Ask a Senior Student!

SOMA is the official student association for the MiNDS program. SOMA’s mandate is to help enhance student life, build connections among MiNDS students and to be a partner in neuroscience outreach. Due to the multi-disciplinary nature of the program, MiNDS students are spread out across a wide array of faculties and campuses. Back in 2011, 5 senior MiNDS students created SOMA to try and bring together our diverse and spread out student body. This desire to create a strong student community lives on, and today SOMA is made up of a core team of student executive members from many different backgrounds. Be sure to look at SOMA’s new website (somamcmaster.ca) for more information about the association and upcoming events!

Question 2: It’s getting close to the end of my Master’s, what do I need to do to prepare for the defence?

Your defence is the pivotal moment of your Master’s. All the work that you’ve accomplished over the previous 1.5-2 years is on display. But before the big day can happen (and the process can be initiated), there are a couple of things you need to do. First, make sure to have a committee meeting. Your committee will ultimately decide whether or not you can defend successfully and they want to make sure you are prepared for the challenge. At this meeting, make sure to present a summary of your work and outline what you think the content of your thesis should be. Your committee will help you figure out if you are ready to defend, or if you need to spend some more time collecting/analyzing or writing up your data. Once you have the committee’s approval, download the Master’s thesis guidelines from the School of Graduate Studies’ website. McMaster has very specific formatting guidelines and setting these up right away will help you in the long run. Reviewing them will also help you create an outline to guide your writing. As you write different sections of your thesis, be sure to review them with you supervisor and committee members. Not all members will need to review your thesis piece by piece, but your committee members are an excellent source of feedback. Once your thesis is ready (i.e., you and your supervisor agree), your supervisor will initiate the defense process and help get everything organized. The last step for you is to prepare for your defence by practicing your defence presentation and reading the literature to prepare for questions from your examiners. Doing a mock defence with some of your more senior peers can also be helpful.