PhD Program Requirements

PhD students who do not have a prior MSc in Neuroscience must complete 9 units of graded graduate coursework. PhD Students with a prior MSc in Neuroscience must complete 3 units of graded graduate coursework.

The program for each student will be determined by their supervisory committee and will be subject to approval by GPC if required. Additional coursework may be required.

PhD students have the option, in consultation with their program supervisor, to complete a lab rotation course. Students may choose either NEURO 500 (two terms; 6 units) or NEURO 501 (one term; 3 units). NEURO 500 involves rotations through three laboratories. Each rotation involves two months of research experience (six months in total). NEURO 501 involves rotation through one laboratory taken outside of the laboratory of the primary supervisor.

NMHI graduate students may take a graduate level reading course for 3 credits to fulfill their course requirements. However, the following limitations apply:

• The course must be taken with a Faculty member other than the student’s supervisor(s).
• The course can be from any department, but it must be approved by the NMHI Director of Graduate Studies. 

Students cannot meet their graduate student quota credits merely based on a combination of lab rotation and reading courses (i.e., some didactic, lecture-based course work is required).

Students are required to maintain a minimum cumulative program grade point average of 3.0 (B) throughout their program.

Students must meet the GPS Ethics and Academic Citizenship Requirement through the completion of the six hour, online, non-credit course INT D 710: Ethics and Academic Citizenship  and  the two hour, online, non-credit course INT D 720 - Advanced Ethics and Academic Citizenship by the end of the first term of registration in their degree program.

The INT D 710 Ethics and Academic Citizenship course provides foundational knowledge of ethical principles and relevant university policies, including: land acknowledgement, academic integrity, plagiarism, introduction to research ethics, conflict of interest, and workplace ethics and self-care.

The INT D 720 Advanced Ethics and Academic Citizenship course provides advanced treatment of ethical principles, including: Indigenization, academic citizenship, research and scholarship, and ethical principles in university teaching.

Doctoral students who completed their Master’s degree at the University of Alberta and previously passed INT D 710 Ethics and Academic Citizenship are only required to take INT D 720 - Advanced Ethics and Academic Citizenship.

If a student does not complete the above noted courses by the end of their first term of registration in their degree program, their registration in subsequent terms will be restricted until such time as the course(s) is completed and/or a plan for completion is submitted by the student to Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies. Note: GPS will send students reminders to complete the requirement prior to the end of their first term (if not completed already).

Students are required to fulfill the Professional Development requirement which has two components and must be completed as specified by GPS. 

Students must submit a completed Individual Development Plan (IDP) within 18 months of the start of the doctoral program.

Progress and fulfillment of the PD hours (eight) is the students’ responsibility but will be monitored in the GPS Annual Progress Report.

All graduate students are required to attend 20 seminars per year anywhere on campus and at least 10 of the seminars must be selected from the list of formal Neuroscience seminars hosted by the NMHI. The majority of seminar attendance should be 'in person' rather than online. A minimum of 4:1 in person to online ratio is expected. The NMHI also hosts a number of seminars where students will be required to attend in addition to the mandatory minimum of 10 weekly seminars per year.

Students must track their individual seminar attendance and include this report in their yearly report which is sent to GPS. Participation in these seminars is a requisite for continuation in the program.

Every year students must participate in the Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute Research Day (NRD). Students are expected to present their work in the form of a poster or oral presentation. It is mandatory each student attends NRD as participation is a requisite for continuation on the NMHI graduate program.

Student progress will be reported at least once annually to the GPS using the standardized Progress Report form. Progress reports are due in GPS at minimum once every 12 months of the student’s original program start date.

Completion of the progress report is required. In instances where the progress report is not submitted at least once within a 12 month period, the student’s registration in subsequent terms will be restricted as a last resort and temporarily so as to determine a plan for completion. In these unlikely instances, GPS will assist the student and supervisor(s) in the completion of the progress report and remove registration restrictions immediately. Note: both the student and supervisor(s) will receive reminders to complete the progress report in advance of any deadlines, allowing for inquiries to assist or to set out an alternate completion deadline.

In instances where more detailed monitoring of a student’s academic standing may be required, a progress report form may be filled more than once annually; however, only one (1) progress report may be submitted every four (4) months.

A student who receives two (2) consecutive evaluations of “in need of improvement” or one (1) “unsatisfactory” rating will normally be required to withdraw from their program and GPS on the recommendation of the Director of Graduate Studies within their academic department and/or the Department Chair to the Dean of GPS.

All program requirements, other than the thesis, must be completed within three years of the commencement of a student’s program. Students who change from a master’s program to a doctoral program, without completing the master’s program as part of an acceleration or fast-track, have four years to complete the doctoral program progress requirements from the term of initial registration in the master’s program.

In exceptional circumstances a student who has failed to meet the doctoral program three-year progress requirement, as specified in Doctoral Program Three-Year Progress Requirements, may be considered for an extension according to GPS extensions policies.