FAQs

No, the MBiotech Program is offered on a full-time basis only.

The MBiotech Program is located at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus.

The MBiotech program starts annually in May. No other entry point is offered.

The MBiotech Program does offer its own electives that you may wish to enrol in. Further, IMI also has a host of electives that you may be interested in. Paper work such as an ADD Course form, usually needs to be completed and signed by both the student, the MBiotech Program administrator, and the host program department administrator. The MBiotech program will assist students with the paperwork however, it is the student's responsibility to research the electives for appropriateness, availability, and permission from MBiotech.

If you wish to enrol in an elective, contact mbiotech@utoronto.ca.

• 4-Year Bachelor’s degree in Life Science (or equivalent);
• Minimum 75% or higher in the final 2 years of study (equivalent to the final 10 credits completed at the time of application, for which final grades have been received; 10 credits is equal to 20 semester-long courses);
• Transcript (unofficial copy is acceptable for application purposes; if admitted, you will be required to submit an official copy);
• Letter of Intent (1-1.5 pages, single-spaced);
• Résumé/CV;
• 3 Letters of reference;
• General GRE test scores (international applicants only);
• English Language Proficiency Test Scores (international applicants only).

Please reference the BioPh Admissions page for full information regarding these requirements.

• 4-Year Bachelor’s degree in Life Science (or equivalent);
• Minimum 75% or higher in the final 2 years of study (equivalent to the final 10 credits completed at the time of application, for which final grades have been received; 10 credits is equal to 20 semester-long courses);
• Transcript (unofficial copy is acceptable for application purposes; if admitted, you will be required to submit an official copy);
• Letter of Intent (1-1.5 pages, single-spaced);
• Résumé/CV;
• 3 Letters of reference;
• Geneeral GRE test scores (international applicants only);
• English Language Proficiency Test Scores (international applicants only).
• YouTube Video (Optional)

Please reference the DHT Admissions page for full information regarding these requirements.

• It is a competitive application process with many qualified applicants each year.

  • BioPh: We currently receive 250+ complete/paid applications which are reviewed, and of these, approximately 100 are usually invited on campus for interviews in February. Of these, we admit a class of 42.
  • DHT: We received approximately 80+ complete/paid applications last year. Of these, approximately 40 were invited on campus for interviews in February. Of these, 16 were admitted.

This is possible and you do not need to submit two separate applications. If you want to apply to both BioPh and DHT streams, please enter your preferred program stream in the ‘Rank 1 Concentration’ option field on your application. Next, enter your second preferred program stream in the ‘Rank 2 Concentration’ option field on your application. You must declare a preference when applying.

Secondly, you will need to complete TWO letters of intent: one for each program stream. Please save these as one document and load it on to the ‘Letter of Intent’ section of your application.

Please ensure you reference the application requirements listed above, as some differences exist between the two program streams. 

Applications for MBiotech open in late September each year — the exact date can be confirmed here. If you are trying to access the online application prior to this date, please check back at the stated time.

If you have gone to the online application website and cannot access the online application, it is possible that your browser is incompatible or its security settings are too high.

The browser should be Internet Explorer 6+ or Firefox, and must have Javascript and cookies enabled. To enable Javascript and cookies in Internet Explorer:

1 › Go to Tools, Internet Options and select the Security tab

2 › Under Security level for this zone, click Default level.

3 › Select the Privacy tab and click Default. Click OK.

Applicants for the May 2024 start date should apply as follows:

— Note: Enter your preferred program of choice in the Rank 1 field. 

Applicants pay the SGS application fee and any supplemental fees from the graduate unit in the applicant status portal after submitting their application form.

When you first open your application, you will be asked to complete an applicant profile. This will involve entering your personal information, contact information, recent academic history etc. Once this profile is complete, you will be prompted to enter the names and contact information of your references. Once done, you will need to pay the application fee. Once the application fee is paid, a second tab/page on your application profile will become available. This page will outline the documents you need to submit and will provide links for you to upload them to your application. As such, you can only upload documents once your application fee has been paid.

Yes. You can still apply for May admission even if you are still working on your fourth year of studies. You must still submit an official transcript (with final grades from Fall semester) as part of your application.

If your application is successful, you will be offered ‘conditional’ admission to the program for May; the condition being your successful completion of the 4-year bachelor’s degree. This requires the submission of a second official transcript (upon successful completion of your program, after convocation occurs) indicating that your degree has been conferred.

