Doctor of Philosophy (Agricultural, Food, and Nutritional Science)

Program Requirements

Students are required to complete a minimum of 10 units in graduate-level coursework, including 9 units in required courses, a 1-unit seminar course and a non-credit Lab course. Completion of a thesis is also required.

All PhD students must declare a specialization.

Required Courses

Courses will be recommended by the supervisor and supervisory committee.
Course requirements are based on the student’s previous training and anticipated needs in the student’s field of specialization.
Only 3 units of coursework is permitted to be an Individual Study course. Permission to take additional credits as an Individual Study course requires approval by the AFNS Associate Chair, Graduate Programs.

Seminar Course

AFNS 601 – Seminar. Students are required to present two seminars and maintain at least 75% attendance.

Required Lab course

Students are required to complete Lab Skills 101 in the first term of their program.
Exemption may be requested with support of the supervisor based on evidence of previous lab training.

Thesis

Registration in 900-level THES. Students are required to prepare an acceptable thesis presenting results of the research conducted. They must present a thesis seminar and successfully pass the oral exam.

Candidacy Exam

Students must successfully complete a Candidacy Exam, usually by the end of the second year of the PhD program. Students will prepare a Candidacy Exam Report and will be examined orally on general breadth of knowledge and areas directly and indirectly related to the thesis topic.

Academic Standing Requirement

Students in the PhD program are required to maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 throughout the course of the program.

Failure to maintain the required cumulative GPA will normally result in a recommendation by the Associate Chair – Graduate Program to GPS that the student be placed on academic probation or required to withdraw.

Residence Requirement

For the PhD program the minimum period of residence is four, four-month terms of full-time attendance at the University of Alberta.

Length of Program

Normally four years are required to complete the PhD degree.

The maximum time to complete the PhD program as set by the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies is six years.