Important People and Dates

People

(Department office hours are Monday to Friday 8:30 -4:30)

Dates

[Under construction]

These dates are approximate dates for a typical year. More general information on times and deadlines for your progress through your degree are given here.

Who Does What?

Your supervisor will be guiding you through your time here as a graduate student, and should be a first point of contact for information and advice. You will also have a supervisory committee, which includes your supervisor and whose other members are willing to help you. It will be a second point of contact for guidance and problem resolution. There is also a group of dedicated specialists in the department to help you navigate through the various rules and regulations:

The graduate secretary knows all the academic and financial rules about your graduate program and can be consulted about them. (Don’t accept the advice of fellow students on your academic program and regulations – please verify with the graduate secretary or check the Calendar for the year you started your program.) A file that contains all your evaluations and other documents is maintained within the department by the graduate secretary, who also makes sure that the information held by the university is up to date. At the university level, there are two units that deal exclusively with graduate students. The Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) is the umbrella faculty for graduate students. It deals with all the academic aspects of the graduate program, for example approving new graduate courses, dealing with grade appeals or making official decisions about thesis oral exams. The Graduate Admissions and Records Office (GARO) provides much of the administrative support for the work of FGS. In particular, it handles all aspects of the admissions process, and maintains the official records of your degree. In general, graduate students do not have to deal directly with GARO because the Graduate Secretary passes on the required information to them.

The Graduate Advisor advises on academic matters and is a general problem solver for issues that cannot easily be easily solved by your supervisor or supervisory committee. The Graduate Advisor can be consulted on a confidential basis about any problems related to your graduate program, for example about conflicts with your supervisor. In general, problems are solved in increasing order of severity by your suprvisor, your supervisory committee, the Graduate Advisor, the Department Chair, Associate Deans in FGS, the Dean of Graduate Studies, and the Senate Committee on Appeals. However, non-academic matters can involve other agencies on campus, such as the Ombudsperson or the Equity and Human Rights office. Although the Department Chair signs off on many graduate student matters and handles grade appeals and cases of plagiarism and academic misconduct, the Graduate Advisor deals with most of the academic and personnel issues involving graduate students.

This is just a brief summary of the roles of the supervisor, supervisory committee, graduate secretary and graduate advisor. The Graduate Supervision Policy has a lot more detail on the roles and responsibilities of these people. You should read every word in it and be familiar with it.

The department has other people not specifically associated with graduate students who you will likely interact with. In terms of graduate students, the secretary/receptionist issues keys, handles the mail and photocopiers, and processes petty cash requests, the department secretary deals with Teaching Assistant (TA) pay and immigration issues, and the administrative officer allocates desk space. The safety officer, together with the university's office of Occupational Safety, Health and Environment, ensures that chemistry labs are run safely.

There are several graduate students who represent you on departmental committees or other organizations. The graduate student departmental representative attends monthly chemistry department meetings on your behalf, representing your views and informing you of decisions and issues discussed at those meetings. The graduate student GSC representative similarly repesents you on the graduate studies committee, which is a departmental committee that oversees graduate student admissions and programs. Your CUPE representative (CUPE 4163 is the union for TAs) will help you with issues and disputes involving your TA that you cannot resolve informally. You are also a member of the Graduate Student Society (GSS), which is a university-wide society advocating for and providing services for all graduate students.

Getting Started

Before You Arrive in Victoria

• Get an overview of UVic and Victoria by exploring the FGS website for newly admitted students.
• Internatonal students, get your student visa - read both the UVic guide and the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website.
• Get a NetlinkID from here. You will need a valid existing email address and your V number (student ID number, something like V00123123, which you are given when your application to UVic is complete). Your NetlinkID becomes your UVic email address by appending @uvic.ca, and it is also your login to many other UVic services, many of which you access through MyPage.
• Course Registration. (You will receive registration instructions via email about six weeks before the start of term.)
• Register online (through MyPage) in the following courses:
  1. Chem 599 (MSc) or Chem 699 (PhD) - this is a "course" for your research work that you register in each term.
  2. Chem 509 (seminar). You register in this every term and attend departmental seminars once or sometimes twice a week. You get an INP (in-progress) grade at the end of the term. Later in your degree you give a seminar to the department and then you get 1.0 units of credit for Chem 509
  3. Chem 693 (PhD Candidacy) for PhD students only. You register in this every term until you pass your candidacy exam.
• Consult your supervisor about registering in other courses. There is no rush to register in these; it is possible to register in them after the term starts. Many supervisors would recommend completing coursework early in the program, which would mean registering in:
1. Chem 680 (for physical/analytical chemists) or Chem 670 (for organic/inorganic chemists) - these are discussion courses in which you discuss papers from the literature. For an MSc. student, you only have to take this course once.
2. Chem 505 This is a pass/fail module that all students must take that includes professional topics such as searching the literature/ethics and plagiarism/paper writing etc.
3. Depending what is available, you may also register in a lecture course or some modules.
• If you cannot register for courses, check your admission status against these definitions:
• Provisional: You cannot register for courses, as some required admission documents are outstanding. Please check your MyApplication to see what is outstanding. Contact the graduate secretary if you aren’t sure what’s still needed or are unable to submit documents before the start of term. Example: Graduate Admissions and Records (GARO) may be waiting for official transcripts or a degree completion certificate; or perhaps you have to complete specific coursework before admission.
• Conditional: You have been admitted but admission requirements are outstanding. You may register in courses in the first term of the program to which they have been admitted. A registration block on other terms will be removed when all outstanding requirements have been met. Example: GARO may be waiting for a final transcript indicating that a degree has been awarded.
• Condition(s) Removed: Outstanding admission requirements have been met - you should be able to register in courses.
• Provisional Removed: Outstanding admission requirements have been met - you should be able to register in courses.
• Find some housing - perhaps through Used Victoria, Kijiji, or Craigslist (in alleged order of preference). These online resources often have scammers - you should not give out any money until you have set foot in the property and checked out that it it legitimate. If you know someone at UVic, they may be able to look at a place for you, or you may have to wait until you are physically here. UVic also has sites for off-campus housing, and on-campus housing for families and others. There is also a Facebook UVic Housing Group.
• Make sure you arrive before the Orientation Week (the week that term starts in), because there are important safety and other training sessions that you must take before you can work in the labs or be a teaching assistant.
• If you don't find accommodation before you come, then you should arrive a week or more before term starts in order to do some house-hunting.
• Health insurance. International students and students from other provinces must apply for the BC Medical Services Plan (MSP or "CareCard") within 10 days of arrival. MSP provides basic health care, e.g., emergency care and hospital and doctor visits. There is an approximately three month waiting period after you arrive before this becomes effective, so you need to acquire alternative medical insurance for this period . Effective September 2018, the University of Victoria will automatically enrol you in alternative coverage (Mandatory Temporary Medical Insurance) known as guardme@UVic - see www.uvic.ca/iss/health-insurance for details. Additional Health and Dental coverage is available through the Graduate Students Society - it is important to note that this plan does not replace MSP.

