UBC evolutionary biologist Dr. Dolph Schluter named AAAS Fellow
Internationally renowned evolutionary biologist Dr. Dolph Schluter has been elected to the newest class of American Association for the...
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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Dr. Kharouba showed that historical records can be used to study the influence of temperature on the timing of animal and plant life cycle events, such as flowering. The timing of these events was sensitive to temperature and differed among interacting species. These findings will be helpful in predicting how species will respond to climate change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. McCulloch's research explored methods for improving the performance of mass spectrometers. These sensitive instruments are commonly applied to the analysis of complex biological and environmental samples. Mass spectrometers provide valuable information to a wide range of professionals including chemists, biologists, physicians, and engineers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Labonté studied marine communities of an important but understudied group of viruses: single-stranded DNA viruses. Her research expanded our knowledge of their genetic diversity and evolution. She showed that they play a significant role as pathogens of marine phyto-plankton and micro-zooplankton that are at the base of the marine food chain. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Mohazab conducted research in Biological Physics. The mathematical models he developed help in understanding the underlying mechanism of the Protein Folding process, and make predictions on its rate. The research will help the scientific community towards curing many misfolding induced diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Iles studied the evolution of two ancient groups of aquatic flowering plants. He examined phylogenetic relationships and inferred convergence of sexual systems in relatives of the water lilies and gene loss in the pond-weeds. He also provided new estimates for the timing of diversification within these two groups. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Fazli developed efficient algorithms to enable a team of robots to move around a target area and perform sensing and data collection. These robots can be used in challenging domains, such as search and rescue operations, planetary exploration, landmine detection, area patrolling, forest or ocean monitoring, and distributed servicing tasks. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Morrison investigated cold molecular plasmas formed from highly excited nitric oxide molecules. This exotic state of matter presents an experimentally accessible environment in which to gain further understanding of correlated plasma systems--such as those found in fusion reactors, and interstellar space. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Heumann's research was in the field of number theory. Using mechanisms known as modular symbols, he constructed a framework that helps study special values of L-functions, which is a key concept in number theory. His thesis finished the solution to a problem that number theorists have been working on since the 1980s. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Bourdin studied the way in which water flow into hydroelectric reservoirs is predicted by different forecast models. She showed that better flow forecasts are obtained through model combination. The economic risk in hydroelectric resource management can be reduced by combining many diverse models, which translates into more affordable electricity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Edwards conducted research in optimization, the mathematics of solving problems efficiently. He described relationships between certain kinds of problems, and developed methods for splitting these into two simpler parts. This work may help solve problems in areas such as physics, finance, and computation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |