The Advisory Committee must consist of at least two Graduate Faculty Members, one of which is the student’s advisor. This committee must be established, and an Advisory Committee Appointment form submitted to the Graduate Secretary, he 20th class day of the 2nd semester. The form is available on the University of Guelph Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies website.

After the committee is formed, it is recommended that the student and their committee meet to discuss the expectations for that particular committee (e.g., does committee plan to have regular meetings, when does the student expect to have a proposal meeting, etc.).

In those rare cases where it is appropriate for a student to change advisors, the following steps are suggested as a path to obtaining a new advisor.

1. The student should notify the NACS graduate studies coordinator who will assist the student in identifying a potential new advisor. In those cases where the advisor is also the NACS graduate studies coordinator, the student should contact the departmental graduate studies coordinator.

2. A new thesis advisory committee will be constructed under the direction of the newly appointed advisor. Normally, at least one of the members of the existing advisory committee will continue as a member of the new advisory committee. The decision to continue as an advisory committee member is at the discretion of the faculty member.

Every NACS graduate student must have their Thesis Proposal approved by their advisory committee before the end of their third semester (and a thesis proposal approval form submitted to the Graduate Secretary).

All NACS MSc students in their first year of study must take PSYC*6740 (Research Seminar in Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science A), and one requirement of this course is for the student to prepare a written research report detailing their research progress and plans. This report is due at the end of the winter term, and typically serves as the first draft of the student’s thesis proposal.

In addition to the PSYC*6740 course work, approval of the proposal involves submitting a written proposal to the Advisory Committee for review (allow at least two weeks for the review of each draft), and once deemed suitable, presenting the proposal orally at a committee meeting.

The written component of the thesis proposal typically contains the following content:

1) Introduction

2) Method (including planned analyses)

3) Current Results

4) Proposed Results

5) Implications

All proposals will be reviewed against the following criteria.

Introduction

-Comprehensively summarizes and references the relevant literature as it pertains to the thesis topic.

-Critically points out the most relevant and important theories and empirical evidence to establish a clear purpose and contribution for the thesis.

-Demonstrates an accurate and deep understanding of the research literature (the authors/ theorists would be in full agreement with their ideas or findings being summarized in this way).

-Hypotheses are well substantiated and clearly follow from the literature review.

Method (including planned analyses)

-Research design is clearly articulated and follows logically from the literature review.

-The method allows for the optimal testing of the research hypotheses.

-All relevant measures are described in detail and appropriate based on the subject matter of the thesis.

-Proposed analyses are described in detail.

Current Results

-Any data that have already been collected and analyzed, and that the student proposes to include in the final thesis, are reported.

-Results are conveyed through main text and tables/figures, and appropriate statistical analyses are reported.

Proposed Results

-Predicted results are also presented (in tables or figures) to demonstrate a mastery of the underlying theory and proposed analyses.

-Strengths and weaknesses of the research design and measurement are clearly articulated.

Implications

-The implications, and importance, of the current or proposed findings for theory and practice are described in detail for the topic domain.

Organization, Clarity, and Format

- Proposal is structured with a clear organization.

- All aspects of the proposal are explored in a highly systematic and disciplined manner. 

- Appropriate elements of style are consistently used throughout (e.g., transition sentences between paragraphs, appropriate headings).

- Sentences are clear and concise.

- There are no grammatical errors.

- There is consistent and accurate use of APA style.

Once you are close to having a draft of your thesis prepared, you should follow the procedures below. You many also find the Master's Thesis Submission and Defense Schedule Guidelines prepared by Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies to be a useful complement to the instructions below.

1. When the MSc candidate’s Advisor has deemed that the candidate’s thesis draft is satisfactory, the Advisor will provide an email to the student indicating that the thesis is satisfactory and ready for submission to the Advisory Committee members for evaluation. At this point:

a. The advisor will notify the Graduate Program Assistant that the thesis is being evaluated by the advisory committee, allowing the Graduate Program Assistant to prepare necessary forms and provide additional instructions to all.

b. The advisor will forward a nomination for Chair of the Examination Committee to the chair of the department.

c. The advisor will inform the Graduate Program Assistant of a date and time convenient to all committee members, including the confirmed chair, so that the Graduate Program Assistant can book appropriate space and equipment.

d. The student shall provide an electronic copy of the thesis to each member of the Advisory Committee and request email receipt to ensure that the Advisory committee members have received the thesis in a timely fashion. A minimum of two weeks will be allowed for Advisory Committee members to evaluate the thesis.

e. The student will review and implement the Electronic Formatting Requirements for theses provided on the Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies website.

2. When an Advisory Committee member has read the draft of the thesis, he/she is required to complete an Evaluation of Draft of Thesis form (a departmental form prepared by and obtained from the Graduate Program Assistant) to provide feedback on the thesis and indicate whether or not the thesis is ready for defense. This form should also indicate whether edits are requested pre-defense or post. The Evaluation of Draft of Thesis form will be submitted to the student with a copy to the candidate’s Advisor. Normally, this feedback includes a number of changes designed to improve the thesis prior to the defense. The student then considers the recommendations in the evaluation forms, and, in consultation with the Advisor, makes changes specified by the committee members. Note that these changes may be done quickly or take a substantial amount of time (e.g., days or weeks). Consequently, students should remember to budget sufficient time for these revisions.

3. If necessary, the student will submit an electronic copy of the corrected thesis to each Advisory Committee member. The Advisory Committee members will typically review the revised draft within two weeks.

4. Following this, the Advisory Committee members will indicate whether the thesis is ready for defense by signing the Summary of Advice to Student form (a Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies form) and submitting it to the Graduate Program Assistant (who makes a copy for the student). All members should sign the same Summary of Advice form.

5. Once required edits have been addressed as per the committee members ín Evaluation of Draft of Thesis forms, the student should immediately send an electronic copy (PDF) of the thesis to the Graduate Program Assistant for distribution to the Final Oral Examination Committee members. If any member requires a hard copy, the student should also provide hard copies to the Graduate Program Assistant. All members of the examination committee must receive the final version of the thesis at least two weeks before the date of the Final Oral Examination.

6. Regardless of the recommendation of the MSc Advisory Committee, a student may submit a request for an examination. Requesting an examination without the approval of all of the members of the MSc Advisory committee is not recommended.

The Final Oral Examination (FOE) Committee will consist of at least four members: the defense chair, two members of the advisory committee, and one additional graduate faculty who is not a member of the student’s advisory committee. Together, the two advisory committee members and the additional member provide the three voting members required for FOE committees (the chair is a non-voting member).

The following linked document was prepared by the Assistant Vice-President (Graduate Studies and Program Quality Assurance) in June 2016 and provides Guidelines for Oral Examinations of a Thesis guidelines detailing the procedures that should be followed during the MSc Thesis Public Lecture and Examination.  If this link does not work, please contact the faculty member serving as the NACS Area Graduate Representative.