Graduate Student Resources

Master of Science (MSc)

The MSc degree requires completion of:

• Research thesis (HES 549; 18 credits),
• HES 506 (Research Methods in Health and Exercise Sciences; 3 credits), and
• Minimum of 9 additional credits of elective coursework.

Elective course(s) must be approved by the student’s supervisory committee. The supervisory committee may require additional coursework, if this is necessary for successful completion of the thesis research.

Courses offered within the School of Health and Exercise Sciences:

• HES 505 – Quantitative Analyses: Decision Making Using Data in Health and Exercise Science
• HES 515 – Advanced Neuromuscular Physiology and Sensorimotor Neuroscience (3)
• HES 516 – Laboratory Techniques and Analysis in Neuromuscular Physiology and Sensorimotor Neuroscience (3)
• HES 525 – Behaviour Change Taxonomies and Theories of Health Behaviour Change: Overlap, Integration, and Application (3)
• HES 526 – Introduction to Narrative, Scoping, and Systematic Reviews in Health and Exercise Sciences (3)
• HES 535 – Advanced Integrative Human Physiology I (3)
• HES 536 – Advanced Integrative Human Physiology II (3)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The principal requirement of the PhD degree is the research dissertation (HES 649); however, there are two additional requirements that must be met within 36 months of enrollment: 1) a dissertation proposal must be approved by the student’s supervisory committee; 2) the student must successfully complete comprehensive examinations. There is no mandatory coursework outside of HES 649 unless it is a condition of admission or it is a requirement set by the supervisor or supervisory committee. Any elective coursework would be selected in consultation with the supervisor or supervisory committee.

There is an expectation that supervisors will ensure adequate funding for their graduate students. Funding sources include teaching assistantships, research assistantships and scholarship funding.

eXAMPLES OF Internal Funding

• University Graduate Fellowship
• Graduate Dean’s Entrance Scholarship
• Graduate Dean’s Thesis Fellowship
• Faculty of Health & Social Development Graduate Student Conference Award
• UBC Okanagan Graduate Research Scholarship

The College of Graduate Studies is responsible for merit-based graduate awards at the Okanagan campus of the University of British Columbia. The College manages a number of award competitions each year and administers payment of all internal awards and selected external awards. Please visit the College of Graduate Studies for more information on application information.

EXAMPLES oF External Funding

• Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR)
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
• Killam Doctoral Scholarship
• Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship

For information on program progression, including Thesis & Dissertation and Deadlines, please visit the College of Graduate Studies web page for Current Students. The Library, in partnership with the College of Graduate Studies, now offers a Thesis Formatting Service to all graduate students. The service respects the academic purpose and integrity of the thesis writing and submission process and includes services such as:

• Formatting of table of contents, lists of figures, tables and illustrations.
• Formatting of margins, line spacing, indentation, title pages and page numbering, headers and footers.
• Text formatting, including styling headings, case correction and pagination.
• Alignment of tables, graphs, charts and figures.

Please follow this link for more information about this service. In order to ensure timely delivery, students should submit their theses or dissertation to the service a minimum of 15 working days in advance of when they would like to have them returned. Specific dates vary depending on the time of graduation. Students may view the Thesis Scheduling Timelines for Graduation graph for details about thesis submission deadlines. Supervisors can support their students by signing off that the student will be using the Thesis Formatting Service as identified within the Thesis Formatting Service Agreement. Please direct questions about the Thesis Formatting Service to ubco.thesisformatting@ubc.ca. 

• HES Grad Supervisor Expectations
• HES Course Syllabus Template
• HES Directed Studies Scheduling Form
• PhD Comprehensive Exam form
• PhD Proposal Guidelines
• PhD Dissertation Proposal Approval form
• MSc Thesis Proposal Guidelines
• MSc Thesis Proposal Approval form
• FHSD Conference Award
• FHSD OGRS Funding Allocation
• FHSD PhD Student/Supervisor Expectations Checklist
• HES TA Application Form 2023 *Form must be downloaded first.  Hit “submit” upon completion. Email fhsd.graduateprogram@ubc.ca for troubleshooting.

Please see the College of Graduate Studies webpage for the comprehensive list of forms related to graduate studies at UBC Okanagan.

Join the rich academic community in the School at our seminar series or through one of the Graduate Health and Exercise Sciences Society events.

UBC Library—Centre for Scholarly Communication

The CSC supports graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, staff, and faculty in disseminating their research. The CSC provides one-on-one consultations and workshops, including writing support for theses, dissertations, journal articles, and grant proposals.

GO TO CSC

Centre for Teaching and Learning

The Centre for Teaching and Learning provides support related to teaching, TA training, and the use of technology in educational programming. It is also a place to connect with other TAs and subscribe to the TA blog.

Go to CTL

Careers and Work Experience

The School of Health and Exercise Sciences offers opportunities for graduate teaching assistants in the September and January terms. These opportunities help our graduates develop their teaching and mentoring skills while undertaking their studies.

Career Services at UBC Okanagan also assists students in planning their future, providing access to labour market stats, resumé building, and interview skills support, as well as information about career fairs and other work opportunities.

Go to Careers

Everything Else—Student Services

Didn’t find what you were looking for above? Visit the Student Services website, where all of the information about the services offered to students is housed.

Go to Student Services