• Provide advice on the conduct of the research project.
• Discuss and approve the student's Thesis Proposal.
• Complete and submit a TAC Report after each meeting, which will be shown to the student and kept in his file. The report includes:
  • A rating of the student's progress and performance (satisfactory or not satisfactory)
  • Written comments on the student’s progress and performance

Failure to submit 

If the student fails to submit a progress report, the access to registration will be blocked until the student submits a progress report. Not registering could have major financial impact and may eventually lead to the student's academic file being closed without further notice. 

Any scholarship may be suspended or cancelled.

• The committee is established by the supervisor(s) in consultation with the student.
• The Graduate Program Director makes the final approval of the TAC members.
• The committee should consist of members (experts) knowledgeable in the areas important to the research topic.
• The supervisor/co-supervisor must attend all TAC meetings.

The committee is composed of:

For the MSc

• BCH, CMM, MIC, NSC: Two members – one of which must be a member of the program.
• EPI: At least one additional member.

For the PhD

• BCH, CMM, MIC, NSC:Three members (experts), including at least one from the program.
• EPI:
  • For the first meeting: at least one member in addition to the supervisor and co-supervisor.
  • For following meetings: the TAC should comprise a minimum of four members (including supervisor and co-supervisor). At least two members must have an appointment with the School of Epidemiology and Public Health (including supervisor(s)). A maximum of five, in total, is recommended.

Please note in addition to the required TAC meetings outlined below, the supervisor or the student can choose to hold as many additional TAC meetings as deemed necessary.

MSc students

First meeting

At least one week prior to the meeting, the student must submit to the members of the committee the research proposal. (See section below for guidelines on writing a Research Proposal.) At the TAC meeting, the student should bring a copy of the TAC report form and the Annual Research Progress Report form.

• EPI: First meeting within twelve months of the first enrolment.
• BCH, CMM, MIC, NSC: First meeting within four months of the first enrolment

Second meeting

• EPI: The 2^nd meeting must be held within twelve months of the first meeting.
• BCH, CMM, MIC, NSC: The 2^nd meeting must be held within 16 months of initial enrolment.

Note: The second meeting can be held earlier if deemed necessary by the supervisor(s) or the student.

At least one week prior to the meeting, the student must submit to the members of the committee the following documents:

• Summary of Progress (2-5 pages, double-spaced excluding figures written summary by the student).
• Plan of action to complete the MSc degree.
• Copy of the last TAC Report.

Last meeting

The last meeting should be scheduled two months before the expected date of completion set at the second meeting. At least one week prior to the meeting, students must submit to members of the committee the following documents:

• Final Summary of Progress.
• Copy of the last TAC Report.

Permission to Write (for students in BCH, CMM, MIC and NSC):

• Following the last TAC meeting, once "permission to write" is granted, students are expected to submit their thesis within 6 months.
• A Progress Report will be required to enable future enrolment after that point (a hold will result).

PhD students

First meeting

The first meeting must be within four months of initial enrolment.

• EPI: The first meeting may be held with the supervisor/co-supervisor and one TAC member only. The student must prepare a full draft of the Individual Study Plan for discussion at the meeting.
• BCH, CMM, MIC, NSC: At least one week prior to the meeting, the student must submit to members of the committee the following document:
  • Thesis Proposal (See section “Writing a Thesis Proposal” below for guidelines)

Second meeting

The second meeting must occur within 12 months of the initial enrolment.

Note: The second meeting can be held earlier if deemed necessary by the supervisor or the student.

Subsequent meetings

Subsequent meetings must occur annually. At least one week prior to the meeting, the student must submit to the members of the committee the following documents:

• Summary of Progress
• Copy of the last TAC Report

Permission to Write
(for students in BCH, CMM, MIC and NSC)

• Following the last TAC meeting, once "permission to write" is granted, students are expected to submit their thesis within 6 months.
• A Progress Report will be required to enable future enrollment after that point (a hold will result).

Students studying in epidemiology must refer to these guidelines:
MSc in Epidemiology | PhD in Epidemiology

Writing a research proposal

Guidelines for students studying in Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Neuroscience.

These guidelines are intended to help students write the research proposal for their first TAC Meeting. These guidelines do not apply for the progress report and research proposal for the transfer from MSc to PhD program.

General Rules

1. The supervisor must help the student by revising the research proposal and by suggesting changes if necessary.
2. The research proposal should be typed and double-spaced.
3. The research proposal must be submitted a minimum of 1 week prior to the TAC Meeting.

Part 1: Introduction

The Introduction must include a review of the pertinent literature and a critical evaluation of previous studies.

