Frequently Asked Questions

BSc students in 2nd or 3rd year class standing without a specialization and eligible, are required, to apply for a specialization through the Faculty of Sciences Specialization Application. Students eligible to apply are notified by email in advance of the opening of the application. Please be sure to check the email you use for official UBC communication to be informed about the BSc specialization admission process. Once admitted to Integrated Sciences students will spend 2nd year working on their degree proposal. The degree proposal must be approved by 3rd year.

Priority is given to students who list Integrated Sciences as their first choice over those who choose Integrated Sciences as their 2nd or 3rd choice.

There are no specific pre-requisite requirements for the Integrated Sciences specialization.

Science students without a specialization

• Application Requirement: Students in their 2nd or 3rd year without a declared specialization must apply through the Faculty of Science Specialization Application.

• Priority Consideration: Students who select Integrated Sciences as their first choice will be given priority over those who list it as their second or third choice.

  Once admitted to Integrated Sciences students will start working on the degree proposal.

Applicants from other Faculties

Applicants must be enrolled in UBC’s Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree program. If you are planning to transfer to the BSc program, please contact Science Advising for assistance. More information is available here.

Double Degree or Double Major Applicants

 Students pursuing a double degree or major must have their degree proposals approved before their double degree or double major application can be assessed. The degree proposal process takes approximately 2 months to complete. This includes developing, writing, editing the proposal, finding a faculty mentor, incorporating feedback, a proposal review from a random faculty mentor (can take up to 4 weeks), and then the final approval.

The Integrated Sciences specialization emphasizes depth and interdisciplinary. Students create their own specialization requirements (with faculty approval). Integrated Sciences is an ideal choice for students who are interested in a very specific topic that crosses disciplinary boundaries and want to explore it in depth. The Combined Major in Science specialization emphasizes breadth and includes a laboratory requirement as well as a mandatory course in science communication (SCIE300). It is an ideal choice for students who wish to develop strong foundations in multiple scientific disciplines rather than specializing in a single science. 

With one-on-one help from a faculty mentor Integrated Sciences students develop their own curriculum, i.e. their own set of courses, based on an overarching theme of integrating scientific disciplines of their choice. The chosen curriculum must clearly integrate at least two disciplines. In particular, the curriculum must not substantially mirror any existing degree program. Integrated Sciences focuses strongly on integration across disciplines. To help students realize their integration Integrated Sciences offers a number of courses specially designed to foster integration through self-directed learning and hands-on projects. Classes are small and often team-taught to encourage participation and highlight different perspectives.

The UBC Calendar has information on pursuing a second degree. It may be possible for you to complete a second degree in Integrated Sciences under some conditions. First, your proposed areas of integration must be substantially different from your previous degree. Also, none of the courses you took for your first degree will have credit towards your IntSci degree. Finally, you will need approval from both the IntSci Director and the Faculty of Science to complete the degree.

Yes!

Integrated Sciences reserves seats for students who apply for the program through the Faculty of Science Specialization Application. These students will still need to complete an Integrated Sciences Degree Proposal and have it approved before they are promoted to 3rd year. If a student's Integrated Sciences proposal is not approved by this time, that student will be removed from the ISCI specialization.

While there are several differences, the main distinction is:

• Integrated Sciences: Students follow a single set of specialization requirements as outlined in their degree proposal. 
• Double Major: Students must fulfill the specialization requirements for both majors.
• Double Degree: Students complete the requirements for both degrees.

Contact an IntSci mentor once you have begun working on your IntSci Degree Proposal. You should have an idea of what you want to integrate and some examples of why your proposed integration is important. You should have done some research on courses that you wish to include within each discipline and have a good understanding of the Integrated Sciences program requirements and admissions procedures.

Choose a mentor whose specialization is similar to what you wish to integrate. Many mentors are able to advise beyond their area of expertise however it is most advantageous to have the guidance of an advisor whose area of research is similar to the topics you wish to pursue.

If there are no available mentors that match your area of interest we encourage you to contact any other faculty member at UBC. You should choose a faculty member who you have already been in contact with (for example, through a course or through working in a lab). Here is a link with information for prospective mentors. Please have your mentor confirm that he or she has agreed to be your mentor by sending an email to: intsci@science.ubc.ca.

In addition to those courses designated by the Faculty of Science to have Science credit, Integrated Sciences also accepts several "Honorary Science" courses towards your Integrated Sciences upper-level requirement.  Under special circumstances, IntSci may also allow you to count other non-Science credits towards your discipline credits. Your integration must be convincing and the course must be convincing in the context of the integration.  Further, there should not be any similar Science course that would suffice to teach the course material. Your curriculum must still satisfy both IntSci and Faculty of Science requirements. It may be necessary to take additional Science courses (possibly outside of your disciplines) to satisfy the upper level Science requirements. Integrating beyond Science may also present some challenges:

• The proposal may be less convincing as an Integrated Sciences program.
• IntSci students have lower priority access to restricted courses in other faculties. Contingency plans may be required.
• Science students cannot earn credit for more than 18 credits of courses outside of Science or Arts.
• Students who wish to include non-science courses within a discipline should be encouraged to consider whether a different science specialization with a minor would be better suited for them than an Integrated Sciences program.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies has set criteria for undergraduates to meet before being permitted to register in any graduate courses. An undergraduate student who meets all of these criteria may be allowed to take a graduate course after completing and submitting the enrolment form.