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 ascending Faculty Academic Unit
Horwitz, Marc Professor Faculty of Science Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Beznosov, Konstantin Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Kwon, Brian Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Orthopaedics
Li, Kai Professor Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration Division of Finance
Churg, Andrew Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Ripeanu, Matei Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Rogak, Steven Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Mechanical Engineering
Hepburn, John Professor Faculty of Science Department of Chemistry
Maxwell, Christopher Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Pediatrics
Wylie, Alison Professor Faculty of Arts Department of Philosophy
Effros, Bonnie Professor Faculty of Arts Department of History
Clark, Penney Professor Faculty of Education Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy
Helsley, Robert Professor Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration Division of Strategy and Business Economics
Young, Mary-Lynn Professor Faculty of Arts School of Journalism, Writing, and Media
Condon, Patrick Michael Professor Faculty of Applied Science School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture
MacVicar, Brian Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Psychiatry
Jan, Eric Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Peacock, Simon Professor Faculty of Science Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences
Hatala, Rose Professor Faculty of Medicine Division of General Internal Medicine
Moritz, Orson Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Jefferies, Wilfred Arthur Professor Faculty of Science Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Medical Genetics
Mostow, Joshua Scott Professor Faculty of Arts Department of Asian Studies
MacFarlane, Andrew Professor Faculty of Science Department of Chemistry
Devereux, Michael Professor Faculty of Arts Vancouver School of Economics
Mohn, William Professor Faculty of Science Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Aquino, Karl Professor Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration Division of Marketing and Behavioural Science
Lemieux, Guy Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Aviles, Leticia Professor Faculty of Science Department of Zoology
Macdougall, Mary Professor Faculty of Dentistry
Rodrigues, Brian Professor Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Chrostowski, Lukas Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Taylor, Eric Professor Faculty of Science Department of Zoology
Wang, Rizhi Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Materials Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering
Jiang, Xiaoyan Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Medical Genetics
Brown, Carolyn Janet Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Medical Genetics
Zhang, Anming Professor Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration Division of Operations and Logistics
Zebehazy, Kim Professor Faculty of Education Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, and Special Education
Ng, Raymond Tak-yan Professor Faculty of Science Department of Computer Science
Stull, Roland Professor Faculty of Science Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences
Suttle, Curtis Professor Faculty of Science Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Botany, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Phani, Srikantha Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Mechanical Engineering
Militzer, Matthias Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Materials Engineering
Cranston, Emily Professor Faculty of Forestry Department of Wood Science, Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
Miller, Freda Professor Faculty of Science Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Medical Genetics
Clifton, Kelly Professor Faculty of Applied Science School of Community and Regional Planning
Zhou, Fei Professor Faculty of Science Department of Physics & Astronomy
Colliander, James Professor Faculty of Science Department of Mathematics
Brotto, Lori Professor Faculty of Medicine Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Department of Psychiatry
Dobson, Teresa Professor Faculty of Education Department of Language & Literacy Education
Adebar, Perry Erwin Professor Faculty of Applied Science Department of Civil Engineering

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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.