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 40 per cent of the Faculty's graduate enrollments, and the percentage of international students has increased to 48 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

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
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
Dowlatabadi, Hadi Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability Natural environment sciences; Energy Production; Economic Planning of Energy; Climate Changes and Impacts; Public Policies; New Technology and Social Impacts; Health Policies; Transportation Systems; The systematic study of systems at the interface of humans, nature, technology and policy
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, Department of Microbiology & Immunology Infectious agents, bacteria, microbial infections and how humans react to it
Folk, Joshua Department of Physics & Astronomy Physical sciences; Fractional quantum Hall effect; Majorana fermions; Quantum devices; Strongly correlated electronics; Topological phenomena; Vanderwaals heterostructures
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
Froese, Richard Gerd Department of Mathematics Mathematics and statistics; Mathematics; Mathematical physics; quantum mechanics; scattering theory; spectral theory
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.
Gates, Derek Department of Chemistry Inorganic chemistry, materials science, polymer chemistry, catalysis
Gay, Colin Department of Physics & Astronomy Experimental subatomic physics, Beyond Standard Model physics, Extra dimensions
Gaynor, Erin Department of Microbiology & Immunology Molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis, foodborne human pathogen, Campylobacter jejuni
Germain, Rachel Department of Zoology Ecology; evolution
Ghioca, Dragos Department of Mathematics Drinfeld modules, isotrivial semiabelian varieties, Lehmer inequality

Pages

Graduate Student Stories

Sarah Morris

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Development, validation and application of advanced MRI techniques to measure white matter microstructure

Nathan Lawrence

Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)

Self-Tuning Controllers via Deep Reinforcement Learning

Angela McLaughlin

Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)

Models of infectious disease transmission for HIV and other rapidly evolving RNA viruses

Jian Guo

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Liquid chromatography-Mass Spectromety-Based Untargeted Metabolomics for Single Cell Profiling

Deborah Good

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Timing Pulsars and Detecting Fast Radio Bursts with CHIME

Morgan Alford

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)

Nitrogen metabolism intersects resistance and virulence mechanisms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Patrick Huber

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)

Data-driven Discourse Prediction using Distant Supervision

Madison Stevens

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

‘Righting' Conservation: Exploring Pathways for Realizing Stewardship Rights in Protected Areas
All Student Stories

Alumni on Success

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.

 

H<inf>2</inf>pyhox - Octadentate Bis(pyridyloxine)
Publication: Inorganic Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Christopher E Orvig (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00201669
Volume: 60
Page Range: 12186-12196
Publication Date: 16 August 2021

View Publication
Near-Infrared-Emitting Boron-Difluoride-Curcuminoid-Based Polymers Exhibiting Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence as Biological Imaging Probes
Publication: Angewandte Chemie - International Edition
UBC Author(s): Zachary Hudson (Chemistry / Faculty of Science), Walter Algar (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14337851
Volume: 60
Page Range: 18630-18638
Publication Date: 16 August 2021

View Publication
Role of T0 in CMB anisotropy measurements
Publication: Physical Review D
UBC Author(s): Douglas Scott (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 24700010
Volume: 104
Publication Date: 15 August 2021

View Publication
Nanotube heat conductors under tensile strain: Reducing the three-phonon scattering strength of acoustic phonons
Publication: Physical Review B
UBC Author(s): Joerg Rottler (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 24699950
Volume: 104
Publication Date: 15 August 2021

View Publication
An extension of the TALDICE ice core age scale reaching back to MIS 10.1
Publication: Quaternary Science Reviews
UBC Author(s): Anais Orsi (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02773791
Volume: 266
Publication Date: 15 August 2021

View Publication
Imaging Heterogeneous Electrocatalyst Stability and Decoupling Degradation Mechanisms in Operating Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Publication: ACS Energy Letters
UBC Author(s): Dan Bizzotto (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 6
Page Range: 2742-2749
Publication Date: 13 August 2021

View Publication
Observation of Mechanical Faraday Effect in Gaseous Media
Publication: Physical Review Letters
UBC Author(s): Valery Milner (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00319007
Volume: 127
Publication Date: 13 August 2021

