Finding a Supervisor

When considering an application to doctoral or masters studies which involve a thesis, it is the responsibility of the applicant to connect with a faculty member who could appropriately supervise the thesis project that you intend to develop. The role of the graduate supervisor is to provide guidance and direction in selecting the thesis topic and research method and, thus, must have the expertise required to support your intended research project. Doctoral and MN thesis applicants are required to confirm the faculty member who has agreed to serve as your graduate supervisor before your application will be assessed.

Potential supervisors will be assessing your potential alignment with their expertise and their program of research. Some faculty members may be unable to accept new students at this time depending on the number of graduate students that they are currently supervising.

Consider the following steps toward securing a potential graduate supervisor:

1. Consult the Academic Listing of the Faculty of Nursing (tenure-track faculty only) to identify potential supervisors. The profiles for each faculty member include information about their research program and areas of expertise, courses that they have taught, and publications that may provide more detail about their research and academic interests.
2. Identify a list of those specific faculty members whose expertise is aligned with your area of research interest.
3. Develop a well-crafted email that outlines what your thesis interests are and specific details of why you think a faculty member may be a good supervisor for you. Send this email to select faculty members and attach your CV. Invite the faculty member to connect with you by email, phone, or Zoom to have a conversation about your application.
4. Be prepared to explore with a potential supervisor how your possible research question could align with their research program and expertise. You will be required to write about this alignment in your formal application document.
5. Faculty members who are considering supervision of your doctoral or masters studies may request additional information (e.g. a sample of your writing, a publication, etc.).
6. If the faculty member agrees to serve as your graduate supervisor, please let them know that they are required to write a reference letter for your application. You can ask them about how you can support them in writing this reference letter.

If you are unsuccessful in your search, it may be that our faculty members are not a good match with your area of research interest, or they do not have the capacity. In that case, you may have to change your topic to one that more closely aligns with a potential supervisor, resulting in a good fit.  

Your other option would be to consider broadening your search to another great Canadian university.  Although we would like for you to study at the University of Alberta, we recognize that is not always possible, as a student's success in a graduate program depends on finding a supervisor with similar research interests.