Environment 3 (EV3) Building located on Waterloo's Campus, across from Laurel Creek.
Contribute to the creation of academic knowledge by developing methods, systems, concepts, and tools for sustainability management with the PhD in Sustainability Management program.
As a future sustainability innovator, you’ll gain interdisciplinary research skills, management approaches, strategies, and processes to realize sustainable outcomes within business, government and not-for-profit organizations and others.
You’ll be prepared for career paths both inside and outside academia, with professional development seminars available to gain and mobilize your knowledge and develop skills for careers outside of academia including government, business and not-for-profit organizations.
Program overview
Department/School: School of Environment, Enterprise and Development
Faculty: Faculty of Environment
Admit term(s): Fall (September - December)
Delivery mode: On-campus
Program type: Doctoral, Research
Length of program: 48 months (full-time)
Registration option(s): Full-time, Part-time
Study option(s): Thesis
Application deadlines
- February 1 (for admission in September)
Key contacts
Janine Graham
grad.seed-research@uwaterloo.ca
ESGTree was built on the simple principle of being the change we wished to see in the world.
Supervisors
- Review finding a supervisor resources.
Admission requirements
- A Master's degree with distinction (typically an overall average of at least 80%, or equivalent).
- Facility with research methods is expected, whether through the presentation of specific graduate courses or original research at the graduate level.
Degree requirements
- Review the degree requirements on the Graduate Studies Academic Calendar, including the courses that you can anticipate taking as part of completing the degree.
- Check out Waterloo's institutional thesis repository - UWspace to see recent submissions from the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development graduate students.
Application materials
- Resume
- Statement of interest
- A statement of maximum 500 words explaining your interest in and fit for the program you’re applying to, uploaded as a supporting document in the online application. Review the writing your personal statement resources for helpful tips and tricks on completion.
- Program-specific questions (PSQ)
- These are questions specific to the program you’re applying to. They can be viewed once you’ve started an application and are completed through a form in the online application.
- Transcript(s)
- References
- Three academic references are required unless a professional reference is specified.
- Proof of English language proficiency, if applicable
- TOEFL 100 (writing 26, speaking 26), IELTS 7.5 (writing 7.0, speaking 7.0)
Tuition and fees
- Visit the graduate program tuition page on the Finance website to determine the tuition and incidental fees per term for your program.
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Review living costs and housing.
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Learn about the PhD housing guarantee pilot program for newly admitted students in fall 2025 and winter 2026.
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Review the funding graduate school resources for graduate students.