After You Arrive in Victoria

• When you first arrive in Victoria, find your supervisor and then visit the Chemistry office at Elliott 301 to get keys - you will get a key to your lab, your office space, the mailroom/photocopy room and a building door key. There is a $5 per key deposit (bring some cash!), which you will get back when you return the keys. (Building entry key fobs for students in the Bob Wright building require a $20 deposit.)
• The receptionist will also give you a photocopy code, which enables you to use the departmental copy machines. These can also scan documents and send them to your email address.
• You will be assigned a mail slot in the mailroom (Ell 320).
• Go to the University Centre to get your ONECard - you will need to be registered and they will want your V-number and to see government-certified ID (passport for international students, driver's licence for Canadian residents). Your ONECard is your Student ID card, but is also used as a bus pass, to access the gym, and to store money on for food around campus.
• Bus pass - For the first term, your ONECard should automatically work as a bus pass (U-pass). After that, use the U-pass machines in the University Centre to reeactivate your ONECard.
• Your ID for official Canadian Government services such as your tax form is called a Social Insurance Number (SIN). You can get it from Services Canada in person by visiting their Victoria office at 1401 Douglas Street.
• Attend the orientation and training events. The Chemistry office will be tracking to make sure that you complete all the required training. The core safety and TA training is given in the orientation week at the beginning of term, but others such as laser safety, compressed gas training or NMR or mass spec training will be later.
• You supervisor will give you the required New and Young Workers training, give you information about general safety issues, and discuss how standard operating procedures are applied in your research group.
• Your supervisor will ask you to sign NSERC Form 100D, which gives permission for your supervisor to use your name on research grants.
• Open a bank account as soon as possible, as most of the money you get from UVic will be directly deposited into a Canadian bank account. Without an account most banks or cheque cashing business will charge a fee to cash cheques. You may need to take proof you are a registered student – your unofficial transcript showing registration for the term, or your offer letter may help. There are two different forms you fill out to get payments directly deposited to your bank account, one for scholarship, awards and RA payments and one for TA payments. Bring the forms to the Chemistry office when complete.
• You will be allocated some office space by the Administrative Officer.

Funding

Understanding your graduate student stipend

• Your stipend/salary comes from three sources
  1. TA (teaching assistant) income, which you get for your teaching in undergraduate labs. This is considered "employment income" by the University and by Revenue Canada (the government tax department). By the end of February, you will get a T4 slip for the previous tax year (Jan-Dec) that you will need to complete your tax form (by end of April). The T4 is accessible from "Employee Services" under MyPage. This money is paid on the 15th of each month and on the last day of each month (or earlier if these do not fall on a business day) and will have tax deducted at source.
  2. RA (research assistant) money, which comes from your supervisor's research grant. The University and Revenue Canada consider this as "Scholarship Income" and will give you a a T4A tax slip for this. Payments are every month on the 18th.
  3. Graduate Award (formerly also called AAA (Academic Achievement Award)). This money is conditional on your maintaining a GPA above 6.5. It is also scholarship income, and comes directly from the faculty of graduate studies. There is one payment in September and one in January.
• These three components may vary over the year, but the TA and RA will add to an approximately equal amount every month. You may have additional UVic Fellowship or other Scholarship amounts which increase your salary and/or reduce your TA requirements. You may ask the Graduate Secretary for a table of the payment amounts per month.
• Your supervisor is permitted to pay you higher RA amounts or "buy out" your TA; this is solely at their discretion.
• Note that signing up for an additional TA section in order to get additional money is not permitted. This would take more of your time and since you would be spending less time on research, your supervisor could adjust the RA amount downward so that your stipend stays the same.
• The official policy about these pay components is below.

Tuition and Fees

Tuition fees are due at the end of the first month of term. Fee information, including how to pay and where is found here and FGS has a useful web page about tuition and fees.

Awards

University of Victoria Bursaries and Scholarships

The University of Victoria provides bursaries and scholarships to graduate students. A bursary is an award based on financial need. Since chemistry students receive a stipend, the case for financial need is harder to make than for students in departments that do not offer a stipend. Scholarships are awarded based on merit, and come in several types.

University of Victoria Fellowships are offered to entering students with high GPA (minimum of 7.0; an A- average on the last two years of course work). If funds allow, they may also be offered to continuing students. Students are selected by the GSC and do not need to apply. The awards are offered for one year only. They increase the stipend above that of a regular student, and also reduce the number of required TA sections from two to one. Incoming students who wish to receive a UVic fellowship should have been accepted by the cutoff date in the spring term.

University of Victoria Graduate Awards are offered to students with a GPA of 6.5 or more, in the form of GAAA awards as described in the department policy above.

