Graduate student seminars provide students with an opportunity to:
- Present their research to other members of the department, Faculty, and University community
- 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
Degree Requirements
- Research students (MASc and PhD) are required to attend on average 4 seminars per full-time term
- Students must attend the entire seminar to receive credit
- Seminar attendance should be reported in the Term Activity Report and approved by students’ supervisor(s)
Note: To receive credit, seminars must be publicly advertised to the campus community and be research orientated. Please speak with your supervisor before attending and presenting any seminars
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.
- 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.
- Delivering a seminar is not a requirement for MEng students. However, they are invited to attend the annual Systems Design Engineering (SYDE) Graduate Symposium (see the Graduate Symposium section for more details) or other advertised events.
- For a seminar to count towards a student's degree requirements, it must be publicly attended and advertised by the department.
- All graduate students must complete the Notice of Event form when they have confirmed all of 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 the SYDE Room Bookings to request a SYDE-owned room). The department will then advertise the event on the department website.
- Seminars presented during the annual Graduate Symposium will count towards the degree requirements.
- On occasion, the department may advertise additional events where presenting will fulfill the seminar presentation event.
- The seminar must be administered by the student's supervisor(s) and advertised by the department. Seminars must be advertised by the department to be considered toward the seminar milestone.
- Seminars can be held in-person, online, or in a hybrid format.
- 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.
PhD Seminars | MASc Seminars
Department Research Seminars:
Upcoming student seminars are found on our events page.
Graduate Symposium
A SYDE Graduate Symposium is held each year in early April, providing students with an opportunity to showcase their research.
All SYDE graduate students will receive an invitation during the Winter term to register and present at the Symposium. Interested students will need to provide an abstract. Faculty members will review the abstracts and provide feedback to students before the Symposium.
Presenting at the Symposium is not a requirement for any student, but it is a great opportunity to gain experience with technical presentations and full-day academic events in a low-pressure environment. Current faculty members will also be present to learn and provide feedback. We invite all SYDE 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
- MEng students can present on a course project they undertook during the course of their studies
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 their seminar during their final three terms.
The PhD candidate should invite their supervisor(s) and all members of their comprehensive examination committee to attend their seminar. The supervisor(s) and committee members are strongly encouraged to attend, but their presence is not mandatory.
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 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.
MASc Seminars
MASc candidates are expected to present a research seminar based on their thesis. A committee is not required for MASc seminars.
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.