Minimum Admission Requirements

• Students who wish to enrol in the CSES offered by the School of the Environment must first apply to and be accepted into a doctoral program in a degree-granting unit, also called a home department or home unit. Information about applying to a home graduate unit can be found on the School of Graduate Studies website as well as on the respective websites of participating degree-granting units.

• Prospective students are strongly encouraged to submit the Collaborative Specialization enrolment form (PDF) after receiving their letter of acceptance or at the start of their program of study. Students are able to join the CSES beyond the start of their degree, provided they are able to complete the CSES requirements by the time they are ready to graduate from their degree program.

Completion Requirements

• The requirements listed below must be completed in combination with the PhD degree program requirements of the student's home department. These are normally counted as electives toward the degree program requirements of the student's respective home department. Typically, students complete up to 1.0 full-course equivalent (FCE) and conduct research on an environmental topic. Note that specific requirements for participating degree programs can vary. Therefore, students are encouraged to check the calendar entries for their respective home department programs. Specific requirements for each participating degree program are listed on the School of the Environment's website under the Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies.

• Complete the mandatory core course ENV1001H Environmental Decision Making, unless already completed at the master's level. If this is the case, an alternative elective course is required.

• Complete one elective course (0.5 FCE) from the School's list of approved courses. Courses (including special topics) that have an environment focus but are not included in the School's approved list can be counted as an elective, pending approval from the Graduate Associate Director.

  • Computer Science PhD students can complete one of the following courses as their elective, which will also count towards their degree program: CSC2537H, CSC2552H, CSC2615H, or CSC2720H.

  • Earth Sciences PhD students are strongly encouraged to complete a cross-listed elective course such as ESS2303H or ESS2304H.

  • Geography PhD students are strongly encouraged to complete a cross-listed elective course such as GGR1216H, GGR1407H, GGR1408H, GGR1411H, JGE1425H, JPG1428H, JPG1429H, JPG1518H, or JPG1814H.

  • Sociology PhD students are required to obtain permission from the Department of Sociology Graduate Coordinator in order to take outside electives. Students may request environment-related electives that are not on the official Environmental Studies elective list to count towards their collaborative specialization by seeking approval from the School of the Environment's Graduate Associate Director.

• Give an oral presentation of their doctoral research as part of the School's Research Day, which is held once per year in the spring. For the latter, the oral presentation may or may not be done in conjunction with a summary poster, depending on the decided format of the School's Research Day in any given year.

• Complete a thesis on an environmental topic in the home department. Normally, the thesis committee will include a supervisor from the student's home department who holds a graduate faculty membership (GFM) in the School of the Environment. If the student's primary thesis supervisor does not hold a GFM in the School of the Environment, the School's Director will either initiate the process of assigning a GFM to the primary supervisor, or review the composition of the thesis committee to ensure it has appropriate expertise. A copy of the final thesis must be submitted to the School of the Environment prior to graduation.

• Additional courses may be required by the home department and/or by the supervisor or supervisory committee, depending on academic and/or career goals of the student, as well as graduate unit regulations.