PhD Rotation

Each selected student will need to identify (and confirm the agreement of) three potential supervisors for their rotations prior to the start of their program. After receiving the admission offer, you should begin contacting faculty members in the School of Biomedical Engineering whose research is of interest to you regarding your lab rotations. Rotation students can do rotations in the laboratories of both core Faculty as well as Associate Members in the School of Biomedical Engineering. Your name will also be circulated among the faculty in the School informing them that you have been selected for admission through the Rotation Program. You may be contacted by one of these faculty members regarding a rotation position in their laboratory.

To apply for the PhD Rotation Program please review the information on the MASc/PhD Application Instructions page and submit an application for the PhD program. If you would like to apply, please put in an application for the PhD program and make sure you select that you are interested in the PhD Rotation Program. Additionally, you must fill out a form linked in the application.

Students in the PhD Rotation Program initially register as MASc students. At the end of the rotation period, you are expected to secure a thesis supervisor. You are also required to complete a minimum of 12 credits of coursework with a first-class average (of which at least 9 credits must be at the 500-level or above and at least 9 credits must be of first-class standing)

Once you have secured a PhD supervisor and met the coursework criteria noted above, you will be eligible to transfer to the PhD program. As a PhD student, this must be completed at the end of the first year.

The number of credits required for the PhD program depend on the basis of your admission to the PhD Rotation program. Students without a Master’s degree must complete 22 credits of coursework, while students with a previous Master’s must complete 13 credits.

After each Rotation, students must submit a rotation report to SBME Student Services (students@sbme.ubc.ca) to update the program on their progress. The report will be reviewed by the student’s Graduate Advisor. This report is an opportunity for both the student and supervisor to reflect on the rotation student’s time in the lab and see if objectives were met and progress was made.

At the end of the rotation period, you are expected to secure a thesis supervisor. You are also required to complete a minimum of 12 credits of coursework with a first-class average (of which at least 9 credits must be at the 500-level or above and at least 9 credits must be of first-class standing). This is a G+PS requirement as reflected in the UBC Academic Calendar.

Once you have secured a PhD supervisor and met the coursework criteria noted above, you will be eligible to transfer to the PhD program. As a PhD student, this must be completed at the end of the first year.

The transfer may take 2-3 weeks to be processed, as it may require approval from the graduate supervisor, the graduate advisor, the Faculty of Applied Science and/or the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. It is important for the student to submit their rotation report to SBME Student Services by the August 15th deadline to ensure the transfer is processed by September 1 in the second year.

Any remaining coursework beyond the 12 credits required for the transfer can be completed after the transfer and before the comprehensive exam.