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...
Learn MoreCanadian Immigration Updates
Applicants to Master’s and Doctoral degrees are not affected by the recently announced cap on study permits. Review more details
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Dr. Kim's research utilized nanoparticles in bioanalysis, including in assays, as sensors and for cellular imaging. For example, Dr. Kim developed new nanoparticle-based probes capable of real-time and simultaneous analysis of 3 distinct enzymes, which will be useful for gaining better understanding of complex biological mechanisms. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2021 | Glass-forming materials are solid upon cooling but remain disordered on a molecular scale. Dr. Fujimoto has examined the near-surface molecular motion of two such glass-formers: a polymer and an ionic liquid. His characterization of these dynamics contributes to an understanding of the fundamental physics governing these materials. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Petroleum resource development has raised concerns about fugitive natural gas leakage into the environment. Dr. Chao's research advances the understanding of the transport and fate of natural gas in a typical groundwater system of Western Canada. Her findings address the potential environmental impacts of fugitive gas and contribute to environmental practices at sites impacted by gas leakage. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Morishige studied enumerative geometry, which classifies spaces by counting geometric solutions. She developed a method to compute invariants associated to a type of Calabi-Yau threefold. These flat 6 dimension spaces are fundamental in string theory as the hidden directions of space-time, and a central focus of research in mathematics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Kwong develops, tests, and implements a new technique for estimating zooplankton secondary production in the northeast Pacific. Her research highlights the importance of alternative hypotheses between zooplankton and higher trophic levels in ecosystem and fisheries models. | Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Hong studied the Morse index estimate of constant mean curvature surfaces. He found that the analytic index is bounded by the topological information of the surface. This discovery will aid in the understanding of stability theory of surfaces in Riemannian geometry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Morgan's work focused on the discovery of bioactive bacterial natural products using chemical and genetic tools. She developed a methodology targeting discovery of piperazic acid-containing natural products utilizing a combination of genome mining and nitrogen-15 nuclear magnetic resonance. This work will be applied to future discovery efforts. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Kodirov explored offering network bandwidth guarantees as a first class cloud service. He developed efficient algorithms to schedule datacenter network bandwidth, and proposed a methodology for their evaluation in a realistic environment. He also built a prototype, and demonstrated that it is feasible to price bandwidth in a competitive manner. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Barvalia has characterized the immune system using high dimensional single cell systems immunology techniques. He has discovered marked heterogeneity in myeloid cells and identified discrete immune perturbation states in Lyn kinase deficiency and colorectal cancer. His research can further guide the development of novel immunotherapies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Scurll developed new computational methods to analyze clustering in spatial and high-dimensional data from experiments in cell biology. His methods can advance our understanding of protein clustering on/in cells and of biological heterogeneity among cancer cells. He also conducted experiments to investigate heterogeneity among lymphoma B cells. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |