Graduate Programs
The Department has graduate programs at both the Master's and PhD level. Please click the appropriate item above for information on the application procedure (applicants) or requirements of the program (applicants and current students).
Our MSc program has an average completion time of 2 years. Students can either write a thesis, work on a project or
enroll in a co-op program to gain valuable work experience.
Our PhD program has an expected completion time of 3-4 years. There is no "sit down" PhD qualifying exam. Instead, in the first year students take a reading and research course - stat 548 - where they read research papers proposed by faculty. The comprehensive exam on proposed thesis research, is typically taken during the second year of the PhD program.
The Department offers many opportunities for students interested in a career in Biostatistics, including an MSc option in Biostatistics in collaboration with the School of Population and Public Health. The Biostatistics option requirements are made up of a stream of courses in the Department, which are open to all Statistics graduate students, and appropriate courses offered by the School of Population and Public Health, such as SPPH 501, 502 and 512. Biostatistics and genomics research projects at both the MSc and PhD levels can be directed by many faculty members, including associate members and those with joint appointments in Medicine and Biological Sciences. Many of our graduates are employed in biostatistics research.
We believe that an important part of a statistician's training is the ability to provide statistical help to those in other fields. To provide this training, the department offers a consulting course sequence (please see Stat 550 and 551 in our list of grad courses).
For applicants, below are general details that apply to both the Master's and PhD programs.
FAQ (Frequently asked questions)
1. Admission Dates
The Department admits graduate students for September of each year.
2. Application Deadlines
September admission: To give us enough time to make decisions in advance of internal UBC deadlines, applications from all students, including letters of references, must reach us by February 7th, 2010. Fourth year undergraduate students, attending a Canadian or US university, should not apply until their grades from the fall term appear in the official transcript.
3. Supervisors and Fields of Study
Faculty members do not accept students until they have completed one or two terms of study in our Department. This gives students an opportunity to learn more about the various research interests of our faculty members by interacting with them and by attending the various seminars offered throughout the year. In light of this, prospective applicants are asked NOT to contact individual faculty members about supervision prior to being admitted to the program.
4. GRE (Graduate Record Exam)
GRE (Graduate Record Exam) is NOT required
5. TOEFL
UBC's institution code is: 0965 and the Department of Statistics is: 59. Confirm with the information from the TOEFL web site or a TOEFL booklet.
6. Positions of previous Graduates
7. Contacting Individual Faculty
Decisions on admissions to graduate studies in the Department are made by an Admissions Committee and not by individual professors, so please do NOT send your applications to individual professors in the Department. For academic advice and questions, please contact:
Professor Ruben Zamar,Graduate Program Director
Leonard S. Klinck Building, Room 331
tel: (604)-822-3167
Email: gradprog at stat dot ubc dot ca
Our graduates typically find a statistics job quickly after graduation. Positions after graduation of previous MSc and PhD students from our Department.
Type of Students Admitted
Successful applicants must show evidence of an interest in statistics. This evidence can be in the form of previous studies in statistics and/or work in an area that uses statistics.
The graduate students at UBC come from a fairly diverse background, with some not satisfying all of our admissions guidelines. However, most of the students have the following backgrounds.
- Successful M.Sc. applicants typically have had at least two years of undergraduate mathematics courses (three semesters of calculus, a semester of linear algebra), an introductory statistics course covering the basics of data analysis (plots, histograms, t-tests, confidence intervals, regression), a third year probability course, a third/fourth year mathematical statistics course, and at least one or two more statistics courses at the third or fourth year level.
- Successful Ph.D. applicants typically have an M.Sc. in statistics, or an M.Sc. or Ph.D. in mathematics with strong evidence of interest in statistics. A student with only a Bachelors degree is usually not admitted to the Ph.D. program, but rather must first complete an M.Sc. degree. However, a student with an honours Bachelors degree from a Canadian university can be considered for admission directly to the Ph.D. program. Also, an M.Sc. student can transfer from the M.Sc. to the Ph.D. after one year in the M.Sc. program.
Contact info
For application details, click either 'MSc application' or 'PhD application' at the top of this page.
The address to send reference forms and official transcripts, and application form for a Teaching/Research Assistantship, is:
Department of Statistics
333-6356 Agricultural Road
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z2
tel: 604-822-4821
fax: 604-822-6960
Email: gradinfo at stat dot ubc dot ca
If you still have questions after reviewing our website, please send an email to this address and write GRADQUERY in the subject line. This email address can also be used for questions concerning procedures.
Because of a variety of computer operating systems and email software, to make it easier for us to read your email, please turn off html (enriched text) in your software, and if possible use pdf attachments rather than .doc or .rtf