View Publication
Fishing Effort and Associated Catch per Unit Effort for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mozambique Channel Region: 1950–2016
Publication: Frontiers in Marine Science
UBC Author(s): Daniel Pauly (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 8
Publication Date: 11 August 2021

View Publication
Photoluminescent Nanoparticles for Chemical and Biological Analysis and Imaging
Publication: Chemical Reviews
UBC Author(s): Walter Algar (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00092665
Volume: 121
Page Range: 9243-9358
Publication Date: 11 August 2021

View Publication
Rapid Assembly of Infection-Resistant Coatings: Screening and Identification of Antimicrobial Peptides Works in Cooperation with an Antifouling Background
Publication: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
UBC Author(s): Robert E Hancock (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 19448244
Volume: 13
Page Range: 36784-36799
Publication Date: 11 August 2021

View Publication
The NANOGrav 12.5 Year Data Set: Monitoring Interstellar Scattering Delays
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0004637X
Volume: 917
Publication Date: 10 August 2021

View Publication
Evidence for Higgs boson decays to a low-mass dilepton system and a photon in pp collisions at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
Publication: Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
UBC Author(s): Alison Lister (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03702693
Volume: 819
Publication Date: 10 August 2021

View Publication
Light Dark Matter Search with a High-Resolution Athermal Phonon Detector Operated above Ground
Publication: Physical Review Letters
UBC Author(s): Scott Oser (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00319007
Volume: 127
Publication Date: 6 August 2021

View Publication
Contra-directional pump reject filters integrated with a micro-ring resonator photon-pair source in silicon
Publication: Optics Express
UBC Author(s): Jeff Young (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 29
Page Range: 25173-25188
Publication Date: 2 August 2021

View Publication
ΔO<inf>2</inf>/N<inf>2</inf>′ as a New Tracer of Marine Net Community Production: Application and Evaluation in the Subarctic Northeast Pacific and Canadian Arctic Ocean
Publication: Frontiers in Marine Science
UBC Author(s): Philippe Tortell (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 8
Publication Date: 2 August 2021

View Publication
Developing an ensembled machine learning prediction model for marine fish and aquaculture production
Publication: Sustainability (Switzerland)
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 13
Publication Date: 2 August 2021

View Publication
High-resolution reconstructions of Holocene sea-surface conditions from dinoflagellate cyst assemblages in the northern South China Sea
Publication: Marine Geology
UBC Author(s): Roger Francois (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00253227
Volume: 438
Publication Date: August 2021

View Publication
Epistasis and intramolecular networks in protein evolution
Publication: Current Opinion in Structural Biology
UBC Author(s): Nobuhiko Tokuriki (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0959440X
Volume: 69
Page Range: 160-168
Publication Date: August 2021

View Publication
Acyl-CoA desaturase ADS4.2 is involved in the formation of characteristic wax alkenes in young Arabidopsis leaves
Publication: Plant Physiology
UBC Author(s): Reinhard Jetter (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00320889
Volume: 186
Page Range: 1812-1831
Publication Date: August 2021

View Publication
Measurement of single top-quark production in association with a W boson in the single-lepton channel at √s=8TeV with the ATLAS detector
Publication: European Physical Journal C
UBC Author(s): Alison Lister (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14346044
Volume: 81
Publication Date: August 2021

View Publication
Jet energy scale and resolution measured in proton–proton collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
Publication: European Physical Journal C
UBC Author(s): Alison Lister (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14346044
Volume: 81
Publication Date: August 2021

View Publication
Temporal progression of acute spinal cord injury mechanisms in a rat model: Contusion, dislocation, and distraction
Publication: Journal of Neurotrauma
UBC Author(s): Wolfram Tetzlaff (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 08977151
Volume: 38
Page Range: 2103-2121
Publication Date: 1 August 2021

View Publication
Does a Trawl Ban Benefit Commercially Important Decapoda and Stomatopoda in Hong Kong?
Publication: Ecosystems
UBC Author(s): Wai Lung Cheung (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14329840
Volume: 24
Page Range: 1157-1170
Publication Date: August 2021

