An example Time-Line for an M.Sc. whose duration is 21 months, about the mean at UWO .

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3

What you need to do to meet these deadlines.

Year 1
Month Thesis deadlines Meeting deadlines Other deadlines
2 Oct Draft Research Project (see note 1)
3 Nov 1st Adv Com Meeting
4 Dec Start experiments
6 Feb Analyze experiments
7 Mar Write up and distribute to Adv Com.
8 April 2nd Adv Com Meeting
get advice on abstract #1 before deadline
9 May Abstract deadline
Year 2
13 Sept Prepare figures for paper Start thinking of your next position
14 Oct Prepare poster (re-use figures from paper)
Apply for scholarship
(see note 3)
15 Nov Go to Meeting #1
16 Dec Write draft of paper (incorporate feedback from meeting). Submit to Supervisor    
17 Jan Re-write draft of paper. Sub to Supervisor    
18 Feb Write 3rd draft of paper. Submit to colleagues.
Revise paper. Submit to publisher.		    
19 Mar Change paper(s) into thesis
Distribute Thesis
3rd Adv. Com. meeting (see note 2)
Revise thesis
20 April Distribute thesis
Final Adv. Com. meeting to approve thesis
Final Thesis revisions
Distribute final thesis
21 May Prepare for defense
Defend thesis
Hand in thesis
June Thesis deadline

Notes

  1. If you plan to present at a meeting in the fall of your second year, you need to have results that you are sure of  by early spring. That means you have get cracking with experiments soon after you start the program.
  2. If you plan to complete your thesis by June of the second year, you should have the thesis finished in March to distribute to your advisory committee. That means you should start writing up your experiments as papers in the fall of your second year.
  3. Having submitted an abstract and having a paper in preparation will help a lot.

Copyright © 1995
Tutis Vilis
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
University of Western Ontario
London Ontario Canada

Created 28 Sept 1995
Last updated 10 January 2007
 Comments welcome: tutis.vilis@schulich.uwo.ca