Faculty of Science

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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.

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)
161.6

million in Research Awards

(2023/2024)

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

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 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 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 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; marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
Brauner, Colin	Department of Zoology	Gas exchange, ion regulation and acid-base balance in fish, Evolution and comparative physiology
Bruce, Heather	Department of Zoology	Evolution of developmental systems; Evolutionary developmental biology (evo devo); Arthropods; Novel structures; Production of morphological diversity by genetic networks; Evolution of genetic networks over hundreds of millions of years; Evolution of morphology over hundreds of millions of years; Appendages
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

Jake Felker

Master of Science in Microbiology and Immunology (MSc)

Investigating the antibacterial response of macrophages to Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Ana Mucalica

Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)

Interaction of drug nano-carriers with particle-laden blood flow

Carraugh Brouwer

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Label-free, mass-resolved single protein detection in real time using interferometric scattering microscopy

Sarah Ravoth

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Understanding diverse ecological responses to global change using insect food webs

Edward Sun

Master of Science in Botany (MSc)

Genomics and phylogenomics of mycoheterotrophic plants

Zoë Golay

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

The Impact of the Physiochemical Properties of Biomass Burning Organic Aerosols on their Multiphase Reactivity in the Stratosphere

Serena Formenti

Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD)

Investigating the Composition of Earth’s Mantle: Geochemical Clues from Hawaiian Volcanoes

Scott McNeil

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Cyclotron Production of Tb-155

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.

Long-insert sequence capture detects high copy numbers in a defence-related beta-glucosidase gene βglu-1 with large variations in white spruce but not Norway spruce

Publication: BMC Genomics
UBC Author(s): Carl Bohlmann (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 25
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication

Archaean continental crust formed from mafic cumulates

Publication: Nature Communications
UBC Author(s): Matthijs Smit (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 15
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication

Factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in unvaccinated children and young adults

Publication: BMC Infectious Diseases
UBC Author(s): Daniel Coombs (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 24
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication

Metabolic switching, growth kinetics and cell yields in the scalable manufacture of stem cell-derived insulin-producing cells

Publication: Stem Cell Research and Therapy
UBC Author(s): James Piret (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 15
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication

A diversity of novel type-2 innate lymphoid cell subpopulations revealed during tumour expansion

Publication: Communications Biology
UBC Author(s): Wilfred Arthur Jefferies (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 7
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication

Linear system of hypersurfaces passing through a Galois orbit

Publication: Research in Number Theory
UBC Author(s): Dragos Ghioca (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 10
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication

Unraveling the electronic structure and magnetic transition evolution across monolayer, bilayer, and multilayer ferromagnetic Fe<inf>3</inf>GeTe<inf>2</inf>

Publication: npj 2D Materials and Applications
UBC Author(s): Andrea Damascelli (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 8
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication

Wind and river effects on a coastal current in Chatham Sound, British Columbia

Publication: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
UBC Author(s): Richard Pawlowicz (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02727714
Volume: 309
Publication Date: 1 December 2024

View Publication

Using physicochemical properties to predict the impact of natural dissolved organic carbon on transepithelial potential in the freshwater rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) at neutral and acidic pH

Publication: Fish Physiology and Biochemistry
UBC Author(s): Colin Brauner (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09201742
Volume: 50
Page Range: 2619-2635
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication

PartwiseMPC: Interactive Control of Contact-Guided Motions

Publication: Computer Graphics Forum
UBC Author(s): Michiel Van de Panne (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01677055
Volume: 43
Publication Date: December 2024

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Microbial community respiration kinetics and their dynamics in coastal seawater

Publication: Science of the Total Environment
UBC Author(s): Sean Crowe (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00489697
Volume: 954
Publication Date: 1 December 2024

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Rethinking sustainability of marine fisheries for a fast-changing planet

Publication: NPJ Ocean Sustainability
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science), Daniel Pauly (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 3
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication

Up to 80% of threatened and commercial species across European marine protected areas face novel climates under high emission scenario