victoria university canada phd programs

Wellington School of Business and Government Ōrauariki

Phd programmes.

Victoria University of Wellington is the number one research institution in New Zealand—there’s no better place to gain your PhD.

Studying for a Doctor of Philosophy

A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree represents the high point of academic achievement. It involves original and sustained research under academic supervision, and demands considerable intellectual ability, academic rigour, self-discipline, and dedication.

A PhD normally follows a Master's or Honours degree, or extensive relevant experience.

Key benefits of the PhD programme

PhD study offers many benefits including:

• the opportunity to make a significant contribution to both scholarship and practice
• the rewards of pursuing a topic of deep personal interest to you, building on prior education and experience through an individualised course of study
• the development of skills in research, analysis, theorising, methodology, and communication
• the opportunity to develop valuable networks with Wellington School of Business and Government’s interdisciplinary academic members and your fellow PhD candidates.

Application deadlines

There are three application deadlines— 1 March , 1 July , and 1 November each year.

To be considered, applications must be completed online and before the deadline.

More information

For any enquiries about PhD admission and enrolment, email [email protected]

Faculty of Graduate Research

The Faculty of Graduate Research (FGR) has overall responsibility for the University's PhD programmes.

• Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD)
• Graduate School
• Prospective Students
• Graduate Degree Programs

Canadian Immigration Updates

Applicants to Master’s and Doctoral degrees are not affected by the recently announced cap on study permits. Review more details

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The Ph.D. program prepares graduates who will provide leadership in the generation, integration, and implementation of knowledge aimed at improving health and health care. Our graduates have expanded spheres of influence in academic institutions, practice settings, and policy arenas. Students join a community of scholars where supervisors are committed to supporting educational programs that meet students’ interests and growth in scholarly engagement with the nursing discipline. All doctoral students must successfully complete a comprehensive examination, an oral candidacy examine, and a research dissertation meeting the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies requirements. Program applicants are admitted based on outstanding achievement in their master's program; evidence of leadership potential for research and scholarship; self-direction; and goals that fit with program resources. Canadian students must hold practicing nurse registration in BC or another province. International students must meet general eligibility criteria for nurse registration in BC. Transfer from the M.S.N. to the Ph.D. program occurs based on Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies regulations.

For specific program requirements, please refer to the departmental program website

What makes the program unique?

This exciting program prepares researchers and leaders to advance research knowledge, and the dissemination and application of findings to nursing and health care. Students join research supervisors in a community of scholars (other students and faculty members) to develop a program that takes them to new levels of knowledge and skill with career relevant competencies. In addition to core courses, students are encouraged to gain advanced expertise in research methods and other skills through rich course offerings, seminars, colloquia, conferences and independent studies available at UBC. Interdisciplinary collaboration is promoted.

UBC has a world class School of Nursing, and through my previous studies I knew that I would be able to continue working with excellent and supportive faculty.

Allie Slemon

Quick Facts

Program enquiries, admission information & requirements, 1) check eligibility, minimum academic requirements.

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies establishes the minimum admission requirements common to all applicants, usually a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC). The graduate program that you are applying to may have additional requirements. Please review the specific requirements for applicants with credentials from institutions in:

• Canada or the United States
• International countries other than the United States

Each program may set higher academic minimum requirements. Please review the program website carefully to understand the program requirements. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission as it is a competitive process.

English Language Test

Applicants from a university outside 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.

Minimum requirements for the two most common English language proficiency tests to apply to this program are listed below:

TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language - internet-based

Overall score requirement : 100

IELTS: International English Language Testing System

Overall score requirement : 7.0

Other Test Scores

Some programs require additional test scores such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Test (GMAT). The requirements for this program are:

The GRE is required by some applicants. Please check the program website.

2) Meet Deadlines

3) prepare application, transcripts.

All applicants have to submit transcripts from all past post-secondary study. Document submission requirements depend on whether your institution of study is within Canada or outside of Canada.

Letters of Reference

A minimum of three references are required for application to graduate programs at UBC. References should be requested from individuals who are prepared to provide a report on your academic ability and qualifications.

Statement of Interest

Many programs require a statement of interest , sometimes called a "statement of intent", "description of research interests" or something similar.

Supervision

Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor. Please follow the instructions provided by each program whether applicants should contact faculty members.

Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD)

Applicants are expected to identify a faculty member who has agreed to serve as supervisor before the application will be assessed. All applicants are strongly encouraged to speak with the Graduate Programs Admission Officer and/or PhD program coordinator prior to completing the application form, and to seek assistance (as necessary) in identifying a potential supervisor. Applicants should also browse faculty profiles to identify faculty they are interested in working with.

Citizenship Verification

Permanent Residents of Canada must provide a clear photocopy of both sides of the Permanent Resident card.

4) Apply Online

All applicants must complete an online application form and pay the application fee to be considered for admission to UBC.

Tuition & Financial Support

Financial support.

Applicants to UBC have access to a variety of funding options, including merit-based (i.e. based on your academic performance) and need-based (i.e. based on your financial situation) opportunities.

Program Funding Packages

All full-time students in UBC-Vancouver PhD programs will be provided with a funding package of at least $24,000 for each of the first four years of their PhD from September 2024. The funding package may consist of any combination of internal or external awards, teaching-related work, research assistantships, and graduate academic assistantships. Please note that many graduate programs provide funding packages that are substantially greater than $24,000 per year. Please check with your prospective graduate program for specific details of the funding provided to its PhD students.

Average Funding

• 10 students received Teaching Assistantships. Average TA funding based on 10 students was $11,004.
• 2 students received Research Assistantships. Average RA funding based on 2 students was $25,222.
• 11 students received Academic Assistantships. Average AA funding based on 11 students was $6,411.
• 28 students received internal awards. Average internal award funding based on 28 students was $16,129.
• 6 students received external awards. Average external award funding based on 6 students was $32,500.

Scholarships & awards (merit-based funding)

All applicants are encouraged to review the awards listing to identify potential opportunities to fund their graduate education. The database lists merit-based scholarships and awards and allows for filtering by various criteria, such as domestic vs. international or degree level.

Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA)

Many professors are able to provide Research Assistantships (GRA) from their research grants to support full-time graduate students studying under their supervision. The duties constitute part of the student's graduate degree requirements. A Graduate Research Assistantship is considered a form of fellowship for a period of graduate study and is therefore not covered by a collective agreement. Stipends vary widely, and are dependent on the field of study and the type of research grant from which the assistantship is being funded.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA)

Graduate programs may have Teaching Assistantships available for registered full-time graduate students. Full teaching assistantships involve 12 hours work per week in preparation, lecturing, or laboratory instruction although many graduate programs offer partial TA appointments at less than 12 hours per week. Teaching assistantship rates are set by collective bargaining between the University and the Teaching Assistants' Union .

Graduate Academic Assistantships (GAA)

Academic Assistantships are employment opportunities to perform work that is relevant to the university or to an individual faculty member, but not to support the student’s graduate research and thesis. Wages are considered regular earnings and when paid monthly, include vacation pay.

Financial aid (need-based funding)

Canadian and US applicants may qualify for governmental loans to finance their studies. Please review eligibility and types of loans .

All students may be able to access private sector or bank loans.

Foreign government scholarships

Many foreign governments provide support to their citizens in pursuing education abroad. International applicants should check the various governmental resources in their home country, such as the Department of Education, for available scholarships.

Working while studying

The possibility to pursue work to supplement income may depend on the demands the program has on students. It should be carefully weighed if work leads to prolonged program durations or whether work placements can be meaningfully embedded into a program.

International students enrolled as full-time students with a valid study permit can work on campus for unlimited hours and work off-campus for no more than 20 hours a week.

A good starting point to explore student jobs is the UBC Work Learn program or a Co-Op placement .

Tax credits and RRSP withdrawals

Students with taxable income in Canada may be able to claim federal or provincial tax credits.

Canadian residents with RRSP accounts may be able to use the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) which allows students to withdraw amounts from their registered retirement savings plan (RRSPs) to finance full-time training or education for themselves or their partner.

Please review Filing taxes in Canada on the student services website for more information.

Cost Estimator

Applicants have access to the cost estimator to develop a financial plan that takes into account various income sources and expenses.

Career Outcomes

34 students graduated between 2005 and 2013: 1 is in a non-salaried situation; for 0 we have no data (based on research conducted between Feb-May 2016). For the remaining 33 graduates:

Sample Employers in Higher Education

Sample employers outside higher education, sample job titles outside higher education, phd career outcome survey, career options.

