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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
Jellinek, Mark Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Volcanology, Geodynamics, Planetary Science, Geological Fluid Mechanics
Jetter, Reinhard Department of Botany, Department of Chemistry Analytical Chemistry; Plant Ecophysiology; Plant Biochemistry; Molecular Genetics; Biological Chemistry
Joe, Harry Sue Wah Department of Statistics Statistics; Statistics and Probabilities; copula construction; dependence modelling; extreme value inference; non-normal time series; parsimonous high-dimensional dependence
Johnson, Pauline Department of Microbiology & Immunology Diseases of the Immune System; Immunology; Inflammation; Immune-cancer interactions; Innate immunity; Macrophages and myeloid cells
Johnson, Catherine Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Lunar geophysics, Evolution of Mars' Magnetic Field and Atmosphere
Johnson, Mark Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability, Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Geology; Natural environment sciences; Agriculture; Biogeochemistry; Carbon cycle; Climate Changes and Impacts; data science; Ecohydrology; Ecology and Quality of the Environment; Fresh Water; Ground Water and Water Tables; Hydrological Cycle and Reservoirs; Land and Soil; land use; Running Water Hydrosystem; Water and Sustainability
Jones, David Department of Physics & Astronomy Atomic, optical and molecular physics,Ultrafast Optics, Spectroscopy
Karczmarek, Joanna Department of Physics & Astronomy Physical sciences; Emergent spacetime and gravity; Matrix models; Noncommutative geometry; String theory
Karu, Kalle Department of Mathematics Algebraic geometry, toric varieties, log geometry, combinatorics of fans and posets
Keeling, Patrick John Department of Botany Molecular evolution and cell biology of eukaryotes
Kennedy, Lori Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Geological science, structural geology, development of large-scale fault systems and shear zones, displacements, fluid-rock interactions, strain localization, confining pressure
Kiczales, Gregor Department of Computer Science MOOCs, Blended Learning, Flexible Learning, University Strategy for Flexible and Blended Learning, Computer Science Education, Programming Languages, Programming languages, aspect-oriented programming, foundations, reflections and meta programming, software design
Kim, Young-Heon Department of Mathematics Partial Differential Equations and Geometry
King, Kayla Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Department of Zoology
Kopylova, Maya Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences diamond ore deposits, Diamond exploration, petrology and volcanology
Korthauer, Keegan Department of Statistics Bioinformatics; Genomics; Statistics; Epigenomics; Single-cell analysis; Statistical genomics
Kremen, Claire Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability, Department of Zoology Natural environment sciences; Zoology; agroecological farming systems; Reconciliation of agricultural land use with biodiversity conservation; sustainable landscapes
Krems, Roman Department of Chemistry Theoretical chemistry, Molecular Spectroscopy, Dynamics of few- and many-body molecular systems in electromagnetic fields
Kronstad, James Michael Smith Laboratories Bioinformatics; Immunology; Microbiology; Plant biology; Mycology; Fungal diseases of plants; Genomics and Proteomics; Medical Mycology; Molecular Genetics; Pathogenesis of infectious diseases; Plant-Microbe Interactions
Laba, Izabella Department of Mathematics Harmonic analysis, geometric measure theory and additive combinatorics
Lakshmanan, Laks Department of Computer Science data management and data cleaning; data warehousing and OLAP; data and text mining; analytics on big graphs and news; social networks and media; recommender systems
Leander, Brian Department of Botany, Department of Zoology Plant biology; Zoology; Comparative organismal biology; Evolutionary morphology; Evolutionary protistology; Marine biodiversity; Marine invertebrate zoology; Phylogenetic biology; Species discovery
Lecuyer, Mathias Department of Computer Science Machine learning systems; Guarantees of robustness, privacy, and security
Lemieux, Caroline Department of Computer Science Programming languages and software engineering; help developers improve the correctness, security, and performance of software systems; test-input generation; specification mining; program synthesis
Lerner, Jackie Environmental impact assessment; Land use and environmental planning; cumulative effects assessment; gender-based analysis

Pages

Graduate Student Stories

Jarrett Blair

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Bulk classification of terrestrial invertebrates using computer vision and DNA metabarcoding

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
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.

 

Intersections of orbits of self-maps with subgroups in semiabelian varieties
Publication: Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society
UBC Author(s): Dragos Ghioca (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00246093
Volume: 56
Page Range: 783-795
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
Primordial Orbital Alignment of Sednoids
Publication: Astrophysical Journal Letters
UBC Author(s): Brett Gladman (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20418205
Volume: 962
Publication Date: 1 February 2024

View Publication
On the Dimension of Exceptional Parameters for Nonlinear Projections, and the Discretized Elekes-Rónyai Theorem
Publication: Geometric and Functional Analysis
UBC Author(s): Joshua Zahl (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1016443X
Volume: 34
Page Range: 209-262
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
Kelps on demand: Closed-system protocols for culturing large bull kelp sporophytes for research and restoration
Publication: Journal of Phycology
UBC Author(s): Patrick Martone (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00223646
Volume: 60
Page Range: 73-82
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
Topography of visual and somatosensory inputs to the pontine nuclei in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata)
Publication: Journal of Comparative Neurology
UBC Author(s): Douglas Altshuler (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00219967
Volume: 532
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
A MeerKAT view of the double pulsar eclipses: Geodetic precession of pulsar B and system geometry
Publication: Astronomy and Astrophysics
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00046361
Volume: 682
Publication Date: 1 February 2024

View Publication
The shape of density dependence and the relationship between population growth, intraspecific competition and equilibrium population density
Publication: Oikos
UBC Author(s): Mary O'Connor (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00301299
Volume: 2024
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
The gut microbiota and its biogeography
Publication: Nature Reviews Microbiology
UBC Author(s): Carolina Tropini (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 17401526
Volume: 22
Page Range: 105-118
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
Adaptation to distinct habitats is maintained by contrasting selection at different life stages in sunflower ecotypes
Publication: Molecular Ecology
UBC Author(s): Loren Rieseberg (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09621083
Volume: 33
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
Opportunities for open-source software to accelerate research in applied geophysics
Publication: Leading Edge
UBC Author(s): Lindsey Heagy (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1070485X
Volume: 43
Page Range: 84-94
Publication Date: 1 February 2024

View Publication
No Effect of Realistic Concentrations of Polyester Microplastic Fibers on Freshwater Zooplankton Communities
Publication: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Michelle Tseng (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 07307268
Volume: 43
Page Range: 418-428
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
Economics in Marine Spatial Planning: A Review of Issues in British Columbia and Similar Jurisdictions
Publication: Sustainability (Switzerland)
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 16
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
Immune response to the components of lipid nanoparticles for ribonucleic acid therapeutics
Publication: Current Opinion in Biotechnology
UBC Author(s): Anna Blakney (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09581669
Volume: 85
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
When and how can we predict adaptive responses to climate change?
Publication: Evolution Letters
UBC Author(s): Sarah Otto (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 8
Page Range: 172-187
Publication Date: 1 February 2024

View Publication
On the fast track: hybrids adapt more rapidly than parental populations in a novel environment
Publication: Evolution Letters
UBC Author(s): Sarah Otto (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 8
Page Range: 128-136
Publication Date: 1 February 2024

View Publication
The detection of polarized X-ray emission from the magnetar 1E 2259+586
Publication: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00358711
Volume: 527
Page Range: 12219-12231
Publication Date: 1 February 2024

View Publication
The WZA: A window-based method for characterizing genotype–environment associations
Publication: Molecular Ecology Resources
UBC Author(s): Michael Whitlock (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1755098X
Volume: 24
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
HDPairFinder: A data processing platform for hydrogen/deuterium isotopic labeling-based nontargeted analysis of trace-level amino-containing chemicals in environmental water
Publication: Journal of Environmental Sciences (China)
UBC Author(s): Tao Huan (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10010742
Volume: 136
Page Range: 583-593
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
Quantification of perfluorinated compounds in atmospheric particulate shows potential connection with environmental event
Publication: Journal of Environmental Sciences (China)
UBC Author(s): David Chen (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10010742
Volume: 136
Page Range: 237-247
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
Viscoplastic rimming flow inside a rotating cylinder
Publication: Physical Review Fluids
UBC Author(s): Neil Balmforth (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 9
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
An imine reductase that captures reactive intermediates in the biosynthesis of the indolocarbazole reductasporine
Publication: Journal of Biological Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Katherine Ryan (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00219258
Volume: 300
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
TOWARD A MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF TRAJECTORY INFERENCE
Publication: Annals of Applied Probability
UBC Author(s): Geoffrey Schiebinger (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10505164
Volume: 34
Page Range: 428-500
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
Hotter is not (always) better: Embracing unimodal scaling of biological rates with temperature
Publication: Ecology Letters
UBC Author(s): Sean Michaletz (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1461023X
Volume: 27
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
Exhaled breath analysis of non-volatile drugs: Towards clinical applications
Publication: TrAC - Trends in Analytical Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Tao Huan (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01659936
Volume: 171
Publication Date: February 2024

View Publication
A MULTILEVEL METHOD FOR MANY-ELECTRON SCHRODINGER EQUATIONS BASED ON THE ATOMIC CLUSTER EXPANSION
Publication: SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing
UBC Author(s): Christoph Ortner (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10648275
Volume: 46
Page Range: A105-A129
Publication Date: February 2024

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
2023 Counting sums and differences between sets is a central part of many questions in additive combinatorics. Dr. White developed a new technique combining harmonic analysis and optimization to nearly resolve a longstanding question in this field. He expects that his new method can be extended to other problems in additive combinatorics. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Kim's research focused on mechanisms that reduce metabolic rate in small hibernating rodents. These comparative studies take us one step closer to understanding and utilizing naturally occurring biological phenomena for biomedical advancement. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Fink developed methods to convert CO2 or water into useful products using renewable energy. He showed that carbon capture can be directly coupled with CO2 electro-conversion to lower energy demands. He also demonstrated that hydrogen peroxide can be produced through electrochemistry to replace the current methods which consume fossil fuels. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Dr. Anderson's research revealed ways in which the glacier runoff impacts water resources in Western Canada under climate change. He identified the communities in Alberta whose water supplies are most vulnerable to the loss of glaciers, and quantified how heat waves alter the timing and availability of water resources across BC and Alberta. Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD)
2023 Earthquakes represent the release of stress on faults, which occur in abundance in western British Columbia and Washington state due to convergence between North America and offshore oceanic plates.Dr. Merrill investigates several earthquake-dense regions in BC and Washington where fluids are interpreted to promote brittle failure. Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Nunez Bahena developed synthetic methodologies for accessing nitrogen-containing compounds by employing a catalyst based on an abundant metal, zirconium. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Dr. Nguyen studied different roles of the nuclear localization signals in the life cycle of the Influenza A virus. She found these signals are important for the virus's nuclear import and nucleolus accumulation. Her findings deepen our knowledge of the influenza A virus's biology, which may lead to new pharmaceutical approaches for flu treatment. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Xing has been developing bioinformatic algorithms and tools for the unexplored tandem mass spectrometry data in untargeted metabolomics. In revealing the structural information of the undiscovered metabolome, his works paved way for revealing biological mechanisms behind various health disorders and diseases from the perspective of small molecules. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Dr. Tummuru studied quantum materials that can be assembled from simple building blocks to unveil novel emergent properties. Experimental realization of the proposed structures could find use in the development of quantum technology. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Natola studied the evolutionary process whereby 1 species splits into multiple different species using 3 hybridizing species of woodpeckers as a study system. She found the 3 species arose due to their environmental, behavioral, and genomic differences. Her study demonstrates evolutionary processes that have produced Canada's biodiversity. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Pages

 

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...

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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...

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UBC adding 778 student spaces across technology and life sciences programs thanks to provincial investment

B.C.’s Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, the Honourable Brenda Bailey, was on site at UBC’s Vancouver campus Friday to...

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Tropical coral-infecting parasites discovered in cold marine ecosystems

Parasites thought only to infect tropical coral reefs have been discovered in a large variety of creatures in cold marine ecosystems along...

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New gravitational wave signal helps fill the ‘mass gap’ between neutron stars and black holes

A collaboration of researchers including UBC scientists have observed gravitational waves from the collision of what is most likely a...

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With the planet facing a 'polycrisis', biodiversity researchers uncover major knowledge gaps

A scientific review has found almost no research studying the interconnections across three major threats to planetary health, despite UN...

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