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
Hutchinson, Norman Department of Computer Science Computer and information sciences; Computer Systems; distributed systems; File Systems; Virtualization
Irwin, Darren Department of Zoology Zoology; evolutionary genetics; genomic differentiation; hybridization; ornithology; seasonal migration; speciation
Jankowski, Jill Department of Zoology Ecology
Jean, Francois Department of Microbiology & Immunology Medical virology; Protein trafficking in cell biology; Proteomics; Enzymes (including kinetics and mechanisms, and biocatalyst); Organelle function; Virology; Systems biology; Cellular virology; Emerging human viruses; COVID-19; Host-virus interactions; Broad-based antiviral agents; Antiviral agents; Natural products as antiviral agents; Lipid-modulating drugs; Cellular protease inhibitors; Viral protease inhibitors; Human coronaviruses; SARS-CoV-2; Human flaviviruses; Dengue virus; Zika virus; West Nile virus; Influenza A virus; Human microRNAs; Therapeutic microRNA; Viral and cellular biomarkers; Molecular diagnostics for detecting viral infection; Circulating exosomes; Exosomal microRNAs; Proteomics-based technologies; Multiplexed and Mass Spectrometric quantitation assays
Jefferies, Wilfred Arthur Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Medical Genetics Iron transport molecules
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, 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
Johnson, Pauline Department of Microbiology & Immunology Diseases of the Immune System; Immunology; Inflammation; Immune-cancer interactions; Innate immunity; Macrophages and myeloid cells
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
Kiefl, Robert Department of Physics & Astronomy Physical sciences; condensed matter physics; magnetism; multiferroics; polarons; quantum phenomena; superconductivity
Kim, Young-Heon Department of Mathematics Partial Differential Equations and Geometry
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; Fungal diseases of plants; Genomics and Proteomics; Medical Mycology; Molecular Genetics; Pathogenesis of infectious diseases; Plant-Microbe Interactions
Kruecken, Reiner Department of Physics & Astronomy Physical sciences; Elementary Particles; Neutrino Physics; Nuclear Astrophysics; Nuclear Physics; Universe Structure

Pages

Graduate Student Stories

Dacotah-Victoria Splichalova

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

Narratives of Water: Exploring Hydrosocial Relations and Water (In)security in Canada and New Zealand

Alexa Tanner

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

Natural hazard risk in context: Examining contextual factors that influence risk perceptions and associated decisions

Madison Stevens

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

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

Isobel Mouat

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)

Teaching science beyond content: introducing what science is and how it is done to first-year students

Raphael Roccor

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)

Spinning Straw into Golden Liquids – Making High-value Oils from Biomass Residues

Eric Press

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Modular optic flow processing during natural locomotion
UBC graduate student Joseph Zsombor-Pindera

Joseph Zsombor-Pindera

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Exploring the electronic structure and reactivity of transition metal complexes of redox non-innocent ligands through spectroscopy and computational chemistry
UBC graduate student, Félix Cormier

Félix Cormier

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Search for long-lived particles with the ATLAS Experiment
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.

 

CropPol: A dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination
Publication: Ecology
UBC Author(s): Claire Kremen (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00129658
Volume: 103
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
Stress hematopoiesis induces a proliferative advantage in TET2 deficiency
Publication: Leukemia
UBC Author(s): Martin Hirst (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 08876924
Volume: 36
Page Range: 809-820
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
Selecting Data Analytic and Modeling Methods to Support Air Pollution and Environmental Justice Investigations: A Critical Review and Guidance Framework
Publication: Environmental Science and Technology
UBC Author(s): Amanda Giang (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0013936X
Volume: 56
Page Range: 2843-2860
Publication Date: 1 March 2022

View Publication
Cannabis Cultivation Facilities: A Review of Their Air Quality Impacts from the Occupational to Community Scale
Publication: Environmental Science and Technology
UBC Author(s): Amanda Giang (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0013936X
Volume: 56
Page Range: 2880-2896
Publication Date: 1 March 2022

