Faculty of Science

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.

Faculty Website

Fact Sheet

Mission

To nurture an exceptional scientific learning and research environment for the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world.

678

Master's Students

(2023)
1038

Doctoral Students

(2023)
435

Graduate Degrees Awarded

(2022)
428

Full-Time Faculty

(2023)
111.3

million in Research Awards

(2022/2023)

Research Centres

Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology

Computational Sciences and Mathematics

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

Chemistry and Materials Science

Physics

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

Department

Graduate Degree Programs

Research Supervisors in Faculty

or browse the list of faculty members in various academic units. You may click each unit to view faculty members appointed in that unit. View the full faculty member directory for more search and filter options.

Name	Academic Unit(s)	Research Interests
Bertram, Allan	Department of Chemistry	Atmospheric sciences; Chemical sciences; Atmosphere (Including Chemical Aspects); Physical and analytical chemistry of atmospheric aerosols
Beschastnikh, Ivan	Department of Computer Science	Computer and information sciences; software engineering; distributed systems; cloud computing; software analysis; Machine Learning
Bizzotto, Dan	Department of Chemistry	Electroanalytical chemistry; Electrochemistry; Colloid and surface chemistry; Electrochemical Systems; Surface Characterization; Surfaces, Interfaces and Thin Layers; Sensors and Devices; Electrochemical and Fuel Cells; biosensors; electrocatalysis; fluorescence microscopy; interfacial analysis; self assembled monolayers; spectroelectrochemistry
Blakney, Anna	Michael Smith Laboratories, School of Biomedical Engineering	Biomedical materials; Medical molecular engineering of nucleic acids and proteins; Gene and molecular therapy; Gene delivery; RNA; Biomaterials; Immunoengineering
Bloem-Reddy, Benjamin	Department of Statistics	developing methods for evolving networks whose history is unobserved; distributional limits of preferential attachment networks; uses of symmetry in statistics, computation, and machine learning
Bohlmann, Joerg	Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Botany	plant biochemistry, forestry genomics, forest health, conifers, poplar, bark beetle, mountain pine beetle, natural products, secondary metabolites, terpenes, floral scent, grapevine, Conifer genomics Forest health genomics Mountain pine beetle, fungus, pine interactions and genomics Chemical ecology of conifer, insect interactions
Boley, Aaron	Department of Physics & Astronomy	Astronomy and Astrophysics; Planet formation, protoplanetary disk evolution, formation of meteorite parent bodies
Bonn, Douglas Andrew	Department of Physics & Astronomy	Condensed matter, high temperature superconductors, microwave measurements, crystal growth
Borduas-Dedekind, Nadine	Department of Chemistry	Chemical sciences; atmospheric chemistry; chemical mechanisms; atmospheric ice nucleation; Biogeochemistry; mass spectrometry; Photochemistry; indoor chemistry; atmospheric aerosols; singlet oxygen
Bostock, Michael	Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences	structure of the Canadian upper mantle, Geophysics, formation and evolution of the first continental landmasses, the structure and dynamics of subduction zones
Bouchard-Cote, Alexandre	Department of Statistics	machine/statistical learning; mathematical side of the subject as well as in applications in linguistics and biology
Bowman, William	Department of Computer Science	Computer and information sciences; Programming languages and software engineering; Programming languages; Compilers; programming languages
Boyd, David	Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs	Human rights
Bradbury, Hal	Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences	Chemical oceanography; Ocean biogeochemistry; Marine geology; Isotope geochemistry; Biogeochemistry; Paleoceanography; Chemical Oceanography; Reactive Transport Modelling; Carbon cycle; Marine Sedimentary Environments; Early Diagenesis; Biogeochemical Cycles
Brauner, Colin	Department of Zoology	Gas exchange, ion regulation and acid-base balance in fish, Evolution and comparative physiology
Bruce, Heather	Department of Zoology
Brumer, Harry	Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Chemistry	Biochemistry; Chemical sciences; Genomics; Biological and Biochemical Mechanisms; biomass; carbohydrates; cellulose; Chemical Synthesis and Catalysis; Enzymes; microbiota; plant cell walls; polysaccharides
Bryan, Jim	Department of Mathematics	Algebraic and differential geometry; Algebraic geometry, moduli spaces, enumerative invariants related to theoretical physics.
Bryman, Douglas	Department of Physics & Astronomy	Particle physics, experimental; Experimental Particle Physics; Applied physics; physics
Burke, Sarah	Department of Physics & Astronomy, Department of Chemistry	Scanning probe microscopy, organic materials, nanoscale materials, surface physics, photovoltaics
Bustin, Robert Marc	Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences	Unconventional Petroleum Reservoirs
Campbell, Trevor	Department of Statistics	automated, scalable Bayesian inference algorithms; Bayesian nonparametrics; streaming data; Bayesian theory; Probabilistic Inference; computational statistics; large-scale data
Carenini, Giuseppe	Department of Computer Science	Artificial intelligence, user modeling, decision theory, machine learning, social issues in computing, computational linguistics, information visualization
Cautis, Sabin	Department of Mathematics	Mathematics and statistics; Geometry
Chan, Kai	Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability	Natural environment sciences; Human Ecology; Ecology and Quality of the Environment; Social and Cultural Factors of Environmental Protection; Applied Ethics; Values and Lifestyles; Sustainable Development; conservation finance; Conservation science; cultural ecosystem services; Ecosystem services; environmental assessment; environmental values; incentive programs; payments for ecosystem services; resilience; social-ecological systems; sustainability science

