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The deadlines below are the latest possible dates to avoid extra fees and attend a specific convocation. These are set by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and cannot be extended.

Since there’s little room for delays, contact the graduate program coordinator if you’d like personalized deadlines or want to explore Completion Postponement Fee Adjustment (CPFA).

• Summer: to complete during the summer term for November convocation
• Fall: to complete during the fall term for June convocation
• Spring: to complete during the spring term for June convocation

Submission steps

Set a date & time for your oral examination

Schedule your exam early to ensure your full committee can attend in person. The external examiner may join by video conference.

Recommended oral examination dates (allow 8 weeks post-oral defence for any final edits and completion)

• Fall 2025: between October 6 & 17
• Spring 2026: between February 19 & 27
• Summer 2026: between June 15 & 26

Review

Review the PhD dissertation submission deadlines below with your supervisory committee. Submit draft copy of entire dissertation to supervisory committee for review and feedback. Your supervisory committee will want to see the entire draft twice and will need time to do a thorough review, so this should be planned well in advance with your supervisory committee.

Complete the external examiner form

Review the guidelines for appointing external examiners and submit the with 3 names, 3 proposed examination dates and times and your planned submission date to the graduate program coordinator by:

• Fall 2025: July 17, noon PT
• Spring 2026: November 28, noon PT
• Summer 2026: March 26, noon PT

Submit this form at least 4 weeks ahead of submission of exam-ready dissertation, ROE and other documents.

Your full committee must approve the nominees, their availability on date and time options for oral defence and confirm dissertation will be exam-ready in 4 weeks, or by the dissertation and required forms submission date.

Let the graduate program coordinator know if video conferencing is needed – they will book a room as required, and work on securing an external examiner for your oral defence. Once your external examiner is confirmed, the graduate program coordinator will send further instructions on forms that need completing in preparation for exam.

Note: do not contact nominees yourself – the graduate program director and graduate program coordinator will do this.

Submit an application to graduate

Apply to graduate by logging into My Page, going to the 'Graduation' tab and submitting the online form. Late applications will be charged a $10 fee. 

• July 15 (for November convocation)
• November 15 (for June convocation and those completing in December)
• February 15 (for June Convocation and those completing in April)

Create a UVicSpace account

Create a for digital submission of your final dissertation.

Share your final draft for review

Share your final draft—including title page, committee page and a 150-word abstract—with your supervisory committee for review. Committees often want to review the full draft twice, so plan ahead and confirm timelines with them.

Your final draft must be polished—proofread, grammatically correct and properly cited. Make sure it follows UVic's thesis and dissertation guidelines (using the UVic template may help). Complete and sign off all interviews before the exam. If your committee requests changes, revise and share the final version with all members.

Submit exam-ready dissertation & required forms

Submit the following to the graduate program coordinator by the date stipulated for term of completion (allowing 32 business days before exam):

• your approved disseration as a PDF (no content changes can be made after this point, until after the oral defence)
• most recent copy of your human research ethics (HREB) approval or waiver certificate(s), if applicable
• Request for oral examination form (ROE) – signed by your full supervisory committee
• Thesis/dissertation withholding form – if you plan to publish all or parts of your dissertation, submit this form to the graduate program coordinator
• confirmation of arm’s length status form — completed and signed by your law supervisor

Dates:

• Fall 2025: August 15, noon PT
• Spring 2026: January 2, noon PT
• Summer 2026: April 29, noon PT

PhD oral examination

The graduate program coordinator will give your supervisor the thesis/dissertation approval form to bring to the oral exam. The chair will collect signatures from all committee members and the external examiner after the exam, pending successful outcome. The graduate program coordinator will collect any required electronic copies afterward.

Get final approval

If your dissertation has been approved (with or without edits), review the external examiner’s recommendations with your committee and make any agreed changes, taking note of completion deadlines. Usually oral defences are scheduled to allow 8 weeks post-exam for any final edits. 

The following resources will be helpful to you when you are ready to submit your dissertation (especially the checklist):

• Structure and formatting information on the UVic website
• Thesis and Dissertation format checklist and sample pages

Activate your UVicSpace account

Once your committee approves all agreed edits, have your supervisor email their approval to the graduate program coordinator. Your UVicSpace account will then be activated.

GARO will only check the information on the title page. It is your responsibility (with support from supervisor) to ensure document is formatted correctly before uploading. Once your thesis has been accepted by UVicSpace, it cannot be altered or resubmitted.

Submit your final approved dissertation

Upload your full and final dissertation as a PDF to UVicSpace by the following dates: 

• Fall 2025: December 15, noon PT
• Spring 2026: April 30, noon PT
• Summer 2026: August 24, noon PT

Grad coordinator submits completion documents to GARO

The graduate program coordinator will collect final signatures and submit the dissertation approval form and recommendation letter to the Graduate Ó£»¨Ó°ÊÓ and Records Office.

• Fall 2025: December 19, noon PT
• Spring 2026: April 30, noon PT
• Summer 2026: August 28, noon PT