Dear Student,

Welcome to the Graduate Program in the Botany Department. This form is intended to ensure that graduate students and their supervisors are in agreement about issues such as supervision, funding, research data & publications, and working conditions at the outset of the program of study. The terms outlined in this letter are in addition to the requirements covered in the Botany Department Graduate Regulations. Read this letter carefully and, if you have any questions, please bring them up with your supervisor promptly. After signing, this letter will be kept in your file in the Botany Department Office with a copy given to you and your supervisor.

The following are terms of the graduate student and supervisor relationship in the Botany Department:

1)   Supervisory Meetings.   The student and supervisor will meet with sufficient frequency so that the supervisor remains well informed of the student’s current research progress and the student receives necessary and timely feedback.   Formal meetings should be scheduled at least once per month (usually with a pre-set fixed time), but either the student or supervisor can request additional meetings as needed.   It is expected that informal discussions will occur frequently between the student and supervisor.   Students will be expected to present the results of their research to the laboratory group at least once per year. (Note: these meetings are in addition to the annual progress meetings held with the full supervisory committee).   

2)   Student Funding.   It is the policy of this department to guarantee funding for up to 2 years for MSc students, and up to 4 years for PhD students.   Students and supervisors are required to complete and sign the “Department of Botany Grad Student Financial Support Form” each year which specifies the funding sources (RAships, scholarships, TAships, etc.) that comprise the base funding levels for MSc and PhD students.   In order to maintain their eligibility for this funding, eligible students are required to apply for NSERC scholarships and UGFs (University Graduate Fellowships).   The student and supervisor must be in agreement before the student accepts any positions for pay.    

3)   Research/Publication conditions.   The s tudent will be provided with access to adequate computing and material resources to conduct his/her research.   Original data records and materials collected during the thesis research belong to UBC, the supervisor, and the student and must remain with the lab; however, students will be able to keep copies of the data upon completion of their program.  Students are encouraged to publish the results of their research according to the standards in their field.   Students must consult with their supervisor before public release of any data originating in the lab.   The student is expected to comply with all University standards and policies of scholarly integrity (; UBC Policy 85).   Failure to do so may result in being required to withdraw from the graduate program and other punitive actions by the University.   If a patent or commercial development arises from the student’s work, the intellectual property right will belong to the University (UBC Policy 88); however, income generated from the patent or commercialization will be shared between the University and the inventor, where the inventor includes all those, including graduate students, who contributed to the research results being protected and/or commercialized.   If, after one year of leaving the lab, manuscripts on the research results have not been produced by students, such manuscripts may be produced by the supervisor who will assign authorship at his/her discretion.

4)   Authorship Policies.   It is the policy of this department that authorship be based on level of intellectual contribution to the research, as determined collectively by the research team.   In many cases, the research supervisor is listed as the last (senior) author.   It is expected that supervisors will contribute intellectually to all manuscripts in which they are coauthors. Normally, the research team will discuss and agree on authorship issues before manuscripts are drafted.   If there are disputes about authorship and timing of manuscript preparation within the research team, consultation with the department Head is strongly encouraged.  

5)   Work hours.   Hours of work are at the discretion of the student and supervisor.   It is expected, however, that students will dedicate themselves full time to their research, studies, and teaching assistantships (if held).   A sufficient quantity of work will be carried out to complete projects, meet deadlines, and successfully complete courses agreed to with the supervisory committee.   It should be understood that students may often have to work outside of normal business hours (i.e. during evenings and weekends).   Non-University holidays should be discussed between the supervisor and student.