You should contact your referees two to three weeks before you are ready to apply to confirm they are willing to provide you with a letter of recommendation.  

You will need their work email address and current job title. This information will be entered in uoZone to send your referees the forms to complete.  

After you add your referees’ names and contact information, they will receive an email in 1 – 3 business days asking them to complete the online reference form. They will have 10 business days to complete the form.

The process takes place on a secure portal where your personal information is protected and only accessible to authorized staff, guaranteeing that your letters of recommendation will remain completely confidential.

Important: Your application will not be considered complete until all your letters of recommendation are received. You can keep track of completion of these letters by checking the statues of your checklist items in uozone.

Guidelines

• Your referee should be someone who can assess your aptitude to pursue Graduate Studies, for example:
  • Thesis director
  • Employer
  • Supervisor
• We do not accept letters of recommendation from family members, friends, students, former or current classmates, employees or teaching assistants.
• Letters of recommendation must be in English or French
• Provide your refereed with a deadline to ensure they submit their letters on time.  
• Provide work emails instead of personal email addresses, such as Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, etc.  

Some tips regarding a reference letter

Find important tips for reference letters.

 (Articles from the University Affair journal) 

• How to ask for a reference letter
• Confidence is key when asking for reference

Students applying to MPH or EAHR, refer to the advice on how to optimize your application.  

Applications for a master program 

Your letter of intent should be two to three pages and must address the following five areas:

• Research project: Indicate the field you propose to research. Be as specific as possible about your research goals.
• Preparation: Indicate your educational background and ability to deal with this topic (courses and seminars you took as an undergraduate, or any relevant research or experience).
• If possible, name professors who could potentially supervise your thesis and say whether you have contacted them. If you’ve applied for the MSc in Epidemiology, you do not have to name potential thesis supervisors because you don’t need this information to be admitted to the program.
• Mention your relevant experience (participation in an exchange program, work as a research assistant, lab work, etc.), as well as your career goals.
• Explain anything that might seem unusual in your academic history (for example, poor grades one term due to illness, time away from university, etc.).

Applications for a PhD program 

Your letter of intent should be two to three pages and must address the following four areas:

• Research project: Give a general outline of your research project, career goals and matters relevant to your chosen research field (definitions of topics, research hypotheses and sources).  
• Preparation: Mention your abilities and background regarding your proposed topic (university education, personal research, well-known scientists you have worked with, etc.).
• Name professors who would be potential thesis supervisors and say whether you have contacted them.
• Mention whether you have applied for graduate scholarships from appropriate bodies, and whether you have received them.  

Your resume should include all your publications, volunteer work and any scholarships you have received.

Consult the Language Requirements, to find out the acceptable language tests and minimum score required.

We have gathered tips to help you with your supervisor search.