Seminars

Upcoming student seminars are found on our events page. 

Graduate student seminars provide students with an opportunity to: 

• Present their research to other members of the department, Faculty, and University community 

• Opportunities to learn from experts outside of their department and the University through engaging guest speaker sessions 

• Gain experience with technical presentations 

• Demonstrate the progress they have made in their research 

• Acquire feedback on their research from their peer group and advisory committee 

• Learn about ongoing research within the department 

• Engage with and foster a strong academic community

Graduate Student Seminar Requirements

Students are required to attend an average of four University of Waterloo research seminars per full-time term and two per part-time term. It is the student's responsibility to attach a list of seminars attended to their activity report. 

To earn the seminar attendance milestone, the Department records should show that the number of seminars a student has attended is, at least, four times the number of terms the student has been registered as a full-time student in the Department.  

If you would like to link other related seminars provide the title and link.

1. Delivering a seminar is part of the degree requirements for all MASc and PhD candidates. It is the student's responsibility to make sure that their degree requirements have been met by the time limit of their program. 

2. For a seminar to count towards a student's degree requirements, it must be publicly attended and advertised by the department/program. 

   • All graduate students must complete the Notice of Event form when they have confirmed all the details of their seminar (i.e., if a room is required for an in-person event, the room must be booked first: students can use BME Room Bookings to request a Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program owned room. The event will then be advertised on the Biomedical Engineering website.

   • The seminar must be administered by the student's supervisor(s) and advertised by the program. Seminars must be advertised by the program and be held in-person to be considered toward the seminar milestone.

3. After the student's seminar is complete, a Milestone Completion form (PDF) must be completed by the student, signed by the supervisor(s), and returned to the Graduate Coordinator. 

Biomedical and Biotechnology Research Day 

A research day is held each year in the spring/summer term providing students with an opportunity to showcase their research.   

All BME graduate students will receive an invitation during the Spring term from the BME Graduate program to register and present. Interested students will need to provide an abstract.  

Presenting at the research day is a requirement for each graduate student, allowing them to gain experience with technical presentations and full-day academic events in a low-pressure environment. There is also a prize for first, second and third place posters/presentations. Current faculty members will also be present to learn and provide feedback. We invite all BME graduate students to take part. 

• MASc and PhD students within their final year can present their thesis research to complete their seminar presentation milestone 

• MASc and PhD students who are not in their final year yet can present on their current research 

After the registration period ends and presenters have a chance to review the feedback on their abstracts and make revisions, a schedule will be posted to the department website and circulated via email along with registration instructions for the Symposium. 

PhD Seminars

PhD candidates are expected to present during their studies. The PhD candidate must have their supervisor(s) and all members of their comprehensive examination committee attend their seminar.  

Committee members previously selected for the comprehensive exam will remain the same for the seminar and the candidate's final thesis defense. 

Students are required to attend an average of five BME Grad research seminars per full-time term. It is the student's responsibility to attach a list of seminars attended to their activity report. 

To earn the seminar attendance milestone, the program records should show that the number of seminars a student has attended is, at least, five times the number of terms the student has been registered as a full-time student in the program. 

MASc Seminars

MASc candidates are expected to present a research seminar based on their thesis. The MASc candidate must have their supervisor(s) and all members of their comprehensive examination committee attend their seminar. MASc students also must present a proposal and complete an oral defence.  

Students are required to attend an average of five BME Grad research seminars per full-time term and two per part-time term. It is the student's responsibility to attach a list of seminars attended to their activity report. 

To earn the seminar attendance milestone, the program records should show that the number of seminars a student has attended is, at least, five times the number of terms the student has been registered as a full-time student in the Department.