Kinesiology, Ph.D

Candidates for Doctoral Studies

• Must have a Master’s degree (thesis) in Kinesiology or a related field of study with, at least, the minimum course experience of our M.Sc. graduates (i.e., 4 courses)
  • at entry to the program, or
  • by the completion of their first 9 months of doctoral study
• are required to complete successfully, 2 additional half courses, one being KINESIOL 714 
• in addition, other courses may be recommended by the candidate’s advisor and/or supervisory committee

All graduate students are expected to maintain an attendance record of 75% each year for Kinesiology’s Departmental Seminar Series while in the program.

Ph.D. candidates must also complete:

Comprehensive Exams

Candidates for the Ph.D. degree are expected to complete their comprehensive examination within the first 24 months of the program and in accordance with general regulations outlined by the School of Graduate Studies. The examination will be on a topic that is independent of the student’s thesis area, and once selected by the candidate and supervisor, must be approved by the supervisory committee. An examination committee will consist of three faculty members who have expertise in three sub-topics related to the main topic area. The comprehensive examination will consist of a written and oral component. The written component will consist of three questions, one from each examiner. The examination will cover material from a selected set of readings provided to the student 8 weeks in advance of the exam date. The written examination will be completed within a single working day in a closed-book format. The student will advance to the oral examination stage within one week of the written exam date, provided two of the written answers are deemed acceptable by the examination committee. If this timeframe cannot be adhered to, petition must be made to the department’s Associate Chair, Graduate Program for special allowances. Following the oral examination, examiners will provide a single grade of fail (F), pass (P) or pass with distinction (P+) for the student’s combined written and oral answers to each question. The student will be deemed to have passed the comprehensive examination if he/she obtains a pass (P) on all three questions during the oral examination. A pass with distinction will require P+ grades on each of the three examination questions at both the written and oral examinations. Students who are unsuccessful at either the written or oral stages of the examination process will be given a second opportunity according to the Policy and Regulations set out by the School of Graduate Studies.

Thesis

It is expected that the Ph.D. candidate will be actively involved in research throughout the program. The thesis proposal meeting will be in the form of an open presentation by the candidate that summarizes the current state of research in the field, the candidate’s research to date in this area, and a defence of the proposed research. Decisions regarding the quantity of research to comprise the thesis and the format of the written document will be made by the candidate’s supervisory committee. Typically, the final written thesis will be presented in “sandwich” format and will consist of a collection of completed research efforts, some of which may have been presented at conferences and/or published prior to the oral defence.