Presidents Research Awards are top up awards given to students who already have NSERC or CIHR Scholarships. Such students (and holders of UVic Fellowhips) are also eligible for Howard E Petch or David F strong Research Scholarships ($7500). The GSC will apply for these awards on your behalf.

Other major awards from UVic include the lieutenant-Governor's Silver Medal for the best MSc thesis and the Governor-General's Gold Medal for the best PhD dissertation.

Donor Awards

These are awards that come from funds given to the University by individual donors. They are ususally in the range of some hundreds of dollars, but there are many of them and in addition to their monetary values, they boost your CV. These are categorized below according to who makes the decision and whether or not you have to apply.

Chemistry: These are adjudicated by the Chemistry Graduate Studies Committee, who makes the applications on behalf of students who meet the criteria. More details are given on the donor awards page.

• The Lewis J. Clark Memorial Fellowships (2 @ $1500) - Chemistry or Biology
• Nora and Mark DeGoutiere Memorial Scholarship (amount varies, but this can be around $10K) - Chemistry
• Mohamed and Prabha Ibrahim Graduate Scholarship in Chemistry ($1000)
• Sally Mcauley Graduate Scholarship - Inorganic Chemistry (≥ 2yrs PhD)
• Gerry Poulton Graduate Scholarship - Organic Chemistry (≥ 2yrs PhD)
• The Dr. E. and Mrs. M. Von Rudloff Award - $750 - environmental/pollution

Faculty of Science: These are adjudicated by the Faculty of Science Graduate Advisory Committee. In general there is some flexibility in the area and there can be years when there are no applicants who meet the exact criteria, so students who meet criteria only tenuously will still be considered for these awards. You do not need to apply, the GSC applies on behalf of students who meet the criteria. More details are given on the donor awards page

• Bob Wright Grauduate Scholarships (2) - research related to oceans
• David and Geoffrey Fox Graduate Fellowships - Greek and Roman Studies (even numbered years) or Science (odd numbered years).
• Dr Arne H Lane Graduate Fellowships - marine science
• Yvone Allen Cancer Research Scholarship - preference for colo-rectal cancer
• James A. & Laurette Agnew Memorial Scholarship - medical research

University of Victoria (no application): These are adjudicated by the FGS Graduate Awards Committee (GAC). The Chemistry GSC makes a recommendation to the GAC on behalf of the student. The list below gives most of those that Chemistry graduate students are eligible for and those in bold have been awarded to chemistry students in the recent past. There are also a some for indigenous students. Take a look at the donor awards page; if you see another one for which you are eligible, or think that the GSC might not be aware of your eligibility, you should contact the Graduate Advisor. They are ususally in the range of some hundreds of dollars, but there are many of them, and you should hunt through the list for any that might meet your situation. Donors often have rather narrow criteria, and you might be one of few students that meet these criteria.

• Edythe Hembroff-Schleicher Scholarships - female students intending to go to medical school
• Dr. Julius F. Schleicher Graduate Scholarship - male student in chemistry, biology, biochemistry/microbiology or law.
• Eileen Ford Wood and Alexander James Wood Scholarship - female student returning to university after an interruption of at least two years (previously with first-class standing)
• The M.A. and D.E. Breckenridge Graduate Awards - outstanding graduate student
• Cassels Shaw Graduate Fellowship - outstanding with financial need
• Commander Peter Chance MASC Graduate Fellowship - maritime interests
• The Robert W. Ford Graduate Scholarships - outstanding graduate student
• Ian Evans Graduate Scholarship - outstanding graduate student
• Melva J. Hanson Graduate Scholarship - outstanding graduate student
• Albert Hung Chao Hong Scholarships - citizen of Hong Kong or mainland China
• The Charles S. Humphrey Graduate Student Awards - outstanding Science or Engineering student
• The Martlet Chapter IODE Graduate Scholarship for Women - woman entering 2nd yr masters
• Alexander and Helen Stafford MacCarthy Muir Graduate Scholarship - outstanding graduate student
• Jarmila Vlasta Von Drak Thouvenelle Graduate Scholarship - outstanding graduate student
• John and Myrtle Tilley Graduate Scholarship - outstanding graduate student
• David H. Turpin Research Scholarship - outstanding graduate student
• Donald Wagg Graduate Scholarships - outstanding graduate student

University of Victoria (application required): These are miscellaneous awards that require an application from you, with various application dates as described on the webpage.

• Buker Spectrospin prize - research paper in chemical instrumentation or applications of chemical instrumentation (UVic, UBC or SFU)
• Frank Hori Foundation Scholarship - Japanese ancestry and financial need
• The Leslie and Kaye Jowett Graduate Scholarship - physical disability
• Rob and Tammy lipson Research Scholarship - for international visits
• Dr. Peter Montgomery Graduate Scholarship - Roman Catholic with financial need
• Nimrod Mobility Award - Hungarian student
• Professional Employees Association (PEA) Graduate Scholarship - PEA dependent
• William Petrie Graduate Student library Scholarship - 500 word essay explaining your use of library resources

External Awards

NSERC and CIHR - this section under construction.

Grace Award

Graduate Student Ambassador Award

This award will be given to current graduate students to visit their BSc alma mater for graduate student recruitment purposes (meetings with undergraduate students/seminar/etc). The department will provide funding in support of the student's visit as follows:

60% of travel (air/bus etc) costs to a maximum of:

• $100 on Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver
• $200 for other areas of BC
• $300 for Alberta
• $400 for Saskatchewan and Manitoba
• $500 for Ontario and Quebec
• $600 for areas east of Ontario

and 100% of reasonable local expenses (hotel for 1 night if necessary, local transportation, meals).

Interested students should submit the following to the Graduate Secretary (chemgsec@uvic.ca):

• A current CV
• A short (1 paragraph) description of where/when the planned travel activity is to take place and any (faculty) contact at the institute of interest.

Applications can be submitted at any time. The Chemistry Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) will select recipients based on qualifications and strategic value of the proposed University. The GSC will provide guidance and assistance to successful applicants on what sort of activities can/should be undertaken during the student's visit. The student shall provide a short summary to the GSC after their visit is complete.

Conferences

If you’re going to a conference to present your work, there is partial funding available from several sources. This needs to be arranged well in advance.

• The FGS and GSS coordinate their travel grant funding, which you can apply for once in each year. You should apply 4 months ahead (but not more ahead than that or it will be rejected) because it is awarded on a first-come-first-served basis. See the FGS website for instructions and an application form
• The chemistry department has a small travel fund for travel to CIC/CSC conferences. See the graduate secretary for the application form.
• If you are a TA, the CUPE 4163 union has a conference fund.
• Your supervisor may also have some funding.

Your Graduate Program

Expectations

You are expected to be familiar with the rules of the University, but especially the Graduate Supervision Policy, which includes rules for much more than just supervision. These are the formal rules, but there are some general expectations about the standard of your work and what it means to be a graduate student. The calendar has sections on:

• Standards for Master's Degrees
• Standards for Doctoral Degrees
• Student Responsibilities

In addition, the Chemistry Department has a statement of expectations:

Department Expectations Policy

Ethics and Academic and Research Integrity

Equity and Human Rights

The University promotes a safe, respectful and supportive learning, working, and living environment. University policies prohibit discrimination, harassment, and sexualized violence. We understand that such behaviours can undermine student success. The Equity and Human Rights office (EQHR) is a resource for all Uvic community members, including students. EQHR provides education, information, assistance and advice in aid of building and supporting an inclusive and respectful campus. When issues and concerns arise, EQHR assists those involved through the range of support and resolution options available under the Sexualized Violence Prevention and Response policy and Discrimination and Harassment policy. EQHR staff are available by appointment—contact information and resources can be found at uvic.ca/equity.

The Department of Chemistry expects everyone participating in university activities in the department to model respectful behaviour and abide by applicable university policies. For more information please contact chemeqhr@uvic.ca or see the departmental secretary in person at Elliott 302, who will help you or direct you to the appropriate person.

Academic and Research Integrity

Students are responsible for adhering to the Academic Integrity Policy for graduate students. This covers such things as plagiarism, cheating on exams and fabricating data. Plagiarism is misrepresenting the ideas or words of others as your own, and is considered a serious offense. Please make sure you understand what exactly is meant by this, since the standard may be different from what you are used to. There is helpful information on this on the University website. Cases of plagiarism can be factors in withdrawing a student from their degree.

Your research is likely funded at least in part by one of Canada's federal funding agencies (NSERC, SSHRC or CIHR) and these agencies have a common policy on Responsible Conduct of Research. This covers the obvious things such as falsifying data, but also covers such things as keeping complete and accurate records of your experiments so that they can be verified by others. Your messy lab book may be illegal! The policy mainly covers the procedures to follow if the rules are broken, because the agencies require the funded institutions to have specific internal policies, in this case UVic's Policy on Scholarly Integrity.

Your Supervisor

You chose your supervisor as part of the application process. You supervisor is a mentor, who will guide you to successful completion of your degree. Most research groups in Chemistry have weekly research meetings in which you will present and discuss your research results with your supervisor and the other members of your research group. Some supervisors have separate regular meetings with their graduate studemt, and so you will be in regular contact with your supervisor. The Chemistry department has no rules on the frequency you meet your supervisor, but the Graduate Supervision Policy (5.9d) requires that your supervisor meet with you at least twice per term.

Your supervisor may ask you to write reports, drafts or research papers or other text. The supervisor is expected to give you timely feedback on papers, theses and other written material. For papers, theses or dissertations, the Graduate Supervision Policy (5.9f) specifies that this be normally with 20 business days.

Supervisory Committee

You supervisory committee oversees all aspects of your graduate program. Having members who are close to your area can be helpful in getting help with your research, perhaps on issues a little outside your supervisors expertise. The committee will be involved in all formal decisions involved in your program, including any problems that arise. You have the right to call a supervisory committee meeting to discuss any conflicts or supervisory issues that arise. If this is to discuss a conflict with your supervisor, see the Graduate Advisor, who can initiate a supervisory committee meeting, or can help you through other means. The Graduate Supervision Policy has more to say about the role of the supervisory committee

Your supervisory committee needs to be established in the first term of your degree. Discuss the membership of your committee with your supervisor; you must be consulted in this decision.

MSc committees have at least two members.

1. Your supervisor
2. A co-supervisor or member. Usually this second person is from the Chemistry Department, though they may come from another UVic department.
3. Optional third member (can be from Chemistry or another UVic department)

When it is time for your final defence, your examining committee will be your supervisory committee plus your examiner. At least one of the examining committee must be from a department or institution outside chemistry. If you have a member on your supervisory committee from outside Chemistry, then it is possible for your examiner to be from the Chemistry Department.

PhD committees have at least three members.

1. Your supervisor
2. Co-supervisor/member (a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry)
3. Outside member (a faculty member from another department at UVic)
4. Optional fourth member.

Courses

• At UVic a one-term lecture course with approximately three lectures per week is worth 1.5 units. A "module" worth 0.5 units contains about 1/3 this amount of work and three such modules can be substituted for a lecture course.
• Discussion courses are 1.5 unit courses in which you discuss papers from the literature. These come in two versions Chem 680 (for physical/analytical chemists) or Chem 670 (for organic/inorganic chemists).
• You also have to take Chem 505. This is a pass/fail module that deals with professional topics such as searching the literature/ethics and plagiarism/paper writing, etc. This is called a module because it is a short course, but there is no credit associated with this course, and it cannot be used as one of the three modules that substitute for a lecture course.
• Each term you will register in Chem 509 (seminar) and either Chem 599 (MSc research) or Chem 699 (PhD research), as well as any lecture, discussion or module courses that you are taking. The research courses are just formal recognition that you are doing research, and there are no additional requirements associated with them. For Chem 509, you are required to attend departmental seminars once or sometimes twice a week. You get an INP (in-progress) grade at the end of the term. Later in your degree you will present a seminar to the department and will receive 1.0 units of credit for Chem 509. There is more information about this below.
• Consult your supervisor about the choice of discussion and lecture courses. In general it is recommended that you complete your coursework as soon as possible, after which you can focus exclusively on your research. MSc students can complete all their coursework in one term, by taking one discussion course, one lecture course and Chem 505. On the other hand, there are limited lecture courses and modules offered in any given term so you might delay until a desired course is offered. For students concerned about their ability in English to complete the discussion courses, it is recommended that you sit in on the first available discussion course even if you do not take it for credit, and can take it for credit later. Consult your supervisor and the course instructor about this. Note that if you attend the course without registering, you cannot later decide you want credit for it.

Department Seminars, Your Seminar, and Graduate Student Research Days

Chem 509 course requirements

Graduate students must register for Chem 509 in both terms of every Winter Session during their degree program.

Enrolment in Chem 509 requires that students attend Chemistry Department Seminars as described in the syllabus each academic year (see below), and attend both Graduate Student Research Days (GSRDs) in November and February, and give a departmental seminar, normally in Term 4 or 5 of the MSc program or Term 10 or 11 of the PhD program.

A "COM" grade is assigned for Chem 509 when you submit your “Request for Oral Exam” upon completion of your thesis, as long as you have attended the requisite number of seminars for that term, and have given your departmental seminar. If you are submitting mid-term, consult with the instructor for the nunber of seminar attendances needed.

Guidelines for seminar attendance

Chemistry Department Seminars take place on Mondays and/or Thursdays, 11:30 am – 12:45 pm.

Bookmark the seminar schedule and check it regularly, in case of changes.

Graduate students must attend 9 seminars in each term that Chemistry Department Seminars are scheduled. You are welcome to attend more! If you do not attend the requisite number of seminars, you must complete some extra seminar-related assignment, to be determined by the Chem 509 instructor.

Before leaving each seminar, initial the Chem 509 attendance sheet next to your name. Note: by signing the sheet, you are officially stating that you have attended the entire seminar. This statement falls under the Academic Integrity regulations outlined in the UVic Graduate Calendar.

As part of your Chem 509 attendance each term, you may attend up to three seminars from outside the Chemistry Department Seminar series (e.g. CAMTEC, Biochemistry, Physics, ad hoc Chemistry seminars), with permission from both the 509 instructor and your supervisor. To obtain permission, send an email request to the 509 instructor with a cc to your supervisor, prior to the date of the extra-departmental seminar you wish to attend. (Permission will not be granted for ad hoc seminars in the Chemistry Department that occur on the same days as official Department seminars.) The email should include full details of the seminar, including a URL or email notification for the event. Requests to substitute seminars will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

For all seminars, you are expected to show respect for the speakers and for other attendees. Arrive on time - late arrivals are disruptive for the speaker and the audience.

Graduate Student Research Days (GSRDs)

Graduate students give their departmental seminars during two GSRDs. These one-day mini conferences happen during the November and February Reading Breaks. The exact format will vary depending on the number of students presenting, and will be communicated early each term. All graduate students are required to attend these events. The GSRDs include poster sessions; every graduate student must give one poster or oral presentation at a GSRD during each academic year.

The Chem 509 instructor will schedule all presentations for the two GSRDs, in consultation with supervisors. In July, student speakers will be told in which GSRD they are scheduled to present. In September, poster presenters will be told in which GSRD they are scheduled to present.

Co-op and Internships

Co-op and internship opportunitives, where you work in an industry, are possible in a Chemistry program, at the discretion of your supervisor. Acceptance of these may (or may not) change your overall funding picture or the timeline for completion cof your degree, candidacy exams etc. Consult with your supervisor and the Graduate Advisor.

Evaluation

Each term, the student and supervisor will discuss the student's progress and the expectations for the coming term. The details for this are given below. The faculty of graduate students is soon to implement a system in which an annual report is forwarded to them.

Transfer from MSc to PhD

Students who start out in an MSc degree and show sufficient promise for a PhD program may be able to transfer to a PhD degree. This is determined by their supervisory committee, normally at the first yearly meeting (see evaluation policy above). In such a case, the coursework and research work already completed counts towards the PhD degree, and the student proceeds as though the start date of their PhD was their original MSc start date.

PhD Candidacy Exam

Introduction

The candidacy exam is to determine if you have the requisite intellectual and research skills to succeed in getting a PhD. As part of this, you write a research proposal for your PhD research, in which you establish that you have mastered the relevant literature, can place your work in the context of the field, and can defend its originality and viability. At the oral exam part, you will defend the proposal, and also answer questions that probe your expertise in relevant areas of knowledge that a PhD in your area would be expected to have. The Calendar gives the official rules in Chemistry for the candidacy exam, including the format for the report. In particular, notice that two attempts are permitted, and that students who fail may be able to complete an MSc degree.

Proposal Advice

This section gives additional information/advice for the student and committee members.

The point of a proposal is to explain what you want to do, why you want to do it, and how it is important in the field. A well-written proposal - and a successful candidacy report - should make it clear to other readers that the work is (i) worth doing and (ii) has a reasonable chance of success.

A proposal needs to provide a context for the work (background/literature survey), a (brief) presentation of recent progress and a plan for near-term work. A rough guideline for how to partition the proposal into these three major sections:

The main point here is that the proposal needs to constitute the majority of the prose. If proposed work is substantially less than half of the report, it will read less like a proposal and more like a review or report. The end of the introduction section should articulate clearly the long term objectives of the proposed work.

