New graduate student information

Waterloo data science students networking at an event

Welcome to the University of Waterloo. We're excited to have you on board. As you prepare for the start of your graduate academic career, you will receive communications from Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs, your Data Science Graduate Program Administrator, and some of our campus partners.

Waterloo Grad Ready is a virtual program and space to support you as you begin your graduate program. It will offer you opportunities to build connections with students, faculty, and staff; resources to help you transition to graduate life; and workshops to support your ongoing graduate experience. Our graduate studies community has come together to support you in this new online environment and will add new information and programming throughout the coming months.

International student travel information

If you are an International student who will be coming to Waterloo for Fall 2022 term, please read through our International Student Guide on Covid-19 resources to understand our travel and mandatory quarantine processes. For questions about quarantining or the international student travel plans, please email the International Student Experience team. In addition, if you have not yet applied for study permit and work permit, please do so ASAP. If you need assistance or have questions regarding study permits and/or work permits, please see our Immigration consulting services for information and to book an appointment to speak with them.

Information before your arrival

Getting started

Your UWaterloo email account (ending in @uwaterloo.ca) is created automatically after you are matriculated (made active in your program). Visit the Information Systems & Technology website for instructions. Check your UW email regularly.
The Data Science computer lab and lounge in M3 are fully open and availble for use. Please email the Program Administrator for your fob access.
1. Data Science computer lab located in connected rooms M3 2219 and M3 2102.
2. Data Science Grad Lounge located in room 2103.

MMath DS:

Students will receive information about their home unit orientation, TA, office space and funding from their home department. If you have not heard about this by the start of term, please reach out to your respective department co-ordinator in Computer Science, Statistics or Combinatorics and Optimization.

Mandatory training checklist

All new graduate students are required to complete the following training modules within the first 2 months of study:

Mandatory Training Checklist

Graduate Academic Integrity Module on Waterloo LEARN. The module will take approximately 2 hours to complete.

Ethics Milestone Workshop: Students must complete a 3-day workshop on “Ethics in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence” that will be offered once a year (Fall term only). You will receive an information email from your Coordinator at the start of Fall term.

Three online safety courses provided by the Safety Office. Additional courses may be required if you are working in a lab environment. Your supervisor will inform you of any additional training that is required. The mandatory online safety courses are:

Delivery	Course ID	Duration
Online – Safety Office	Employee Safety Orientation (SO1001)	~60 min
Online – Safety Office	WHMIS 2015 (SO2017)	~45-60 min
Online – Safety Office	Workplace Violence Awareness (SO1081)	~60 min
Online – LEARN (for TAs only)	Accessibility Training module	~30 min
Online – LEARN	Graduate Academic Integrity Module	~1-2 hours

MMath DS: Accessibility Training module provided by Human Resources. Only MMath in Data Science students who will have TA responsibilities need to complete this, but it is available to all interested students.

MDSAI Co-op: In order to qualify for the department's co-op program, you are required to participate in 3 Co-op Workshops hosted live with attendance taken (Fall term only).

Workshop	Date	Time
Co-op Documents (Resumes, cover letters) Workshop	Thursday, September 29th, 2022	10:00am - 11:30am
Interviews Workshop	Thursday, October 6th, 2022	10:00am - 11:30am
Co-op Education process & strategy Workshop	Thursday, October 20th, 2022	10:00am - 11:30am

Graduate Orientation

In advance of your first term, stay tuned for an email invitation to your mandatory data science graduate Orientation event that will contain specific details for your session. The Faculty of Mathematics will also hold a mandatory orientation session to provide new math graduate student information.

You can view our most recent recorded presentations below as a reference. Please note that it is mandatory to attend your own orientation scheduled sessions as information and requirements may change for each cohort.