View Publication
The strength and direction of local (mal)adaptation depends on neighbour density and the environment
Publication: Journal of Ecology
UBC Author(s): Rachel Germain (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00220477
Volume: 110
Page Range: 514-525
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
Estimating naloxone need in the USA across fentanyl, heroin, and prescription opioid epidemics: a modelling study
Publication: The Lancet Public Health
UBC Author(s): Daniel Coombs (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 7
Page Range: e210-e218
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
A Sudden Period of High Activity from Repeating Fast Radio Burst 20201124A
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0004637X
Volume: 927
Publication Date: 1 March 2022

View Publication
Modeling Fast Radio Burst Dispersion and Scattering Properties in the First CHIME/FRB Catalog
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0004637X
Volume: 927
Publication Date: 1 March 2022

View Publication
Detecting Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer Through Tissue-Informed Cell-Free DNA Methylation Analysis
Publication: Clinical Cancer Research
UBC Author(s): Keegan Korthauer (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10780432
Volume: 28
Page Range: 928-938
Publication Date: 1 March 2022

View Publication
Modelling multi-scale, state-switching functional data with hidden Markov models
Publication: Canadian Journal of Statistics
UBC Author(s): Nancy Heckman (Statistics / Faculty of Science), Marie Auger-Methe (Statistics / Faculty of Science), Andrew Trites (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03195724
Volume: 50
Page Range: 327-356
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
Writing Accessible Theory in Ecology and Evolution: Insights from Cognitive Load Theory
Publication: BioScience
UBC Author(s): Rachel Germain (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00063568
Volume: 72
Page Range: 300-313
Publication Date: 1 March 2022

View Publication
Burst timescales and luminosities as links between young pulsars and fast radio bursts
Publication: Nature Astronomy
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 6
Page Range: 393-401
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
The International Pulsar Timing Array second data release: Search for an isotropic gravitational wave background
Publication: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00358711
Volume: 510
Page Range: 4873-4887
Publication Date: 1 March 2022

View Publication
Two New Black Widow Millisecond Pulsars in M28
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0004637X
Volume: 927
Publication Date: 1 March 2022

View Publication
The Dynamics of Maximum Lengths for the Invasive Silver-Cheeked Toadfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea
Publication: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
UBC Author(s): Daniel Pauly (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 10
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
The latitudinal gradient in rates of evolution for bird beaks, a species interaction trait
Publication: Ecology Letters
UBC Author(s): Dolph Schluter (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1461023X
Volume: 25
Page Range: 635-646
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
Climate solution or corporate co-optation? US and Canadian publics' views on agricultural gene editing
Publication: PLoS ONE
UBC Author(s): Theresa Satterfield (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 17
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
Machine Learning-Enhanced Play Fairway Analysis for Uncertainty Characterization and Decision Support in Geothermal Exploration
Publication: Energies
UBC Author(s): Reid Holmes (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 15
Publication Date: March-1 2022

View Publication
Variations in accuracy of leaf functional trait prediction due to spectral mixing
Publication: Ecological Indicators
UBC Author(s): Sean Michaletz (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1470160X
Volume: 136
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
Gene duplication to the Y chromosome in Trinidadian Guppies
Publication: Molecular Ecology
UBC Author(s): Judith Mank (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09621083
Volume: 31
Page Range: 1853-1863
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
Strong consistency of the MLE under two-parameter Gamma mixture models with a structural scale parameter
Publication: Advances in Data Analysis and Classification
UBC Author(s): Jiahua Chen (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 18625347
Volume: 16
Page Range: 125-154
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
The P-T-t-D evolution of the Mahabharat, east-central Nepal: The out-of-sequence development of the Himalaya
Publication: Geoscience Frontiers
UBC Author(s): Matthijs Smit (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 16749871
Volume: 13
Publication Date: March 2022

View Publication
A Constraint on Primordial B-modes from the First Flight of the Spider Balloon-borne Telescope
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
UBC Author(s): Mark Halpern (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0004637X
Volume: 927
Publication Date: 1 March 2022

