=== Forming your Supervisory Committee ===
Students should form their supervisory committees before the end of the fall term of their first year, and aim to hold their first supervisory committee meeting before the end of April in the winter term of their first year. This is important so that your committee can provide guidance prior to the first [[Progress Reports | Progress Report]] deadline on May 15th.
* [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2019/10/graduate_work_supervision_guidelines_1.pdf Graduate Work Supervision Guidelines for Faculty and Students] (SGS Guidelines)
* [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2023/04/Grad-Studies-Expectation-Tool-fillable-final_Dec-2023.pdf Getting-Supervisory-Relationship-Off-to-Good-Start-(2023 SGS template)]
* [[PNB Supervisory Committee Guidelines]] (additional PNB Guidelines)
* [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/current-students/resources/graduate-supervision/ Graduate Supervision]

Once your supervisory committee is formed, please complete the Plan of Study form to record the composition of your committee. Also be sure to talk to the Graduate Program Assistant (Anju Dalal) to tell her the members of your committee. This is very important because committee membership must be entered into the McMaster School of Graduate Studies system.
* Note that the [[Supervisory Committee#Plan of Study | Plan of Study]] form serves multiple purposes; submitting committee membership is just one.
* [https://goo.gl/forms/sx4nksvAMJ5OXEbD2 Plan of Study form]

Occasionally, for reasons of providing expertise in a specific area to your supervisory committee, a committee member might be someone from a different university, or someone who does not normally serve on supervisory committees. The School of Graduate Studies has an application form for these experts:
* [https://macdrive.mcmaster.ca/f/4eca41d1f4fb4003b715/?dl=1/ Application For Membership in a Graduate Supervisory Committee]

=== Supervisory Committee Meetings ===
Please note that there are two different annual reports: Supervisory Committee Meeting Reports (described here), and [[Progress Reports]] (due May 15th annually).

Your first supervisory committee meeting should occur before end of April of your first year. Subsequent to the first year, every student must hold a supervisory committee meeting once every academic year (e.g., September to August), ''at minimum'' (many committees meet more often). These reports must be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies before the end of November every year.

* [https://academiccalendars.romcmaster.ca/content.php?catoid=48&navoid=9524#1.2.4_The_Supervisory_Committee Relevant section in the 2023-2024 Graduate Calendar: 1.2.4 Supervision].

Each meeting is documented via the Supervisory Committee Meeting Report (form). There are now two different procedures for masters and doctoral level students.

'''Doctoral students:''' '''''NEW!''''' To initiate your committee meeting, [mailto:pnbgrad@mcmaster.ca send an email to Anju Dalal] PRIOR to the date of the meeting. Anju will initiate your meeting online using graduate administrative tools. After Anju initiates the meeting you will receive an email with a link so that you can complete your portion of the form. This has the same sections you are used to seeing on the paper form. After you submit this information your supervisory committee members will each receive an email asking them to complete their portion of the form, which they will do following the committee meeting. The online system lets you check the status of responses. Once all the responses have been received you will have the opportunity to read the feedback.

:* NEW March 2020 – [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2020/03/supervisory_committee_report_no_grading.docx Non-Graded PhD Supervisory Committee Meeting Report]. This version of the PhD Supervisory Committee Meeting form may be used by some PhD students returning from a Leave of Absence who wish to have a record of a meeting with their supervisory committee without formal ratings by the committee. This form/meeting does not replace the annual meeting, but can be used to help establish goals which could then be reflected upon in the annual Supervisory Committee Report. This form/meeting is not mandatory but is strongly encouraged to help students feel supported.

'''Masters students:''' The committee meeting report for masters students has not changed. Complete all the relevant student sections and bring ONE copy of the form to your committee meeting. Your supervisor, in consultation with the other members of your committee, will complete the remaining sections. The completed and signed form is then submitted to Anju Dalal. You can find the form here:
::* [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2020/02/masters_supervisory_report_february_2018.pdf Supervisory Committee Meeting Form for masters students]

===COVID-related delays: reporting for supervisory committee meetings===
The School of Graduate Studies has shared modified Master's and PhD supervisory meeting forms to allow students and supervisory committees to describe the impact of COVID on the student's thesis work, where needed.

