Master of Science in Oceans and Fisheries (M.Sc.)

Master’s students must register in required courses and electives prior to their first winter term. For the first summer term, and subsequent winter terms and summer terms, students are expected to register in FISH 549 (A/B).

Master’s students may register in elective courses also in their second year with approval from their Supervisory Committee. No more than 3 credits in both masters’ streams can be in senior undergraduate (300- or 400-level) courses.

Students may also design their own courses in the form of ‘Directed Studies’ supervised by an IOF faculty member, though no more than 3 credits in a Directed Studies may count towards the 30 credits required to complete the M.Sc.

Student's academic program must be approved by their Supervisory Committee and one of the Graduate Advisors.

A minimum of 68% must be obtained in any course taken by a student. However, up to 6 credits of coursework with grades of 60-67% may be counted towards a master's program without penalty.

At the end of their two year program, M.Sc. students are expected to complete an oral defense of their Master’s thesis.

First month

• Meet with supervisor to discuss expectations of the student, and supervisor, degree requirements, policies and timelines. Sign the IOF letter of agreement.
• Discuss coursework, composition of the committee, and research plan with supervisor.
• Register for coursework, see requirements.

Within the first three months

• Introductory meeting with supervisory committee (minimum attendance: supervisor and one committee member), to discuss coursework, composition of committee, research plan.

First year

• Full committee established. There should be at least three faculty members including the supervisor, and at least two of the members should be from the IOF (exception can be made with approval: see the Supervisory Committee section for details). Students should check with the Graduate Program Officer to determine if committee members fulfill the IOF and UBC requirements.
• Begin coursework. Depending on the stream that the student is in this means that 12 or 18 credits must be completed. Note: 12 credits must be completed within the first 18 months if student is transferring to Ph.D. (G+PS/IOF requirement).
• Apply for scholarship funding, if necessary
• Identify research project. If this has not occurred within first 8 months, IOF requires that the supervisor must provide a project that can be completed in a reasonable (<18 months) time.
• Convene committee meeting to discuss proposed research. The meeting should occur before the end of the Winter term and no later than April. (Note: G+PS requires at least one committee meeting every 12 months).
• Begin research.

Second year

• Convene committee meeting to discuss research results from first year, possible further research, timeline to thesis completion. (G+PS requirement: at least one committee meeting every 12 months).
• Complete research.
• The student will complete writing their thesis by the end of the second year.
• If the student and supervisor would like the student to transfer to a PhD, ensure that the student has completed the necessary requirements within first 18 months.

After 24 months

• The student will complete writing the thesis by the end of the second year
• Receive thesis approval from supervisor.
• Submit to supervisory committee members, at least two weeks before approval by the committee is required.
• Obtain approval by supervisory committee.
• Identify members of the examining committee with help from the Graduate Program Officer (supervisor, one other member from supervisory committee, and departmental examiner). Schedule thesis defense date and time
• Submit approved version to members of the M.Sc. examining committee at least two weeks before defense date
• Defend thesis.
• Submission of signed thesis approval form and final thesis.

The MSc thesis serves as an essential review of the candidate and their research, and is a fundamental component of the program.

It is important that discussions related to how to do the research and what will be expected from the dissertation take place early in the graduate student's program. The specifics of the various sections will vary by the nature of the research topic, the graduate student and the supervisor/Supervisory Committee, so it is suggested that these discussions be regularly revisited at formal meetings of the graduate student’s Supervisory Committee.

Structure of an OCF M.Sc. Thesis

Though ‘how’ research is done may vary, the basic structure of the Masters' thesis is, in general, the same as in any graduate program.

• a statement of an issue
• a rationale of the significance of the issue
• a set of research questions (these may be presented as hypotheses, objectives, questions, propositions)
• a set of methods or tools from various disciplines that will be brought to bear to address the research questions
• a discussion of theoretical and analytical frameworks relevant to the issue
• research tools selected
• expected results
• a summary and/or conclusions of the research, and
• a discussion of how the research has contributed to the overall issue

More guidance on structure and preparation can be found on the G+PS site:

• Dissertation & Thesis Preparation
• Final Dissertation & Thesis Submission

Process for M.Sc. Thesis Submission

After approval by the Supervisor, copies of the thesis must be distributed to the members of the student’s Supervisory Committee for approval, with at least two weeks allowed for reading and comments.