Here is a list of questions that your proposal should address (but don’t actually put these as section headings in the proposal):

• What field(s) of research is the proposal pertinent to?
• What is the state of the art in your field?
• Why is the area important?
• What are the long term goals of the research? (i.e. beyond the specific work you are proposing over the next few years. Think big here!)
• What are the short term goals/plans and how do they relate to the long term goals?

• Is your work original, innovative? How?
• How does this research compare to what others in your field are doing? How is it distinctive, or more efficient, or more practical – what gives your work a competitive advantage over others?
• Why should a funding agency support your work rather than your competitors?
• What would success of the proposed work mean (implications/significance)?

• How will the work be carried out? (techniques, experiments, analysis)
• Why do you think the work has a good chance of success?
• What are some possible pitfalls of the proposed work? How can these be addressed?
• What is the sequence the experiments that will be done? A timeline may be helpful to organize the proposal so that the sequence is clear.

Exam Procedures

The exam can start when everyone is present. The student should arrive 10 minutes early to ensure the computer and projector (if required) are ready.

The exam chair begins by briefly explaining the exam process which is as follows:

(1) The student will give a 15 minute (maximum) presentation based on their written proposal.

(2) The committee will examine the student on both their written proposal/presentation and on the general topics which were given to the student (and the committee) four weeks prior to the exam. Two rounds of questions are permitted; normally the first round is longest - committee members can take up to 20 minutes each. The second round is normally somewhat shorter in duration; the total length of the exam is usually approximately 2 hours although this does not have to be enforced rigorously. Room bookings for the exam will be for 2.5 hours.

(3) Once the two rounds are complete, the student will be excused from the exam room but asked to remain close by (but out of earshot of discussion in the exam room). The chair will solicit the assessment of each committee member as to the quality of the report and the performance in the exam. Once a decision has been reached, the student is invited back into the room and the committee’s decision is communicated to the student by the chair. A follow up email to the student is also sent with any specific instructions (see below).

The assessment of the student’s performance should be based on (1) the quality of their written proposal and (2) their performance in the exam. If both are acceptable then the student has passed the exam.

If the exam performance is acceptable but there are deficiencies with the report that the committee feels should be addressed, the committee can require a resubmission of the report to the committee. As a general guideline, the level of deficiencies that would require a resubmission should be broadly analogous to the “major revisions” category for thesis submission; changes that would fall under “minor revisions” do not normally require a revised report to be submitted. The chair will solicit suggestions from the supervisory committee and send the student a memo outlining the deficiencies and provide guidance on how to fix them. The memo will include a deadline for resubmission of the proposal, normally within 4-6 weeks of the exam. The student should submit the revised report directly to all committee members and the exam chair. The department graduate secretary will schedule a half-hour meeting of the supervisory committee to take place 7-10 days after the revision deadline, at which the committee members will decide whether or not the revised proposal is acceptable. A passing grade will be administered once the committee members have all indicated to the exam chair that the revised proposal is acceptable. A revised report which substantially addresses the significant deficiencies but still has some outstanding “minor revisions” – level corrections is considered acceptable. A revised report which is deemed unacceptable constitutes a failed candidacy.

If the performance in the exam is not of acceptable quality, a repeat exam will be scheduled within one semester of the date of the first exam. With input from the supervisory committee, the exam chair will provide a memo to the student outlining (i) the reasons for the assessment and (ii) the format for the new exam (e.g. whether a new presentation is required) and the material that the student will be responsible for in the repeat exam. Unsatisfactory performance in the second exam constitutes failure of the candidacy.

The exam chair is not a member of the supervisory committee but is permitted to clarify questions or answers as they deem appropriate. Chairs should ensure that questioning is at an appropriate level and tone, and that there is broad consistency in the level of all examinations. All of the exam chairs are to meet once per term to discuss this issue.

In the event that the committee cannot come to consensus as to whether the student has passed/failed the exam, they will put it to a vote (the supervisor does NOT have a veto for or against). In the event of a 2-2 tie, the student’s supervisor’s vote is given lower weight than that of the other committee members (i.e. if supervisor +1 other committee member vote to pass and 2 others vote to fail, the result is fail; if supervisor + 1 vote against and 2 others vote to pass, the result is pass). The chair does not vote on the outcome of the exam.

The exam chair is responsible for reporting the outcome of the exam by email to the Department Chair for approval. The email should include the students name, ID number (this can be obtained from the Graduate Secretary) and the outcome of the exam. The Department Chair approves the outcome by forwarding the email to the department Graduate Secretary noting “approved” in the email. The Graduate Secretary then sends the approved email to the Graduate Admissions and Record Office (GARO) clerk, with copies to the student, the Graduate Advisor, and all members of the supervisory committee. The general form of the email should look like:

John Doe (V00123456) passed his candidacy exam on (date). His candidacy report was titled “XXXXXXXXXXX” 

John was questioned on his written report as well as the following general topics: 

1) AAA
2) BBB
3) CCC 

Note that the only information conveyed is whether the student passed or failed – GARO doesn’t need to know anything else.

Timeline

The following guide to the timeline for a degree summarizes the normal timeline for a student starting in September. In most cases the term and month numbers also apply for students starting in other terms. Not all the dates are fixed - for more information see the policies in this handbook and in the Calandar, which are the official versions that supercede those here if there is a discrepancy.

Writing your Thesis or Dissertation

At UVic, the official term for your MSc thesis is thesis, but your PhD "thesis" is officially called a dissertation. For writing your thesis, writing groups, checklists, formatting guides, and samples see the Faculty of Graduate Studies thesis and dissertation page. There is also a Centre for Academic Communication that offers workshops and personalized help with writing.

