This handbook is meant to help Zoology graduate students navigate their program and life within the department. It is a resource for information on program policies, expectations of graduate students and supervisors, survival tips for graduate school, and where to turn for support. All students and all supervisors of graduate students should familiarize themselves with these procedures. Questions and suggestions about these procedures can be directed to the Graduate Program Manager or the Graduate Advisors.<\/p>\n
Last updated May 13, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n The\u00a0Zoology Graduate Student Association (ZGSA)<\/a>\u00a0 is dedicated to organizing events and providing resources for Zoology graduate students at UBC.<\/p>\n UBC provides many wellness resources<\/a>, resources in event of harassment and\/or bullying<\/a>, and International Student Advising<\/a>.<\/p>\n Darren Irwin<\/a> (darren.irwin@ubc.ca)\u00a0– Graduate Advisor<\/b> Jeffrey Richards<\/a> (zoology.head@ubc.ca)- Department Head<\/strong> Mimi Yu<\/a> (zool.gradprgm@ubc.ca)- Graduate Program Manager<\/strong> Gurpreet Kang (zoology.info@ubc.ca),<\/a>\u00a0HR & Administrative Assistant, Reception Desk<\/strong> Sylvia Heredia<\/a> (sylviah@zoology.ubc.ca)\u2013 Communications Coordinator<\/strong> Katie Pikor<\/a> (zadmin@zoology.ubc.ca)\u2013 Director, Administration and Operations<\/strong> Nick Koubrak<\/a>,\u00a0Jenny Kao<\/a>, Ben Jan<\/a> (zoology.support@ubc.ca)\u2013 Zoology Computing Unit<\/strong> All graduate students are required to have a Supervisory Committee. Supervisory committees are to be composed primarily of tenure stream research faculty members belonging to the Zoology graduate program. This includes both research faculty members with a full or partial appointment in Zoology and associate members of the department.<\/p>\n M.Sc. supervisory committees<\/strong> normally consist of three UBC faculty members (including the supervisor(s)). An optional fourth member can be a non-UBC scientist if approved by the Graduate Advisor. At least 50% of the committee members must be faculty members in the Department of Zoology, including at least one who is not a supervisor.<\/p>\n Ph.D. supervisory committees<\/strong> normally consist of four UBC faculty members (including the supervisor(s)). An optional fifth member can be a non-UBC scientist if approved by the Graduate Advisor and the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. At least 50% of the committee members must be faculty members in the Department of Zoology, including at least one who is not a supervisor.<\/p>\n Any exceptions to the above would need to be approved by the Graduate Advisor following a written request that will be reviewed by the Graduate Committee.<\/p>\n Adding any committee member who does not have a membership at Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies<\/a> (eg. instructional faculty, and adjunct and affiliate members) requires the approval of the Graduate Advisor and for PhD students, permission from G+PS<\/a> is also required. The proposed committee member must:<\/p>\n A memo from the supervisor addressing all three criteria is required for approval.<\/p>\n In cases where it would be helpful to have a postdoctoral research fellow or research associate on the committee, such individuals can be added as an ex officio<\/em> additional member with permission of the Graduate Advisors. These members would attend committee meetings but not participate in proposal meetings or comprehensive exams.<\/p>\n Supervisory committees must conform to the policies listed in this section and should be formed within the first academic term. Consult with your supervisor regarding faculty members suitable to act as members of your committee. Choice of members of the supervisory committee is a joint decision between the student and supervisor. Once your supervisory committee has been formed, you are required to fill out the\u00a0Supervisory Committee Form<\/a>, which must be signed by the student, the supervisor, and the Graduate Advisor. The same form must be used to indicate any change in the supervisory committee.<\/p>\n Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies requires that graduate students meet with their full committee at least once a year. However, we encourage students to have committee meetings more often if needed. Students who have not had a supervisory committee meeting within the previous 12 months may not be eligible for awards, and their supervisors may not be eligible to accept new graduate students<\/strong>. All new students are encouraged to meet with their committee within the first six months of starting the program.<\/p>\n At the first committee meeting the student should provide a brief introduction to their background and training history, and use this time to begin a discussion of their planned research. Prior to subsequent committee meetings, students should provide the members of the committee with a brief progress report of 1-2 pages. The short progress report should include the following content: (1) date the student started in the program, (2) list of course taken and grades, (3) summary of research conducted so far, (4) research plan for the future, (5) sources of funding, and (6) papers published or in preparation.<\/p>\n For PhD supervisory committee meetings that also serve as the proposal defence, the student will provide the full dissertation proposal instead of the brief progress report.<\/p>\n Supervisory committee meetings will normally last 1 hour. Students should deliver a brief presentation at the start of the meeting on research progress and future planning. The rest of the time is normally left for open discussion.<\/p>\n After each supervisory committee meeting, the\u00a0Committee Meeting Form<\/a>\u00a0and the Student Progress Report must be submitted to\u00a0zool.gradprgm@ubc.ca<\/a><\/p>\n Each year (usually in the summer), students will have a brief (15 minutes), confidential meeting with the Graduate Program Manager or a Graduate Advisor to identify any issues that have arisen in the last year and identify possible solutions. This meeting is intended to provide support and guidance for graduate students.<\/p>\n All students and supervisors should read the\u00a0Handbook of Graduate Supervision<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>provided by G+PS. It goes over setting expectations as well as an outline of student and supervisor responsibilities.