Online applications and supporting documentation are due by Nov. 15 for admission in the following September and can be accessed through the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) website. To ensure the protection of personal information, applications cannot be viewed by the department until they are submitted. Please contact the Nursing Graduate Office if you have questions about your application.
Applicants are selected on the basis of academic and research potential, including:
- GPA (typically 3.5 or higher);
- Background experience, research and scholarly activities, and career plans;
- Publications and presentations (particularly from the Master’s Degree);
- Letters of reference (must be written in English); and
- Current Curriculum Vitae
Developing an Application for Doctoral Nursing Studies at the 天涯社区
When considering an application to doctoral studies, it is the responsibility of the applicant to connect with a faculty member who could appropriately supervise the dissertation project that you intend to develop. The role of the graduate supervisor is to provide guidance and direction in the selection of the thesis topic and research method, and thus must have the expertise required to support the intended research project. Doctoral applicants are required to confirm the name of the faculty member who has agreed to serve as their graduate supervisor before the application will be assessed.
Potential supervisors will also assess your potential alignment with their expertise and research program. Depending on the number of graduate students they are already supervising, some faculty members may be unable to accept new students at this time.
Refer to the Finding a Supervisor for a list of faculty members and tips on how to find a graduate supervisor.
PhD Admission Criteria and Application Requirements
A Master’s degree in Nursing with an admission GPA of at least 3.5 on the 4-point scale from the 天涯社区, or an equivalent qualification and standing from a recognized institution.
The admission GPA will be calculated based on the last 60 units of graded coursework completed or on the equivalent of the last two years of full-time graded coursework. Students who do not hold the equivalent of this degree may be admitted and required to undertake additional coursework in nursing theory, practice and/or research.
Graduate qualitative and quantitative (with some statistics) research courses, or one graduate course in statistics and one in research methods (or equivalent), with a final grade of B or higher.
All applicants must demonstrate English language proficiency prior to admission, either by possession of a degree from an academic institution recognized by the 天涯社区, where the language of instruction is English, or a satisfactory score on an approved English language examination within the last 2 years as described below:
- TOEFL: Overall score of at least 587 (paper-based), or a total score of 97 with a score of at least 22 on each of the individual skill areas (Internet-based);
- IELTS: Overall score of 7.0 with the following minimum scores: Listening-7, Reading-6.5, Writing-6.5, Speaking-7.0;
- Duolingo: Overall score of 130 with no subscore below 120
Before starting your application, we suggest gathering the necessary documents to complete and submit your application (e.g. transcripts, degree certificates, English Language Proficiency scores, referee contact information, and other documents required by the department offering the program to which you're applying).
If you require assistance or have questions regarding the application process, please email nugrad@ualberta.ca or refer to the FAQ section of the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) website.
Application Documents Required:
- A completed online application for Graduate Admission. Please note, unsubmitted applications are deleted 21 calendar days after you begin your application or the application deadline (whichever comes first).
- Official transcripts/mark sheets and degree certificates from all academic institutions. Please read the Application Requirements for Academic Documents.
- Three letters of reference from academics and professionals knowledgeable about your academic and professional capabilities.
- One reference letter must be from your proposed supervisor or co-supervisors, and within the letter, confirm their agreement to supervise.
- Reference letters must be written in English.
- Reference request emails (system-generated) will only be sent upon final submission of the application.
- Current Curriculum Vitae
- A completed PhD Applicant Background Information Form (Forms and Guidelines - Admission Documents). The required form is also available in the Documents section of the online application. In this form, the applicant will clearly outline your research and program plans/expectations including:
- Alignment with proposed supervisor’s program of research
- Previous master’s studies
- Career plans
- Program expectations
- Previous research and scholarly activity
- Beginning research plans for dissertation project
- Significance and potential of proposed research
- A sample of written scholarly work, preferably a work in which the applicant is the sole or primary author.
PhD applicants who are being considered for admission to the program will be invited to a panel interview.
An application will not be considered until all supporting documentation has been uploaded and the application has been submitted.
It is the student's responsibility to ensure the completeness of their applications by planning ahead to make certain that all documents will be uploaded to the online application by the deadline.
Important Information for Students Admitted to the PhD Program
Official documents (transcripts, degree certificates, etc.) will be required upon receiving the conditional offer of admission letter. Documents must be sent directly from the post-secondary institution to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research Office.
Prior to beginning a Nursing graduate program, students must complete the 天涯社区's Indigenous Canada Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Screenshots with evidence of completing this course should be submitted to the Nursing graduate office (nugrad@ualberta.ca) prior to attending the first course of the program (further details provided on this webpage: Faculty of Nursing Graduate Programs and 天涯社区).