How to submit the MASc thesis and schedule the MASc defense

Timeline

You will need approx. 5-6 weeks to submit your MASc thesis:

  • 1-2 weeks to establish your full reading committee, comprised of your supervisor(s) plus two additional faculty member readers;
  • 15 full business days (3 weeks) for your thesis to be on display, as well as hold your MASc defense;
  • 1 week to have your thesis uploaded and approved by UWSpace

Student Checklist

Use the clickable CEE MASc Degree Completion Checklist PDF to keep track of where you are in the process.

1: Prior to thesis submission
  • At least one month before you intend to degree complete you will need to apply for graduation through Quest.
    • At this time, please check that you have completed all degree requirements (course requirements and milestones), and check your unofficial transcript to ensure all items are displaying correctly. For a full list of your degree requirements, please see the graduate calendar for the term you began your MASc.
    • If you have not completed your Graduate Skills Workshop/Research Principles and Applications milestone, please reach out to the Administrative Coordinator ASAP to determine what requirements for the milestone are still outstanding.
  • Roughly two weeks before you are ready to submit your thesis to your readers, please reach out to the Administrative Coordinator to determine the third reader for your thesis.
    • Note: the second reader of your thesis is found by your supervisor and serves as the first examiner/Chair at your MASc defense.
    • Note: the third reader of your thesis serves as the second examiner at your MASc defense.
  • The Administrative Coordinator will email you with the name of your third reader once one has been found.

2: Thesis submission
  • Contact the department MASc coordinator via civegrad@uwaterloo.ca to find a third reader for your MASc thesis committee.
  • Communicate with your committee members to determine the time/date/location of your defense, whether in-person, online, or hybrid.
  • Book a room if your defense will be held in-person or hybrid. Please reach out to cee.assist@uwaterloo.ca for assistance. Create the calendar invite and send to all committee members. If online or hybrid, please provide your committee members with a link to join virtually.

3: EGSO display period
  • Advise your department MASc coordinator when ready to begin at civegrad@uwaterloo.ca 4 – 5 weeks in advance of your defense date.
  • You will be sent an email containing a link and a unique access code. You can use this to submit your thesis title. Your supervisor(s) will then be emailed with their own link and access code to submit the committee members for approval. You do not need to share your link/code.
  • You will be sent an email containing a new link and unique access code to upload your thesis. You must indicate whether the thesis is restricted.
  • Committee members will be asked to confirm receipt of the thesis. Once all committee members have confirmed, you will receive an email to notify you that your thesis is officially on display for the 15-business day period.
  • You will be sent an email containing a new link and unique access code to enter the date/time/location of your defense within the electronic system.
  • After the defense, your committee members will come to a unified decision. If your approval is conditional, you will be provided with the changes that you must make before your thesis can be approved. If minor corrections are to be made, an email will be sent to your supervisor to electronically confirm once revisions have been implemented.
  • You will be sent a new link and access code to confirm the final title of your thesis within the electronic system. Your title must be an exact match to what you will upload to UW Space, including all punction/spelling/spacing, or else your upload will not be accepted.

4: Upload thesis to UWSpace
  • Upload your thesis to UW Space when prompted by the Engineering Graduate Studies Office (EGSO) via email.
  • Plan to return your office keys as per the instructions from cee.assist@uwaterloo.ca and clean out your office space.
  • Celebrate! Your status in Quest will be updated to “degree complete” once your application to graduate has been approved. You did it!

In order to receive a MASc degree you must complete all of your program's degree requirements. For a complete list of your program's degree requirements you should consult the Graduate Academic Calendar for the term in which you were admitted.

Note: Collaborative programs have different degree requirements than the regular MASc program.

If you have any questions regarding the degree completion process, please contact the Administrative Coordinator.