Graduate Student Stories

Geoffrey Woollard

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)

Simulation and inference in cryogenic electron microscopy

Lorna Tu

Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Physics (PhD)

Predicting lung cancer recurrence after radiotherapy

Kabir Bhalla

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)

Contribution of polyphosphate to Cryptococcal disease

Sharada Balaji

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Characterizing white matter: Adventures with quantitative magnetic resonance imaging

Quanhan Xi

Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD)

Representing latent interventions in generative models

Mohit Pandey

Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)

Exploration of large chemical spaces with deep reinforcement and active learning

Betty Shea

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)

Optimization methods

Rama El-khawaldeh

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Computer vision for real-time monitoring and control of chemical processes

Alumni on Success

Bruce MacKay

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) [2004]

Job Title
Principal Chemist and Client Support Manager

Employer
Schlumberger Technology Corporation

Clement Cheung

Master of Science in Chemistry (MSc) [2014]

Job Title
Chemical Operation Technologist

Employer
Phyton Biotech LLC

Kevin Shopsowitz

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) [2012]

Job Title
Medical student

Employer
University of British Columbia

Peter Frischmann

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) [2010]

Job Title
Co-Founder & CTO

Employer
Sepion Technologies

Chang Liu

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) [2013]

Job Title
Research Scientist

Employer
SCIEX

Ryan Philippe

Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) [2008]

Job Title
Director of R&D

Employer
Manus Biosynthesis

Barry Po

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) [2005]

Job Title
Senior Director, Product & Business Development

Employer
NGRAIN

Jennifer Geddes-McAlister

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)

Job Title
Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Employer
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry

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.

Design and Validation of Guide RNAs for CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing in Mosquitoes

Publication: Cold Spring Harbor protocols
UBC Author(s): Benjamin Matthews (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 2024
Publication Date: 3 September 2024

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Validating Single-Guide RNA for Aedes aegypti Gene Editing

Publication: Cold Spring Harbor protocols
UBC Author(s): Benjamin Matthews (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 2024
Publication Date: 3 September 2024

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Re-conceptualizing climate maladaptation: Complementing social-ecological interactions with relational socionatures

Publication: Global Environmental Change
UBC Author(s): Leila Harris (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09593780
Volume: 88
Publication Date: September 2024

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Slip and stress in block-in-matrix shear zones: 1. microstructure and mineralogy of a serpentine-filled dilational jog

Publication: Journal of Structural Geology
ISSN: 01918141
Volume: 186
Publication Date: September 2024

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Molecular gas excitation in the circumgalactic medium of MACS1931–26

Publication: Astronomy and Astrophysics
UBC Author(s): Wing Shan Man (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00046361
Volume: 689
Publication Date: September 2024

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Search for pair-produced higgsinos decaying via Higgs or Z bosons to final states containing a pair of photons and a pair of b-jets with the ATLAS detector

Publication: Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
UBC Author(s): Alison Lister (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03702693
Volume: 856
Publication Date: September 2024

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An anti-mitotic compound, (+)-6-tuliposide A, isolated from the Canadian glacier lily, Erythronium grandiflorum

Publication: Fitoterapia
UBC Author(s): Raymond Andersen (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0367326X
Volume: 177
Publication Date: September 2024

View Publication

Spontaneous symmetry breaking of cooperation between species

Publication: PNAS Nexus
UBC Author(s): Christoph Hauert (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 3
Publication Date: 1 September 2024

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Surviving in the Hot-Neptune Desert: The Discovery of the Ultrahot Neptune TOI-3261b

Publication: Astronomical Journal
UBC Author(s): Michelle Kunimoto (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00046256
Volume: 168
Publication Date: September 2024

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Born suckers: the cibarial pump of Philaenus spumarius scales across ontogeny to ensure functional equivalence

Publication: The Journal of experimental biology
UBC Author(s): Philip Matthews (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 227
Publication Date: 1 September 2024

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The molecular basis of cereal mixed-linkage β-glucan utilization by the human gut bacterium Segatella copri

Publication: Journal of Biological Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Harry Brumer (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00219258
Volume: 300
Publication Date: September 2024

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Genome-Wide CRISPR Screen Identifies KEAP1 Perturbation as a Vulnerability of ARID1A-Deficient Cells

Publication: Cancers
UBC Author(s): Martin Hirst (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 16
Publication Date: September 2024

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IXPE observation of PKS 2155'304 reveals the most highly polarized blazar

Publication: Astronomy and Astrophysics
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00046361
Volume: 689
Publication Date: 1 September 2024

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A Fish-Focused Menu: An Interdisciplinary Reconstruction of Ancestral Tsleil-Waututh Diets

Publication: Journal of Ethnobiology
UBC Author(s): Villy Christensen (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02780771
Volume: 44
Page Range: 247-263
Publication Date: September 2024

