Current Students

New Graduate Student Orientation

EECS Graduate Student Handbook

Overview of the Programs

Program requirements

MSc in Computer Science

  • Complete five courses.
    • at least four courses must be non-integrated graduate courses (course number starts with a 6)
    • at most one may be an integrated graduate course (course number starts with a 5)
    • at least one course from the theory of computing and scientific computing group (group 1 - the second digit of the course number is a 1 or 2)
    • at least one course from the AI and interactive systems group (group 2 – the second digit of the course number is a 3)
    • at least one course from the software systems and hardware systems group (group 3 - the second digit of the course number is a 4 or 5)
  • Defend a thesis.

MSc in Computer Science, specialization in Artificial Intelligence

  • Complete the course PHIL 5340.
  • Complete five other courses.
    • at least four courses must be non-integrated graduate courses (course number starts with a 6)
    • at most two may be integrated courses (course number starts with a 5)
    • at least three courses from the following list:
      EECS 5326, EECS 5327, EECS 6127, EECS 6327, EECS 6412
    • at least two courses from the following list:
      EECS 5323, EECS 5324, EECS 5326, EECS 5327, EECS 5326, EECS 6127, EECS 6322, EECS 6323, EECS 6325, EECS 6327, EECS 6328, EECS 6332, EECS 6333, EECS 6340, EECS 6390A, EECS 6390D, EECS 6412, EECS 6414
  • Complete a research project in Artificial Intelligence in collaboration with an external partner

MASc in Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Complete four other courses.
    • at least three of those four courses must be non-integrated graduate courses (course number starts with a 6)
    • at most one may be an integrated course (course number starts with a 5)
    • at least three of those four courses are normally EECS graduate courses (course starts with rubric EECS)
  • Defend a thesis.

PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

  • Complete three courses.
    • at least two of the courses must be non-integrated graduate courses (course number starts with a 6)
    • at most one may be an integrated course (course number starts with a 5)
  • Attend departmental seminars.
  • Attend at least one professional development workshop per year
  • Pass a qualifying examination.
  • Prepare a dissertation proposal.
  • Complete an industrial internship (3 to 6 months) or a teaching practicum.
  • Defend a dissertation.

Milestones

MSc or MASc

  • Complete program in five terms (20 months).
  • Complete course requirements in first two terms.
    • Maintain an average of at least B+ in the courses and satisfy the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) grades regulations.
  • Complete progress report #1 by December 31.
  • Complete progress report #2 by April 30.
  • Get the thesis proposal (thesis option) or project proposal (project option) approved at least three months before the thesis oral examination or project evaluation.
  • Complete the thesis four weeks before the thesis oral examination.
  • Maintain satisfactory progress:
    • Selection of a supervisory committee: Students are expected to have found a thesis supervisor by April 15 of the winter term of their first year (W1). Selection of a supervisor is primarily the responsibility of the student. As well, a second member of the supervisory committee must be identified. These two people will form the thesis or project supervisory committee. A two-member supervisory committee is also applicable for the project option, where the members will evaluate the project report.
    • Research: Students are expected to work on research leading to a thesis or project by their first summer term (S1) and to submit a preliminary version of their theses proposal (thesis option) or a written agreement between the student and supervisor on project scope (project option) by the end of that term. The thesis proposal should include a clear statement of the project they are undertaking, a summary of the work performed on it during the summer term, and a timetable with milestones to be achieved during terms F2 and W2, leading to successful completion of the thesis by the end of term W2.

PhD

  • Pass a qualifying examination within five terms (20 months).
  • Maintain an average of at least B+ in the courses and satisfy the FGS grades regulations.
  • Submit progress reports every term by April 30, August 31, December 31.
  • Get the dissertation proposal approved at least six months before the dissertation oral examination.
  • Complete the dissertation four weeks before the dissertation oral examination.
  • Maintain satisfactory progress:
    • Year 1:
      Take graduate courses.
      Select dissertation supervisor.
      Select dissertation supervisory committee (3 people) and inform FGS.
    • Year 2:
      Finish graduate courses.
      Do qualifying examination.
      Work on dissertation proposal.
    • Year 3:
      Present dissertation proposal.
      Send accepted dissertation proposal to FGS.
      Do industrial internship/teaching practicum.
    • Year 4:
      Complete dissertation.

