We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

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PhD degree requirements

As a PhD student, you are expected to complete at least four graduate courses, two of which must be at the advanced 6000 level. If you are directly admitted to the PhD program from an undergraduate degree, you must complete nine courses. CSCI 5010G - Survey of Computer Science Research Topics and Methods and CSCI 5020G - Collaborative Design and Research must be taken in the first year, if they have not been previously taken at the master's level.

All PhD students must demonstrate a broad knowledge of computer science. This is normally demonstrated through the completion of an appropriate set of courses at the graduate level. To satisfy the breadth requirement, you must successfully complete one course from each of the following fields:

digital media
information science
networks and IT security
software design

When you are admitted to the PhD program, the graduate committee of the faculty evaluates the courses from your previous degrees to determine which courses count towards the breadth requirement and identify the areas in which an additional course is required. The list of graduate courses offered each year indicates the area covered by each course so you can easily plan to cover the breadth requirement.

Within 18 months of your initial registration in the program, you must present and defend your thesis proposal. The defence takes the form of an oral examination.

During the course of your studies, you must present two public seminars. The first must be held just before the proposal defence and cover the proposed research program. The second seminar must be held just before the thesis defence and cover the results of the research program.