Unfortunately, a 3-year bachelor’s degree does not meet the minimum academic requirements for Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto, with the following specific exceptions—

1. Those students who receive their bachelor’s degree from an institution in Québec, and who received advanced standing for the first year of their program by completing two years of CEGEP do meet the minimum academic requirements for Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto. In this specific instance, your bachelor’s degree is treated as a full 4-year degree due to the advanced standing received.
2. When combined with a Master’s degree (or qualifying year courses) a 3-year bachelor’s degree may meet the minimum academic requirements for admission. A qualifying year may be taken at any recognised Canadian university in order to meet minimum application requirements. A qualifying year normally consists minimally of 2·5 full course equivalents from upper year (3^rd/4^th year) courses in related life science programs (see below) with a minimum mid-B average in the qualifying year courses and no grades lower than B–. Please contact the Program Coordinator for further information in regards to this non-standard admission case.
3. If you studied outside of Canada, use the International Degree Equivalencies tool to see which international credentials are required for masters and doctoral admissions at UofT.

• BioPh: In order to succeed in this program stream, you must have an understanding of the molecular sciences. Examples of suitable courses would include: Fourth-year research projects, molecular biology, structural biology, immunology, biochemistry and chemistry. At UTM, examples of suitable courses would include: BIO314H5, BIO370Y5, BIO372H5, BIO477H5, BIO481Y5; CHM333H5, CHM341H5, CHM345H5, CHM347H5, CHM361H5, CHM371H5, CHM416H5, CHM422H5, CHM489Y5.
• ​DHT: Please contact the program office to discuss possible options, if needed

Please note that we will only be able to consider grades from qualifying courses that are submitted by the application deadline when reviewing your application for admission. Any grades received after the January application deadline will not be included in consideration regarding a qualifying year.

Yes, except for the University of Toronto. If you obtained your degree from the University of Toronto, you do not need to request official transcripts as the MBiotech can retrieve your official transcripts directly.

No, not for the application. If you are a UofT student (at any of the three campuses) you do not need to request an original transcript. You can upload a copy of your academic student record (which you can download from ACORN as a .pdf), rather than requesting a formal transcript. If you have requested a formal transcript, that is acceptable — it just means that if you are offered admission, you will not be asked for a copy at that time.

As part of your application, three letters of reference are required. Good choices of referees, in the following order of preference, would include:

• Professors or other key individuals familiar with your under­graduate research or under­graduate thesis
• Professors familiar with your third and fourth year academic history
• Employers with relevance to the biotechnology or science industry
• Teaching assistants, others

You will need to submit your referee information via the application portal as part of the application process, so ensure you have these details confirmed prior to opening your application.

The referee notification email is sent as soon as the applicant enters the referee’s information on the Recommendations page of the application. This is before the application form is submitted

If you need to change one of your referees, or simply update the contact information for your referees, please refer to the following PDF document.

If you have any other issues with your online application file, please do not hesitate to contact the Program Office. We’ll be happy to help you!

If you are a domestic applicant, you do not need to submit a GRE test or English Language Proficiency test. Due to restrictions in the system however, these requirements will be listed on every MBiotech application — we unfortunately cannot differentiate between domestic applicants and international applicants when choosing the requirements to list in the system. If you are a domestic applicant, simply ignore these listings on your application. In due course, I will go through and `waive’ these requirements for all domestic applicants.

Unsure if you need to submit a GRE or English Language Proficiency test? Please email the Program Office and we can help you determine your application requirements

If you are unable to submit your Letter of Intent it is because you are still in “Stage 1” of the application process and your applicant profile has not yet been submitted. During this stage, you are completing your applicant profile by providing Personal and Contact Information, your Academic History, the ELP Requirement Check (international students only), Additional Information, and Referee Information.  You will be able to submit the letter of intent later during the application process, once you have submitted your applicant profile and entered “Stage 2”. In Stage 2, you will be able to pay the application fee and begin uploading other documents to your application.

If you are applying to the Digital Health Technologies (DHT) Stream you are to submit your YouTube video (media, links to your submission video) in this section. The YouTube video is an optional component for those students applying to the DHT Stream.

No. Once you have submitted all of your documentation and application requirements, there is nothing left to do on your end; there is no ‘submit’ button. Your application will be considered complete by our office when all components are listed as ‘received.’

We usually notify applicants if they have been granted an interview by late January for the DHT stream and early February for the Biopharma stream. Please review our full application and admissions timeline.

• BioPh: For the science interview, you may choose to brush up on your basic molecular biology, biochemistry, PCR and principles of protein expression. Prepare for the business/interpersonal interview as you would for a job interview.
• DHT: For the science interview, you will be sent preparatory materials the day prior to your interview. These materials will form the basis of your science interview. Prepare for the business/interpersonal interview as you would for a job interview.