Research Advisory Committee
Each student in the MSc (Thesis) Program has a Research Advisory Committee consisting of the research supervisor and at least two other faculty members. This Committee will evaluate and monitor student progress. The committee must be formed before the end of the first semester. The Graduate Student Project Description must be submitted to the committee at this time.
A research proposal must be submitted in writing to the Research Advisory Committee before the end of the second semester. If the proposal is approved, the student may continue in the program. If it is inadequate, a revised proposal must be submitted within three months. After the proposal is approved, the student will complete the research and present the results at a Faculty seminar before writing the thesis for submission to the GPS.
Graduate Student Research Progress Tracking
McGill requires that graduate students’ progress toward completing their degree be tracked each year. General rationales and practical advice on progress reporting are available on the Monitoring Student Progress page of the Supervision: Graduate and Postdoctoral Support website. Having agreed upon written expectations and clearly defined requirements reduces completion times and leads to fewer supervisor-supervisee misunderstandings.
The Graduate Student Research Progress Tracking Report should be completed during annual meetings between the student, supervisor, and at least one other departmental representative. Please refer to the Regulations on Graduate Student Research Progress Tracking for more information.
The Progress Tracking Form is a fillable pdf form and can be signed with digital signatures. Download the pdf from your browser (Firefox and Chrome work best with digital signatures) and save it to your desktop. Open the form using Adobe Acrobat Reader and save it again after filling it in.
Withdraw Policy for Unsatisfactory Progress
Students must continue to make satisfactory progress to remain in the MSc Program. A student will be withdrawn if they:
- obtain two unsatisfactory Graduate Student Research Progress Tracking Reports and the Faculty recommends that they be withdrawn; or
- fail one course, obtain one unsatisfactory Graduate Student Research Progress Tracking Report, and the Faculty recommends that they be withdrawn.
The student’s transcript will indicate that the student was withdrawn from McGill. A student who is withdrawn according to this policy cannot apply for readmission to the program from which they were withdrawn.
Consult the Failure Policy for more information.