In terms of formatting, see the Thesis format checklist and sample pages. There are templates for Word and LaTeX. The department does not have any additional requirements beyond those of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Be careful with copyright issues. If you are going to use a literature figure, you will need permission from the copyright holder, usually the publisher. Some publishers have easy online applications that give you permission automatically, but for others there may be significant lead time. Even if you have permission, you will need to state the source in the figure caption, with something like "reproduced with permission". Some publisheres have very specific wording they want if you use their figures. In many cases, such as an energy level diagram that is fairly generic, it is easiest to redraw the figure yourself, making it look significantly different from the original. Even in this case, if the figure source is unique, you should state "adapted from ....".

Sometimes you may want a chapter of your thesis to be one of your papers that is already published. Consult the publisher to see if this is allowed; generally speaking it is. Again, there may be specific wording that the publisher requires. If you are putting in a chapter that is a paper to be submitted, you need to be more careful. Some publishers may consider your thesis to be "prior publication", meaning that you cannot publish the work with that publisher, and will have to find a different publisher for that chapter.

Planning to Defend

Generally speaking, you need to finish writing early in a term, in order to defend that term. Note that if you are planning to defend in the summer term, you may have difficulty getting your committee together for an August defense. In this case, if you defend by the 15th of September, and complete changes before the end of September, you may not have to pay fees for the whole of the fall term - see the Completion Postponement Fee Adjustment on the "Tuition Fees and Payments" section of the tuition webpage.

Timing

Work backwards, looking at your particular term to get the exact deadlines you need to meet:

• Defense date (two weeks before term ends to give yourself time to revise, submit, and get final documents in after defense)
• Signed Request for Oral Examination (ROE) PhD or MSc form over to Grad Studies 30 business days (PhD) or 20 business days (MSc) before the defense date. FGS is very fussy about this timeline - don't count any statutory or university holidays (except midterm break).
• Revisions: Getting your Supervisory Committee to review, give feedback, and say you're ready to defend will take about two weeks (before they sign the "ROE").  Ask your committee members how long they need to review.
• This means you need to finish writing about 11 weeks (PhD) or 9 weeks (MSc) before the end of term.

Other steps and forms

• Book the room: The Graduate Secretary can book a videoconferencing room if anyone is attending remotely. It's much better than worrying about Skype the day you defend. If you don't need video conferencing, then a regular room can be booked. 
• Apply for Graduation - you have to apply to graduate.  It required a non-refundable fee and you can't change terms, so check the deadline and perhaps wait until your defense is a sure thing.
• Thesis Withholding - in case you need a publication delay in order to get a patent or for some similar reason - discuss with your supervisor.
• Thesis Approval - A completed hardcopy of this form must go with you to your defense for your committee to sign. 

Your Defense Exam

The guidelines for the exam and possible outcomes are here.

The examination normally lasts from 1 ½ - 2 hours. It is an open exam and you may invite your friends and family. At least some of your fellow graduate students are likely to be there.

• Candidate begins with a brief (10-20 minute) summary of work.
• Examining committee asks two rounds of questions:
  • External Examiner begins each round,
  • Committee member(s) from outside the academic unit goes next, then
  • Committee member(s) from the academic unit, and
  • Supervisor goes last.
• If there is sufficient time, the exam chair may call for questions from other members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
• If there is sufficient time, the exam chair may call for questions from the audience.

The most common outcome is minor revisions. The word minor here refers to the seriousness of the revisions, and not the number. There may be very many revisions, but they are not considered serious enough to require further attention from the committee. Rather the supervisor is delegated to make sure that you make the changes, and will not sign off until you have made them.

Submitting your Final Thesis

After your successful defense, you will likely need to make some changes as dictated by your examining committee. After you have done that, you will need to make a .pdf copy of your thesis in the right format and then it is ready for final submission according the to the FGS checklist. Your thesis will be uploaded to UVicSpace, which is a website where anyone has access to your thesis; there is further information about the submission process here.

The Chemistry Department will arrange for binding of a hardcopy book of your thesis or dissertation, with a copy for you, for the department, and for your supervisor.

Getting Things Done

Computing at UVic

• NetlinkID is used for accessing MyPage, logging on to various services, and as part of your UVic email address.
• Email: Your UVic email address is yournetlinkID@uvic.ca, and your email can be accessed through https://mail.uvic.ca. Although you can use MyPage to set a non-UVic preferred email address for the university to contact you, you must use your UVic email in your role as TA when communicating with the students you TA. This is because BC privacy legislation forbids personal information being stored on a server outside Canada. The easiest solution is to use your UVic email address as your routine and preferred address.
• Wifi: The campus network is UVic. To set this up, follow the instructions here. Eduroam is also available and gives you access at many universities around the world (and at many airports in Europe), but you must set this up before you travel.
• VPN: UVic's Virtual Private Network allows you to connect to UVic's network from anywhere in the world, for example to access online journals. Once you have logged in, it is the same as being connected from within UVic.
• Uvic network drive: you can connect to 1 GB of personal space at \\home.uvic.ca\yournetlinkID. Use this to store any documents that cannot be stored on your computer for privacy reasons (e.g., TA grades, any sort of personal information).

