It is the applicant's responsibility to establish their eligibility. RES does not pre-review applications or application materials.

The RES departmental requirements are higher than the minimum requirements set by UBC's Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (G+PS).

Please see the below links to determine if you meet the threshold for admission to a UBC graduate program:

• Minimum Academic Requirements for Canadian or US credentials.
• G+PS Minimum Academic Requirements for International Students.
  • G+PS International transcript requirements.

The RES MA/MSc/PhD program requires:

• A GPA weighted A- average, 3.7 GPA, or 80% minimum.
• For International Students or institutions using a different grading system, First-Class Honours status or the equivalent must have been obtained.

• NOTE: Students with averages between 76-79% will still be considered, but will need an exceptional Thesis Proposal and exceptional Letters of Reference to be competitive.

Take a look at the profiles of our IRES Core Faculty and Faculty Associates. Identify some Core and/or Associate Faculty whose research interests align with your own and reach out to them prior to the admissions process. Send them a concise email to introduce yourself, your research interests and how they align with theirs, and your desire to have them supervise your Master's/Doctoral program.

If you are a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident (PR), you may also ask if they would be willing to review your SSHRC/NSERC application.

Note: all Canadian/PR applicants are strongly encouraged to apply for SSHRC or NSERC at the same time you are applying to the RES program.

When you fill out the RES online application form, you will be asked to provide the names of three potential supervisors. Having already established communication with potential supervisor(s) is an excellent way to determine if the potential supervisor(s) and RES program is a good fit for you as well as help us route your application to the appropriate faculty for review.

Note: RES Admissions decisions are made by the RES Admissions Committee. An individual IRES supervisor is not able to offer you admission to the RES program. However, having been in contact with potential supervisor(s), and having them express interest in your research ideas, can increase your chances of being offered admission.

• Read this "How to Apply" page carefully.

• Read the RES Prospective Students Admissions FAQs.

• Read the RES Current Student FAQs

• Read the G+PS Application/Admission FAQs.

These four sources, taken together, should provide the answers to any of your admissions questions.

Should you have further questions about the application process once you have read the above resources, please contact the IRES Graduate Program Manager at admissions@ires.ubc.ca

Pay the G+PS application fee

Application to UBC G+PS - RES Program: www.grad.ubc.ca/apply/online/

One electronic (.PDF) file of each of your official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions you have attended or taken any courses at.

• Canadian Transcript Requirements
• International Transcripts, Degree Certificates and Translation Requirements

Electronic transcript files must be scanned (both sides of each transcript page) and uploaded as .PDF files to your UBC online application before you submit your application.

Each electronic (.PDF) Transcript must be uploaded as a separate .pdf file – no other formats are accepted.

Naming format of uploaded transcript file must be: LastName_FirstName_RES_Degree_Transcript_PostSecondaryInstitution.

• Example: Smith_John_RES_PhD_Transcript_UBC

*IMPORTANT: DO NOT SEND OFFICIAL PAPER COPIES OF YOUR TRANSCRIPTS TO RES DURING THE APPLICATION PROCESS*

RES will make provisional admission decisions based on your complete online application file.

If you are offered admission to RES, you will received further instructions to have your institution(s) send paper copies of your transcript(s) at that time.

We require three (3) letters of recommendation from academic sources. If one or more of your referees knows you in a professional context, this is also acceptable as long as they are able to speak to your ability in your proposed research areas. Reference letters are submitted directly by the referee to the online application system.

G+PS  Guidelines regarding Letters of Reference

Applicants will input their referee's contact information into the application system. The referees will be contacted with instructions on how to upload their letter only after the applicant has completed the rest of their application, paid their application fee and submitted it online.

It is therefore VERY important that applicants complete and submit their application online with enough time for the referees to be contacted and to be able to comfortably write their letter of recommendation to upload before the reference letter deadline.

We recommend submitting your complete online application at least one week before the application close deadline.

The RES Admissions deadline is firm and all required application components must be received in the online application system by the RES deadline.  Incomplete applications will not be considered for admission.

Applicants from a university outside of Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application. Tests must have been taken within the last 24 months at the time of submission of your application.

G+PS English Proficiency Requirements and Minimum Scores

It is the applicant's responsibility to determine if they are required to submit an English proficiency test as part of their application. We require the minimum score in each test, as outlined by G+PS, however, an ELP score higher than the minimum may be seen as an asset to your application.

The RES Thesis Proposal is a required document for the RES admissions process that outlines the research question(s) you plan to address in your graduate program.

Proposals should include an identification of context, objectives, methodology, and address the scholarly relevance and societal importance of the issue(s) you would like to explore in your graduate research.

The thesis proposal is limited to 2 pages (single-spaced, 12 point font, 2.5 cm margins). The page limit does not include references.

Thesis Proposal File Naming Format:  LastName_FirstName_RES_Degree_ThesisProposal

• Example: Smith_John_RES_PhD_ThesisProposal

A sample of work done in the previous degree, or subsequently, in English. 15 page maximum.

• If you have a longer sample of work you would like to submit, please cut it down to 15 pages.
• If you would like to submit a sample of work that was a collaboration of multiple authors, please clearly indicate which section(s) you wrote at the top of your uploaded document.

We are using this document to evaluate your ability to write at the Graduate level in English. Please select a work that best demonstrates this ability.

• Writing Sample File Naming Format:  LastName_FirstName_RES_Degree_WritingSample
  • Example: Smith_John_RES_PhD_WritingSample