Masters Program

MSc Program

Students who meet the entrance requirements of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) and the Department of Pharmacology are usually admitted initially into the MSc Program.

  • The objective of the MSc program is to lead the students in the development of critical scientific thinking and in the adquisition of solid knowledge of pharmacology principles and specific area of research. At the end of the program graduates must be able to formulate hypotheses and to propose experimental strategies to test them.
  • The MSc program consists of both course work and original research.
  • The duration of the MSc program is normally 2-3 years.

Transfer to the PhD Program

Students from the MSc program who are well-qualified and who are performing well in both research and course work may present and defend a Thesis Proposal that is acceptable to their Supervisory Committee in order to transfer from the MSc Program to the PhD Program without completion of an MSc thesis. Under these circumstances, courses completed and research work performed during the MSc Program become part of the PhD Program of study. After successfully defending a Thesis Proposal, the student's category is changed to PhD student. This transfer will normally occur within the first 24 months of the student's program.


The Department has prepared a Handbook for Graduate Students and Supervisors.
Also refer to the GPS Graduate Program Manual