'''PhD non-grading supervisory form:''' This is a paper form meant to be used for a "special" committee meeting to discuss COVID-related delays. It is not graded, but will be included in the student's record in SGS. It is a paper copy (the process will not involve the email system used for regular graded committee meetings for PhD students, although SGS might incorporate it into the email system at some point). It is fine to incorporate this "special" COVID-delay meeting within the regular supervisory meeting - in which case committees will complete both the paper non-grading form and the series of electronic forms that are triggered by emails.
::* The paper form can be submitted to SGS by sending it to Anju Dalal.
::* [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2020/03/supervisory_committee_report_no_grading_COVID.pdf PhD Supervisory Committee Report COVID - no grading]

=== Plan of Study ===
The PNB Plan of Study:
* records the composition of your Supervisory Committee (to be done by end of first term of first year), and
* provides a structure to plan required [[Course Requirements | courses, modules]], and the [[Comprehensive Exam]]. The plan should be worked out in consultation with your supervisory committee, and approved by your committee and the graduate chair.

We suggest that you start the conversation about your Plan of Study at your first committee meeting; you won't likely know all the courses you want to take yet, but you can start thinking about options with your committee. It is useful to review your Plan of Study at each supervisory committee meeting.

:* Each time you update your Plan of Study you can enter the changes online:
:* [https://goo.gl/forms/sx4nksvAMJ5OXEbD2 Plan of Study form]

The online Plan of Study will ask you for:
* The composition of your [[Supervisory Committee#Forming your Supervisory Committee | supervisory committee]].
* Specific plans to fulfill the required [[Course Requirements | courses, modules]] and the [[Comprehensive Exam]].

The advanced statistics courses, independent study modules, comprehensive exam topic(s), and additional half course should be chosen with the aim of achieving a reasonable balance between breadth of knowledge across the relevant discipline and depth of knowledge within the student's sub-discipline of specialization. See [[Course Requirements]].

=== [[Progress Reports]] ===
This link will take you to a detailed description of Progress Reports, which are due every year on May 15th.

Supervisory Committee

2024-10-16T14:42:37Z

Anju: /* Forming your Supervisory Committee */

=== Forming your Supervisory Committee ===
Students should form their supervisory committees before the end of the fall term of their first year, and aim to hold their first supervisory committee meeting before the end of April in the winter term of their first year. This is important so that your committee can provide guidance prior to the first [[Progress Reports | Progress Report]] deadline on May 15th.
* [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2019/10/graduate_work_supervision_guidelines_1.pdf Graduate Work Supervision Guidelines for Faculty and Students] (SGS Guidelines)
* [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2023/04/Grad-Studies-Expectation-Tool-fillable-final_Dec-2023.pdfGetting-Supervisory-Relationship-Off-to-Good-Start-updated-May-2022.pdf Getting the supervisory relationship off to a good start (2022 SGS template)]
* [[PNB Supervisory Committee Guidelines]] (additional PNB Guidelines)
* [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/current-students/resources/graduate-supervision/ Graduate Supervision]

Once your supervisory committee is formed, please complete the Plan of Study form to record the composition of your committee. Also be sure to talk to the Graduate Program Assistant (Anju Dalal) to tell her the members of your committee. This is very important because committee membership must be entered into the McMaster School of Graduate Studies system.
* Note that the [[Supervisory Committee#Plan of Study | Plan of Study]] form serves multiple purposes; submitting committee membership is just one.
* [https://goo.gl/forms/sx4nksvAMJ5OXEbD2 Plan of Study form]

Occasionally, for reasons of providing expertise in a specific area to your supervisory committee, a committee member might be someone from a different university, or someone who does not normally serve on supervisory committees. The School of Graduate Studies has an application form for these experts:
* [https://macdrive.mcmaster.ca/f/4eca41d1f4fb4003b715/?dl=1/ Application For Membership in a Graduate Supervisory Committee]

=== Supervisory Committee Meetings ===
Please note that there are two different annual reports: Supervisory Committee Meeting Reports (described here), and [[Progress Reports]] (due May 15th annually).

Your first supervisory committee meeting should occur before end of April of your first year. Subsequent to the first year, every student must hold a supervisory committee meeting once every academic year (e.g., September to August), ''at minimum'' (many committees meet more often). These reports must be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies before the end of November every year.

* [https://academiccalendars.romcmaster.ca/content.php?catoid=48&navoid=9524#1.2.4_The_Supervisory_Committee Relevant section in the 2023-2024 Graduate Calendar: 1.2.4 Supervision].

Each meeting is documented via the Supervisory Committee Meeting Report (form). There are now two different procedures for masters and doctoral level students.

'''Doctoral students:''' '''''NEW!''''' To initiate your committee meeting, [mailto:pnbgrad@mcmaster.ca send an email to Anju Dalal] PRIOR to the date of the meeting. Anju will initiate your meeting online using graduate administrative tools. After Anju initiates the meeting you will receive an email with a link so that you can complete your portion of the form. This has the same sections you are used to seeing on the paper form. After you submit this information your supervisory committee members will each receive an email asking them to complete their portion of the form, which they will do following the committee meeting. The online system lets you check the status of responses. Once all the responses have been received you will have the opportunity to read the feedback.

