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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

Computational Sciences and Mathematics

Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

Genomics and Biological Sciences

Human-Computer Interaction

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
Chau, Albert Department of Mathematics Differential Geometry and Partial Differential Equations
Chen, Jiahua Department of Statistics Statistical theory and modeling; empirical likelihood; finite mixture model; sample survey; asymptotic theory; imputation
Chen, David Department of Chemistry Instrumentation
Chen, Jingyi Department of Mathematics Algebraic and differential geometry; Differential Geometry, Partial Differential Equations
Cheung, Wai Lung Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Global change biology; Ecological impacts of climate change; climate change; Marine Ecosystems; sustainability; biodiversity; Interdisciplinary
Choptuik, Matthew Department of Physics & Astronomy Theoretical physics, Relativity/Computational Physics
Chou, Keng Chang Department of Chemistry Chemical physics
Christensen, Villy Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Fisheries management; Global change biology; Ecosystem function
Chritz, Kendra Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Anthropocene, Onset, tempo, and trajectory of human impacts on biological processes and environmental change
Clune, Jeff Department of Computer Science
Cohen Freue, Gabriela Department of Statistics statistical genomics (focus in proteomics), robust estimation and inference, linear models with endogeneity
Colliander, James Department of Mathematics hamiltonian dynamical systems; partial differential equations; harmonic analysis
Conati, Cristina Department of Computer Science artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, affective computing, personalized interfaces, intelligent user interfaces, intelligent interface agents, virtual agent, user-adapted interaction, computer-assisted education, educational computer games, computers in education, user-adaptive interaction, Artificial intelligence, adaptive interfaces, cognitive systems, user modelling
Condon, Anne Department of Computer Science Algorithms; Molecular Programming
Cooke, Ilsa Department of Chemistry Role of icy dust grains in interstellar chemistry; Constraining aromatic and carbon chemistry during star formation; Observational Astronomy
Coombs, Daniel Department of Mathematics Mathematical biology; Cellular immunology; Complex physical systems; Epidemiology (except nutritional and veterinary epidemiology); Cell Signaling and Infectious and Immune Diseases; Cell biophysics; Disease models; Epidemiology; Immune cell signalling; Mathematics
Cronk, Quentin Charles Department of Botany Comparative genomics, molecular developmental biology and evolutionary biology to study plant form
Crowe, Sean Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Geobiology, biogeochemistry, microbial evolution
Cytrynbaum, Eric Department of Mathematics Bacterial cell division, Microtubule and cellular organization, Wave propagation in excitable media
d'Arcy, Mitch Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Earth and related environmental sciences; Geomorphology; Climate/palaeoclimate; Sedimentology; Geochronology; remote sensing
Dake, Gregory Department of Chemistry Organic, bioactive, metal as catalyist
Damascelli, Andrea Department of Physics & Astronomy Electronic and magnetic properties of condensed matter and supraconductivity; Electronic Structure of Quantum Materials
Dao Duc, Khanh Department of Mathematics Genomics; Mathematical biology; Neurocognitive patterns and neural networks; Agricultural spatial analysis and modelling; combine mathematical,computational and statistical tools to study fundamental biological processes; regulation and determinants of gene expression and translation; Machine Learning for Biological Imaging and Microscopy; Database development and management; Biological and Artificial Neural Networks for geometric representation
Davies, Jonathan Department of Botany, Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences Phylogenetics & Biodiversity. Development and application of phylogenetic methods in ecology and conservation biology
Dierker, Steve Department of Physics & Astronomy Physical sciences; Collective dynamics of condensed matter systems; Dependence on reduced dimensionality, strong interactions, disorder, and mesoscale structure

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Graduate Student Stories

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

Michael Yin

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)

Supporting and extending virtual entertainment experiences

Katrin Steinthorsdottir

Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD)

Feasibility of in-situ carbon mineralization in serpentinite via shallow injection, B.C., Canada

Aaron Klymasz-Swartz

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Physiological development of the amphibian gill; do the gills take on a dominant role for ion regulation before gas exchange as observed in developing teleost fish?

Becca Beutel

Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD)

Water mass variability on the northeast Pacific shelf and what this means for biogeochemical conditions under a changing climate
All Student Stories

Alumni on Success

Liam Spencer

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) [2006]

Job Title
Research Scientist

Employer
The Dow Chemical Company

Steven Huan Liang

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) [2010]

Job Title
Assistant Professor

Employer
Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital

Olga Pena

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) [2013]

Job Title
Research Scientist and Manager

Employer
UBC

Hannes Dempewolf

Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) [2012]

Job Title
Scientist and Project Manager

Employer
Global Crop Diversity Trust

Elitza Tocheva

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) [2007]

Job Title
Assistant Professor

Employer
Universite de Montreal

Ellen T Arena

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) [2011]

Job Title
Assistant Scientist

Employer
University of Wisconsin Madison

Adam Ford

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) [2014]

Job Title
Assistant Professor

Employer
University of British Columbia

Benjamin Good

Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) [2009]

Job Title
Assistant Professor

Employer
The Scripps Research Institute
All Alumni Stories

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.

 

Corrigendum to “The Muskox intrusion: Overview of a major open-system layered intrusion and its role as a sub-volcanic magma reservoir in the Mackenzie large igneous province” [LITHOS 474–475 (2024) 107560] (LITHOS (2024) 474–475, (S0024493724000720), ...
Publication: Lithos
UBC Author(s): James Stewart Scoates (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00244937
Volume: 484-485
Publication Date: 1 November 2024

View Publication
Bioregionalization of the subarctic Pacific based on phytoplankton phenology and composition
Publication: Progress in Oceanography
UBC Author(s): Brian Hunt (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00796611
Volume: 228
Publication Date: November 2024

View Publication
Search for pair production of boosted Higgs bosons via vector-boson fusion in the bb¯bb¯ final state using pp collisions at s=13TeV with the ATLAS detector
Publication: Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
UBC Author(s): Colin Gay (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03702693
Volume: 858
Publication Date: November 2024

View Publication
The carbon balance and water use efficiency of an intensively managed forage crop in the Lower Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada
Publication: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
UBC Author(s): Mark Johnson (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01681923
Volume: 357
Publication Date: 15 October 2024

View Publication
On the invertibility of matrices with a double saddle-point structure
Publication: Linear Algebra and Its Applications
UBC Author(s): Chen Greif (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00243795
Volume: 699
Page Range: 403-420
Publication Date: 15 October 2024

View Publication
Atomic cluster expansion without self-interaction
Publication: Journal of Computational Physics
UBC Author(s): Christoph Ortner (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00219991
Volume: 515
Publication Date: 15 October 2024

View Publication
Differences in brain structure and cognitive performance between patients with long-COVID and those with normal recovery
Publication: NeuroImage
UBC Author(s): Vesna Sossi (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10538119
Volume: 300
Publication Date: 15 October 2024

View Publication
Beyond material dimensions of water insecurity: Gendered subjectivities, senses of community, and renewed political possibilities
Publication: Routledge Handbook of Gender and Water Governance
UBC Author(s): Leila Harris (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
Page Range: 388-400
Publication Date: 1 October 2024

View Publication
Heat kernel for reflected diffusion and extension property on uniform domains
Publication: Probability Theory and Related Fields
UBC Author(s): Mathav Murugan (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01788051
Volume: 190
Page Range: 543-599
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
Ultramafic melt viscosity: A model
Publication: Earth and Planetary Science Letters
UBC Author(s): James Kelly Russell (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0012821X
Volume: 643
Publication Date: 1 October 2024

View Publication
Implicit and explicit commonsense for multi-sentence video captioning
Publication: Computer Vision and Image Understanding
UBC Author(s): Leonid Sigal (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10773142
Volume: 247
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
THRESHOLD EVEN SOLUTIONS TO THE NONLINEAR SCHRÖDINGER EQUATION WITH DELTA POTENTIAL AT HIGH FREQUENCIES
Publication: Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems- Series A
UBC Author(s): Stephen James Gustafson (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10780947
Volume: 44
Page Range: 3135-3176
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
Generative AI in Software Engineering Must Be Human-Centered: The Copenhagen Manifesto
Publication: Journal of Systems and Software
UBC Author(s): Reid Holmes (Computer Science / Faculty of Science), Gail Murphy (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01641212
Volume: 216
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
Ambient mass spectrometry imaging of food natural products by angled direct analysis in real time high-resolution mass spectrometry
Publication: Food Chemistry
UBC Author(s): David Chen (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03088146
Volume: 454
Publication Date: 1 October 2024

View Publication
Hidden gems: Scattered knowledge hampered freshwater jellyfish research over the past one-and-a-half centuries
Publication: Ecology and Evolution
UBC Author(s): Yevhenii Pakhomov (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 14
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health-care use among patients with cancer in England, UK: a comprehensive phase-by-phase time-series analysis across attendance types for 38 cancers
Publication: The Lancet Digital Health
UBC Author(s): Kayla King (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 6
Page Range: e691-e704
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
Delivery vehicle and route of administration influences self-amplifying RNA biodistribution, expression kinetics, and reactogenicity
Publication: Journal of Controlled Release
UBC Author(s): Anna Blakney (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01683659
Volume: 374
Page Range: 28-38
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
Defense Heterogeneity in Host Populations Gives Rise to Pathogen Diversity
Publication: The American naturalist
UBC Author(s): Kayla King (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 204
Page Range: 370-380
Publication Date: 1 October 2024

