Early Program Requirements

The forms below should be completed within the first month of your program. They will help you set the expectation for your program. Forms should be submitted to your program’s Graduate Program Administrator once complete. This can be done electronically.

• Student/ Supervisory Memorandum of Understanding - Expectations Checklist 
• Intellectual Property Awareness Checklist 
• Set up UCalgary Email/IT Account Please note that we will only communicate with you through your UCalgary email account, so make sure you check your email regularly.
• Self-Serve Student Payment Plan (Optional) - Apply online through your Student Centre; application and plan service are exclusively managed by the Registrar's Office. Be advised that the self-serve payment plan option is only for one term at a time.

Students in Cumming School of Medicine graduate programs, both MSc and PhD, are required to have supervisory committees. Your supervisory committee should consist of your supervisor, co-supervisor (as necessary) and two additional members who can support your research. Members of your supervisory committee are determined in consultation with your supervisor.

To formalize your committee, complete the Supervisory Committee Set-Up Form within the first three months of your program.

Committee meetings are essential to move your research forward. These meetings provide an opportunity to keep all members up-to-date on progress made in research, determine if additional courses are required to support your research, and serve as a venue for feedback and discussion about the direction of your research. Your first meeting should be held within six months of the start of your program.

Meeting Frequency

• At least twice within the first year from when they are formed
• A minimum of once per year in subsequent years
• It is recommended that more frequent meetings occur as you proceed towards Candidacy (PhD students)
• It is recommended that more frequent meetings occur as you proceed into writing your thesis

Meeting Minutes and Progress Report

Minutes should be taken by your supervisor or committee member delegate and shared for review after the meeting.  Accompanying the minutes is the Supervisory Committee Meeting Progress Report form which is also used as a pre-meeting agenda for your committee meetings.

After each meeting you are required to submit the following documents to your graduate program administrator (GPA):

• Committee Meeting Progress Report
• Minutes that document your meeting. Note: The supervisor or a supervisory committee member are responsible for taking the minutes, not the student.

Both the form and minutes need to be approved by the student and each committee members. Approval can be made by signature on the minutes or by email approval. Please compile all documents into one package before submitting to your GPA.

This approval has been replaced with questions on the Supervisory Committee Meeting Progress Report form.  Students are encouraged to discuss course learning with their supervisory committees who may advise additional courses to fill learning gaps.

A workshop on Responsible Conduct in Research, also known as Research Integrity Day, is a requirement which must be met in order for you to successfully complete your degree.  This workshop/day needs to be completed within your first year of study.

Topics discussed during this workshop are:

• Issues to consider for graduate students and their supervisors - authorship, plagiarism, conflict of interest, role of the supervisor and committee, etc.
• What is ethical and what is not?
• Who regulates research and who oversees it?
• Understanding your responsibilities and rights - where to go for help

Sessions are held in-person between September and April of each academic term. Priority is given based on need and not first registered.

Register for Sessions

Note: This is a new requirement for any student who began their studies as of the Summer 2020 term (July 1, 2020) or later.

The inclusion of Sex and Gender in Research programs is becoming more prominent. All graduate students in the Cumming School of Medicine are required to complete one of the CIHR sex and gender online training modules found at discoversexandgender.ca (which can also be found at: https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/49347.html )within the first year of their program. Completion of training modules related to sex and gender which will help researchers account for and appropriately assess the integration of sex and gender across multiple areas of health research.

Students are required to take the module that is most relevant to their research or program.  Upon successful completion of the module you can send the certificate you receive to your graduate program administrator.

Your Supervisory Committee must approve your formal thesis proposal no later than 12 months from the date you started your program. Your committee will need to sign the Thesis Proposal Approval Form. Both the form and final proposal must be submitted to your program administrator. 

Note that your approved proposal may be required to receive Ethics approval which must be obtained prior to commencing research.

Format: 

The research proposal must be between 13 and 17 single-spaced pages (excluding figures, tables and references, .75 inch margins and 12 point font). A suggested (but not mandatory) format for the research proposal is:

• • Introduction (approximately 4-6 pages – should contain an appropriate literature review of the field and the project)
• • Relevant Preliminary Data (approximately 3-4 pages)
• • Hypothesis and Specific Aims (approximately 1/2 page)
• • Experimental Plan (approximately 5-6 pages)
• • Significance (1/2 pages)

MDCH Proposal Requirements

Thesis proposals are detailed documents that outline the research approach and methods that will be undertaken in the thesis research. MDCH students are expected to incorporate feedback from their supervisory committee on the preliminary proposal and prepare a more detailed thesis proposal, which should be between 10 and 15 single-spaced pages (excluding figures, tables, and references, 0.75 inch margins and 12-point font). A suggested (but not mandatory)format for the written thesis proposal is:

