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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 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 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 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. 

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
Jetter, Reinhard Department of Botany, Department of Chemistry Chemical sciences; Plant biology; Analytical Chemistry; Biological Chemistry; Molecular Genetics; Plant Biochemistry; Plant Ecophysiology
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
Kenne, Steve Cyrille Department of Mathematics Calculus of variations, systems theory and control theory; Partial and ordinary differential equations; Mathematical biology; Optimal control theory; Partial Differential Equations; Multiscale modelling of infectious diseases
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 Microbiology & Immunology host-microbial parasite/pathogen systems
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
Kunimoto, Michelle Department of Physics & Astronomy exoplanet detection, characterization, and demographics
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
Leslie, Sabrina Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Physics & Astronomy

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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.

 

Publication: Nature Communications
UBC Author(s): Matthijs Smit (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 15
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: BMC Infectious Diseases
UBC Author(s): Daniel Coombs (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 24
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Stem Cell Research and Therapy
UBC Author(s): James Piret (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 15
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Communications Biology
UBC Author(s): Wilfred Arthur Jefferies (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 7
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Research in Number Theory
UBC Author(s): Dragos Ghioca (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 10
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Microbial Ecology
UBC Author(s): Laura Parfrey (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00953628
Volume: 87
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: npj 2D Materials and Applications
UBC Author(s): Andrea Damascelli (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 8
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
UBC Author(s): Richard Pawlowicz (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02727714
Volume: 309
Publication Date: 1 December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Fish Physiology and Biochemistry
UBC Author(s): Colin Brauner (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09201742
Volume: 50
Page Range: 2619-2635
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Computer Graphics Forum
UBC Author(s): Michiel Van de Panne (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01677055
Volume: 43
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Computational Geosciences
UBC Author(s): Erik Eberhardt (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14200597
Volume: 28
Page Range: 1251-1277
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Science of the Total Environment
UBC Author(s): Sean Crowe (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00489697
Volume: 954
Publication Date: 1 December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Canadian Mathematical Bulletin
UBC Author(s): Stephanie van Willigenburg (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00084395
Volume: 67
Page Range: 902-914
Publication Date: 1 December 2024

View Publication
Publication: NPJ Ocean Sustainability
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science), Daniel Pauly (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 3
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: NPJ Ocean Sustainability
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 3
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: NPJ Ocean Sustainability
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 3
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: NPJ Ocean Sustainability
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 3
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: NPJ Ocean Sustainability
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 3
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: NPJ Ocean Sustainability
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science), Daniel Pauly (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 3
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: NPJ Ocean Sustainability
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 3
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Nature Communications
UBC Author(s): Martin Tanner (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 15
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: Journal of Environmental Psychology
UBC Author(s): Lorne Whitehead (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02724944
Volume: 100
Publication Date: December 2024

View Publication
Publication: World Scientific Series in Global Health Economics and Public Policy
UBC Author(s): Francois Jean (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20102089
Volume: 11
Page Range: 11-37
Publication Date: 1 December 2024

View Publication
Publication: World Scientific Series in Global Health Economics and Public Policy
UBC Author(s): Daniel Coombs (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20102089
Volume: 11
Page Range: 53-76
Publication Date: 1 December 2024

View Publication

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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
2024 Dr. Hendi revealed a novel function of a gap junction protein that negatively regulates the formation of synapses in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This research advances our understanding of the mechanisms required for the precise formation and development of the nervous system. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2024 Dr. Blanchard investigated how early life-stages of fishes cope with temperature variation during development, spanning from the molecular to physiological levels. The findings from her thesis offer fundamental insights that help in our understanding of how developing embryos will cope with climate change. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2024 Dr. Freres studied processes causing instrumental mass bias in multi collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers. Her research helped improve precision and accuracy in isotopic ratio measurements and provided the geochemical community with greater resolution to interpret geological records and better understand the history of our planet. Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD)
2024 Dr. Newman designed tools for running and analyzing complex, electronic auctions, with applications to markets for agricultural trade in developing countries and the sale of wireless spectrum rights. His work provides a blueprint for how economists can use computer simulations to compare auction designs. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2024 Dr. Braich studied the impact of climate change on agriculture in the Prairies, both past and into the future. She found warming trends have already negatively impacted yields, and by 2050 yields could be reduced by more than 20%. Her findings emphasize the need for adaptation planning to address climate impacts in this key agricultural region. Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)
2024 Dr. Liu delves into the creation of innovative platforms and methodologies to study one-pot multistep reaction. His work enabled an automated control and analysis system for one-pot telescoped reactions and proposed an efficient optimization strategy for complicated multistep syntheses. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2024 Dr. Hsueh developed ways of understanding protein behavior through physics simulations. In his thesis, he developed novel simulation methods, explored the physical origin of ALS disease, and computationally designed therapeutics for both neurodegenerative disease and COVID19. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2024 Dr. Toorians' work deals with biodiversity loss and the rise of epidemics. She has explained disease-emergence through host phylogenetic community structure. Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD)
2024 Replacing plastics with green alternatives is a tough nut to crack. Dr. Goonesinghe introduces new methods to convert simple molecules into complex biodegradable materials using quirky new indium catalysts. His work unveils the huge potential of these tragically underappreciated elements, paving the way for better catalysts and greener plastics. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2024 Dr. Dong studied the epigenetic role in evolution. He discovered the important role of DNA methylation in population specificity and evolutionary conservation, especially in terms of their genetic basis and functional relevance. His findings can provide new evolutionary insights into the roles of epigenetics in cellular functions and human health. Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD)

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