:* NEW March 2020 – [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2020/03/supervisory_committee_report_no_grading.docx Non-Graded PhD Supervisory Committee Meeting Report]. This version of the PhD Supervisory Committee Meeting form may be used by some PhD students returning from a Leave of Absence who wish to have a record of a meeting with their supervisory committee without formal ratings by the committee. This form/meeting does not replace the annual meeting, but can be used to help establish goals which could then be reflected upon in the annual Supervisory Committee Report. This form/meeting is not mandatory but is strongly encouraged to help students feel supported.

'''Masters students:''' The committee meeting report for masters students has not changed. Complete all the relevant student sections and bring ONE copy of the form to your committee meeting. Your supervisor, in consultation with the other members of your committee, will complete the remaining sections. The completed and signed form is then submitted to Anju Dalal. You can find the form here:
::* [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2020/02/masters_supervisory_report_february_2018.pdf Supervisory Committee Meeting Form for masters students]

===COVID-related delays: reporting for supervisory committee meetings===
The School of Graduate Studies has shared modified Master's and PhD supervisory meeting forms to allow students and supervisory committees to describe the impact of COVID on the student's thesis work, where needed.

'''PhD non-grading supervisory form:''' This is a paper form meant to be used for a "special" committee meeting to discuss COVID-related delays. It is not graded, but will be included in the student's record in SGS. It is a paper copy (the process will not involve the email system used for regular graded committee meetings for PhD students, although SGS might incorporate it into the email system at some point). It is fine to incorporate this "special" COVID-delay meeting within the regular supervisory meeting - in which case committees will complete both the paper non-grading form and the series of electronic forms that are triggered by emails.
::* The paper form can be submitted to SGS by sending it to Anju Dalal.
::* [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2020/03/supervisory_committee_report_no_grading_COVID.pdf PhD Supervisory Committee Report COVID - no grading]

=== Plan of Study ===
The PNB Plan of Study:
* records the composition of your Supervisory Committee (to be done by end of first term of first year), and
* provides a structure to plan required [[Course Requirements | courses, modules]], and the [[Comprehensive Exam]]. The plan should be worked out in consultation with your supervisory committee, and approved by your committee and the graduate chair.

We suggest that you start the conversation about your Plan of Study at your first committee meeting; you won't likely know all the courses you want to take yet, but you can start thinking about options with your committee. It is useful to review your Plan of Study at each supervisory committee meeting.

:* Each time you update your Plan of Study you can enter the changes online:
:* [https://goo.gl/forms/sx4nksvAMJ5OXEbD2 Plan of Study form]

The online Plan of Study will ask you for:
* The composition of your [[Supervisory Committee#Forming your Supervisory Committee | supervisory committee]].
* Specific plans to fulfill the required [[Course Requirements | courses, modules]] and the [[Comprehensive Exam]].

The advanced statistics courses, independent study modules, comprehensive exam topic(s), and additional half course should be chosen with the aim of achieving a reasonable balance between breadth of knowledge across the relevant discipline and depth of knowledge within the student's sub-discipline of specialization. See [[Course Requirements]].

=== [[Progress Reports]] ===
This link will take you to a detailed description of Progress Reports, which are due every year on May 15th.

Main Page

2024-10-16T14:21:27Z

Anju: /* Academic */

= Welcome! =

Welcome to the PNB Graduate Handbook. Please see below for a Table of Contents.

The [https://www.science.mcmaster.ca/pnb/ Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour (PNB)], at [http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/ McMaster University], has a strong research base in the areas of Animal Behaviour, Systems and Behavioural Neuroscience, Cognition/Perception, Developmental Psychology, and Evolution and Social Behaviour. In addition, we offer [https://pnb.mcmaster.ca/rct/ Research and Clinical Training (RCT)] which is a stream within the PNB Graduate Program.

There are 30 core [https://pnb.mcmaster.ca/people/faculty/ faculty] in PNB, several associate faculty members, and approximately 120 [https://pnb.mcmaster.ca/people/trainees-graduates/ graduate students]. Our graduate program is strongly research-oriented and provides flexibility to optimize the program around the interests of the student. The breadth of research areas provides a rich environment for graduate training. There is a strong collegial environment in the department that supports scientific interactions among faculty and students. As a consequence of this long-standing department culture, students often undertake research projects with more than one faculty member. Our graduate students are introduced to theory, issues, and questions in the field of Experimental Psychology and are trained in the research approaches used to study the problems.

