If you are a newly admitted student, starting your first semester at McGill, we suggest you visit the Newly admitted International Student Services page. They have all the information you will need about preparing for your move to Montreal, Immigration, health insurance under the ‘Pre-Arrival’ tab.
We recommend you arrive a minimum of 1 week and at most 2 weeks before the start date of the term. This will allow you to deal with paper work, open a bank account, find accommodations and more.
You should inform the graduateinfo.aos [at] mcgill.ca (Administrative and Student Affairs Coordinator) of your travel plans as soon as you have planned your trip
Newly admitted and returning graduate students should bookmark the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies website as well as the Post Graduate Students' Society website. Both are particularly useful.
Current AOS Graduate Student list can be found here.
For information on student services available to all new and returning students as well as awards available in the department, please click on one of the tabs below:
Here we list a few of the many services available to all graduate students across the university and some specific to our department.
To access information on ALL student services available to you, we recommend you visit the Student Services webpage and the 'Student Support' section on the Post Graduate Students' Society page.
Counseling Services
The counselling service offers individual and group counselling. In previous years they have offered sessions to deal with test anxiety, organization and study skills, building self-esteem, living with loss, and various other issues which may be of concern to students.
Students who wish to see a psychologist, counsellor or therapist should visit Counselling Services in the Brown Student Services Building, Suite 4200, East Wing or telephone 514-398-3601. Students who wish to see a psychiatrist should visit Psychiatric Services in the Brown Student Services Building, Suite 5500, West Wing or telephone 514-398-6019.
For more information, please visit the Counselling Services’ website.
Career Planning Services (CaPS)
The McGill Career Planning Service (CaPS) assists students in their career development and search for permanent, part-time, and summer jobs, as well as internships, by providing workshops, individual advising, a comprehensive job posting service, and an extensive Career Resource Centre. In addition, counsellors are available to advise students on an individual basis.
For more information, please click HERE.
Office for students with disabilities (OSD)
The OSD works with students who have documented disabilities, mental health issues, chronic health conditions, or other impairments. These may be temporary, permanent, or episodic. Students must book an appointment with an Access Services Advisor to discuss their barriers and to determine what resources or accommodations will help to make their time at McGill a success.
For more information, please click HERE.
The Department normally provides financial support to all graduate students in the form of a graduate stipend. The value of the stipend varies according to the amount of external support received by the student and the fees to be paid. For example, out-of-province and international students who pay a higher tuition receive additional support from the Department to partially or fully offset this additional expense. Students with external funding (scholarships, etc.) normally receive a top-up to their scholarship, such that the total is above the typical stipend received by non-scholarship students. A number of Teaching Assistantships are also available.
Canadians and permanent residents are strongly encouraged to apply for postgraduate fellowships offered by federal and provincial government agencies such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) and the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies. International students are also encouraged to apply for external support in the form of scholarships or differential fee waivers.
For additional information, please contact the graduateinfo.aos [at] mcgill.ca (Administrative and Student Affairs Coordinator). Information can also be found at Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies page.
Departmental Prizes
The Stephen and Anastasia Mysak Graduate Fellowship was established in 2006 by Professor Lawrence A. Mysak, an Emeritus Professor in the Department, in honour of his father, Stephen Mysak (1906–2007), and in memory of his mother, Anastasia Mysak (1907–1978). It is to be awarded by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies upon recommendation of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, to a full-time graduate student pursuing research in one or more fields of air-sea interaction, oceanography or climate. The Fellowship is awarded on the basis of academic excellence. The estimated value of this fellowship is $15,000 per year, renewable once at the Master’s level, and twice at the Doctoral level. The Mysak Fellowship may not be held in conjunction with other McGill or major granting agency awards.
The Max Dunbar Award was established in 1985 by former students of Professor M.J. Dunbar in recognition of his teaching and research career at McGill. Formerly administered by the Institute of Oceanography, the Dunbar Award is now awarded by the Departments of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Biology, and Earth and Planetary Sciences, upon recommendation of the departments’ award committees, to a graduate student in any marine field of study with an outstanding academic record. The award value varies, but is normally approximately $1,000.
McGill University values academic integrity, which is fundamental to achieving our mission of the advancement of learning. To read more about academic integrity at McGill, please click here . The website contains information about the meaning of integrity, about how to foster it, and about the consequences of breaching it. There is specific information about requirements for citing the work of others, from both print and electronic sources. Students have the responsibility of informing themselves about these matters.
The AOS Society for our Graduates. Visit the website of the Council of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (CAOS) to find out about the many social and educational field trips they have organized for their members for this term.
CAOS organizes activities such as yearly summer barbecues and Christmas parties, game nights throughout the year and weekly happy-hour get2gether and coffee time. Furthermore, it promotes events like the departmental seminar series and Post-Graduate Students Society (PGSS) courses and invitations among its members.
Better yet, become a member of the CAOS council and help plan these events!