<\/p>\n The student and supervisor agree to observe <\/span>UBC\u2019s Respectful Environment policy<\/span><\/a>. The supervisor should foster an environment within the research group that is respectful and supportive. All parties should contribute to a safe workplace where each individual shows inclusion and respect for the rights of others. <\/span><\/p>\n The student and supervisor must comply with all University standards and policies of scholarly integrity (<\/span>UBC Policy <\/span><\/a>SC6).\u00a0<\/span>Also consult the Intellectual Property Guide<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>for issues related to intellectual property, plagiarism, and publication.<\/p>\n Authorship and the contents of joint work in publications or presented at meetings should always be discussed with co-authors in advance.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition, the supervisor and students should discuss \u00a0such things as:<\/p>\n Students are expected to work a standard full-time work week (including research, coursework, and teaching responsibilities), which in BC is 40 hours per week. Specific hours of work are largely at the discretion of the student, as long as satisfactory progress is maintained. Supervisors may request that students are present in-person for at least part of the normal working day at reasonable intervals to ensure appropriate opportunities for training and feedback.<\/span><\/p>\n According to <\/span>UBC policy<\/span><\/a>, \u201cgraduate students are entitled to three weeks of vacation (15 working days) from the academic obligations per ac<\/span>ademic year,\u201d and vacation days in the period between Christmas and New Years do not count towards the 3 weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n Data<\/em>: Original data records and materials collected as part of thesis research belong to UBC, the supervisor, and the student and must remain with the lab; however, students can keep copies of the data upon completion of their program.\u00a0 Students must consult with their supervisor before public release of any data originating in the lab. Students are responsible for maintaining orderly research records.<\/span><\/p>\n Patents<\/em>: If a patent or commercial development arises from the student\u2019s work, the intellectual property right will belong to the University (<\/span>UBC Policy LR11<\/span><\/a>); however, income generated from the patent or commercialization will be shared between the University and the inventor, where the inventor includes all those, including graduate students, who contributed to the research results being protected and\/or commercialized.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Publications: <\/span><\/i>Students are encouraged to publish the results of their research. Authorship will be based on the level of intellectual contribution to the research, as determined collectively by the research team. Supervisors will contribute intellectually to all manuscripts in which they are coauthors. Ideally, the res<\/span>earch team should discuss authorship issues before manuscripts are drafted. If there are disputes about authorship and timing of manuscript preparation within the research team, consultation with the department Head is strongly encouraged.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Research results need to be published to be useful. If work funded by the lab has not been submitted within a year after leaving the lab, the supervisor may write and submit the work at their discretion, which may involve changes and additions to authorship, unless other arrangements have been made.<\/span><\/p>\n It is ordinarily the supervisor’s responsibility to provide reasonable funding for research costs (including computer access, field work expenses, and laboratory materials), and it is the student\u2019s responsibility to be reasonably frugal with research expenses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If the student\u2019s project is outside the funded work of the supervisor, exceptions may be made. Exceptions should be agreed in advance between the student and supervisor, and in cases of disagreement the Graduate Advisor should be consulted.<\/span><\/p>\n Every supervisor and graduate student will have a different relationship, and standards for these relationships differ between fields. Nevertheless, we strongly recommend that all students and supervisors read the\u00a0Roles and Responsibilities<\/a>\u00a0document from G+PS, which lays out general expectations of supervisors and graduate students.<\/p>\n In addition, the Zoology Graduate Program expects that every student will:<\/p>\n If you feel that any of these expectations are not being met, please seek support. How to proceed may depend on the nature of the problem, and some resources for help are listed above in the Department Contacts section. However, no matter what the issue, the Graduate Advisors are always available to listen and work on solutions.<\/p>\n Solutions to serious problems in your degree can take many forms, including:<\/p>\n Students who find it necessary to interrupt their graduate studies may request a leave of absence. A leave of absence must be requested\u00a0before\u00a0<\/strong>the date on which the leave will start. Retroactive leaves will only be approved in highly exceptional cases. A number of different leaves of absences are available for graduate students: parental, health, professional, or personal. Please visit the G+PS webpage for LOAs<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n Important<\/strong>: International graduate students should consult\u00a0International Student Advising<\/a>\u00a0in the Life Building before pursuing a Leave of Absence to discuss the impact on their ability to stay in Canada, study permit and future post-graduation plans.<\/p>\n Original research supervised by a faculty member constitutes the major component of work toward the PhD degree. \u00a0A Doctoral degree is expected to take\u00a0five\u00a0years.<\/strong><\/p>\n Students admitted without a masters degree are required to complete 12 credits of coursework. Students admitted with a masters degree are not required to complete course work unless it is recommended by the supervisor or thesis committee.<\/p>\n All PhD students are required to present a\u00a0research proposal<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and pass a\u00a0comprehensive examination<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>on their research area within 24 months of their program start date. Each PhD student are encouraged to deliver a one-hour lecture on their completed doctoral research in one of the departmental lecture series (eg. BLISS, Wednesday Comphy Seminars) before their doctoral dissertation examination.<\/p>\n Please keep in mind that your program will not be closed until the final submission instructions have been completed. If you’re aiming for a particular completion date\/graduation, give yourself at least a month between the oral examination and your target deadline. After the defence, students are generally given a month to make revisions if needed, and G+PS will close your program about\u00a01-2 weeks after the final submission paperwork and dissertation have been submitted and accepted.<\/p>\n And\u00a0remember to\u00a0apply for graduation<\/a>! Graduation happens in May and November of each year. You can apply for graduation even if you haven\u2019t defended yet (but you won\u2019t be approved to graduate without having completed all your requirements so check the\u00a0Deadlines<\/a>\u00a0page for when your program requirements should be completed for a specific graduate ceremony).<\/p>\n Each Ph.D. student is required to submit a research proposal. This proposal must be approved by his\/her supervisor and Supervisory Committee during a Proposal Meeting. The comprehensive examination is separate and distinct from the evaluation of the thesis proposal, and the comprehensive exam can only be scheduled after the proposal is approved. These steps should be completed within 2 years of the start of the PhD (1 year for students transferring from the MSc).<\/p>\n \u201c<\/strong>Plans are useless<\/em>, but <\/em>planning<\/em> is indispensable<\/em>\u201d – Dwight D. Eisenhower<\/p>\n The proposal is more than just a plan for the student\u2019s research. In fact, cutting-edge research may not always go the way that is planned, and students often find themselves modifying and pivoting research plans during their degree. On the other hand, taking the time to make a good plan is essential to let both the student and the committee assess whether the questions are important and sufficient in scope for a PhD and whether the planned experiments adequately address those questions and are feasible. Overall, writing the PhD proposal serves several purposes in the scientific progress and development of PhD students:<\/p>\n The proposal meeting is an opportunity for the student to present their proposed work and discuss it with their committee. This meeting is first and foremost a collegial conversation about how the research plan can be improved and supported. It serves as a framework for integrating guidance and suggestions from the committee. Secondly, the proposal meeting is an evaluation process, as part of the assessment of whether the student is ready to proceed to Candidacy. It allows the committee members to examine the proposal and evaluate it for feasibility, appropriateness of scope, rigor of design, and other merits.<\/p>\nDepartment Contacts and UBC resources<\/a><\/h3>\n
General information<\/h3>\n
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Doctoral Program<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Master’s Program<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Student Finance & Funding<\/h3>\n
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<\/span>Department Contacts and UBC resources<\/h3>\n
Faculty Contacts<\/h4>\n
\nThe Graduate Advisor is your first contact for non-administrative issues that may arise during your program. He also serves as the Chair of the Zoology Graduate Committee.<\/p>\n
\nIf you have questions or concerns that cannot be answered by the Graduate Advisors or Program Manager, do not hesitate to contact the Head.<\/p>\nStaff Contacts<\/h4>\n
\nBiosciences 3325 (South Wing)
\nMimi is your first contact for inquiries about the administrative side of your graduate program such as forms, registration, finance\/pay, awards, campus resources, as well as if you’re unsure who to contact about something.<\/p>\n
\nThey can help with questions about mail, room bookings, key access for the Biological Sciences Building, and other reception desk related issues.<\/p>\n
\nContact Sylvia about website content (profile page, portrait photo), access to Field Safety webforms, social media postings, promotion of events, scientific illustration<\/p>\n
\nContact Katie for facilities and safety related issues (eg. office space, elevator, floods, etc) in the Biological Sciences Building. If you\u2019re in a different building, please contact the building\u2019s administrator directly.<\/p>\n
\nThe ZCU can help with computer\/software\/IT questions or issues that come up during your work and studies.<\/p>\n<\/span>Supervisory Committees<\/h2>\n
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<\/span>Committee Meetings<\/h2>\n
<\/span>Annual Student Check-in<\/h2>\n
<\/span>Graduate student – supervisor working relationships<\/h2>\n
Guidelines and Communication<\/h3>\n
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Intellectual property<\/h3>\n
Research funding<\/h3>\n
Expectations and what to do if they are not being met<\/h3>\n
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<\/span>Leave of Absence (LOA)<\/h3>\n
<\/span>Doctoral Program<\/h2>\n
<\/span>Recommended Timeline (PhD)<\/h3>\n
First term<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Second term<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Second year<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Third and fourth year<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Dissertation submission<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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<\/span>Thesis Proposal<\/h3>\n
What is a thesis proposal for?<\/h4>\n
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What is a proposal meeting for?<\/h4>\n
The process of developing a proposal and getting it approved<\/h4>\n
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The proposal meeting<\/h4>\n
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