Spending Money

• Science Stores is at Petch 168 and has an inventory of common chemicals and other supplies (pens, lab books, etc). Please check that you are not ording a duplicate of something in the lab before you order it. You will be asked for a stores account number, which is something like BOM5.
• For more exotic chemicals and other items that are not in stock, you will need to fill out a Stores Requisition. Add your details under "User Details", Stores account is as above, FAST account is a number like 12345-57250 (there are another 4 digits depending on the category, but stores will fill this in for you). Email the form to your supervisor, who will then forward it to scistore@uvic.ca with an approval.
• If you are going to be ordering a lot of stuff you can do it via web requisitions (you need to get registered for this, and you must be an employee, i.e., with a TA appointment).
• For items above $2500, you will need two quotations so consult your supervisor before ordering.
• Petty Cash. For inexpensive items (below $20) that you can easily buy yourself (say at the hardware store), you can just buy it and give the receipt to the Receptionist for reimbursement. More expensive reimbursements may be possible through the Admin Officer, but you should consult first because not all items or amounts are eligible.
• Bookstore/Computer Store. You can get Science Stores to generate a requisition, and then walk the requisition over to the Bookstore/Computer Store to pick up the purchased item.
• Posters are available from Blink Printing (part of UVic Printing Services) located dowstairs from the Bookstore. You will need a FAST account number. You can get posters slightly cheaper from the Faculty of Fine Arts.
• Travel. If you are travelling and will be claiming your expenses, make sure you keep all your receipts. If you are flying, you need to keep your boarding passes (which means you can't use your mobile device for boarding passes). For hotels, keep the statement you get at the end of your stay proving that you have paid (or make sure you request that). In general, a Visa slip is not enough to prove payment; you need the itemized receipt (exceptions: taxis, gas, parking). For food you can optionally skip the receipts and claim a specified amount for each meal. You need proof that you actually attended the conference, which is most easily done by submitting your name badge. It may be useful to fill out the travel expense form as you go so you don't forget stuff. Under "Details or Purpose of Trip", you must indicate why your travel is an appropriate charge to the grant funding it - consult your supervisor. Page 2 of the form has some instructions.
• Travel - getting money ahead of time. If you can't afford to pay an expensive airfare or conference registration fee and then wait until after the conference for reimbursement, you can submit these receipts ahead of time in the hope you'll get the money back before your credit card bill comes. You still need to include them on the travel expense form, but you subtract off the money you already received. If you really need the money before you buy the item, there is a mechanism to get a travel advance. Note that even with some money in hand from a travel advance, it is safer to buy a plane ticket with a debit card (possible at least for Air Canada), than by adding money to a credit card, which you cannot "withdraw" if the purchase is not approved (some banks will not allow transactions above your credit limit even if you have added money to the card); in any case check with your bank.

When Things Go Wrong

General

The university has a range of people and services to help you manage your life and health while you are a graduate student, and you can find most of them through the UVic website. Some of these are

• Campus Security - emergency number 7599
• Health services
• Counselling Services
• Graduate Student Support page (including Mental Health)

In this section the focus is on getting help with progressing through the steps of your graduate program, both coursework and research.

The university operates on the principles of natural justice, which means that you have the opportunity to have your side of the story heard and to be fairly treated, and progressive discipline, which means that most matters are dealt with at first informally, and then if a problem persists, more formally and with greater penalties at increasingly higher levels within the university. You have the opportunity to appeal a decision at one level to a higher level. For most issues related to graduate studies, you supervisor will be the first point of contact in solving problems. If not resolved, then you move up the chain of authority: your supervisory committee (you have the right to call a supervisory meeting), the Graduate Advisor, Department Chair, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Dean of Graduate Studies, Senate Committee on Appeals.

If your supervisor is unable to assist you in problem solving, or if you have a problem with your supervisor, the Graduate Advisor can be consulted on a confidential basis. The Associate Deans of Gradute Studies are also available for confidential consultation on any aspect of your graduate program.

The faculty of graduate studies has a web page that lists all the Graduate Studies policies.

The Omsbudsperson is a resource person on campus who helps you interpret university procedures, find the right procedure to solve your problem, or put you in touch with the right person on campus to help you.

Failing Courses and Degrees

It is sometimes said that a "B-" (70-72%) is a failing grade for a graduate course, but this is a relatively common occurrence that simply calls for some remedial action. Every grade of B- or less has to be reviewed by your supervisory committee and a recommendation made to the Dean of Graduate studies. Sometimes, if you are only are slightly below, your other coursework and research is going well and there are extenuating circumstances, there may be no action taken other than require a certain GPA bar for upcoming work. More commonly, you will be required to take the course again, or take another course in your next term and meet a certain grade threshold. If your grade is C+ or below and there do not seem to be any extenuating circumstances, there is a possibility that you will be required to withdraw. The detailed rules are in the Graduate Supervision Policy Sec. 7.15.

The more common scenario requiring withdrawal is if you get a second grade of B- or below. Here again, your supervisory committee must meet and make a recommendation for appropriate action, which may be a recommendation for withdrawal, i.e, you would fail your degree and your transcipt would be annotated with "academic failure". If a recommendation for withdrawal is made by your supervisory committee, it will be considered by the Graduate Advisor, Graduate Studies Committee and the Chair of the Department, who will seek further input from you. If they reccommend withdrawal to the Dean and the Dean accepts this recommendation, you will have an opportunity of appealing the Dean's decision to the Senate Committee on Appeals. It is likely that before the Dean makes a formal decision, you will be asked to meet with an Associate Dean and present your side of the story. In any case, you may request a meeting with the Dean (Graduate Supervision Policy Sec. 9.2)

The Graduate Supervision Policy Sec. 6.15 lists other factors that (singly or in combination) can lead to you being withdrawn from your degree - aside from low grades in coursework, these include things such as unsatisfactory research progress, academic misconduct (e.g., plagiarism), safety violations, and repeated failure to complete tasks or attend meetings. These violations all need to be documented (typically in your term evaluations). Once the decision is made for withdrawal, it takes place at the end of the academic term in which the decision is made.

Problems with your Supervisor

Occasionally interpersonal conflicts with your supervisor will escalate to the point that the the relationship is dysfunctional. Well before this point, you should seek the confidential advice of the Graduate Advisor, who will try to solve these issues informally, or through meetings of the supervisory committee.

The supervisory relationship can be severed in two ways. You may decide to withdraw from the supervisory relationship (Graduate Supervision Policy Sec. 11.4), in which case you will need to find a new supervisor. Alternatively, the supervisor may withdraw (Graduate Supervision Policy Sec. 11.2), in which case the department is responsible for continuity of supervision and for locating a new supervisor. In either case, this is a serious issue that has implications for your ongoing funding and other issues, such as whether or not your research to date can be included in your thesis. Read the Graduate Supervision Policy and consult the Graduate Advisor.