Individual interdisciplinary (INTD) programs

Your interdisciplinary application must consist of the following sections:

1. Resume
2. Research proposal
3. Program proposal
4. Letters of support

Each of these sections must be submitted independently via the online INTD application.

Submit your application in a PDF that meets the following requirements:

• Pages must be 8 ½” x 11”, single-spaced and numbered consecutively in the lower right corner of each page
• All text must be black in 12 pt Times New Roman font
• Margins must be set at a minimum of ¾”
• Your name must appear outside the set margins at the top right corner of every page

Please list in the following order using these titles:

• Contact information
• Degrees, certificates and credentials held
• Scholarships, awards & patents
• Academic publications, presentations, exhibits and scholarly works
• Professional work experience
• Other relevant experience

Length

Applications must not exceed the maximum page length, excluding the list of references and any tables or figures.

PhD applications: Four pages
Master’s applications: Three pages

Requirements

Your proposal must address these topics using these headings in the following order:

1. Title and lay abstract (Max of one page): A title that clearly conveys the nature of the study, plus an abstract that can be understood by a lay audience.

2. On the remaining allotted pages provide the following:

   Rationale for proposed research: What is the main research question that you intend to pursue? What disciplines will contribute to your research? What is the anticipated significance of your research in the context of related work?

   Background: What past experience and education are you bringing to your graduate program? How will the proposed course program contribute to the success of your research?

   Methodology: Provide a detailed description of the objectives and of the methods that you will use for attaining them. Provide a timeline for proposed completion of degree. PhD candidates should include here a description of the format of their candidacy exam

   Supervisory committee: Provide the names and departmental affiliation of your main supervisor, co-supervisor and (for PhD students only) committee member. Briefly describe how their academic expertise is related to your proposed research.

   References

Your proposed course program should include courses offered by your co-supervisors’ departments and may also include one or more directed studies under the INTD code. You must justify the interdisciplinary nature of this course load with a brief description of how each course will serve the objectives of your program. We will reject applications that are not clearly interdisciplinary.

Include the following:

• List of all courses that you propose to take, along with their calendar descriptions and unit value. Also provide the overall unit value.
  Master’s: include INTD 599
  PhD: include INTD 693 and INTD 699
• Provide a brief description of the content of the directed studies course (similar to the calendar description of regular courses), the name of the instructor, the title of the course and the unit of value. All directed studies should be listed as INTD 580 (Master’s) and INTD 680 (PhD).
• Demonstrate that you have fulfilled the prerequisite requirements for all of the listed courses.
• If you’re applying to transfer to INTD from another graduate program, you must apply for permission to transfer credit from previous coursework. Credit will not be transferred for coursework held not to be relevant to INTD program objectives.

Your co-supervisors must each provide a letter of support for you.

A letter of support is different from the assessment report required by the online application process – these cannot be substituted.

Each letter of support must be emailed by its author as a signed pdf to the applicant and to the INTD graduate advisor. You are responsible for uploading each letter of support to the online application.

Each letter of support must discuss the following:

• The quality and anticipated impact of the INTD research proposal
• The relevance of the proposed course program to the proposed research. Each supervisor must state how the planned course load serves the objectives of the study. We will reject applications that are not clearly interdisciplinary.
• The relevance of each co-supervisors’ expertise to the proposed research.

If your GPA is below the INTD minimum of 7.0 the letter of support written by the primary supervisor (i.e. from the home department) must provide a rationale for accepting the applicant into the INTD program.

The letters of support must be co-signed by the chair or graduate advisor from each of the co-supervising departments, respectively, and must include one of the following statements as appropriate:

Chair/Graduate advisor of the home department:

I agree that the [name of home school/program/department] will be the student's home department. If admitted, the student will enjoy the same rights and privileges as our disciplinary graduate students.

Chair/Graduate advisor of the co-supervising department:

I agree that the [name of co‐supervising school/program/department] will be the student's co-supervising department if the student is admitted into the INTD program.