Written by Erin Stacey

Thumbnail Photo by Shiromani Kant on Unsplash

For years, Saint Mary's University has been a popular university for the pursuit of an undergraduate degree. SMU ranks fourth among undergraduate-focused universities in Canada according to Maclean’s magazine's rankings. Furthermore, SMU is slated to be ranked fourth in 2022 and has continuously risen in the rankings over the past decade.

Additionally, Saint Mary's University ranks highly in other nationwide categories such as:

2nd in national awards won by students
3rd in medical and science grants for faculty
3rd in social sciences and humanities grants for faculty
3rd in library acquisitions and expenditures
5th in faculty awards
6th in student scholarships and bursaries

What some don't know is that SMU offers an equally diverse and engaging opportunity to receive your master's degree or even Ph.D. SMU has 27 master's and Ph.D. degree programs overseen by the Graduate Studies Faculty that spans across four disciplines, including Arts, Business, Sciences and Education. Each discipline hosts a multitude of exciting programs. For example, in the Master of Arts discipline, there are programs like an M.A. in Atlantic Canada Studies, an M.A. in Criminology, and a Ph.D. in International Development Studies. The graduate business discipline hosts programs like Master of Applied Economics, Master of Technology Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration. The graduate science discipline has programs like an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Applied Science, M.Sc. in Applied Psychology (Forensic Psychology Stream and Industrial/Organizational Stream), and an M.Sc and Ph.D. in Astronomy. Lastly, SMU offers a master's program in International Teaching of English, the only Education graduate program offered at SMU. As a result, once you are done with your undergraduate degree and are considering continuing your education, Saint Mary’s might just have the program for you.

The graduate programs offered are essential for a future master's or Ph.D. student, yet one of the most challenging decisions can be choosing a researcher with similar interests to your own. A supervisor is essential for a master’s or Ph.D. student, the supervisor acts as a mentor throughout your program, providing support and guidance. Luckily, SMU offers a directory of faculty profiles to facilitate the search for a researcher with expertise in a particular field. The directory has options for three faculties: the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Science, and the Sobey School of Business.

Each faculty member's profile is displayed by their full name. Once you click the profile, you can read a biography of the faculty member and look at their research projects and degrees. Additionally, the profiles have contact information, including their office location and email, to make it easier for students to find researchers in a field they are interested in.

Whether you are a student looking for a supervisor or you’re just interested in research, these faculty profiles contain all you need to know. You can also see the qualifications of the faculty members and their degrees listed at the bottom of the profile. For example, some current research happening at SMU in the Faculty of Arts is Diane Crocker's research in the Criminology department. Dr. Crocker has a background in using the law to address social issues, particularly those that affect women. Dr. Croker is also currently leading an evaluation of Nova Scotia's Standing Together Initiative, an initiative aiming to develop a provincial action plan for domestic violence within Nova Scotia. Her current research areas include gender-based violence, restorative justice, narrative research methods, and program evaluation. Two of her current research projects are the Evaluation of Nova Scotia policies and programs aimed at addressing campus sexual violence (funded by the Department of Labour and Advanced Education) and the Evaluation of Standing Together, a provincial government initiative related to domestic violence (funded by the NS Advisory Council on the Status of Women).

In the Faculty of Science, there is a lot of research being done in the field of Psychology. One of these researchers, Dr. Maryanne L. Fisher, is a professor in the Department of Psychology at SMU who is currently performing research on evolutionary psychology. Dr. Fisher's interest is in the effect of feminism, Women’s Studies, and Gender Studies on Evolutionary Psychology, answering novel questions that arise within the field. Dr. Fisher currently has three research projects underway, the first being on the evolutionary views of women, the second on understanding romance in popular media, and last on women's intrasexual mating competition. On Dr. Fisher's profile, she goes into more detail on her research interests which also include women’s same-sex mating competition and food studies.

Lastly, the Sobey School of Business has ongoing research in environmental finance, accounting, and economics. Associate professor Dr. Yigit Aydede is currently researching applied economics related to demographics, health, and applied microeconomics. Dr. Aydede's research interests are in population economics, genomics, unconventional data, chronic disease surveillance systems, and machine learning. Dr. Aydede uniquely uses a blog to publicize his work and display the latest methods in machine learning; his blog can be found here. One of his most recent projects takes a look into understanding micro-environmental factors and their role in local transmission rates of COVID-19. This project is a partnership between SMU, Dalhousie University, and Acadia University, using person-level data and advanced machine learning methods.

While these three researchers were highlighted in this article, many more researchers at SMU are conducting fascinating studies. So, whether you are an undergraduate student looking to pursue a master's degree or just someone interested in the ongoing research in their community, this directory system is the perfect place to learn more about our local researchers at Saint Mary's University.

All You Need to Know About Graduate Studies at Saint Mary’s University

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