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COMPACTNESS OF HAMILTONIAN STATIONARY LAGRANGIAN SUBMANIFOLDS IN SYMPLECTIC MANIFOLDS

Publication: Transactions of the American Mathematical Society
UBC Author(s): Jingyi Chen (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00029947
Volume: 377
Page Range: 6151-6170
Publication Date: September 2024

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Fission as a source of variation for group selection

Publication: Evolution
UBC Author(s): Michael Walter Doebeli (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00143820
Volume: 78
Page Range: 1583-1593
Publication Date: 1 September 2024

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Regional differences in leaf evolution facilitate photosynthesis following severe drought

Publication: New Phytologist
UBC Author(s): Amy Angert (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0028646X
Volume: 243
Page Range: 2457-2469
Publication Date: September 2024

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Improving staff wellness via an after-hours healthy sustainable meals program: A general surgery residency pilot

Publication: Healthcare Management Forum
UBC Author(s): Jiaying Zhao (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 08404704
Volume: 37
Page Range: 390-394
Publication Date: September 2024

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Mind over matter: the microbial mindscapes of psychedelics and the gut-brain axis

Publication: Pharmacological Research
UBC Author(s): Wilfred Arthur Jefferies (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10436618
Volume: 207
Publication Date: September 2024

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GWSkyNet. II. A Refined Machine-learning Pipeline for Real-time Classification of Public Gravitational Wave Alerts

Publication: Astrophysical Journal
UBC Author(s): Jessica McIver (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0004637X
Volume: 972
Publication Date: 1 September 2024

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The mitochondrial calcium uniporter inhibitor Ru265 increases neuronal excitability and reduces neurotransmission via off-target effects

Publication: British Journal of Pharmacology
UBC Author(s): Terrance Preston Snutch (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00071188
Volume: 181
Page Range: 3503-3526
Publication Date: September 2024

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Search for heavy Majorana neutrinos in e±e± and e±μ± final states via WW scattering in pp collisions at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Phylogenomic analyses of ochrophytes (stramenopiles) with an emphasis on neglected lineages

Publication: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
UBC Author(s): Patrick John Keeling (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10557903
Volume: 198
Publication Date: September 2024

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Uncontrolled reentries of space objects and aviation safety

Publication: Acta Astronautica
UBC Author(s): Aaron Boley (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00945765
Volume: 222
Page Range: 69-80
Publication Date: September 2024

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Multivariate directional tail-weighted dependence measures

Publication: Journal of Multivariate Analysis
UBC Author(s): Harry Sue Wah Joe (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0047259X
Volume: 203
Publication Date: September 2024

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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
2024	Dr. Ruder examined the conditions under which novel agricultural technologies can support transitions to more just and sustainable food systems in Canada. Her research offered new ways to evaluate impacts of technologies, made policy recommendations, and informed a toolkit of public scholarship resources for governing data and technology.	Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)
2024	Dr. Moerhuis investigated the timescales of closed-system crystallization of basaltic magmas within the Earth's crust using the 56 million-year-old Skaergaard intrusion in East Greenland as a natural laboratory, contributing to a better understanding of widespread basaltic magmatism in the North Atlantic at a time of significant global warming.	Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD)
2024	Dr. Li developed computational tools to discover and design novel antimicrobial peptides using machine learning techniques. His research provides high-throughput solutions for the development of novel peptide-based therapeutics to combat the escalating threat of multidrug-resistant bacteria.	Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)
2024	Dr. Zhang developed statistical methods to uncover hidden patterns in biological data. His research helped to unravel the underlying mechanism of complex diseases. In a study of pancreatic cancer, his method revealed seven gene programs related to cancer progression, which can aid researchers to develop more effective treatment strategies.	Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD)
2024	Dr. Oliveira studied a new class of surfaces of interest to researchers in different areas of mathematics and provided many previously unknown examples. His research contributes to an understanding of the deeper relationships between seemingly separate subjects.	Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2024	Dr. Sample developed methods to improve salivary gland dose constraints during radiotherapy. This included the development of medical image deblurring techniques, tools for locating salivary glands on CT images, dose response analyses, and tools for treatment planning with modernized dose constraints.	Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2024	Dr. Reid investigated topics in numerical relativity including the critical collapse of the Maxwell field and further developments of the Z4 formulation.	Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2024	Dr. Koniar developed and validated novel methods for assessing the in vivo biodistribution and dosimetry of actinium radiopharmaceuticals for targeted alpha therapy. Her research contributions will assist in the optimization of theranostic agents to deliver personalized cancer care in patients with widespread metastatic disease.	Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Physics (PhD)
2024	Dr. Tian studied how plants transduce immune signals from a major type of immune receptors. He revealed and characterized several essential proteins that regulate the immune pathway. This new knowledge has the potential to be applied to engineering resistant crop cultivars against a broad-spectrum of pathogens.	Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD)
2024	Dr. Su studied 3D computer vision for human digitalization, which converts real-world images and videos into 3D animatable avatars. His methods simplify complicated motion capture pipelines, showing a promising way for 3D avatar creations from everyday devices.	Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)