== General Information ==
Official sources of information about our graduate program are the McMaster [https://academiccalendars.romcmaster.ca/index.php?catoid=55 Graduate Calendar (2024-2025)], the [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/ School of Graduate Studies], and the PNB department policies. If there is a difference between official sources of information and information presented in the PNB Graduate Handbook, the official university documents should be taken as correct. If you cannot find the information you need or if you need any clarification about any of the guidelines and procedures, please do not hesitate to contact us:
:* [mailto:pnbgrad@mcmaster.ca Anju Dalal], Graduate Administrative Assistant; Phone: 905-525-9140 ext. 23027
:* [mailto:feinber@mcmaster.ca Dr. David Feinberg], PNB Associate Chair (Graduate), aka Graduate Chair

__TOC__

== Prospective Graduate Students (how to apply) ==
The application process for the September 2025-2026 academic year will open on October 1st, 2024, and will close on December 14th, 2024.
*[[Admission Requirements]]
* [[Financial Support]]
* [[Course Requirements]]

== Incoming Students (getting to know McMaster, Hamilton, and PNB) ==
===Life in Hamilton ===
* [[Living in Hamilton]]
* [[PNB Social Life]]
===International Students ===
* [[International Students]]
* [https://pnb.mcmaster.ca/pnbgraduatehandbook/index.php/International_Students_Find_Housing International Student experiences with housing]
=== First Steps ===
* [[Orientation Guide for Incoming Grads]]
* Mandatory Training: [[Courses required in very first term | Health and Safety training, SGS 101, and SGS 201]] must be completed in the first term of the first year.
* [[Student Software Benefits]]

== Current Graduate Students (guidelines and forms and things) ==
The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) maintains a page where you can find various forms and guides. These forms, and the links to them, tend to change occasionally. We'll provide links directly to some of the forms in various places in the handbook; if you find a broken link, look for the form directly on the [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/current-students/forms-and-policies-for-graduate-students-staff-and-faculty SGS Forms and Guides], [https://gs.mcmaster.ca/resources SGS resources page], and also - [mailto:shedden@mcmaster.ca let us know] about the broken link!

=== Forms ===
* [[Forms]]: Links to forms are scattered throughout the wiki; we are attempting to gather many of them together here, to help when you are doing a quick search.

=== Finances ===
* [[Financial Support]]
* [[External Scholarships]]
* [[Teaching Assistantships]]
* [[PNB Graduate Travel]] Support

=== Academic ===
* [[Supervisory Committee]]
* [[Supervisory Committee#Supervisory Committee Meetings | Supervisory Committee Meetings]]
* [[Supervisory Committee#Plan of Study | Plan of Study]]: A map to plan your path through graduate school
* [[Progress Reports]] (due annually on May 15)
* [[Course Requirements]]: Guidelines about required courses
* [https://wikis.mcmaster.ca/mediawiki/pnbgraduatehandbook/index.php?title=RCT_Practicum_Courses Registering for RCT Practicum Courses]
* [[Comprehensive Exam]]: When and How
* [[Completing your Degree]]: The defense process
* [[Graduate Research Day]] - 2025 Date TBA

=== Help, Advise, Support ===
Sometimes we need:
* [[Help, Advise, Support]]
* [[Leaves of Absence]] and vacation time
* [[Open Access Publishing]]

== Beyond the Degree (Career Planning) ==
Career planning and professional development:
* [[Career Planning]]

= About this Wiki =
The PNB Graduate Handbook Wiki was started in April 2018, with a [http://pnb.mcmaster.ca/pnbgraduatehandbook/index.php/Talk:Main_Page small group of editors]. Information is updated regularly. If you would like to join our editing group, [mailto:shedden@mcmaster.ca let us know!]

== If you find a broken link ==
If you find a broken link in this Graduate Handbook, [mailto:pnbgrad@mcmaster.ca please email our Wiki Group].

== PNB Graduate Handbook LOGO competition ==
It's a ''small'' thing (135 x 135 pixels), but this Wiki needs a logo. Do you have artistic talents? Are you interested in submitting an entry to our logo competition? The logo should be something that represents the research by graduate students in PNB. My first attempt was a boring image of a human brain, and then an animated thing, and then a Santiago Ramon y Cajal drawing. Do you have a better idea? It is challenging because the logo is expected to be a very small 135 x 135 pixels, simple, eye-catching, and representative of PNB.

= MediaWiki Guide =
Wiki help (clicking on [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents Help] might be even more helpful):
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce MediaWiki Release Mailing List]
* [[sidebar]]