AI can tell if a patient battling cancer needs mental health support
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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Dr. Hadi's studies focused on the biochemical characterization of enzymes involved in the modification and metabolism of the bacterial cell wall. His research helped to highlight the importance and novel nature of these enzymes, and the results of his work will aid the future design of new antimicrobial compounds. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. De Zeeuw studied applications of algebra and algebraic geometry to discrete geometry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Omilusik studied the mechanism the body uses to detect invasion by foreign pathogens. Specifically, she demonstrated that HIV disrupts this mechanism in order to evade the immune system and eventually cause AIDS. These studies will assist in the development of therapeutics that boosts immune responses against viruses. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Ali has located a gene in a barley-infecting fungal pathogen that produces a small secreted protein and has furthermore proven that this gene causes the fungus to incite a resistance reaction. The outcome of this research will contribute to the isolation of resistance genes which can be used to generate disease-resistant barley plants. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Xu's studies focused on integrating databases from different knowledge domains. He invented advanced techniques to organize databases and enable them to collaborate for queries with optimized complexity. His methods automatically resolve conflicts among query answers, thus reducing human effort and requiring minimal computer resources. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Penoff studied the communication aspects of large-scale, parallel computer programs that execute across a cluster of computers constructed from off-the-shelf software and hardware. New communication features were added to existing open source projects, and the features were found to enhance the performance and reliability of previous approaches. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Klaus studied the symmetries of Spheres. This brought to the surface deep and beautiful connections between algebra and geometry. These interplays can be further exploited to better understand both algebra and geometry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Kim studied the poorly understood outer pollen wall of flowering plants and mosses. He examined genes and enzymes which generate the building blocks of the pollen wall, and discovered male-sterile mutants related to the pollen wall formation. This work has contributed to the understanding of the construction of pollen walls. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Riche quantified the seasonal circulation of seawater in the Strait of Georgia using sophisticated mathematics and a unique set of monthly observations taken over the years 2002 to 2005. He also quantified the seasonal growth and abundance of marine microscopic algae and showed that some of their nutrient requirements differed from estimates made in previous studies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD) |
| 2011 | Eszter Boros investigated a variety of acyclic chelates for the rapid and efficient coordination of radiometals. One lead compound, H2dedpa, was identified and further investigated for nuclear medicine applications such as myocardiac perfusion and cancer imaging. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |