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Policies and Procedures

General Policies 

Supervisory Committee Composition

Each student's supervisory committee must consist of, at minimum, the student's supervisor (or co-supervisors) and two additional committee members. At least one of those two committee members must be from within the BPK department or a BPK adjunct.

If adding an external committee member, ie a faculty member who is not from SFU or an SFU adjunct, please provide a contact email and short biography of the committee member when submitting your approval of supervisory committee form. A link to a bio on their home instututions website is typically sufficient. 

In the case of co-supervision even if both co-supervisors are SFU faculty or SFU adjunct faculty, an additional SFU faculty member will still be required.

Supervisory committees must be officially approved using the approval of supervisory committee form found on the graduate studies forms page. 

 

Minimum Funding Policies

See Financial Aid for minimum funding policies for both MSc and PhD students. 

Land Acknowledgements

The BPK Graduate Program Committee encourages a land acknowledgement at the beginning of presentations for MSc proposals, PhD comprehensive exams, PhD exit seminars, and thesis defenses. The student who is presenting may choose to provide a land acknowledgment themselves, or they may choose for the faculty Chair of the event to provide a land acknowledgment. The student and Chair should discuss ahead of time if a land acknowledgement will be provided and by whom.

Proposals and Defences

Master of Science

Thesis Proposal

Proposal Guideline

Please read below document carefully before writing your Proposal. 

FORMS

Thesis Defence 

Before you begin

Check: Have you completed Program requirements?

  • BPK 801 - Seminar on Research in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology (3)
  • STAT 603 - Quantitative Analysis of Research Studies (5)
  • Two elective graduate courses

            and

  • BPK 895 - MSc Proposal (0)
  • BPK 898 - MSc Thesis (18)

Thesis Defence Timelines

For the most up to date timelines and regulations refer to Graduate and Postdoctoral Stuides

  • 8-10 weeks before intended defence date: discuss with you committee to ensure you thesis is ready for defence
  • 6 weeks (minimum) before intended defence date: contact BPK graduate program assistant (bpk_programs@sfu.ca) for assistance in scheduling and completing required forms
  • 4 weeks before intended defence date: submit thesis title and abstract to BPK GPA to submit to GPS. This date is firm
  • 2 weeks before defence: submit completed thesis to BPK GPA for distribution.

Doctor of Philosophy 

Comprehensive Exam

Comprehensive Exam Guideline

Please read the below document carefully. 

FORMS

Thesis Defence

Before you begin

Check: Have you completed Program Requirements?

  • BPK 896 - PhD Comprehensive Exam
  • BPK 897 - PhD Seminar x2 - One must be an exit seminar
  • BPK 899 - PhD Thesis (18)

Thesis Defence Timelines

For the most up to date timelines and regulations refer to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

  • 8-10 weeks before intended defence date: discuss with your committee to ensure your thesis is ready for defence
  • 8 weeks (minimum): contact BPK graduate programs assistant (bpk_programs@sfu.ca) for assistance in scheduling and completing required forms.
  • 6 weeks before intended defence date: submit your completed thesis to BPK GPA to submit to GPS. This deadline is firm