How to Apply to IAM

The IAM graduate students register in one of many possible home departments; e.g., Mathematics, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, etc. Their supervisors, who must be IAM faculty members, do not have to be from the same department as the student. For example, an IAM student could be registered in the Department of Mathematics and have a thesis advisor in the Department of Chemistry; or the home department could be in Earth and Ocean Science and the research supervisor in Mathematics. Upon admission, our graduate students will have to meet certain requirements specific to our Institute, but their degree will originate from the home department.

The student's financial support is a combination of a teaching assistantship offered by the home department and a research assistantship from the thesis supervisor. Several types of fellowships are also offered by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. The IAM does not by itself provide financial support to the students.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

The Institute of Applied Mathematics is not itself a department and hence does not process applications. This means that you should send your application documents directly to the department of your choice and to the Faculty of Graduate Studies (see the Application Checklist).
Regardless of what department you are applying to, we strongly recommend that you send to the IAM, as a minimum, A COPY OF YOUR COMPLETED APPLICATION FORM, preferably as a pdf file. It is also recommended that you include electronic versions of additional documents such as transcripts, CV, Research Statement, etc. The more documents you send to the IAM, the more we will be able to help your application receive due attention.
On your application, you must clearly indicate your intention to join the IAM. It is also very helpful to list those IAM faculty members or research groups you might be interested in working with. The more specific you can be about your prospective research project, the easier it will be for us to match you with a suitable supervisor.
If you are applying to a department other than Mathematics, then it is particularly important that you send us as many documents and as much information as possible (email only please), and that you make it clear on your application form that you wish to join the IAM.
One of the roles the IAM plays in the UBC admission process is to increase the visibility of graduate applications among a wider faculty audience and to alert potentially matching supervisors from different research groups and departments. If you are interested in graduate studies in the area of Applied Mathematics but fail to send any application documents to the IAM, then your chances of a successful research match, admission to UBC, and acceptance to IAM may ultimately suffer.

RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE FOR APPLYING TO THE IAM:

Consult the IAM Research Group web pages to find out more about each group's research projects and see if any of the core faculty listed there work in an area that could be of interest to you. You may also want to browse through the full list of IAM faculty sorted by their departmental affiliation. Do not hesitate to contact individual faculty members to learn more about what they are doing.
Note that a research supervisor may also be someone who does not currently have an IAM appointment but is willing to become an IAM member, so feel free to explore the individual websites of various UBC departments to find a faculty member that suits you best. Please see the IAM Graduate Programmes web page for links to the different UBC departments offering graduate programmes related to Applied Mathematics. The Faculty of Graduate Studies web site provides a list of contacts to departments across UBC offering Masters and doctoral degree programmes.
Consult the IAM Graduate Student Handbook for our specific requirements in the Ph.D. and Masters degree programmes. The IAM does not have its own specific deadline, but you must meet the application deadline of your home department. Note also that the TOEFL and GRE requirements are set by the departments, not by the IAM. Please see the IAM Graduate Programmes web page and the UBC Calendar for more information about the application deadlines and other admission requirements in different UBC departments.
Once you are well informed of the research area of interest to you, a possible research supervisor and a department of your choice, you can apply to become a graduate student through the UBC Faculty of Graduate Studies. This is done by filling out either the Faculty of Graduate Studies online application form, or a paper application that can be obtained from the Faculty of Graduate Studies, department of your interest, or from the IAM. Applying online is much preferred as it considerably shortens the processing time. Once you have completed the application form, you submit it to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. The supporting documents (academic transcripts, reference letters, and exam scores if required) are to be sent to the department of your specialisation.
As mentioned in the notes above, you are strongly encouraged to provide the IAM with a copy of your application, including the main application form and any other questionnaire or a similar document required by your department. Failing to do so may reduce your chances of finding a suitable supervisor and being accepted to UBC and our Institute. The preferred way is to email to us your application form and the supporting documents as pdf attachments (please make sure that they are all sufficiently legible).