Interdisciplinary Studies

Opportunities for Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies

Interdisciplinary inquiry is one of the core principles of the University of Calgary's Academic Plan. At the graduate level, our University supports multi-departmental and multi-faculty cooperation and collaboration to the benefit of our students.

1. Student-driven Interdisciplinary Programs

Students wishing to create an interdisciplinary research program for themselves may be accommodated in one of two possible routes (see below).

a) The Interdisciplinary Graduate Program (IGP) enables students to pursue interdisciplinary graduate research combining any three or four disciplines offered on campus. Upon completion of program students are awarded a Master of Arts, Master of Science, or Doctor Philosophy degree with a specialization that reflects the interdisciplinary nature of their research.  Visit the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program Web site or contact Pauline Fisk, the Graduate Program Administrator of this program, for more information.

b) The Individual Interdisciplinary Thesis Degree Policy of the Faculty of Graduate Studies (ITDP). Students engaging in graduate research through this policy are awarded the graduate degree offered by their home department with a specialization reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of their research.

2. Graduate Groups

Faculty members wishing to form a research group for interdisciplinary graduate education may do so under the Faculty of Graduate Studies Graduate Group Guidelines. Students who graduate are awarded a degree offered by their home program, with a specialization that reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the research.

3. Faculty-Initiated Interdisciplinary Programs

Special case graduate admissions are used on a programmatic basis for units that may not have sufficient number of students to make it appropriate to an independent full program. In particular, programmatic special case admissions are used to support collaboration in joint, or networked, research activities involving partnership between a number of Departments, Programs, Faculties or institutions to establish a strong research activity, or to support interdisciplinary research. Programmatic Special Case Admission proposals are approved as pilot projects, to ensure a program's viability and sustainability before forwarded to Alberta Learning for approval. As of yet, the website for Faculty-Initiated Interdisciplinary Programs is under development. Interested faculties or faculty members may refer to the Policy Document for more information.

4. Other Graduate Interdisciplinary Research Programs

Commensurate with the University's core principle focusing on multi- and interdisciplinary research initiatives, many other opportunities exist at the University of Calgary to pursue graduate education of this nature. Several such research programs are enumerated below. Students who are interested in one or more of them may wish to view the specific websites listed here:

Biological Anthropology 
Biomedical Engineering
Comparative Canadian Literature
Computational Media Design
Energy and Environmental Systems
Environmental Engineering
Immunology
Israel Studies
Project Management
Reservoir Characterization
Software Engineering:
  Computer Science (course-based)
  Computer Science (thesis-based)
  Electrical Engineering