University of Toronto

Program Information

The Graduate Program in Psychology

Although the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto consists of three campuses ( St. George , Mississauga , and Scarborough ) and several affiliated institutions and hospitals, a single graduate program provides the common bond across the various research locations. The focus of the program is scientific and experimental - there is no clinical program (although there are  clinical research extension programs).  In keeping with the academic tradition of the University of Toronto (which recently ranked 18th in a global ranking of the top 100 research universities - the only Canadian university in the top 30), the goal of the Department of Psychology 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 M.A. Program (1 year)

In the M.A. year, students must complete the following four courses:

1. Directed Studies (first term, to prepare for the M.A. thesis research);
2. Design of Experiments I (experimental design and statistics);
3. Two graduate courses in the department

The only other requirement in the M.A. year is completion of the M.A. research project and submission of the M.A. thesis at the end of the M.A. year.

The Ph.D. Program (4 years)

Assuming adequate performance, students normally proceed to the Ph.D. program after their M.A. year.

In the four-year Ph.D. program, students must complete the following courses:

1. Professional Psychology (Ph.D. 1).
2. Outside Project course (Ph.D. 1): This is a one-term research project course spread out over the full year. The project supervisor must be a faculty member other than the student’s Ph.D. supervisor.
3. PH.D. Proposal (Ph.D. 2) and Ph.D. Reading List Defence (Ph.D. 4). : These requirements relate directly to the Ph.D. Thesis.
4. Two additional graduate courses.
5. One additional course in statistics.

Students admitted with an M.A. from another university may be exempted from the Project course in Ph.D. 1. However, these students will normally be required to take Design of Experiments I and Professional Psychology, in addition to the other Ph.D. requirements.

In addition to these course 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 talks and colloquia, as well as other laboratories meetings, reading groups, etc.