After the thesis has been approved by the Committee the exam may be scheduled. All M.Sc. exams are scheduled by the Graduate Program Officer. A minimum of two weeks must be allowed between submission of the thesis to the Graduate Program Officer and the examination.

The examining committee will comprise the Research Supervisor, one Committee member, a Departmental examiner, and an independent exam Chair. The Chair acts as moderator of the exam and should be an IOF faculty member who has not been involved in the M.Sc. candidate’s thesis research.

The M.Sc. Examination

The MSc examination serves as a departmental review of the candidate and their research. An audience is welcome and encouraged. The examination will proceed as follows:

1. The student will present a brief summary of the thesis (not to exceed 25 minutes in length).
2. This will be followed by an oral examination in the general area of the thesis. Each examiner should ask questions for approximately 15-20 minutes.
3. Members of the audience should be asked if they have any questions for the candidate.
4. Members of the examining Committee will be given the option of a brief second round for follow-up questions.
5. Following the examination, the candidate and audience members will be asked to leave the room and the Committee will hold an in-camera session. The Supervisor will give an opinion of the student and the student’s performance during the examination.
6. It will be at the discretion of the other Committee Members to ask the supervisor to submit either a pass or fail grade and leave the room. If the supervisor is asked to leave, the written grade will not be revealed to the other Committee Members before they each offer theirs, but will be included in the final determination.
7. Each of the remaining members of the Committee will then assign either a pass or fail for the thesis. The examining Committee may recommend that the thesis is acceptable in the form presented, or it may request changes be made to the thesis. Responsibility for ensuring that such changes are made will lie with the Supervisor.
8. If the thesis is deemed "outstanding" a note should be made in the Chair’s report that the Committee feels the thesis should be put forward for a thesis award and the rationale for doing so.
9. A "fail" will be assigned if at least two of the three examiners assign a failing grade and must be accompanied by a written summary outlining the reasons for this decision. There is no recourse for a student who fails the exam.
10. The Exam chairperson will then recall the student (and Supervisor) and announce the decision. The Committee members may then sign the Thesis Approval Form be signed, or ask that the student first make required revisions.
11. The Exam chairperson will submit a brief report summarizing the exam with their signature to the Graduate Program Officer within five working days of the examination day.
12. After all members of the Examining Committee have signed the Thesis Approval Form and submitted to the Graduate Program Officer along with a sign copy of the Thesis Cover Sheet, the candidate will submit their thesis electronically as a single pdf file to the Library's electronic repository, electronic repository, cIRcle , where it will be available 'open access.' A PDF file copy must be submitted to the Graduate Program Officer who will commit the file to the OCF thesis file repository. The Graduate Program Officer must confirm the signatures and committee members in SISC and submit both the Thesis Cover Sheet and the Thesis Approval Form to G+PS.
13. The thesis grade will not be entered until the final copy of the thesis is received.

If a student, with their supervisor’s approval, wishes to upgrade to the Ph.D. program without completing the MSc, they must meet the following requirements:

• The student must have completed 12 credits of course-work with a First-Class average (80%+) within the first 18 months of study.
• After completion of the required course-work, and within 18 months of starting date, the MSc Supervisory Committee (minimum three members) must recommend in writing to the GPO that the student be transferred to the Ph.D. program. The Committee should discuss who to add to the Committee (four total members required).
• A Ph.D. dissertation proposal must be approved at a meeting by the full (four-person or more) Committee. The Department will then make a recommendation to the G+PS for this transfer. All transfers have to be approved by the G+PS.

Once the dissertation proposal has been approved, the Comprehensive Exam can be scheduled.

Note that it is OCF policy that the Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam must be taken within 18 months of starting graduate school at UBC, even for students transferring from the M.Sc. to Ph.D. program.

For more general information on transferring from an M.Sc. to a Ph.D. program.