The last part of your Introduction must clearly lead to the problems or questions you intend to study. The Introduction is expected to be between 4-5 pages.

Part 2: Objectives and Hypothesis

Each objective and hypothesis must be clear, concise and short; i.e., no more than 2 lines.

Part 3: Research Plan

Describe the experimental approach you intend to use to test your hypotheses.

Describe in general the experimental conditions (e.g. drugs to be used, time of exposure, specific conditions that animals are exposed to) and techniques to be used (e.g. RT-PCR for measurement of mRNA, Western blot to quantify proteins, measurement of membrane potential using patch clamp technique, etc.)

Do not include details like how RT-PCR and Western-blot are done, or the description of saline solutions that will be used to measure membrane potential.

The Research plan is expected to be between 4-5 pages.

Part 4: Results

If preliminary data are available, then present them as it is done in a manuscript to be submitted. That is, describe briefly and concisely your data in a "Results" section.

Figures and tables must be added at the end of the proposal. Each table and figure must have a legend. The legend must briefly describe the methods used.

Do not describe the results because it will be redundant to your Results section. If preliminary data are not available, then briefly describe the results that are expected

Part 5: Conclusion

The conclusion should be a short paragraph that summarizes the objectives and significance of the research in terms of new knowledge to the field.

This is an example of a TAC meeting. It is a guide to help the process. It is up to the student and members of the TAC to decide on the final procedures.

Preamble

The members, if they wish, can have a short discussion before the meeting starts while the student is absent. This meeting should be brief.

The student is invited to meet with the TAC members in the absence of the supervisor. This discussion can include any areas of difficulty that may have arisen in the past year.

Presentation by the Student:

First meeting – Research Proposal

• A short summary of his/her research proposal
• A description of the hypotheses and approaches
• Preliminary data (if available) as well as their significance

Subsequent Meetings- Update on Progress

• presents a summary of the hypotheses
• presents his/her results obtained so far and their significance
• describes future experiments (if applicable)
• describes any changes in the research project from the previous meeting

Discussion

After the presentation, the members of the Advisory Committee

• can ask questions regarding the student's progress
• can ask questions regarding the significance of his/her results
• can ask questions regarding his/her future plans

Members are encouraged to challenge students in regards to the significance of the results. It is also very important that the committee members point out the strong and weak aspects of the student’s progress. Members should not hesitate to propose new approaches if they realize that the project has potential problems.

The report includes:

• A rating of the student's progress and performance (satisfactory or not satisfactory)
• Written comments on the student’s progress and performance

Following the discussion, the student is asked to leave the room.

• Members discuss the student progress.
• The TAC Report is written and signed by all members of the TAC Committee.
• The supervisor(s) then completes his section before he submits the report to the student.
• It is the responsibility of the student to read the report, to complete the last section, to sign the report and to submit the TAC Report and the Annual Research Progress Report using the Service Request system, Research related category, each under their respective subjects (TAC Report or Progress Report)
• TAC Reports and the Annual Research Progress Reports are kept in the student’s file.

Download the forms:
(For all Integrated students in TMM in 4^th year during the BSc, please consult the milestones website for information on the deadlines and the form to submit.)

• TAC Reports (PDF)
• Annual Research Progress Reports (PDF)

• Monitor the student’s progress on the program.
  • Course selection
  • Academic performance
• Define the objectives for the following year.
• Complete and submit the Annual progress report.

More information on the roles and procedures of the Annual research Progress Report.

Procedures for the Annual Research Progress Report

The student must submit the progress report to the thesis supervisor.

The supervisor will then assess the student's progress. Once reviewed and approved by the thesis supervisor, the report will be submitted by Service Request to the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office.

First Research progress report

• BCH, CMM, MIC, NSC: Within eight months of the first enrolment, student’s must fill out and submit their progress report.
• EPI: Within 12 months of the first enrolment, student must fill out and submit their progress report.

Second and subsequent progress reports

One report per year until the submission of the thesis. If the progress is unsatisfactory, a report may be required more frequently.

• If the student has been granted an extension to complete the program, he or she will have to submit a progress report each term.

• If the student is requesting a leave of absence, he or she must submit a progress report at the same time in order for the request to be approved.

Please consult the section Steps before the meeting.

At the request of your supervisor, director, and/or TAC member, you may be asked to submit a progress report each term instead of annually.

The Progress Report and TAC Report should be submitted together through a Service request in uoZone.

No, you will be withdrawn from the Graduate Program if you receive two unsatisfactory progress reports.

For more information on Academic Regulation.