AI can tell if a patient battling cancer needs mental health support
Psychiatrists and computer scientists at UBC and BC Cancer have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) model that can accurately...
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At UBC Science, outstanding scientists and students strive to unravel the principles that underlie our universe - from the subatomic to the macroscopic, from pure mathematics to biotechnology, from ecosystems to galactic systems. Through the breadth and depth of our academic endeavours and the calibre of the people who make up our community, we take pride in discovering new scientific knowledge and preparing Canada’s and the world’s next generation of scientists.
A diverse range of highly ranked programs
With access to master’s and doctoral degrees through nine departments and 350 research groups, our graduate students work with world-class faculty to explore the basic sciences, and to pursue interdisciplinary and applied research across departments and units. UBC’s research excellence in environmental science, math, physics, plant and animal science, computer science, geology and biology is consistently rated best in Canada by international and national ranking agencies.
Committed to outstanding graduate training
UBC Science houses a wide range of prestigious NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Experience and related industry programs: from atmospheric aerosols to high-throughput biology, from biodiversity research and ecosystems services to plant cell wall biosynthesis, from quantum science and new materials to applied geochemistry. The options for enriched graduate training in industry related fields are almost endless.
World-class research infrastructure
Our affiliated institutes and centres include UBC's Michael Smith Laboratories, Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, Biodiversity Research Centre, Life Sciences Institute, Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, Mineral Deposit Research Unit, and TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics.
Top research talent
UBC Science boasts more than 50 Canada Research Chairs, 12 fellows of the Royal Society of London, and has been home to two Nobel Laureates. Our graduate students have won 15 prestigious Vanier Scholarships.
A diverse, supportive community of scholars
UBC Science is committed to excellence, collaboration and inclusion. Women account for 41 per cent of the Faculty's graduate enrollments, and the percentage of international students has increased to 50 per cent over the past decade.
Mission
To nurture an exceptional scientific learning and research environment for the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world.
Research Centres
Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology
- Biodiversity Research Centre
- Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research
- Centre for Microbial Diversity and Evolution
Computational Sciences and Mathematics
- Data Science Institute
- Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems
- Institute of Applied Mathematics
- Statistical Consulting and Research Laboratory
- Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences
Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
- Geophysical Inversion Facility
- Lithoprobe: Canada's National Geoscience Project
- Mineral Deposit Research Unit
- Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research
- Seismic Laboratory for Imaging and Modeling
Genomics and Biological Sciences
- Centre for High-Throughput Biology
- Geomatics for Informed Decisions Network
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics
- Michael Smith Laboratories
Human-Computer Interaction
- Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems
- Vancouver Institute for Visual Analytics
Life Sciences
- Centre for Blood Research
- Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
- International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries
- Life Sciences Institute
- Michael Smith Laboratories
- Neglected Global Diseased Initiative
Chemistry and Materials Science
- Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory
- Max Planck-UBC Centre for Quantum Materials
- Quantum Devices Group
- Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute
Physics
- Antihydrogen Trapping and Spectroscopy at CERN
- Pacific Institute for Theoretical Physics
- TRIUMF: Canada’s National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics
- UBC ATLAS Project at Large Hadron Collider
Sustainability
Research Facilities
Designed to inspire collaboration and creativity across disciplines, the new Earth Sciences Building (ESB) lies at the heart of the science precinct on UBC’s Vancouver Campus. The $75 million facility is home to Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Statistics, the Pacific Institute of the Mathematical Sciences, and the dean’s office of the Faculty of Science. ESB’s updated teaching facilities will help Canada meet the challenges of a transforming and growing resource sector. Just as importantly, the researchers and students working and learning in the new facility will offer a valuable flow of well-trained talent, new ideas, and fresh professional perspectives to industry.
Research Highlights
Receiving more than $120 million in annual research funding, UBC Science faculty members conduct top-tier research in the life, physical, earth and computational sciences. Their discoveries help build our understanding of natural laws—driving insights into sustainability, biodiversity, human health, nanoscience and new materials, probability, artificial intelligence, exoplanets and a wide range of other areas.
UBC Science boasts 50 Canada Research Chairs and 10 fellows of the Royal Society of London, and has been home to two Nobel Laureates.
Schools / Departments
Graduate Degree Programs
Recent Publications
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Science.
Recent Thesis Submissions
Doctoral Citations
A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Dr. Jo studied inviscid damping phenomena in mathematical fluid dynamics. He developed a derivative loss minimizing methodology that captures the extra stabilizing mechanism around certain stationary states of the governing fluid systems that are not inherently energy dissipative. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Gysbers calculated the properties of atomic nuclei using a first principles description of interacting protons and neutrons. He resolved a long-standing discrepancy between theory and experiment in rates of beta decays and improved predictions of nuclear reactions for comparison to future and ongoing experiments. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Adak identified and demonstrated, for the first time, activity of enzyme involved in conferring antibiotic resistance to certain Gram-negative bacteria. This identification may help in the pursuit of making effective antibiotics against opportunistic bacteria that colonise the compromised lungs of individuals suffering from cystic fibrosis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Whelan examined the genomes of a group of poorly-studied organisms called microsporidia. Their reduced genomes make them invaluable models to study complex cellular processes as there has been significant simplification. Overall, his research has broadened our understanding of the minimum requirements for cellular machinery. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Fatigoni contributed to our understanding of the early Universe by designing, building and deploying a Cosmic Microwave Background telescope at the South Pole. Her research was focused on understanding how to clean data from Atmospheric noise, so to improve the quality of observation made from the ground. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Luo developed several theories for understanding the behaviours of fluids described by a set of collective variables. His equations laid a foundation for rigorously performing coarse-grained simulations of complex fluids. These findings also enhance our understanding of fluctuations in small, open systems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Fatemi's doctoral studies focused on graph representation learning. She designed and developed machine learning models for graph-type data, such as social networks, and the internet. Her research helps to make predictions about the world by identifying patterns and relationships in data that would otherwise be difficult to see. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Newhouse used data from CERN's Large Hadron Collider to search for signs of yet-undiscovered "sterile neutrinos." He helped develop new algorithms and analyses to extend the reach of this search to new parts of the ATLAS detector. If found, these particles may answer several open questions about the fundamental nature of our universe. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Jiang showed how can we improve the accuracy of camera pose using deep learning based methods, specifically on estimating the homography and image correspondences. He subsequently designed a pipeline to reconstruct the scene and animatable human from a single video. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Ritch developed ways to use the DNA in blood samples from cancer patients to personalize their treatments. He used this technology to identify and study DNA defects that sensitize prostate cancers to specific therapies and integrated his methods into screening programs for Canadian prostate cancer patients. | Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD) |