Graduate Studies

Pursue a research-based master’s degree in a small, intimate environment.

The University has an active research community, driven by faculty with wide-ranging and varied research interests.

Graduate students work directly with their faculty supervisor on research. The program’s focus is on laboratory and field experience, which provides graduate students with an abundance of hands-on opportunities.

��ú graduate students are highly sought after by employers as well as doctoral programs because of the high level research and training they accomplish during their studies.

Looking to apply? Read the 'How to find a supervisor' page and then visit graduate studies admissions.

International MSc students' responsibilities and processes: refer to the information at the bottom of this page.

Departments hosting graduate students

Biology

The main areas of research activity:

More about opportunities for students in Biology

Chemistry and Biochemistry

The main areas of research activity:

organometallic and main group chemistry
medicinal, bio-organic, and bio-inorganic chemistry
materials chemistry
surface chemistry
environmental chemistry
green chemistry
plant/algal/microbial metabolic biochemistry
algal phytoplankton
molecular pharmacology
signal transduction

More about opportunities for students in Chemistry

Current research opportunities

The Litvak Lab research interests include fish ecology, biology and ecophysiology, spatial ecology and modelling, conservation, aquaculture and gene banking. To advance these fields, we study many species including shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, white sturgeon, lake sturgeon, zebrafish, tilapia, alewife, white perch, cyprinids, cod, and winter flounder.

2024-25: We are currently looking for 2 M.Sc. students. If you are interested contact Dr. Matt Litvak, Department of Biology, ��ú University, 53 York St., Sackville, NB, E4L 1G7, Canada--email: mlitvak@mta.ca. Lab webpage:

Dr. Irene Kaczmarska's Research Projects:

Biological Science

Sex and reproduction in diatoms.

Recent molecular phylogenies often indicate that general similarity in diatom species appearance does not correlate with their evolutionary relatedness. More conserved characters, such as sex cell development and reproductive processes may be better predictors of common evolutionary roots. Unfortunately, no more than a few percent of diatom species have had any aspect of their sexuality examined. The aim of the project is to address this gap in knowledge using molecular developmental and morphological approaches.

Paleoenvironmental Science

Diversity and ecology of the Oligocene diatoms.

Extant species of many members of the diatom class Mediophyceae (e.g., Cymatosirales) have relatively weakly silicified frustules which result in their poor fossilization and thus poor understanding of their evolutionary history. The sedimentary environment from the Oligocene Carpathian Flysh facilitated exceptionally good preservation and rich flora of such species. Both diversity and palaeoecological setting of these species during the Early Oligocene will be investigated and results will be placed in the context of the environment where their closest relatives thrive today.

Please contact I. Kaczmarska (iehrman@mta.ca) regarding the projects and Graduate Studies regarding admission.

International students, read more here about the typical processes and your responsibilities:

1) Financial considerations - International applicants for graduate studies in Canada will need to demonstrate that they have or are guaranteed to receive at least $20,635 (CAD) if coming to Canada as a single person (or a higher amount if family members are coming as well), in addition to their first year of tuition and travel costs. Read more on the Government of Canada .

2) Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) is needed before applying for a study permit – As of 2024, international grad students will now need to be assigned a Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) once they are accepted into the MSc program at the university. You will then send your Letter of Acceptance (LOA) and PAL along to the Canadian government when you are applying for a study/student visa. As part of the PAL, applicants need to provide details to the university from their passport (an image of the passport photo page). More Government of Canada PAL details .
Requesting a PAL from ��ú University: Once you have been offered a position in the MSc program, please contact gradstudies@mta.ca to inquire.

3) Visa end dates/extension of study permit – MSc students are responsible for ensuring that their study permit timeframe covers your full program of study, and to ensure that you apply well in advance (based upon current lead-time estimates which can easily exceed 150 days/5 months) if you require an extension to your study permit. Keep an eye on the info provided for a current estimate of processing times.

4) Before moving to Sackville, New Brunswick and before you can be paid your graduate stipend from ��ú – consider your needs for local housing, a Canadian bank account, access to medical services (for on-going medical needs and prescription continuations), travel and health insurance, etc.; discuss with your confirmed MSc program faculty supervisor and contact the International Centre (Christa Maston cmaston@mta.ca) for assistance.

5) Confirmation of Enrolment letters – don’t use letters generated in Self-Service, as those will imply that the MSc student is in a part-time program when, in fact, the item on your transcript noted as “MSCI 5990 Graduate Thesis” is our Registrar’s way of indicating your enrolment in the Master of Science Program (not just ‘one course’). Instead, request a letter from a Student Service Coordinator via advisor@mta.ca and you may want to contact the International Centre (Christa Maston cmaston@mta.ca) for assistance/to discuss your needs.

6) If applying for a post-grad work permit (PGWP), a transcript is required – for this, you probably want to ask the academic advisors to confirm in a letter that you are a full-time student because it would look like part-time enrolment on your transcript. For PGWP application, you typically need a completion of studies letter. This is usually done by our advisors (you can send an email to advisor@mta.ca when you get to this stage) so make sure you ask for both a transcript and a letter indicating you were a full-time graduate student for your PGWP.

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