How art can help us talk about the green transition
Elders, researchers and musicians are using art to get people talking about the challenges and opportunities of a transition to renewable...
Learn MoreApplicants to Master’s and Doctoral degrees are not affected by the recently announced cap on study permits. Review more details
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.
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
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.
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.
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Science.
Year | Citation | Program |
---|---|---|
2022 | Dr. Pryyma developed laboratory-based methods for the production of targeted cancer therapies derived from the death-cap mushroom toxin, alpha-amanitin. In contrast to chemotherapy, these therapeutics deliver cytotoxic compounds selectively to malignant cells, sparing healthy tissues and presenting a new approach to treating cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
2022 | Dr. Bevilacqua developed efficient algorithms for estimating and optimizing reachability and coverage on probabilistic graphs. Many real networks such as protein-protein interaction networks, peer-to-peer computer networks and online social networks exhibit uncertainty which may be modelled as a probabilistic graph. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
2022 | Dr. Mahon used genetic engineering to produce poplar trees that incorporate valuable phenolic compounds, called flavonoids, into poplar lignins. When flavonoids are produced in lignifying tissue, they are incorporated into lignin polymers making the lignin chains shorter and easier to deconstruct chemically | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
2022 | Dr. Ifill investigated how Bordetella pertussis, the bacteria that causes whooping cough, adapts to different environmental stressors. He identified several overlapping systems which regulate genes associated with survival and evasion of the human immune system, indicating how this pathogen may be responding to stress within the host. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
2022 | Dr. Roccor investigated how a bacterium can degrade the natural polymer lignin and the plastic polymer PET. His research helps us to engineer bacteria that can transform these waste streams into valuable products to replace petroleum-derived chemicals. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
2022 | In many real-world applications, data are collected as multiple samples from connected populations. Dr. Zhang developed statistical methodologies to jointly analyze the multiple samples. His research leads to more efficient and reliable data analysis procedures than some existing ones in the literature. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |
2022 | Dr. Li investigated the folding-unfolding mechanisms of four important metalloproteins at the single-molecule level. These studies revealed some fundamental principles that guide the folding-unfolding processes of metalloproteins in general. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
2022 | Dr. Sha developed artificial intelligence methods to make precipitation forecasts in British Columbia more accurate. Dr. Sha also developed a new method to automatically remove poor-quality observational data. Dr. Sha's research improved heavy-rain forecasts, hydropower generation and flood forecasting. | Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science (PhD) |
2022 | Dr. Islam studied epigenetic alterations associated with a subset of human lymphoid leukemias, which are the cancer of white blood cells. He identified key mechanisms for enhancer activation driving the oncogenic transcriptional program in those leukemias that might help to develop potential targeted anti-leukemic therapeutics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
2022 | Dr. Savard developed a Penning ion source using helium gas, with the end-goal of generating alpha-particles for medical accelerators. He studied the internal plasma properties of this ion source, in order to better understand how these ion sources work. This will allow for better optimization of these ion sources in the future. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |