Graduate Studies in Biology

Applications are accepted at any time but most students apply between November and February, and begin their graduate work at the beginning of the fall term the following September. The best time to start corresponding with potential supervisors is in October and December of the year before you would like to begin graduate work.

Many scholarships are available for graduate students in both MSc and PhD programs, from the Canadian government (NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC), from the government of Ontario (Ontario Graduate Scholarships), from Queen's University, and from a wide variety of other agencies.

We offer teaching assistantships for graduate students to assist professors in lecture, lab and field courses. Biology graduate students who do not hold a major scholarship are usually awarded 3 TAships p

er year to help cover the guaranteed minimum stipend.

MSc students are required to take 4 courses at the graduate level, whereas PhD students are not required to take courses. The list of courses offered varies from year to year.

This guide outlines the policies and procedures followed by the department of Biology with respect to Graduate Studies. It is meant to extend and interpret the regulations of the School of Graduate Studies, the ultimate authority on many of these subjects. 

Forms are required to be filled out for supervisory committee meetings, teaching assistantships, thesis submission, etc. We also provide some answers to frequently asked questions here.

The Biology Graduate Student Council aims to represent the interests and needs of biology graduate students and to keep them informed about university and departmental issues. The Society provides a forum for all biology graduate students to voice their opinions on matters important to them.