Graduates of our PhD Program have advanced competencies in nursing research and scholarship, research team participation and management, interdisciplinary collaboration, teaching, entrepreneurship, and translating results to action. They are innovative in their approaches to finding solutions to problems in nursing and healthcare delivery. Our graduates follow a long tradition of being recognized leaders in the field of nursing, who are working to advance the profession for future generations. Graduates take leadership roles within the health authorities or business and faculty positions at university and colleges worldwide.

Alumni on Success

Heather McDonald

Job Title Health Director

Employer Seabird Island Band

Sandra Lauck

Job Title Clinician Scientist

Employer St. Paul's Hospital

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

These statistics show data for the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD). Data are separated for each degree program combination. You may view data for other degree options in the respective program profile.

ENROLMENT DATA

Completion rates & times.

• Research Supervisors

Advice and insights from UBC Faculty on reaching out to supervisors

These videos contain some general advice from faculty across UBC on finding and reaching out to a supervisor. They are not program specific.

This list shows faculty members with full supervisory privileges who are affiliated with this program. It is not a comprehensive list of all potential supervisors as faculty from other programs or faculty members without full supervisory privileges can request approvals to supervise graduate students in this program.

• Abdulai, Fatawu (Clinical nursing, primary (preventive care); Health informatics; human-computer interaction; Health technology design; Informatics/Digital health; Sexual health equity)
• Baumbusch, Jennifer (long-term residential care, family caregiving, Intellectual Disability, nursing care of older adults )
• Boschma, Geertje (History of nursing and health care, with special emphasis on mental health and mental health nursing)
• Brown, Helen Jean (Maternal-infant and women)
• Browne, Annette (Health inequalities, indigenous peoples, women's health, cultural safety, primary health care interventions to improve health outcomes, marginalized populations, health policy)
• Bungay, Vicky (sexuality, sex work, harm reduction, drug use, intersectionality, ethnography, communication technologies, community based research, Health inequities affecting men and women working in the commercial sex industry and people who are street-involved, leadership, public health nursing, mental health, sexual health, HIV, and harm reduction programming)
• Campbell, Suzanne (Clinical nursing, primary (preventive care); lactation support; interprofessional health professional education; health communication; Interpersonal Communication; leadership in nursing; Community Health / Public Health; Health Promotion; Educational Technologies; Health Care Technologies; simulation nursing education; social determinants of health; Adult Education and Continuing Education; global maternal-infant-child health)
• Clark, Drew (Health sciences; healthcare ethics; Health Equity; healthcare decision making; transgender health)
• Currie, Leanne (Nursing; Health Care Technologies; Health information systems; Artificial Intelligence; Biomedical Technologies; decision making; Computer Architecture; Software Development; Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare; Biomedical and Health Informatics; data science; Human Computer Interaction and Design)
• Dahinten, Susan (Social determinants and processes of child development, identification, intervention and the prevention of developmental problems)
• Dev, Rubee (Pediatrics and reproductive medicine, n.e.c.; Nursing; women's health; maternal & child health; sexual & reproductive health; chronic disease prevention & management; health system & services)
• Garrett, Bernard Mark (Nursing; Health Care Technologies; Ethics and Health; Deception in Healthcare; Media Influence on Behavior; Virtual Reality (VR); Augmented reality; Evidence-based practice; Alternative Medicine; CAM; Healthcare Regulation)
• Haase, Kristen (Nursing, n.e.c.; oncology; Older Adults; Geriatric oncology; Health systems research; Mixed Methods Research; Qualitative research; Self-management; E-health)
• Havaei, Farinaz (Nursing; factors that influence nurses’ ability to provide effective patient care; health human resource optimization)
• Hirani, Saima (Psychosocial, sociocultural and behavioral determinants of health; Mental health nursing; Social sciences; mental health; Mental health promotion; psychosocial interventions; Vulnerable Groups; social support; resilience)
• Howard, Fuchsia (health service needs of vulnerable, high-risk survivors of acute life-threatening illness, specifically, cancer survivors and survivors of critical illnesses; hereditary cancer prevention and risk management and psychosocial and ethnocultural factors that shape health and illness experiences)
• Hung, Lillian (Geriatric nursing; Medical and biomedical engineering; Impact of technology and environment on the care experiences of persons with dementia; dementia education; quality improvement; Participatory action research)
• Jenkins, Emily (optimizing mental health and substance use outcomes; collaborative mental health promotion strategies; health services and policy development and redesign; knowledge translation approaches; healthy public policy development)
• Lauck, Sandra (health service delivery to support the implementation of innovative approaches to cardiac disease, minimally invasive treatment of valvular heart disease)
• Ojukwu, Emmanuela (Health sciences; Social sciences; Humanities and the arts; Racial and gender health disparities and inequities; African, Carribbean and Black Immigrant Health; Women, Maternal-Infant, Youth Health; Psycho-social and Socio-ecologic determinants of health; Mental health, HIV/AIDS and other STIs; intersectionality)
• Oliffe, John (Care; Sociology and related studies; Men's Health Promotion; Male Depression and Suicide; Psychosocial Prostate Cancer Care; Smoking Cessation)
• Phinney, Alison (Capacities of older people for successfully coping with the functional consequences of aging and disease)
• Ramsay, Scott (impact of neurological disorders on children and youth, their families, and the health care system; health inequities; health and wellbeing of children and youth)
• Ranger, Manon (Neurodevelopment; Clinical nursing, secondary (acute care); neurodevelopment; Early-adversity; Biomarkers of early stress exposure; Brain development; pain; Prematurity)
• Saewyc, Elizabeth (Homeless or street involved youth, sexual minority youth, sexual exploitation of youth, discrimination, trauma and resilience., Youth health issues, stigma, violence, trauma, adolescent health, protective factors, sexual minority, homeless, immigrant, indigenous)