View Publication
Bicep/Keck XV: The B icep3 Cosmic Microwave Background Polarimeter and the First Three-year Data Set
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
UBC Author(s): Mark Halpern (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0004637X
Volume: 927
Publication Date: 1 March 2022

View Publication
A fractional memory-efficient approach for online continuous-time influence maximization
Publication: VLDB Journal
UBC Author(s): Laks Lakshmanan (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10668888
Volume: 31
Page Range: 403-429
Publication Date: March 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
2021 Dr. Huang's research focused on metabolite analysis using capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry. He established reliable methods to identify and quantify small molecules from biological samples and developed a software tool to facilitate metabolomics data processing. His work contributed to the biomarker discovery for biomedical research. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Dr. Tran studied the microscopic assembly of cellulose nanocrystals derived from sustainable sources. He produced colourful materials ranging from thin films to stretchable elastomers for applications including optical sensors and filters. His findings contribute to the search for and development of sustainable and renewable alternative materials. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Dr. Wong studied the maximum possible number of certain mathematical objects when specific restrictions are imposed. Her investigation assists the community in understanding a number of important mathematical problems in extremal combinatorics, a field of study focused on the limits of finite objects. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2021 Dr. Henriques used mathematical models to study the evolution of cooperative behaviour in nature. He explored how cooperation between organisms affected their ability to adapt to changing environments. His research showed that cooperation can be maintained by interactions between groups of organisms, and that it can promote species diversification. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2021 There are many who believe that genes commonly code for more than one functional product, through a process called alternative splicing. Dr. Bhuiyan studied the evidence for this claim, and showed that - despite what we learn in our textbooks - alternative splicing is not as common as we thought. Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)
2021 Dr. Sauvé prepared organic semiconductors with novel optical properties and morphologies for potential application in electronic devices and in encryption. He also developed new luminescent dyes for efficient displays and biological imaging. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Dr. Yaghmaiean uncovered a novel group of proteins called receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases, which function downstream of other proteins and have redundant functions of transducing immune signals in the model plant Arabidopsis. These results provide new insights on such proteins as common transducers in different plant immune signalling events. Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD)
2021 Dr. Yang researched fractals and decoupling in Euclidean harmonic analysis. Dr. Yang studied the size and geometric figures contained in fractals, or geometric objects possessing some self-similarity but highly rugged and oscillatory in nature. The decomposition of waves and their size properties in the physical space were studied using decoupling. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2021 Dr. Choudhary investigated the coordination chemistry of radiometal ions, which are crucial for developing new metal-based radiopharmaceuticals. She synthesized diverse chelators for small to medium-sized ions and studied the effect of donor groups on ion chelation to deepen the understanding of their potential uses for clinical imaging and therapy. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Dr. Moisseeva's work focused on improving our understanding of how wildfire smoke spreads in the atmosphere. She developed a method for estimating how high above the Earth's surface smoke from wildfires will rise. Her findings help improve the accuracy of air quality models and reduce negative smoke impacts for downwind communities. Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science (PhD)

Pages

 

Dr. Catherine Johnson elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Dr. Catherine Johnson, Planetary Scientist and Professor of Geophysics at EOAS, has been elected as a member of the American Academy...

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UBC spin-off companies win $2 million in competition for carbon removal technology funded by the Musk Foundation

UBC spin-off Carbin Minerals will receive $1 million from XPRIZE and the Musk Foundation to remove thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide...

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Five UBC Science instructors awarded Killam Teaching Prizes

UBC Science is pleased to congratulate the recipients of the 2021/22 Killam Teaching Prize for their outstanding contributions in the...

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CHIME Outrigger telescopes boost search for fast radio bursts

In the quest to identify the origins of one of astronomy’s biggest mysteries – fast radio bursts (FRBs) – Canada’s world-renowned telescope...

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Oceanographer wins top UBC award for young researchers

UBC sea-going oceanographer Dr. Stephanie Waterman has been awarded the university’s Charles A. McDowell award for excellence in pure or...

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New nasal spray treats Delta variant infection in mice, indicating broad spectrum results

Researchers have shown a new compound delivered in a nasal spray is highly effective in preventing and treating COVID-19 caused by the...

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