Psychology (PhD)

The PhD in Psychology program has been designed to provide intensive research training and develop the capacity for a critical and scholarly approach to issues in each of the three specializations. Collaborative work allows students to link across focal areas to pursue the research questions they seek to address.

Specializations:

  • Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Lifespan Development
  • Social / Personality

Entry point:

  • September (full-time and part-time)

Duration:

  • Thesis – 12 terms (4 years)

Application deadline:

  • December 1

Applications submitted after the deadline may be looked at on a first-come, first-served basis. International applicants interested in applying after the posted application deadline should contact the program for details on availability.


Admission requirements

  1. Check the university requirements and the program requirements.
  2. Complete the online application and submit the non-refundable application fee.

For applicants with a master’s degree with a major in psychology or neuroscience:

You will need to submit your transcripts as well as the following program specific materials:

  • Two references, preferably academic, are required.
  • Scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test are recommended but not required. See the program website for additional information.
  • A personal statement of interest in pursuing graduate studies. It should be no more than one page and provide an indication of your research interests as well as your intermediate and long-term goals. If you are interested in including a CV (optional) indicating any relevant research, teaching or work experience, please include 1-2 pages of CV at the end of the statement of interest document.
  • Complete the Applicant Interest Form and upload. You will indicate, in order of preference, potential faculty members as supervisors and indicate your interest in various research topics. If you cannot fill out the form directly using the link provided, you can download the form and then upload it to your application.

If English is not your native language, an official copy of your TOEFL score, or other evidence of competency in English, must be scanned and uploaded

For applicants applying with backgrounds other than psychology or neuroscience:

In recognition of the interdisciplinary nature of Psychology, the Admissions Committee will consider applications from students holding degrees in allied fields. To ensure that such applicants have a background in psychology adequate for successful completion of their graduate program, the following conditions for eligibility to the Ph.D. program have been established for candidates holding a non-psychology (or neuroscience) Master’s degree. In addition to the requirements above (i.e. for those with backgrounds in psychology or neuroscience):

Applicants must have completed a Master’s thesis in another discipline that involved empirical research of scope and complexity comparable to that of a Master’s Psychology thesis.

You will need to submit your transcripts as well as the following program specific materials:

  • Scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test. See the program website for additional information. (Test results can be photocopies and must have been written within the last ten years.)
  • Scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Psychology Subject Test.  (Test results can be photocopies and must have been written within the last ten years.)
  • A personal statement of interest in pursuing graduate studies. It should be no more than one page and provide an indication of your research interests as well as your intermediate and long-term goals. If you are interested in including a CV (optional) indicating any relevant research, teaching or work experience, please include 1-2 pages of CV at the end of the statement of interest document.
  • Complete the Applicant Interest Form and upload. On this you will indicate, in order of preference, potential faculty members as supervisors in addition to indicating your interest in various research topics. If you are unable to fill out the form directly in the link provided, you can download the form and then upload to your application.
  • If English is not your native language, an official copy of your TOEFL score, or other evidence of competency in English, must be scanned and uploaded.

Career outcomes

  • University professor
  • Data management, research design, data analysis
  • Counselling, clinical psychology, assessment, mental health, health care
  • Education, teaching
  • Computer programming
  • Vision Rehabilitation