FEES & FINANCIAL SUPPORT
FEES
Students are typically fully supported to a level that will provide for fees and living expenses. Student fees vary according to the residence status of the student. The Fee structure is tabled on the following McGill webpage: Scholarships & Student Aid - Cost of Attendance.
International students are obliged to participate in the University’s compulsory International Health Insurance Plan. The ISS Office is situated in the Brown Student Services Building, 3600 McTavish Street, Suite 3215, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Tel. 398-6012. For further information visit the International Student Services (ISS) Office website. Students are responsible for these charges. These amounts are subject to change at any time by the University. Please refer to the ISS - Health Insurance web page for general information and fees.
Guaranteed Support
The Department specifies a minimum level of support for all graduate students. This amount is $15,500 per annum plus fees. The required minimum duration of support is 2 years for the M.Sc. program, 5 years for a student entering directly into the Ph.D. Program (i.e. Ph.D.1) and 4 years for a student entering as Ph.D.2 (i.e. transferring from a McGill Biology M.Sc. Program or entering after receiving an M.Sc. from another institution). The possible sources of these monies are: scholarships, teaching assistantships or equivalent income from other scholarly activities, and support from the supervisor’s research grants. For the financial security of the students concerned, applications will not be accepted unless arrangements for the minimum support are fully committed.
Please refer to the Student Accounts - Graduate studies Fee Tables for fee structures.
TYPES OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT
- Scholarships
Prospective and current McGill graduate students are expected to apply for all scholarships for which they are eligible. See the Awards & Scholarships section of this website for full information. - Richard H. Tomlinson Fellowships
Open to incoming graduate students at the Master’s, Doctoral and Postdoctoral levels. Application is by invitation only. Please note that an application for admission must be received no later than January 5. Fellowship application forms are online at http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/fellowships. Requirements for eligibilty are subject to change. Please contact the Graduate Studies Office. - Financial Assistance - NEO Option
Students accepted to the NEO (Neotropical Environment Option) option program are eligible for several entrance fellowships. To be considered for financial assistance, an application must be submitted before February 1st. See details on the Neotropical Environment Option - Financial assistance section of the NEO website. - Teaching Assistantships
Graduate students can be partially supported by being appointed as teaching assistants for one or more undergraduate courses. Available positions for the following year (summer, fall and winter terms) are posted by March 15. There is another posting in October for winter term positions still available. Deadline dates to apply (approximately 30 days after posting) are indicated on the application forms. Late applications can jeopardize a student’s chance of obtaining a TA position.
There is a limited reserve pool of positions kept available for newly accepted students. These positions will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Students will be notified if the department requires additional positions (approximately 2 weeks before the start of term).
All students should speak to their supervisor regarding their teaching plans. The Thesis Supervisor will ordinarily provide the difference between the amount received for a teaching assistantship and the minimum level of support required by the Department. Continuing teaching assistantship support is contingent upon satisfactory performance and the availability of sufficient positions.
Students unwilling to teach may forfeit a portion of their minimum stipend. It is recommended that each graduate student serve as a teaching assistant for at least one term during their graduate training. Salary received as a TA is subject to income taxes and other applicable employment deductions (i.e. employment insurance, Quebec Pension Plan, etc.) - Graduate Student Stipends
Graduate students are often supported in full or in part by monies from research grants awarded to and controlled by the Thesis Supervisor. These funds can supplement income from scholarships and teaching assistantships. The stipends are classified as “awards” and are not subject to tax and other employment deductions. In some instances the student stipend will come from research contract funding and these students may be required to sign a confidentiality agreement.
GUIDELINES FOR SUPPORT
Limitations on Duration of Assured Support
It is to the advantage of both the student and the University that the graduate program be completed in a reasonably short time. The provincial norms are 1.5 years for a M.Sc., 3.0 years for a Ph.D. Accordingly, financial support for graduate students from departmental and research sources is assured for 2 years for the M.Sc. program, 5 years for a student entering as Ph.D.1, and 4 years for a student entering as Ph.D.2. Beyond these times, support will be offered only at the discretion of the department and the research supervisor. The department will provide demonstratorships only if there is a need for teaching assistance that cannot otherwise be satisfied.
If a supervisor wishes to cut off support from his/her research grant before the assured period of support is over, and prior to the submission of the student's thesis, the supervisor must provide a letter of explanation and obtain the written approval of the student's Supervisory Committee. Students making satisfactory progress must be given six months written notice by the supervisor of any termination of support.
Support for Students with Unsatisfactory Progress
If the supervisor is concerned that the progress is unsatisfactory, all members of the Supervisory Committee must be apprised of this at least a week before the SC meeting. There should then be an open discussion of the student's progress with respect to these concerns at that meeting. Students whose progress is judged "unsatisfactory" by the SC at this meeting, or in any regularly scheduled meeting of the SC, may lose their right to personal support. Nevertheless, the SC could recommend that all support be continued, that personal support be discontinued, that research support alone be continued, or any other course of action they feel might remedy the situation. Withdrawal of personal support to a graduate student should normally be delayed until the end of term to allow the student to arrange his/her affairs and complete course work.
Loss of Supervisor
When a student is no longer supported, because the professor no longer receives research grants or because the professor has left the Department, the Department and the University are expected to provide the student with financial support. Grants carried over in trusteeship for faculty who leave must first be used for student support, subject to the normal guidelines. It is expected in such cases that the student will complete his/her degree in a reasonably short period of time. Students who are at the beginning of their programs should consider changing programs. Faculty who leave McGill are urged to either take their students with them or to assure the students of partial support, at least, through grants at the new institution.
| Please address all inquiries to: graduate.biology@mcgill.ca | |
| Graduate Studies Office Stewart Biology Building Room W4/8 Office Hours: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Fax No: (514) 398-5069 |
Susan Bocti (Graduate Coordinator) Ancil Gittens (Graduate Admissions Coordinator) |