• Introduction and Literature Review (approximately 4 to 6 pages – should contain a review of relevant theoretical frameworks, definitions or key terms, critical review of the existing published research related to the project, and end with a problem statement or research question(s) and the significance of the proposed study)
• Research Methods/Experimental Plan (approximately 5 to 6 pages – should describe the setting and context, participants, sampling, participant recruitment, data collection, and data analysis plan)
• Ethical Considerations (approximately 1 page – should include a description of data handling procedures)
• Significance (1/2 page)
• Budget and Justification (1-2 pages)
• Dissemination and/or Knowledge Translation plan (approximately 1 page);
• Research Timeline (approximately 1 page)

A draft of your proposal should be submitted to your committee by 12 months into the program (please note that this is not the formal thesis proposal evaluation step of candidacy. Your official proposal approval occurs at the Proposal Evaluation Meeting. See the guidelines for Admission to Candidacy section further down on this page). The draft should be approved using the PhD Draft Research Proposal Form.

Thesis proposals go through multiple drafts with your supervisory committee.  It is important for students to seek feedback from their supervisor and committee before submitting a final draft for approval. Review your specific program requirements for more information.

Format: 

The research proposal must be between 13 and 17 single-spaced pages (excluding figures, tables and references, .75 inch margins and 12 point font). A suggested (but not mandatory) format for the research proposal is:

• • Introduction (approximately 4-6 pages – should contain an appropriate literature review of the field and the project)
• • Relevant Preliminary Data (approximately 3-4 pages)
• • Hypothesis and Specific Aims (approximately 1/2 page)
• • Experimental Plan (approximately 5-6 pages)
• • Significance (1/2 pages)

MDCH PhD Draft Proposal Requirements

Thesis proposals are detailed documents that outline the research approach and methods that will be undertaken in the thesis research. MDCH students are expected to incorporate feedback from their supervisory committee on the preliminary proposal and prepare a more detailed thesis proposal, which should be between 10 and 15 single-spaced pages (excluding figures, tables, and references, 0.75 inch margins and 12-point font). A suggested (but not mandatory)format for the written thesis proposal is:

• Introduction and Literature Review (approximately 4 to 6 pages – should contain a review of relevant theoretical frameworks, definitions or key terms, critical review of the existing published research related to the project, and end with a problem statement or research question(s) and the significance of the proposed study)
• Research Methods/Experimental Plan (approximately 5 to 6 pages – should describe the setting and context, participants, sampling, participant recruitment, data collection, and data analysis plan)
• Ethical Considerations (approximately 1 page – should include a description of data handling procedures)
• Significance (1/2 page)
• Budget and Justification (1-2 pages)
• Dissemination and/or Knowledge Translation plan (approximately 1 page);
• Research Timeline (approximately 1 page)

For all programs, except MDCH, at least one Research-In-Progress or Work-In-Progress must be completed every year, including your first year. Information about a student's presentation history will need to be included in the student's Annual Progress Report (APR) each May.

Journal Club participation and presentations may also be required by your program. Information about a student's presentation history will need to be included in the student's Annual Progress Report (APR) each May.

MDNS (Neuroscience) Students: Please visit the MDNS Journal Clubs page for more information.

MDCH (Community Health Sciences) Students: Students in MDCH 600 are encouraged to attend all CHS-OIPH Friday Seminars in the Fall and Winter terms, as well as to participate in related journal clubs (eg. such as journal clubs offered within the PPH and/or Medical Education specializations)”

Annual Progress Reports are required by the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS).  These are done in May of each year. Notifications of this report are sent by FGS starting May 1 with a due date of May 31 for all aspects to be complete.

The University of Calgary considers health and safety to be a priority and is committed to providing a safe and healthy work and study environment for the entire university community including its laboratory environments.

Laboratory personnel including workers, students and visitors are exposed to potential hazards unique to laboratory settings and hazardous materials each and every day. In order to address the health, safety and environmental challenges specific to the laboratories, Environment, Health and Safety has developed programs, safety and procedure manuals, and laboratory-specific training courses free of charge for the university community.

The laboratory safety program outlines the requirements for all users in a laboratory. Supervisors/PI’s are responsible for ensuring all users of a laboratory are trained to work there safely.

For more information on the laboratory safety program please see the Laboratory Safety Website. 

Graduate student research for a thesis, dissertation or an independent research study that involves the use of human subjects, animals or bio-hazards must be reviewed and certified as acceptable by the appropriate University Research Ethics Board.

For research involving human subjects the proposed research/study must be reviewed by either the Conjoined Faculties Research Ethics Board (CFREB) or the Conjoined Health Research Ethics Board (CHREB).  Applicants to ethics need to complete the Tri-Council CORE Tutorial.

For research/studies that involve animals approval is obtained from the Animal Care Committee.

Where appropriate, students should also arrange to take the relevant portions of MDSC 603: Use of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical Research. 

For research/studies that required bio-hazardous materials, a Biosafety Permit is required and is conditional on registration and approval from the University of Calgary Biosafety Committee

*Copies of Ethics, Animal Care, or Biosafety Permits must be submitted to FGS as separate supporting documents to your thesis.  They are not included as appendices.