Research Supervisors

The supervisor is the key person in a thesis-based graduate degree program. The principal role of the supervisor is to help students achieve their scholastic potential and to chair the student’s Supervisory Committee. The Supervisor will provide reasonable commitment, accessibility, professionalism, stimulation, guidance, respect and consistent encouragement to the student. Learn more

Graduate programs have different expectations regarding prospective students contacting faculty members. Some require commitment of a faculty member as thesis supervisor prior to applying while others assign supervisors in the first year. Please review the requirements for each program in the degree listing under the heading "Admission Information & Requirements" in step 3 "Prepare Application" under "Thesis Supervision".

Advice on how to reach out to supervisors

 
Name Rolesort descending Faculty Academic Unit
Dollinger, Stefan Professor Faculty of Arts Department of English Language and Literatures
Hare, Jan Professor Faculty of Education Department of Language & Literacy Education
Jang, Kerry Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Psychiatry
Inglis, J Timothy Professor Faculty of Education School of Kinesiology
Rabkin, Simon Professor Faculty of Medicine Divisions of Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery
Karu, Kalle Professor Faculty of Science Department of Mathematics
Feng, Steve Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Mechanical Engineering
Murphy, Gail Professor Faculty of Science Department of Computer Science
Banthia, Nemkumar Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Civil Engineering
Song, Kyungchul Professor Faculty of Arts Vancouver School of Economics
Claxton, Dana Professor Faculty of Arts Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory
Afshar, Kourosh Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Urologic Sciences
Drelichman, Mauricio Professor Faculty of Arts Vancouver School of Economics
Aitken, Sally Professor Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences
Tanner, Martin Professor Faculty of Science Department of Chemistry
Li, Yue-Xian Professor Faculty of Science Department of Mathematics
Nielsen, Torsten Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Strynadka, Natalie Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anderson, David Professor Faculty of Education Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy
Peirce, Anthony Professor Faculty of Science Department of Mathematics
Heinkel, Robert Lee Professor Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration Division of Finance
Lee, Tim Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Dermatology & Skin Science
Lam, Raymond Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Psychiatry
Lampe, Lutz Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Dauvergne, Catherine Professor Peter A. Allard School of Law
Francois, Patrick Professor Faculty of Arts Vancouver School of Economics
Gordon, Michael Professor Faculty of Science Department of Zoology
Adem, Alejandro Professor Faculty of Science Department of Mathematics
Gupta, Neeru Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Population and Public Health
Myers-Smith, Isla Professor Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences
Kasahara, Hiroyuki Professor Faculty of Arts Vancouver School of Economics
Weng, Andrew Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Wright, Handel Professor Faculty of Education Department of Educational Studies
Castellarin, Simone Professor Faculty of Land and Food Systems Applied Biology
Lam, Tania Professor Faculty of Education School of Kinesiology
Lin, Kuo-Shyan Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Radiology
Kovach, Margaret Professor Faculty of Education Department of Educational Studies
Nunn, Nathan Professor Faculty of Arts Vancouver School of Economics
Ries, John Professor Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration Division of Strategy and Business Economics
Kopylova, Maya Professor Faculty of Science Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences
Hackett, Tillie-Louise Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics
Price, Richard Professor Faculty of Arts Department of Political Science
Gopaluni, Bhushan Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
Vertinsky, Patricia Professor Faculty of Education School of Kinesiology
Angeles, Leonora Professor Faculty of Applied Science School of Community and Regional Planning, Institute for Gender, Race, Sex and Social Justice
Preston, Roanne Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics
Ellis, Naoko Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
Lemieux, Victoria Professor Faculty of Arts School of Information
Schluter, Dolph Professor Faculty of Science Department of Zoology
Van Duzer, Leslie Professor Faculty of Applied Science School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture

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Reaching Out Tips

Complete these steps before you reach out to a faculty member!

Check requirements
  • Familiarize yourself with program requirements. You want to learn as much as possible from the information available to you before you reach out to a faculty member. Be sure to visit the graduate degree program listing and program-specific websites.
  • Check whether the program requires you to seek commitment from a supervisor prior to submitting an application. For some programs this is an essential step while others match successful applicants with faculty members within the first year of study. This is either indicated in the program profile under "Admission Information & Requirements" - "Prepare Application" - "Supervision" or on the program website.
Focus your search
  • Identify specific faculty members who are conducting research in your specific area of interest.
  • Establish that your research interests align with the faculty member’s research interests.
    • Read up on the faculty members in the program and the research being conducted in the department.
    • Familiarize yourself with their work, read their recent publications and past theses/dissertations that they supervised. Be certain that their research is indeed what you are hoping to study.
Make a good impression
  • Compose an error-free and grammatically correct email addressed to your specifically targeted faculty member, and remember to use their correct titles.
    • Do not send non-specific, mass emails to everyone in the department hoping for a match.
    • Address the faculty members by name. Your contact should be genuine rather than generic.
  • Include a brief outline of your academic background, why you are interested in working with the faculty member, and what experience you could bring to the department. The supervision enquiry form guides you with targeted questions. Ensure to craft compelling answers to these questions.
  • Highlight your achievements and why you are a top student. Faculty members receive dozens of requests from prospective students and you may have less than 30 seconds to pique someone’s interest.
  • Demonstrate that you are familiar with their research:
    • Convey the specific ways you are a good fit for the program.
    • Convey the specific ways the program/lab/faculty member is a good fit for the research you are interested in/already conducting.
  • Be enthusiastic, but don’t overdo it.
Attend an information session

G+PS regularly provides virtual sessions that focus on admission requirements and procedures and tips how to improve your application.