New Students

Welcome to the Western Chemistry Graduate Program!   Here you will find important information to help get you started. 

Chemistry Graduate Student Association

The CGSA was created as a resource for graduate students in the department of chemistry. We are not an affiliate of SOGS/PSAC. Our goal is to create a formal body to act as a liaison between the chemistry graduate students and other Western organizations. We communicate important news to our members (the chemistry grad students!) given to us by these organizations. We also bring together the graduate chemistry student body by hosting departmental graduate events and activities. We aim to help graduate students with questions and concerns about the matriculation process.


The Own Your Future doctoral professional development program will help you become a career-ready graduate with the skills necessary to excel in your studies and achieve your future goals. By participating in the program, you will assess your own strengths and opportunities for growth, choose what skills you want to enhance during your time at Western, and learn how to articulate the skills you gained in your degree to optimize your future career opportunities. To learn more, visit www.uwo.ca/ownyourfuture.

Collaborative Specializations

Enironment and Sustainability: 

The Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Sustainability is an interdisciplinary field designed for current graduate students who wish to become specialists in specific aspects of environment and sustainability, and who also wish to gain an appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of environmental problems and solutions.  The student earns a degree in the home department plus credit for participation in the collaborative specialization.

For more information including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/prospective_students/programs/program_NEW.cfm?p=238.   

Molecular Imaging: 

Molecular imaging is a new and rapidly emerging biomedical research discipline that involves the non-invasive detection of changes in the expression of genes, molecules and cells in vivo over time. It may be defined as the visual representation, characterization and quantification of biological processes at the cellular and molecular levels within intact living organisms.

For more information including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/prospective_students/programs/program_NEW.cfm?p=240.

Scientific Computing:

Scientific Computing aims to provide students from different disciplines with solid hands-on knowledge of how different computational techniques can be used in, for example, physical, biological and social sciences. The Specialization consists of coursework and research on the fundamental principles and techniques in computation in order for the students to be able to carry out computationally intensive work in their own field. The emphasis of the specialization is on the development of state-of-the-art methods and the application of these methods to real-world scientific problems. Examples include the development of algorithms, application of symbolic methods, high-performance computing, parallelization, data analysis and visualization.

For more information including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/prospective_students/programs/program_NEW.cfm?p=246.

COVID-19 updates for the Western Campus Community

We continue to follow public health guidelines, working closely with the Middlesex-London Health Unit and more information will be shared with the campus community as it becomes available.

Activate your User ID and Password. See "Steps to Activate User ID & Password".

Get started Activating Your Western Identity.

New Students Clearing Admission Conditions

Building Access:

Your supervisor will provide the Graduate Assistant with buildings you will need access to electronically. This will allow you to gain entry using your Western One Card.

Your supervisor will provide the Graduate Assistant with office/lab spaces you will need access to. You must request the keys online and the Graduate Assistant will approve these requests as well as electronic access based on the information provided by your supervisor. 

Funding

Information on student funding, including those with scholarships can be viewed here.

Tuition 

Tuition Fees 

All students attending Western for the 1st time are assessed a $32.00 fee for the Western One Card, not included in the tuition fees.

*If you already have your own Extended Health Care Plan (not OHIP or UHIP), you can opt-out of the Health and Dental Plan. If you would like to opt-in a spouse or partner in the plan, you can do so via an opt-in form. To find out more information about opting out and opting in, visit the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) website.

Social Insurance Number:

In order to be employed in Canada, you MUST have and maintain an eligible Social Insurance Number (SIN).  For information on how to apply for a Social Insurance Number (SIN) 

Banking:

If you have not already done so, you will be required to set up a local bank account.  The following link will provide you with the details to update the Human Resources system with your banking information for direct deposit information. Please remember to set up your direct deposit.

http://www.uwo.ca/hr/form_doc/pay_admin/doc/critical_info.pdf

Photo ID - Obtain your Western ONECard (Photo ID) from the Office of the Registrar

Housing-off campus

Bus Pass- All full-time SOGS members will be able to use their  Western ONE student cards as a London Transit Commission bus pass. 

EMAIL -Please ensure that you activate and use your UWO grad student email account as it will be added to our departmental email lists and all future correspondence will be sent to you via that address. Please do not forward your UWO email to an outside service provider as this causes many problems with email and may violate confidentiality rules.  If you are having problems activating this account, please contact  Western Technology Services

Mandatory Online Training - Required Training

TA Duties - Your name and official Western email will be provided to our Teaching Assistantship Coordinator, who will ensure that you are contacted for future Teaching Assistantship duties via email.

Graduate Courses -You will be advised via your student center when the online course enrollment is available to you.

We offer graduate courses during the September and January terms. These courses are generally posted under our graduate course page several weeks before the beginning of the term.  Please consult with your supervisor before registering for courses. Special permission forms are required for course audits, undergraduate courses and courses outside the department. Forms are available on the Graduate Chemistry website under "forms"- course related for auditing, taking a course outside the home program, etc.

Please review important health and safety information on the  Chemistry Health and Safety Webpage. Discuss necessary safety training with your supervisor and then sign up for the appropriate training as soon as possible.

Seminar Courses 

ALL students are required to attend the 9657/9658 seminars. Please view the guidelines and regulations here.

Pathfinder

Pathfinder is a graduate degree planning portfolio that will enable you (and your supervisory committee) to record your accomplishments and plan towards the completion of your graduate degree.  To access your Pathfinder portfolio log in here.

Annual Reports

ALL students are required to submit yearly reports within 13 months of their start date in the program. View the guidelines and regulations here. 

Thesis Information

A thesis (or dissertation) is a formal statement of the theory, source materials, methodology, and findings of a student's major research project. It must be a complete and sufficient document that does not require subsidiary information to substantiate its findings. The examination of the thesis exposes the student's work to scholarly criticism. Your thesis is the final work of your time in graduate school. You should begin planning your thesis from the very start of your degree program. This website will help you begin crafting your thesis and support you on the path towards its eventual publication.

Applying to Graduate

Health and Wellness

Students seeking help regarding mental health concerns are advised to speak to someone they feel comfortable confiding in, such as their faculty supervisor, their program director (graduate chair), or other relevant administrators in their unit.  Campus mental health resources may be found at http://www.health.uwo.ca/mental_health/resources.html. Departmental health and safety resources can be found here.

Additional links: (bookmark these in your browser for easy reference)