View Publication
Access rights, capacities and benefits in small-scale fisheries: Insights from the Pacific Coast of Canada
Publication: Marine Policy
UBC Author(s): Theresa Satterfield (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0308597X
Volume: 130
Publication Date: August 2021

View Publication
Negative energy enhancement in layered holographic conformal field theories
Publication: Journal of High Energy Physics
UBC Author(s): Mark Van Raamsdonk (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 2021
Publication Date: August 2021

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
2021 Dr. Sonier examined the improvement of radiation therapy accuracy for cancer patients by adapting for patient-specific systematic soft tissue deformations in the planning and delivery of prostate, lung, and head and neck treatment plans. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2021 Dr. Morrison examined how temperature affects the binding of oxygen by haemoglobin in warm-bodied fishes such as opah, swordfish, and common thresher shark. He found that the haemoglobin of these fish have lower sensitivity to temperature than most animals. This comparative study contributes to understanding the convergent evolution of haemoglobin. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2021 The human intestine contains trillions of microbes. Dr. Huus studied how these intestinal bacteria respond to malnutrition, a serious global health issue. She found that malnourished gut bacteria change their metabolism and interact differently with the immune system. Understanding these differences may help to improve treatments for malnutrition. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2021 Dr. Wamer studied novel forms of quantum magnetism that correspond to physical systems with a larger number of symmetries. He classified the phases of matter of these systems and deepened our understanding of a large family of theoretical models, whose applicability spans from material science to mathematical physics. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2021 Dr. Fu focused on the design of protein-based biomaterials at both molecular and macroscopic levels. Her research allows for precise control over the mechanical performance of protein-based hydrogels for a variety of applications, such as soft actuators, cartilage-like biomaterials, and artificial substrates for laboratory cell biology studies. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Dr. Epifanov developed novel applications of sulfuryl fluoride, a common fumigant produced industrially on a multi-ton scale. The unique chemical properties of sulfuryl fluoride was used to render important transformations in organic synthesis to be more efficient and operationally simpler than existing methods. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Dr. Zolaktaf studied ways to improve the prediction of nucleic acid kinetics. This study provides more efficient computational methods for predicting nucleic acid kinetics and improving the underlying kinetic models for nucleic acids. Her contributions will make it easier to design nucleic-acid based devices, such as DNA robots. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2021 Dr. DiPucchio developed catalysts based on the element Tantalum to accelerate carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions. These resultant catalysts used ureate ligands and displayed reactivity that allowed for making new types of drug-inspired products. Her project has inspired a variety of current and future projects in the Schafer lab." Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Climate change is shifting the distribution of marine fish species that cross international borders. Dr. Palacios-Abrantes's research identified the impacts of climate change-induced shifts on transboundary fish stocks distributions and their management, thereby informing international fisheries governance to prepare and respond to climate change. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2021 Dr. Gomez studied the structure and dynamics of localized patterns in cellular biology using several new mathematical models, some patterns of which have applications to bulk-membrane processes. The analysis of such patterns provides insights on the phenomena being modeled and contributes to our general understanding of pattern formation. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)

Pages

 

New book pays homage to North America’s rivers, including the &#039;soul of BC&#039;

Dr. Eric Taylor’s (PhD ‘89) research focuses on the evolution and conservation of freshwater fishes. The UBC zoologist is also an avid...

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Coral reefs are 50% less able to provide food, jobs, and climate protection than in 1950s, putting millions at risk

The capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services relied on by millions of people worldwide has declined by half since the 1950s,...

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Megaconstellations of satellites will cause most light pollution at 50 degrees latitude

The planned launch of thousands of communications satellites over the next few years is expected to have the most impact on our view of the...

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UBC launches new options in data, computational sciences

Undergraduate students at UBC Vancouver have two new options to pursue studies in data and computational science this fall with the launch...

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Chemistry, Math and CS researchers elected to RSC

Three UBC Science researchers have been elected to join the Royal Society of Canada.  Professors Alejandro Adem, Curtis Berlinguette...

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Volcanism drove rapid ocean deoxygenation during the time of the dinosaurs

Ocean deoxygenation during the Mesozoic Era was much more rapid than previous thought, with CO2 induced environmental warming creating...

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