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
De Martinez Gaspar Martins, Camila ,
Dean, Gillian Plants; Genes; Cell wall; plant development; Genetics; mutants; Cell 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
Ding, Jiarui Department of Computer Science Bioinformatics; Basic medicine and life sciences; Computational Biology; Machine Learning; Probabilistic Deep Learning; single-cell genomics; visualization; Cancer biology; Computational Immunology; Food Allergy; neuroscience
Dipple, Gregory Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences carbon sequestration, geologic fluid flow, mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions
Doebeli, Michael Walter Department of Mathematics, Department of Zoology Mathematical ecology and evolution, evolution of diversity, adaptive speciation, evolution of cooperation, game theory, experimental evolution in microorganisms
Eberhardt, Erik Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences landslides, rockslides, tunnelling, mining, rock mechanics, geotechnical engineering, Rock Mechanics & Rock Engineering
Edelstein-Keshet, Leah Department of Mathematics Bioinformatics; Mathematics and statistics; Medical and biomedical engineering; Cell signaling; Cell Signaling and Cancer; cell polarity, cell migration, developmental and cellular biology; Differential Equation; Mathematics; Modelization and Simulation; Rho GTPases; swarming and aggregation
Eltis, Lindsay Department of Microbiology & Immunology Biochemistry; Genomics; Immunology; Microbiology; Bacterial catabolism of steroids and lignin; biocatalyst development; Enzymes and Proteins; Metabolism (Living Organisms); Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Evans, William Department of Computer Science Computer and information sciences; Algorithms; theoretical computer science; Computer Sciences and Mathematical Tools; computational geometry; graph drawing; program compression
Fast, Naomi Department of Botany Genomics, single-celled organisms
Feeley, Michael Department of Computer Science Distributed systems, operating systems, workstation and pc clusters
Fernandez, Rachel Department of Microbiology & Immunology Bordetella pertusis, whooping cough, lipopolysaccharide
Fink, Jonathan ,
Finlay, B Brett Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Infectious agents, bacteria, microbial infections and how humans react to it
Folk, Joshua Department of Physics & Astronomy Physical sciences; 2D materials and Vanderwaals heterostructures; Quantum electronics; Thermodynamics of quantum systems; Strongly correlated phenomena; Topological phenomena; Quantum transport
Francois, Roger Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Marine Geochemistry, Climate Change
Franz, Marcel Department of Physics & Astronomy Condensed matter theory
Fraser, Ailana Department of Mathematics Differential Geometry, Geometric Analysis
Friedlander, Michael Department of Computer Science, Department of Mathematics numerical optimization, numerical linear algebra, scientific computing, Scientific computing
Friedman, Joel Department of Computer Science Computer and information sciences; Algebraic Graph Theory; Combinatorics; Computer Science Theory
Gao, Lucy Department of Statistics Statistics; Selective Inference; Inference x Unsupervised Learning; Statistics x Optimization
Garcia, Ronald Department of Computer Science programming language semantics, design, and implementation, including language support for library-centric and modular software development, generic and generative programming, and domain specific languages and libraries.
Garcia Lorenzo, Iria ,
Gates, Derek Department of Chemistry Inorganic chemistry, materials science, polymer chemistry, catalysis

Pages

Graduate Student Stories

Davi de Ferreyro Monticelli

Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science (PhD)

Cannabis cultivation facilities: Linking emissions and air quality to inform regulation

Katrina Bergmann

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Using conventional computations and quantum simulations to accelerate the in silico design of highly efficient optoelectronic materials

Emilie Carpentier

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Four dimensional treatment planning for dynamic tumour tracking on a gimballed linear accelerator

Jessica Koski

Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)

Implementation of Indigenous rights to lands & resources

Sasha Tuttle

Master of Science in Zoology (MSc)

The relationship between wild pollinator diversity and blueberry yield and quality within farmlands in Delta, BC

Atlanta-Marinna Grant

Master of Arts in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (MA)

From food 'waste' to food 'cycle: biocultural heritage and the sharing of oral histories

Aditi Pradeep

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Direct dark matter search using the first SuperCDMS SNOLAB detector towers

Gabriel Currier

Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)

Extremal combinatorics
All Student 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.

 

A pilot study comparing myelin measurements from myelin water imaging and <sup>11</sup>C-PIB PET in multiple sclerosis
Publication: Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders
UBC Author(s): Vesna Sossi (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 22110348
Volume: 68
Publication Date: December 2022

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On the stability of the Caffarelli–Kohn–Nirenberg inequality
Publication: Mathematische Annalen
UBC Author(s): Juncheng Wei (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00255831
Volume: 384
Page Range: 1509-1546
Publication Date: December 2022

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Spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking in twisted double bilayer graphene
Publication: Nature Communications
UBC Author(s): Joshua Folk (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 13
Publication Date: December 2022

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Single-cell profiling reveals a memory B cell-like subtype of follicular lymphoma with increased transformation risk
Publication: Nature Communications
UBC Author(s): Martin Hirst (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 13
Publication Date: December 2022

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Is the cholesterol-perfluoroalkyl substance association confounded by dietary fiber intake?: a Bayesian analysis of NHANES data with adjustment for measurement error in fiber intake
Publication: Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source
UBC Author(s): Paul Gustafson (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 21
Publication Date: December 2022

View Publication
Preprogrammed assembly of supramolecular polymer networks via the controlled disassembly of a metastable rotaxane
Publication: Communications Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Mark MacLachlan (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 5
Publication Date: December 2022

View Publication
Embracing imperfection: Machine-assisted invertebrate classification in real-world datasets
Publication: Ecological Informatics
UBC Author(s): Katie Marshall (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 15749541
Volume: 72
Publication Date: December 2022

View Publication
Trotter Product Formulae for ∗ -Automorphisms of Quantum Lattice Systems
Publication: Annales Henri Poincare
UBC Author(s): Sven Bachmann (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14240637
Volume: 23
Page Range: 4463-4487
Publication Date: December 2022

View Publication
Status and challenges for sustainable billfish fisheries in the Western Indian Ocean
Publication: Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09603166
Volume: 32
Page Range: 1035-1061
Publication Date: December 2022

View Publication
Search for Dark Matter Axions with CAST-CAPP
Publication: Nature Communications
UBC Author(s): Michael Hasinoff (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 13
Publication Date: December 2022

View Publication
Buffering new risks? Environmental, social and economic changes in the Turkana Basin during and after the African Humid Period
Publication: Holocene
UBC Author(s): Kendra Chritz (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09596836
Volume: 32
Page Range: 1373-1392
Publication Date: December 2022

View Publication
The phoenix hypothesis of speciation
Publication: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
UBC Author(s): Sarah Otto (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 289
Page Range: 20221186
Publication Date: 30 November 2022

View Publication
Synthetic data as an enabler for machine learning applications in medicine
Publication: iScience
UBC Author(s): Raymond Tak-yan Ng (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 25
Publication Date: 18 November 2022

View Publication
Entropy Engineering and Tunable Magnetic Order in the Spinel High-Entropy Oxide
Publication: Journal of the American Chemical Society
UBC Author(s): Alannah Hallas (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00027863
Volume: 144
Page Range: 20590-20600
Publication Date: 16 November 2022

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High-Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells with Sputtered Metal Contacts
Publication: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
UBC Author(s): Curtis Berlinguette (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 19448244
Volume: 14
Page Range: 50731-50738
Publication Date: 16 November 2022

View Publication
Channel-independent function of UNC-9/Innexin in spatial arrangement of GABAergic synapses in C. elegans
Publication: eLife
UBC Author(s): Kota Mizumoto (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 11
Publication Date: 15 November 2022

View Publication
Highly Tunable Ferromagnetic 2D Electron Gases at Oxide Interfaces
Publication: Advanced Materials Interfaces
UBC Author(s): Ke Zou (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 9
Publication Date: 14 November 2022

View Publication
Polarized x-rays from a magnetar
Publication: Science (New York, N.Y.)
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 378
Page Range: 646-650
Publication Date: 11 November 2022

View Publication
Polarized x-rays constrain the disk-jet geometry in the black hole x-ray binary Cygnus X-1
Publication: Science (New York, N.Y.)
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 378
Page Range: 650-654
Publication Date: 11 November 2022

View Publication
Transitions in the Learnability of Global Charges from Local Measurements
Publication: Physical Review Letters
UBC Author(s): Andrew Potter (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00319007
Volume: 129
Publication Date: 11 November 2022

View Publication
Decadal migration phenology of a long-lived Arctic icon keeps pace with climate change
Publication: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
UBC Author(s): Marie Auger-Methe (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 119
Publication Date: 8 November 2022

