Frequently Asked Questions

No. There are no specific course prerequisites for entrance to the IMS.

A strong background in biological sciences is acceptable. Applicants with majors in other disciplines are also encouraged to apply if they are interested in research in the medical sciences.

As IMS graduate programs are research intensive, research experience will be taken into account. This is especially true if marks are low and/or you are more than 5 years out of a completed undergraduate program.

We encourage all interested applicants to apply.

No, publications are not a criterion for acceptance for a MSc application.

For PhD Direct Entry and PhD applicants, published works are expected as a means to demonstrate academic productivity and research experience and motivation.

Published work may help with the Admission Committee's evaluation of your application package.

Applicants who have published, or who have publications pending are strongly encouraged to include a list of publications in the C.V they upload to their application.

Applicants holding medical degrees (MD or MBBS) from an overseas institution may or may not be eligible for our PhD program. The Admissions Committee will decide which program you are best suited for, after review of your application

It is possible that applicants applying to the PhD or PhD Direct Entry programs may be offered an alternative offer to the IMS MSc program from the IMS Admissions Committee after reviewing your completed application

No. Late and incomplete applications will not be considered by the Admissions Committee for that admissions cycle.

It depends. The IMS has rolling admissions. The IMS Admissions Committee meets once per month to review completed applications received through the online application portal. 

September Entry applications are reviewed from February to June. January Entry applications are reviewed in October.

Only completed applications will be sent to the IMS Admissions Committee for review.

After your application has been reviewed by the IMS Admissions Committee, you will be notified via email and through the online application portal. 

Once registration opens and GEMS agreements become available, you can check your registration status on your ACORN account. Newly admitted students whose conditions have been cleared will have their status changed from "Invited" to "Registered" on ACORN.

Please note that it may take 12-24 hours for the system to update and for the change to be reflected on your ACORN account.

Your Letter of Intent is an opportunity to highlight your:

• Academic and Career goals
• Past and current research experience
• List any potential supervisors you have been in contact with
• Current research interests
• Other pertinent information (extenuating circumstances for poor grades or gaps in your academic record, etc)
• PhD and PhD Direct Entry applicants should also include a Research Proposal as part of their Letter of Intent

There are no specific formatting requirements. Letters of Intent should follow general formatting guidelines:

• 8'margins
• 10-12 font size
• font type can include Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri
• single spacing and/or 1.5 spacing

No, references do not need to be included in the research proposal. Any reference pages included do not count towards the 5-7 page requirement. 

No. Research proposals must be written by the applicant. A research proposal is one of the criteria on which the IMS Admissions Committee uses to assess an applicants capabilities.

Please note that all transcripts provided by an applicant as part of an application are considered unofficial.

Per University of Toronto policy, for transcripts to be considered official, they must come directly from the issuing academic institution to the IMS Office either via email (adm.medscience@utoronto.ca or mail (see address at the end of the page)

The IMS does not require official transcripts for an application to be considered, but if successful, the IMS requires official transcripts for registration in the program

Transcripts must come directly from the issuing academic institution to the IMS Office.

Transcripts can be sent electronically to adm.medscience@utoronto.ca

Transcripts can also be mailed to the IMS Office to:

Institute of Medical Science
Temerty Faculty of Medicine
C. David Naylor Building
6 Queen’s Park Crescent, Suite 119
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H2

If you are/were a University of Toronto student, you do not need to provide an official transcript for the application. 

You must upload a copy of your academic record from ROSI/ACORN or the UofT electronic transcript to your online application.

Yes – an English copy of your transcript must be provided with the original copy in its native language.

If you have not completed your current degree at the time you apply to IMS, applicants should still request transcripts from your university showing the work you have completed to date. Please indicate the date when the final result will be available.

If you are issued an admissions offer based upon your course work to date, all degree requirements must be completed prior to registration and a final transcript must be received from the issuing academic institution to the IMS Office indicating the date of conferral of your degree.

Once the IMS Office receives official transcripts directly from the issuing university the transcript requirement on your online application will change from "Received Copy" to "Received"

Required references must be faculty members at a recognized university and must know you well enough to be familiar with your strengths and weaknesses.

At least one required referee should be able to attest to your research ability.

Ineligible required references include:

• Sessional Lecturer
• Adjunct Professor
• Post-doc Fellow
• Teaching Assistant
• Research Assistant/Associate
• Manager

For a MSc application to be considered, you must have two references from a faculty member (associate professor, assistant professor, or full professor) from a recognized university and at least one of those two references should be able to speak towards your research experience.

You can include a third reference from a non-faculty member that can speak to your strengths and weaknesses (work ethic, leadership, research, collaborative, or interpersonal skills, etc.). A third reference is optional and not required for your application to be complete and considered by the Admissions Committee.

Examples of an optional third reference include varsity sports coach, music instructor, research assistant, lab manger, job manager, post-doc fellow. Friends and family members are not eligible optional third references.

No.

Your application must have at least two references from faculty members (assistant professor, associate professor, full-professor) for it to be complete and for it to be considered by the Admissions Committee.

