Graduate Studies

• Reach out by email in a professional, concise, and personalized manner.
• Demonstrate that you've read their recent publications or know about their lab's research focus.
• Avoid sending mass or generic emails; faculty can tell and are less likely to respond.
• It's okay if they don't reply right away; professors receive many inquiries and may take time to respond or not reply at all.
• Be patient, respectful, and consider following up once if necessary.
• Hear what our professors said on how to approach them.

The best way is to speak with current or former students from their lab. We maintain a list of current students and alumni, which you can use as a starting point.

You can also access the list via each faculty member's page on our website directory.

While we can't share their personal contact details, many are accessible through LinkedIn, so feel free to reach out to them there for insights about the lab environment and mentorship style.

A strong research profile includes:

• Hands-on experience in research (lab, clinical, computational, etc.)
• Familiarity with the publication process
• Technical skills relevant to your area (e.g., Python for computational research; microscopy for wet lab)
• Evidence of initiative, critical thinking, and communication skills
• Funding secured through external scholarships (a bonus for potential supervisors)

Yes. Admission is granted if you are hosted by a supervisor that is core or affiliated with us.

If they are not on the two lists, then admission through BME is not possible.

Each department has its own course requirements, funding structure (such as whether scholarships come with a top-up), whether TAship is mandatory (BME is optional) and program options like internships for MEng students.

Choosing between BME and another department comes down to comparing these elements (and others) and deciding which structure best supports your goals.

We encourage you to explore and contrast the details to make the most informed decision.

• Keep your application clear and concise, draw on personal experiences to make it authentic and maintain a professional tone throughout.
• Statements of intent should be no more than one to two pages.
• Similarly, responses to faculty-specific questions should be kept to one to two paragraphs at most.
• Ultimately, try to approach your application from the perspective of the admissions staff, and help yours stand out from the hundreds of applications they review each year.

MEng students can pursue internships in hospitals, in industry, or in an academic lab. Occasionally, MEng students also work on their own startup idea with a faculty mentor to fulfill requirements for the internship course.

Finding an internship is a joint effort between the department and the students. BME provides professional development workshops and hosts an exclusive MEng job board where opportunities will be shared. Students are strongly encouraged to network and conduct their job searches in parallel.

Yes. Teaching Assistant (TA) positions are commonly available and pay around $46/hour (rate at 2025). This is dependent on the positions available.

The MEng is a professional, self-funded program. Unfortunately, there are no BME or U of T awards that currently support MEng students.

MEng students can apply for OSAP, obtain external funding where available, and can potentially supplement their studies by TAing with the First Year Office at U of T Engineering or completing work study positions.

Internship opportunities are sometimes paid, but compensation is not guaranteed. Roughly half of the internships may offer funding. Salaries can range from modest to highly competitive, depending on the employer and the nature of the role.

The MEng is a one-year, course-based program that may include an optional internship. In contrast, the MASc is a two-year, research-intensive program with fewer courses and a major research thesis, typically conducted in academic or clinical settings. For more detailed information, please visit the individual program pages on our website.

From a career perspective, it's difficult to say definitively which program will lead to a specific job outcome. We encourage you to explore our alumni directory to see where graduates of each program have gone. You can use keywords like "MASc" or "MEng" in the search bar to filter results by program.