Program Requirements

Our graduate program is composed of faculty and students of three undergraduate Psychology departments (St. George, Mississauga, and Scarborough) and several affiliated institutions and hospitals. The focus of the program is scientific and experimental.  

In keeping with the academic tradition of the University of Toronto (which consistently ranks in the top 20 in a global ranking of the top 100 research universities – the only Canadian university in the top 30), the goal of the program is primarily to educate scientific researchers. To accomplish this, the course load is kept light and the emphasis of the graduate program is on research.

 

The Direct-Entry Ph.D. Program (5 years)

Direct-entry Ph.D. students are required to satisfy the following program requirements:

  1. PSY1100: Foundational Research Project, a research project course supervised by the student’s supervisor plus two other faculty members, completed during Ph.D. 1 and Ph.D. 2
  2. PSY2001: Statistics I, an introductory statistics course
  3. PSY2002: Statistics II, an advanced statistics course
  4. PSY3000: Outside Research Project, a research project course supervised by a faculty member other than the student's PhD supervisor, completed during Ph.D. 2 and Ph.D. 3 
  5. PSY3001: Professional Psychology 
  6. Ph.D. proposal and Ph.D. reading list defense, requirements relating directly to the Ph.D. thesis
  7. Four content courses in Psychology

In addition to these requirements, students will complete and defend a Ph.D. thesis, ideally by the end of Ph.D. 5. Students are also encouraged to attend departmental events, research area talks, and colloquia, as well as laboratory meetings and other student groups. 

 

The Ph.D. Program (4 years)

Ph.D. students are required to satisfy the following program requirements:

  1. PSY2002: Statistics II, an advanced statistics course 
  2. PSY3000: Outside Research Project, a research project course supervised by a faculty member other than the student's PhD supervisor, completed in the first two years
  3. PSY3001: Professional Psychology 
  4. Ph.D. proposal and Ph.D. reading list defense, requirements relating directly to the Ph.D. thesis
  5. Two content courses in Psychology, normally completed in the first two years

Students admitted with a Master’s degree from another institution or program at the University of Toronto may be exempt from the Outside Research Project, however, this credit must be replaced by a content course.

In addition to these requirements, students will complete and defend a Ph.D. thesis, ideally by the end of Ph.D. 4. Students are also encouraged to attend departmental events, research area talks, and colloquia, as well as laboratory meetings and other student groups. 

 

The M.A. Program (1 year): No Longer Admitting Students

Please note that we are no longer accepting applications to our M.A. program. Undergraduates who wish to apply to our graduate program can do so through our Direct-Entry PhD option. Please see above, and the Program Admission page, for more information.

M.A. students are required to satisfy the following program requirements:

  1. PSY1000: Directed Studies, a course of directed readings leading to an M.A. thesis proposal 
  2. PSY2001: Design of Experiments I, a basic statistics course
  3. Two content courses in Psychology, chosen in consultation with their supervisor(s)

In addition to these requirements, students must also complete their M.A. research and successfully defend and submit their M.A. thesis. Students are also encouraged to attend departmental events, research area talks, and colloquia, as well as laboratory meetings and other student groups.