Referees will be instructed by the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) on how to submit their references directly to IMS online through the online application portal.

Yes, optional referees can disregard this message and should be able to submit their reference as instructed.

Domestic Master's applicants are not required to have supervisor in place for their application to be considered.

This red x will be waived by the IMS Office and your application will be considered.

If you have secured a supervisor already, the IMS Office highly recommends you upload a Supervisory Letter to your online application.

No, students are responsible for finding their own supervisor.

• Domestic Master's applicants are not required to have a supervisor in place at the time of application. However, we strongly suggest they contact prospective supervisors early in the application process
  • Applicants should list potential supervisors they have been in contact with in their Letter of Intent
  • If offered admission, domestic Master's applicants must have secured a supervisor by the registration deadline in order to continue as a student with the IMS
• PhD and PhD Direct entry applicants must have a supervisor in place. They also must upload a Supervisory Letter indicating acceptance of supervision and funding commitment
• All International applicants must a supervisor in place. They also must upload a Supervisory Letter indicating acceptance of supervision and funding commitment

No, having a supervisor does not guarantee acceptance, but it may help with the Admission Committee's evaluation of your application package.

If you have secured a proposed supervisor, you will need to upload the Letter of Supervision to your online application.

You will need to ensure that you have paid the SGS application fee (refer to the How to Apply page) for the additional documents options to be made available.

Upload the Letter of Supervision under either the Letter of Supervision, Supervisor & Funding or Supervisory Letter option on the online application.

Visit our Faculty Directory for a listing of all IMS faculty and try searching by research area. Consult the list of faculty actively recruiting found on the Finding a Supervisor page.

Letters of supervisor must come from your proposed supervisor. The letter should contain confirmation that the IMS faculty member is willing and able to supervise and fund you from the length of the degree (Master's 2 years, PhD 5 years, and PhD Direct Entry 6 years). It should also include the funding sources.

Any additional information the faculty member may wish to include.

No. Per IMS policy, students are not permitted to be employed in the same lab, or under the same supervisor while they are a registered IMS graduate student completing an IMS graduate research project. This is considered a conflict of interest.

If you are currently employed (as a lab manager, research assistant, etc.) with your proposed supervisor, you must resign from that position before you become a registered graduate student and start working on your graduate research project.

Yes. All IMS students must be supervised by a faculty member that has an active graduate faculty membership with the IMS. 

All supervisors must hold an IMS appointment either as an Associate Member or Full Member to supervise students. An Associate Member (non-restricted) can supervise MSc students. Students in the PhD program must have a supervisor with a Full Member appointment at IMS.

It is not possible to be an IMS student under the supervision of a non-IMS faculty member. 

The university mandates that all doctoral-stream graduate students receive full funding. Please review the Fees & Funding for more information.

Supervisors must adhere to the Funding Policy which states that they must be able to guarantee your funding. You cannot work with a supervisor who is not able to provide the minimum stipend.

It depends on the source of funding. Awards and research stipends (payments from your supervisor’s operating grants) are paid through different processes. You should discuss stipend payment with your supervisor.

It depends.

There is a limited number of Entrance Awards.  Applicants who maintained an annual GPA of  A- throughout their degree program(s) might be eligible to receive an Entrance award.

You do not need to apply for an Entrance Award. You will receive an email from the IMS Office notifying you that you are the recipient of an award.

No. Entrance Awards cannot be used towards a student stipend. Nor are they included in your stipend top-up.

We highly recommend that applicants begin applying for awards, especially major awards (like the CGS, OSG, Vanier, etc.) prior to your acceptance into the program, if possible.

Applying for and receiving an offer from an major award (CGS, OGS, Vanier, etc.) demonstrates motivation to conduct research and makes an potential applicant more appealing to a potential supervisor.

No. Students at the University of Toronto in a fully-funded graduate program are not permitted to self-fund.

All IMS graduate programs (MSc, PhD, PhD Direct Entry) are considered to be fully-funded graduate programs.

According to the School of Graduate Studies (SGS), an international applicant is a person who does not have Canadian citizenship or permanent residency status at the time of the application.

An international applicant is a person under a Study Permit, Work Permit, Visitor Status, Refugee Status, or Other at the time of the application.

Yes. International applicants already in Canada must still follow the IMS international application deadlines.

If you have applied for, but are still awaiting Permanent Residency status, the international application requirements and deadlines apply to you.

Application deadline and requirements are tied to the legal status of an applicant at the time of the application, not any anticipated legal status.

If successful in your IMS application and you are offered admission, international students planning to study in Canada require a valid study permit.

As part of the study permit application, graduate students are now required to submit a Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) from the Ontario provincial government.

You will receive a PAL from the university through the online application portal after you accept an offer of admission. 

For additional information or support, please contact the Centre for International Experience.

The IMS Office cannot advise on matters related to study permits. We highly recommend that you get in touch with an immigration advisor at the Centre of International Experience (CIE).

Immigration advisors at the CIE are licensed to provide support, advise and resources for international students.