The IAM graduate students register in one of many possible home departments at UBC; 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.

If you are already a registered UBC graduate student, you can request to join the IAM using this form.

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).
  • The IAM has a close relationship with the Department of Mathematics, such that when you apply to this department, you are given the opportunity to declare your intent to join the IAM. Your application is then automatically considered by all IAM faculty members interested in taking on a student.
  • If you are applying to a department other than Mathematics, there is no automatic procedure by which you may declare your interest in joining the IAM. Instead, you must be considered for entrance to the IAM once you have been accepted into the graduate program of your home department and you have arrived at UBC.

RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE FOR APPLYING TO UBC AND THE IAM

  1. 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.
  2. 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 UBC Calendar for more information about the application deadlines and other admission requirements in different UBC departments.
  3. 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 UBC graduate student through the UBC Faculty of Graduate Studies.
  4. After you have registered as a UBC student and have a faculty advisor who is an IAM member, fill out the IAM application form.