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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Dr. Leung found interactions between two systems that regulate gene transfer in bacteria. She also identified growth conditions that affect the expression of these regulatory systems and gene transfer. These studies contribute to our understanding of how bacteria respond to changes in environmental conditions with appropriate modifications to gene expression. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Beran developed techniques for discrimination of unexploded ordnance from metallic clutter using geophysical data. He showed how parameters of a physical model can be estimated from observed electromagnetic data, and how these parameters can be used to make discrimination decisions. These methods improved the efficacy and reduced the costs of environmental remediation of military munitions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Zhu developed an effective approach to obtain robust a-posteriori error estimates for discontinuous Galerkin methods for convection-diffusion problems. He applied this technique to derive a robust h-adaptive and hp-adaptive algorithm on isotropically and anisotropically refined meshes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Ahrens studied the depletion of tuna and billfish stocks globally using more suitable methods than had previously been used. He concluded that the losses were less severe than commonly believed, although many stocks are overexploited. A combination of fishing effort reduction and large spatial closures would maintain stocks at optimal levels and improve fishery value. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Sheriff examined the signature of fear in prey with respect to being attacked and/or killed by their predators. His research showed the fear of being killed varies with predation risk, and how it causes a decline in female reproduction and is passed onto offspring. Ultimately this may result in the inability of a population to recover even after a stressor has been removed. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Jong investigated rare divalent carbon compounds and combined them with transition metals to form catalyst precursors. This work contributes to the development of future catalysts that will be applied for the conversion of organic substrates into industrially useful products. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Delgado-Jaime developed a methodology and a computer program to process spectroscopic data to fundamentally understand the reactivity of ruthenium-based catalysts in olefin metathesis reactions. This work serves as the foundation to study and understand similar catalytic systems in chemistry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Merchant developed and applied new mathematical methods for determining spatiotemporal patterns associated with predator invasions. This work furthered the conceptual foundations of selection and stability of patterns following invasion, and the influence of non-local prey competition on pattern formation behind predator invasions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Rechisky used a large-scale fish tracking array to track very small salmon during their migration to the Fraser River in British Columbia. Using new technology, she found that the Pacific Ocean can be a dangerous place for young salmon, as survival for some species is very low during the first month at sea. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Code's new analysis and careful proofs will help experts working with time-varying processes involving abrupt changes--some spontaneous and some by design--to analyze, regulate, and optimize their behaviour. Potential applications of his work include robotics, pest control, finance and space navigation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |