fulfillment for the MSc degree and confirm that the recommended revisions on the thesis from the second reader have been completed. The letter must also confirm if the MSc candidate is qualified to proceed towards doctoral studies, if applicable.
• Forward the Letter of support from the second reader. The letter must indicate the thesis title and verify that the thesis is acceptable in partial fulfillment for the MSc degree.
• Letters of Support must be received at the Chemistry Graduate Office by 12 p.m. on the day of the SGS submission deadline in order for the Graduate office to prepare the Degree Recommendation form. Without the Degree Recommendation from the Graduate office, the School will not be able to request for the candidate to graduate at the Convocation Office.
• Theses are now only submitted electronically. Students must create an account on T-Space and have their submission approved by the Master's office at SGS. Certain forms and a processing payment must accompany the submission. Theses that do not conform to the formatting guidelines will be rejected, so please refer to the guidelines before submitting a thesis. The thesis must be approved by the appropriate readers before submitting to SGS. For more information on Thesis Preparation and Submission, please refer to http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/informationfor/students/finish.htm. Students may also contact the Master's Degree Office at (416) 978-2377 for more information.
• A bound copy of the thesis which will be stored in the Chemistry Library must be forwarded to the Graduate Office at a later date. The department does not have any specifications with regards to the format or colour of the bound.

Master's Tuition Fee Bursary

Tuition fee bursaries are awarded to master's students who still have a small amount of work outstanding. These students will have registered full-time from the beginning of their programs and their minimum period of registration will have ended by or before either August or December of current year. Students receiving tuition fee bursaries will not be eligible for fellowships, scholarships and other awards. Essentially the bursary allows the recipient to pay the part-time fee for one term.

For more information on eligibility and application, please visit the School of Graduate Studies website.

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