View Publication
Comment on "Manifolds of quasi-constant SOAP and ACSF fingerprints and the resulting failure to machine learn four-body interactions" [J. Chem. Phys. 156, 034302 (2022)
Publication: The Journal of chemical physics
UBC Author(s): Christoph Ortner (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 157
Page Range: 177101
Publication Date: 7 November 2022

View Publication
The future of fungi: threats and opportunities
Publication: G3 (Bethesda, Md.)
UBC Author(s): James Kronstad (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 12
Publication Date: 4 November 2022

View Publication
Protect global values of the Southern Ocean ecosystem
Publication: Science
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00368075
Volume: 378
Page Range: 477-479
Publication Date: 4 November 2022

View Publication
Seasonal dissolved copper speciation in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada
Publication: Frontiers in Marine Science
UBC Author(s): Maria Maldonado-Pareja (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 9
Publication Date: 3 November 2022

View Publication

Pages

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
2022 Dr. Kuanr has developed efficient catalytic routes for the feasible synthesis of nitrogen-containing small molecules and polymers. He further explored their applications in energy-storage systems and as corrosion-resistant materials. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2022 Dr. Zhang studied the effect of insulin and insulin receptors on pancreatic cancer. She showed that low insulin levels and loss of insulin receptors reduce the number of precancerous lesions, and identified some mechanisms in the process. Her findings add to our understanding on how obesity and diabetes increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD)
2022 Dr. Woodruff looked at different tools that fisheries managers can use to sustain productive recreational fisheries and how it is necessary to have trade-offs between fishery and conservation goals. Ecosystem models were created to examine the different interactions and consequences that can result while trying to maintain a stable ecosystem. Doctor of Philosophy in Oceans and Fisheries (PhD)
2022 Dr. Falcao developed new methods to analyze single-particle tracking data. She achieved breakthroughs in estimating the number of distinct mobile states, while showing how to properly correct for experimental errors. Her work substantially advances our ability to analyze biological dynamics at the single-protein scale. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2022 Dr. Trischuk analyzed proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS Experiment to search for clues left behind by a theoretical long-lived particle. No sign of this particle was seen in the data, which ruled out various new physics scenarios. She also contributed to the development of the next generation of ATLAS tracking detectors. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2022 Dr. Morgan-Lang charted the global distribution of microorganisms that cycle methane with software he developed for classifying proteins and inferring metabolic diversity of microbial communities. By linking metabolic function to organisms, these computational tools will help us monitor ecosystems as they respond to a changing planet. Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)
2022 Dr. Wilson-Gerow and collaborators have been developing a quantum-gravity theory. These theories unite the microscopic world, governed by quantum physics, with the macroscopic world that is governed by classical gravitational physics. His main focus is making theoretical predictions for a wave of upcoming, first-ever, quantum gravity experiments. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2022 Dr. Gagalova studies the genomes of conifers, conifer insect pest and cannabis to find unique markers of evolution. This research looks for genes and features in the genomes to make possible the feature applied research. Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)
2022 Dr. Byrne studied the complex dynamics of viral infections, examining how various viruses are transmitted and how elicited immune responses change over time. Combining methods of biological data collection and mathematical modelling, her work brings insight into potential treatment, vaccination, and control strategies. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2022 Dr. Xu used cellulose nanoparticles and graphene oxide to make materials with ordered structures. These materials have lightweight, mechanical adaptive, or photonic properties. They have applications in optical sensors and patterning. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Pages

 

Is road salt killing salmon?

UBC researchers led by Dr. Patricia Schulte, Dr. Chris Wood and Dr. Colin Brauner are joining forces with community groups to find out if...

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Scientists uncover new clues about the climate and health effects of atmospheric particles

Peering inside common atmospheric particles is providing important clues to their climate and health effects, according to a new study by...

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UBC physicists share major Canadian collaborative research award

University of British Columbia (UBC) members of the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) are among the leaders in...

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New research rewrites the evolutionary story of gills

Gills are best known for helping most fish species breathe underwater. But less well known is the fact gills regulate the salt and pH...

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Chemists uncover cracks in the amour of cellulose nanocrystals

Chemists in Japan, Canada and Europe have uncovered flaws in the surface structure of cellulose nanocrystals—an important step toward...

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UBC students help NASA find landslides by training computers to read Reddit

UBC graduate students trained computers to “read” news articles about landslides on Reddit to bolster a NASA database, which could improve...

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