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In accordance with the聽Graduate Student Research Tracking Policy,聽a student's progress must be monitored and recorded at least annually to ensure that the work is progressing satisfactorily, that the student will complete the thesis in a reasonable time, that when there are problems, either with the project or with the student-supervisor relationship, these are dealt with and solved promptly, that the student receives encouragement and advice from the members of the committee, and that the format and content of the thesis are discussed before the thesis writing begins.

Initial Meeting:

Prior to their first annual thesis committee meeting, all new students MUST have an initial, informal meeting with their supervisor within two (2) months of their first registration (i.e., by the end of October for students admitted in the Fall and by the end of February for students admitted in the Winter) in order to聽complete the forms required for the myProgress milestones: Please see聽Forms听辫补驳别.

1. The Graduate Progress Tracking Report form - page 1 only
2. The Composition of Thesis and Comprehensive Committees form
3. The Letter of Understanding

The completed documents must be submitted to the Division鈥檚 office at experimental.medicine [at] mcgill.ca for inclusion in the student鈥檚 file.听Once we have all the requested documents, the Division will update the student's record in myProgress. Submitting your documents after this deadline can lead to an 鈥渦nsatisfactory鈥� grade and the failure policy will apply (Failure Policy in Graduate Studies). Meeting with your supervisor to complete these three documents should be done as early as possible to avoid unnecessary delays with submitting your documents before the deadline.

Composition of the Thesis Committee:

For annual thesis committee meetings: The committee is composed of 4-5 members:

1. Student鈥檚 supervisor (all co-supervisors, if applicable, count as 1 person)
2. Academic Advisor (Chair of the meeting)
3. Committee Member #1 (internal or external to Department of Medicine)
4. Committee Member #2 (internal or external to Department of Medicine)
5. Committee Member #3 (external to Department of Medicine) - PhD Students only, external member is required for the Oral Comprehensive Exam

Selection of Committee Members:

• The committee is chaired by the student鈥檚 Academic Advisor, who is charged with making sure all guidelines are followed and who also draws up the minutes of the meeting. All new students are assigned an Academic Advisor by the Division at the time of admission. The name of the Academic Advisor is mentioned in the letter of admission from the Division.
• The remaining committee members are chosen for their knowledge in the field of the student's project so that they can help with the thesis work.
• The Division聽requires that all members of thesis committee meetings hold a full-time academic position. Managers or directors of core faculties that support academic faculty, as well as postdoctoral fellows, cannot serve as members of thesis committees.
• The Division policy is that no more than one committee member be located at a university outside of the Montreal area in order to ensure that the student receives sufficient support and guidance.听

Annual Thesis Committee Meeting:

Scheduling Your Thesis Committee Meeting

Students are responsible for scheduling their own thesis committee meetings. Each student in the Division has been assigned a specific month when their meeting must take place and this date must be respected. We usually do not accept postponing, unless there are extenuating circumstances (medical reasons). Note that an earlier meeting can be requested if the thesis committee members have certain concerns regarding a student鈥檚 progress. New students are notified of their assigned month when the Initial Meeting is completed.

Students will receive an email 3 months in advance of the scheduled month for their annual thesis committee meeting with information and guidelines, and 4 months in advance of the deadline for oral comprehensive exams. For example, if your thesis committee meeting is due in May, you will receive a notification in early March. Once you have scheduled your meeting, please inform the Division of the date of the meeting.听

Annual meetings are mandatory.聽A missed meeting or missing thesis committee tracking forms leads to an incomplete milestone in myProgess, which in turn equates to a failure, as per 2.6 of the Graduate Student Research Progress Tracking | eCalendar - 大发彩票平台.听

Documents That Must be Completed and Circulated to Members of the Committee Meeting and the Division ONE WEEK PRIOR to meeting:

1. Page 1 of the Graduate Student Research Progress Tracking Form
   • 1st Section (Objectives): The student, in collaboration with his/her supervisor, must define the objectives and timelines for the upcoming year. These objectives and timelines will serve to evaluate the student鈥檚 overall performance at the next meeting. If necessary, additional pages may be added.
   • 2nd Section (Progress): The student, in collaboration with his/her supervisor, must report his/her progress over the previous year. This progress report must specifically address the progress made towards the objectives set at the previous meeting (either the objectives set at the initial meeting or the previous annual committee meeting). This section should be quite detailed to give a global overview of the work thus far accomplished. Progress outside the scope of the preset objectives, i.e. class work, conferences attended, studentships obtained, etc. should also be included. If necessary, additional pages may be added.
2. A 2-5 page extended abstract
   • The abstract should be formatted like a paper and include sections such as: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion (encompassing challenges encountered, rationale, hypotheses, etc.). Background information should be referenced and a reference list included. Note that the extended abstract written by the student will help the committee members prepare their questions. If the supervisor and student believe that the student is ready to start writing his/her thesis within 6 months of this meeting, a proposed outline of the final thesis should be appended to this abstract, and should be discussed at the meeting, in order to obtain feedback and the go ahead from the committee members

Format of the Thesis Committee Meeting

• The meeting begins with a 20 to 30-minute聽presentation聽by the student, followed by up to one hour of questions and discussion of the project by the committee. At the first meeting, the student should present the hypothesis, objectives and rationale for the project.
• At both the beginning and end of each meeting, the student is asked to leave the room to allow the committee to have a brief discussion and to enable them to complete the relevant sections of the tracking form. The student is then asked to come back to the room, and the evaluation by the committee members is then communicated and explained to them.
• At the end of the meeting, following the signing of the tracking form, the supervisor leaves the meeting and the student has an opportunity to speak privately with the rest of the committee.
• At the first thesis committee meeting, the committee will decide on the areas related to the research project in which the student needs to further his/her knowledge and understanding, and on which he/she should expect to know at the next committee meeting or at the oral comprehensive examination (for Ph.D. students only). MSc students who wish to be considered for the 鈥渇ast-track鈥� to the Ph.D., a decision that should be made with the supervisor(s) and permission to fast-track is granted only after a formal committee meeting, chaired by the academic advisor and requires approval by the supervisor(s) and committee members. See further details on Fast-Tracking.
• Subsequent meetings will evaluate the progress of the project.
• The final thesis committee meeting before submission of the thesis, the student is expected to provide an outline of the thesis. This proposed outline should have been appended to the extended abstract and circulated to members prior to the meeting (as detailed above). The committee will discuss both the scientific content and the format of the thesis. If approved, the student can proceed with the writing and submission of the thesis.

Tracking Form and Minutes:

• Pages 2 and 3 of the 鈥淕raduate Student Research Progress Tracking Form鈥� must be completed and signed by all members of the committee, as well as the student, PRIOR to the meeting being adjourned.
• The academic advisor MUST also subsequently write up detailed minutes of the meeting.
• A copy of the completed and signed form, along with the minutes, MUST be circulated in a timely manner to the members of the committee, student and the Division.
• Once received, the Division will update the student's record in myProgress. Submitting the thesis tracking form after the deadline can lead to an 鈥渦nsatisfactory鈥� grade and the failure policy will apply (Failure Policy in Graduate Studies).
• If progress is judged unsatisfactory, the Failure Policy聽applies, and a聽follow-up progress tracking meeting must occur not sooner than 4 months and not later than 6 months after the first report. A deadline for the follow-up meeting must be indicated on page 2 of the form. Please see the guidelines on聽Graduate Student Research Progress Tracking | eCalendar - 大发彩票平台.

Important reminders:

• All the members on your thesis committee must be present for the entire duration of the meeting (1.5-2 hours for thesis committee meetings; 2.5-3 hours for oral comprehensive examinations). Otherwise, the meeting is cancelled and must be rescheduled.
• The committee must be composed of a minimum of four members for annual thesis committee meetings and of five members for oral comprehensive examinations. Supervisors and co-supervisors count for one person. If there are not enough members present, the meeting is cancelled and must be rescheduled. Please refer to the Composition of Thesis and Comprehensive Committee form filled in your first registered term as a reference. To ensure that you have the minimum number of members required, we strongly recommend that you submit the names of your committee members to the Division prior to your meeting for confirmation.
• Thesis committee meetings and oral comprehensive examinations are not open to public.
• If the meeting is taking place online, the academic advisor or supervisor should create the Zoom/Team meeting since they can control all the variables of the meeting.