Completed applications will be forwarded to the appropriate department for evaluation. Recommendations for admission to a degree program are made by the Department to the Dean. Final approval for admission is made by the Dean.

Advanced courses of instruction leading to the Master of Science degree are open to graduates of any university of recognized standing who have obtained at least a Bachelor's degree with honours with Class II standing, or its equivalent. An applicant who has followed a combined program, must have obtained at least a Class II standing in the subject of the Masters degree.

Applicants who do not satisfy these requirements may, with the permission of the department concerned and the Dean, be admitted to qualifying semester(s) to bring their standing up to that of an honours B.Sc. degree.

Admission to graduate courses does not in itself imply candidacy for a graduate degree.

All information is processed through the Admissions Office.

These regulations for admission are minimum requirements. Additional requirements may be specified by departments, with the approval of the division.

Apart from any qualifying semesters, the minimum period of registration for the MSc shall be one academic year of full-time study including research, or its equivalent in part-time study. This requirement must be met regardless of the amount of graduate work previously completed in any other program or at any other university.

The maximum time allowed for the fulfillment of the requirements for graduation shall be four consecutive years, excluding any qualifying semesters, in the case of full-time students. Part-time students must also comply with a time restriction: the course-work required for qualifying semsters (if any), and the regular credit requirements of the program must be completed at the rate of not less than six credits per year in consecutive years.

Students must obtain a minimum of 65 percent in each required course. Courses may not be repeated more than twice.

Each degree candidate will be assigned, by the chairperson of the appropriate department, to a supervisor who shall be a faculty member of the department in which the thesis is to be submitted, and who will be responsible for advising the candidate and directing his/her research.

The course of study will be arranged by the supervisor. The subject of the thesis also requires approval by supervisor.

The responsibilities of the students include: informing themselves of program requirements and deadlines, working within these deadlines, communicating regularly with their supervisors; and submitting annual progress reports to their supervisors and the division.

Students may receive (limited) financial support from the University in the form of research assistantships, undergraduate marking, tutoring and/or laboratory demonstrating duties. Such support requires approval in writing from both the department and the Dean. Duties and remuneration will be clearly stated, and in no case shall duties exceed 10 hours per week on average.

All students in graduate courses or degree programs enjoy the protection of the University's policy and procedures on academic review and appeal (see the University calendar), and on research ethics (see the Vice Principal for documentation).

It is the responsibility of the supervisor to monitor the progress of students throughout the graduate program, to ensure that all conditions of admission and requirements are fulfilled, to provide students with information on their program, their progress through it, and to advise them how to resolve problems which may arise during their program.

Thesis supervisors must be tenured or tenure-stream faculty. Adjunct faculty may supervise if a tenured or tenure-stream faculty acts as a co-supervisor. Sessional and contract faculty may co-supervise students with departmental approval. Emeritus Professors may co-supervise. In all cases, the department must ensure continuity of appropriate supervision of their graduate students.

Problems that cannot be resolved by discussion between the student and the supervisor shall be referred to the Dean.

Information concerning sources of financial support and policies on obtaining same should be sought from the Dean.

Students must receive guidance and constructive criticism concerning their progress on a regular basis through the program including regular meetings and/or e-mail communication with supervisors, attendance at research seminars, and appropriate responses to the student's annual progress report.

By April 15th of each year, MSc candidates must submit to their supervisors a progress report covering both courses and research programs. This report must include the candidate's name, program and semester, a list of courses completed and their marks, a list of courses in which candidate is registered, and a list of courses yet to be taken. A statement concerning the research work must include the title of the thesis (or if this has not yet been decided, a general title of the project), a short outline of the work to its present state, including the amount of work done and the significant findings of the research, plus a statement of the work proposed for the future and a realistic estimate of the time required for its completion. One copy of this report will go to the department concerned and one to the division.

All MSc students must make a satisfactory oral presentation and defense of their thesis before graduating. Three copies of the thesis of a degree candidate must be submitted, with the approval of the supervisor, to the division at least two months in advance of the marks deadline of the semester in which it is to be defended.

The three copies of the thesis delivered to the division must be accompanied by a letter from the supervisor informing the division of the names of the two persons who have consented to act as examiners of the thesis (see Regulation 3). The secretary of the division shall forward one copy of the candidate's thesis to each examiner with an appropriate covering letter.

The thesis shall be orally presented and defended before two examiners other than the supervisor, one of whom shall be an external examiner who is a specialist in the candidate's field of interest. The examiners shall be selected by the supervisor and department concerned, subject to the approval of the Dean. A thesis will be accepted only following approval of its defence by both examiners. A thesis may be returned to the candidate for revision on the advice of one or both examiners, and subsequently re-defended (once only).

After the thesis has been defended and accepted, at least three copies shall be properly bound by the University at the candidate's expense, one for deposit in the Library, one for the retention of the department concerned, and one for the supervisor. At the request of the candidate, a fourth copy maybe bound for his/her personal use.

Advice concerning the preparation and presentation of theses is to be provided by the supervisor and department concerned.

It is the responsibility of a supervisor to uphold and to transmit to students the highest professional standards of research and scholarship in the preparation of theses; to provide guidance in all phases of the student's research; to meet with their students regularly; to provide prompt feedback on submitted work including drafts of the thesis; and to clarify expectations regarding collaborative work, authorship, publication and conference presentations which may result from the student's research.