Doctoral Citations

Sample thesis submissions.

• Concussion among children and youth in British Columbia : follow-up visits and health outcomes
• Characterization and management of technology-mediated adverse events in primary and community care
• Development and application of destigmatising design principles in sexual health-related technologies
• Learning from experiences of peer support at an integrated youth service organization : a qualitative study
• Testing the theoretical framework of the Runaway Intervention Program
• Cervical cancer screening uptake and experiences of Black African immigrant women in the context of a comprehensive provincial screening program in B.C. Canada
• Nurses' enactment of equity-promoting practices in the emergency department : a discourse analysis
• Living as a young person with home mechanical ventilation : a critical narrative inquiry

Related Programs

Same specialization.

• Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Same Academic Unit

• Graduate Certificate in Clinical Informatics (GCCI)
• Master of Health Leadership and Policy in Clinical Education (MHLP)
• Master of Health Leadership and Policy in Seniors Care (MHLP)
• Master of Nursing - Nurse Practitioner (MN)

At the UBC Okanagan Campus

Further information, specialization.

The program focuses on improving health care delivery, advancing and applying nursing knowledge, and evolving health policy.

UBC Calendar

Program website, faculty overview, academic unit, program identifier, classification, social media channels, supervisor search.

Departments/Programs may update graduate degree program details through the Faculty & Staff portal. To update contact details for application inquiries, please use this form .

Bonnie Leung

The UBC School of Nursing is Canada's top-ranked nursing program and is internationally renowned for their contributions to nursing and health research, nursing philosophy and health system leadership.

Olivia Maracle

I have a BA in Psychology and Sociology from the U of A, but that was many years ago. As I no longer live in Alberta, the communities I know now are situated in Vancouver, so it made sense to complete my BSN and MSN at UBC. This is the University I personally feel most comfortable at. I have felt...

Sammy Iammarino

I chose UBC because of its reputation for high quality education and proximity to harm reduction environments that allow me to stay connected to my nursing practice. Studying at UBC has made it possible for me to be a PhD student, nursing leader in public health, and mama to two little kids. I am...

Eunice Bawafaa

I am drawn to the University of British Columbia’s Nursing program because of Faculty’s research expertise in areas of international nurse education, primary care areas, health leadership, community health, and health equity. In particular, my research interests align well with Suzanne Campbell in...

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Dates & deadlines

There are three entry points for many graduate programs: September, January and May.

Find entry points and deadlines for your program on its program overview page.

Important academic dates

The UVic academic calendar  is the guide to all programs, services, dates and deadlines. It also outlines regulations and other useful information.

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