View Publication
Multiphase flow modelling of gas migration from a hypothetical integrity-compromised petroleum well in the peace region of North-eastern British Columbia, Canada
Publication: International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control
UBC Author(s): Roger Beckie (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 17505836
Volume: 138
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
Fungal endophytes can modulate plant invasion
Publication: Biological Reviews
UBC Author(s): Quentin Charles Cronk (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14647931
Volume: 99
Page Range: 1652-1671
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
Intraspecific variation in thermal performance curves for early development in Fundulus heteroclitus
Publication: Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology
UBC Author(s): Patricia Schulte (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 24715638
Volume: 341
Page Range: 827-844
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
GRADIENT ESTIMATES FOR THE NON-STATIONARY STOKES SYSTEM WITH THE NAVIER BOUNDARY CONDITION
Publication: Communications on Pure and Applied Analysis
UBC Author(s): Tai-Peng Tsai (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 15340392
Volume: 23
Page Range: 1483-1505
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
A practical approach to meeting national obligations for sustainable trade under CITES
Publication: Conservation Biology
UBC Author(s): Amanda Vincent (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 08888892
Volume: 38
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
Slip and stress in block-in-matrix shear zones: 2. numerical modelling of a serpentine-filled dilational jog
Publication: Journal of Structural Geology
UBC Author(s): Matthew Tarling (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01918141
Volume: 187
Publication Date: October 2024

View Publication
Stable isotopes (O, H) and quartz geochemistry provide insight to melt source and subsolidus fluid:rock interaction in the Cretaceous Little Nahanni LCT Pegmatites (NWT, Canada)
Publication: Chemical Geology
UBC Author(s): Lee Groat (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00092541
Volume: 664
Publication Date: 30 September 2024

View Publication

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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 Deep in our coastal seas, ocean water moves, mixes, and transports heat and matter. The eventual fate of these properties supports, or sometimes impairs, the health of coastal ecosystems. Dr. Stevens investigated deep water pathways in Canada's seas, with implications for wastewater management and climate change mitigation strategies. Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD)
2024 Dr. Can's research showed that stacking two thin sheets of superconducting materials with a twist leads to a novel quantum phase of matter, called a topological superconductor. This discovery also led to an original design of a superconducting qubit, a device that can be used for quantum information processing. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2024 Dr. Carpentier developed a novel treatment planning technique for liver cancer patients receiving radiation therapy with real time tumour tracking. She created planning strategies and dose calculations that use the patient's anatomical information over their breathing cycle to ensure the organs near the tumour do not receive too much radiation. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2024 Dr. Vining studied how computers operate on geometry and shapes, and how geometric problems can be solved with discrete optimization algorithms. By combining numerical optimization techniques with combinatorial search frameworks, he devised new algorithms that solve challenging problems in simulation, computer graphics, and video games. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2024 Dr. Chignell combined human and physical geography to analyze the relationships among biodiversity conservation, water, and the politics of environmental science in Ethiopia. His work demonstrates how disparate methods across the sciences and humanities can be brought together to produce new ways of understanding and responding to complex eco-social questions. Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)
2024 Guided by members of the Nuxalk Nation, Dr. Gavenus studied the ways fisheries governance can affect food justice. She found that the governance of First Nations fisheries imposed by the Canadian State contributes to multiple food injustices. These findings emphasize the importance of reassertions of Indigenous fisheries governance to food justice. Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)
2024 Dr. Wei used biochemical and biophysical approaches to investigate the biosynthetic enzymes employed in the assembly of nitrogen-containing natural product molecules, including ±-amino acids Piperazic Acid and Azaserine, and nitroimidazole antibiotic Azomycin. The elucidated novel pathways and key steps lead to strategies for medicinal treatment. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2024 Dr. Ritschel studied the design of programming tools for end-users without previous coding experience. He investigated block-based programming languages and enriched them with visual features that help end-users write larger, more complex programs. His findings can guide the future development of more expressive end-user friendly programming tools. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2024 Dr. Hardman studied immunity to intestinal viruses. By contrasting related viral strains, subtle factors could be characterized which balance immunity between controlling infection and limiting inflammation. This work contributes to future vaccine efforts, and treatments for inflammatory disorders. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2024 Dr. Mirza explored connections between gut bacteria and multiple sclerosis (MS) in children and youth. He identified differences in gut microbes and genes between those with and without MS, noting a potential link between MS and high-fiber diets. His findings offer insights for future MS research and possible treatment or prevention strategies. Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)

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