Important Dates

September 8, 2020 EECS graduate student orientation
September 9, 2020 Fall or Year classes start
September 15, 2020 last date to hand in the directed reading form for Fall courses
September 22, 2020 last date to add course without permission of instructor
September 30, 2020 last date to hand in the course selection form
October 6, 2020 last date to add course with permission of instructor
October 10-16, 2020 no classes (Fall reading week)
October 31, 2020 last day to complete degree and get 100% refund for Fall tuition
November 6, 2020 last date to drop a Fall course without receiving a grade
December 8, 2020 Fall classes end
December 9-23, 2020 Fall exam period
January 11, 2021 Winter classes start
January 15, 2021 last date to hand in the directed reading form for Winter courses
January 25, 2021 last date to add course without permission of instructor
January 31, 2021 last day to complete degree and get 100% refund for Winter tuition
February 8, 2021 last date to add course with permission of instructor
February 13-19, 2021 no classes (Winter reading week)
March 12, 2021 last date to drop a Winter course without receiving a grade
April 12, 2021 Winter classes end
April 14-28, 2021 Winter exam period
May 15, 2021 last date to hand in the directed reading form for Summer courses

Thesis, Dissertation, Graduation

Useful and up-to-date information on thesis and dissertation can be found here:

Please pay particular attention to the timing, requirements and forms regarding supervisory committee selection, thesis/dissertation proposals and thesis/dissertation scheduling requests.

If you are in the last term of your program and expect to graduate, you must apply to graduate. Please visit York Convocation – Apply to Graduate for more information.

Academic Honesty

Familiarize yourself with York's Academic Honesty policy and Academic Integrity guidelines. Behave academically honest, not doing so may have serious consequences.

Research Ethics

All University-based research involving human participants, including thesis and dissertation research, is subject to the ethics review process. Research ethics approval must be granted BEFORE commencing the research. Consult your supervisor and the Graduate Program Director for information on the process. Information sessions about research ethics will be held in Fall and Winter terms at the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Health & Safety

Health & Safety training is mandatory for all members of the University. Depending on your activities, there may be more advanced training modules that will be required BEFORE commencing your work (i.e. working with hazardous materials). This is relevant for both research and teaching assistanceship activities. Training sessions need to be repeated once their validity lapses. The following is a list of common training modules, but your individual case will vary according to the activities that you plan to do.

Mandatory training
  • Complete the first module (Health & Safety Orientation for Faculty & Staff, online).
  • Complete WHMIS I (online)
Additional training (according to activity)
  • Complete WHMIS II (in class). This is mandatory to work with chemicals or biological agents. Students needing to take WHMIS II can skip WHMIS I training, as WHMIS I information will be included in the WHMIS II training.
  • Complete Biosafety training (in class) if you plan to work with biological materials and/or supervising workers with biological materials (e.g., viruses, bacteria, cell culture, etc.) in a certified containment level laboratory.
  • Complete Chemical Handling & Volatile Rooms training (in class) if you will be working in Chemistry and Biology labs.
  • Complete Laser Safety training (in class) if you will be working with any laser.
  • See this link for additional training modules.

Guidelines, Policies & Forms

MSc / MASc

MSc in Computer Science, specialization in AI

PhD

EECS Graduate Student Association

We represent the students of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the graduate program at York University.

EECS-GSA Executive Committee for the 2021-22 Year

President - Aaron Kammula
VP Finance - Taha Sajjad
VP External - Subrina Shawlin
VP Internal - Anni Siren
VP Organization - Yoland El-Hajj
CUPE 3903 Steward in EECS - Lei Liu

Survival Guide