Doctoral Exam - External Appraiser Instructions
Overview
The PhD Final Oral Examination is the culmination of a student’s formal education, and the external appraisal is a crucial component of the exam. On behalf of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, thank you for accepting the role of External Appraiser. We are very grateful for your time and effort in this important academic endeavour. In this role, you are expected to write an appraisal of the thesis and act as a voting member of the candidate's final oral exam. As such, the candidate has been instructed not to communicate with you, the External Appraiser/Examiner, until the exam is underway.
Responsibilities
1. Write thesis appraisal (due two weeks before the exam date)
Send the appraisal as a single pdf document to BME Graduate Office
Thesis appraisals usually consist of an analytical and constructively critical commentary on the thesis, together with an assessment of the importance of the work in relation to its field. A synopsis is not necessary, since all examiners will have read the thesis, but if one is included, it should be very brief. Please end with an explicit recommendation that the thesis either be accepted or not accepted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the doctoral degree. Appraisals are typically one and a half to two pages long, single-spaced; many appraisers attach a list of minor errors. It is essential that we receive your appraisal in a timely fashion; otherwise, the examination will be cancelled. If it appears that this deadline will not be met, contact us immediately.
2. Act as an examiner
Send travel expense reimbursement requests to BME Graduate Office
(Documentation: expense form | instructions | checklist)
Attend the candidate's exam as a voting member. You will be invited to question the candidate sequentially with other members of the examination committee and to vote on the exam outcome. If you attend the examination in person, the Institute will reimburse up to $500 (CAD) of your travel expenses. Beyond this amount, additional expenses are covered by the candidate’s primary supervisor; thus, kindly coordinate travel arrangements with the supervisor if necessary.
Honorarium
Submit the honorarium form
The University of Toronto pays an honorarium of $100 (CAD) for an external appraisal of a doctoral thesis. We realize that this amount falls far short of being adequate remuneration for the work involved, but we trust that you will find the thesis itself interesting enough that you will consider the time well spent. Claim your honorarium using the link above.
Resources
Faculty directory
Core Faculty
We have 30+ core faculty members that span across cell & tissue engineering, clinical engineering, and molecular engineering disciplines.
Cross-Appointed Faculty
BME currently hosts cross-appointed faculty members across more than 30 academic units, partner hospitals, research institutes, and commercialization centres.
Emeriti
Learn about some of our retired faculty members
Research streams
Clinical
BME’s clinical engineers design technologies, devices and strategies for people with chronic disease, traumatic injury, disabilities and mobility limitations to help them integrate more fully with their environment.
Cell & Tissue
Research that has the potential to change how we think about disease and aging is happening at BME. Regenerative medicine uses stem cells and biomaterials to repair, replace or regenerate damaged tissue, organ structures and function.
Molecular
BME researchers are advancing disease detection, customizing drug delivery and improving health-care outcomes with faster and more precise technologies and systems.