Faculty of Science

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.

Faculty Website

Fact Sheet

Mission

To nurture an exceptional scientific learning and research environment for the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world.

670

Master's Students

(2022)
1005

Doctoral Students

(2022)
435

Graduate Degrees Awarded

(2022)
430

Full-Time Faculty

(2022)
131.7

million in Research Awards

(2021/2022)

Research Centres

Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology

Computational Sciences and Mathematics

Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

Geophysical Inversion Facility
Lithoprobe: Canada's National Geoscience Project
Mineral Deposit Research Unit
Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research
Seismic Laboratory for Imaging and Modeling

Genomics and Biological Sciences

Centre for High-Throughput Biology
Geomatics for Informed Decisions Network
Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics
Michael Smith Laboratories

Human-Computer Interaction

Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems
Vancouver Institute for Visual Analytics

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
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; cumulative effects assessment; gender-based analysis
Leslie, Sabrina	Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Physics & Astronomy
Leyton-Brown, Kevin	Department of Computer Science	Computer and information sciences; Artificial Intelligence; Algorithms; theoretical computer science; Resource Allocation; Computer Science and Statistics; Auction theory; game theory; Machine Learning
Li, Xin	Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Botany	Molecules in plants, plants defence against pathogen infection, plant genes
Li, Yue-Xian	Department of Mathematics	Calcium signalling in neuroendocrine cells Fertilization calcium waves in oocytes
Li, Hongbin	Department of Chemistry	Biophysical chemistry, biomaterials, single molecule studies, biological, atomic force, polymer chemistry
Lister, Alison	Department of Physics & Astronomy	Particle physics, experimental; Large Hadron Collier (LHC); ATLAS experiment; Search for physics beyond the standard model; top quarks; dark matter; Machine Learning; Long-lived particles
Lloyd, Samantha		Medical physics; Automation in external beam and brachytherapy treatment planning and delivery; Application of optical surface guidance for radiation therapy setup and motion monitoring; Machine learning for cancer outcomes prediction; Systems design for safety and quality control; Clinical trials
Loewen, Philip	Department of Mathematics	Mathematical optimization; Calculus of Variations; Optimal Control; optimization; Machine Learning
Lukes, Laura	Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences	Earth and related environmental sciences; Psychology and cognitive sciences; Education; Geoscience Education Research (Discipline-Based Education Research); Self-regulated Learning; field-based experiential learning; learning in informal settings (e.g., museums, parks, science centers); crowdsourced and citizen science; teacher beliefs; motivation, emotion, and beliefs in learning; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in STEM; learning engineering
MacDonald, Colin	Department of Mathematics	List of publications; The Closest Point Method: a new method for PDEs on surfaces; Time-stepping for PDEs: constructing Runge-Kutta methods, strong-stability-preserving methods (visit the SSP Site); WENO spatial discretizations; The Predicted Sequential Regularization Method; List of talks and presentations.
MacFarlane, Andrew	Department of Chemistry	Chemical physics, Electronic and magnetic properties of crystalline solids, especially strongly correlated materials such as the cuprate high temperature superconductors
MacLachlan, Mark	Department of Chemistry	Supramolecular inorganic chemistry; Inorganic materials; Supramolecular organic chemistry; Synthesis of materials; Functional materials in materials chemistry sciences; Supramolecular Chemistry; Nanomaterials; Biomaterials; Cellulose nanocrystals; Chitin; Materials Chemistry; Inorganic Chemistry
MacLean, Karon	Department of Computer Science	Computer and information sciences; Information Systems; design of user interfaces; haptic interfaces; human-computer interaction; human-robot interaction
Maddison, Wayne	Department of Zoology, Department of Botany	Arachnology, Biodiversity, Spiders, Phylogenetic Theory and Programming
Madison, Kirk	Department of Physics & Astronomy	Condensed matter, atomic, molecular and optical physics
Madzwamuse, Anotida	Department of Mathematics
Maldonado, Maite	Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences	Phytoplankton Trace Metal Physiology
Man, Allison	Department of Physics & Astronomy	Cosmology and extragalactic astronomy; galaxy formation and evolution
Mank, Judith	Department of Zoology	evolution; How selection acts on males and females within a species; How the genome responds to contradictory selection to encode sexually dimorphic traits; Sex chromosomes; Gene regulation; Sexual conflict
Marcus, Brian Harry	Department of Mathematics	Coding and information theory, symbolic dynamics, ergodic theory and dynamical systems
Marshall, Katie	Department of Zoology	Animal physiology, environmental stress; Environmental Change; Marine biodiversity; Population Ecology; invertebrates and temperature adaptation
Martin, Gregory	Department of Mathematics	Number theory, Diophantine Approximation and Classical Analysis
Martone, Patrick	Department of Botany	Plant biology; Protist; Plants; Physiology; Taxonomy and Systematics; Ecology and Quality of the Environment; Evolution and Phylogenesis; Biomaterials; Solid Mechanics; Fluid mechanics; biomechanics; Ecology; evolution; Intertidal Zone; Macroalgae; Phycology

Graduate Student Stories

Cissy Suen

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Exploration of the Electronic Structure of the Mott Insulator Ca2RuO4

Gunwant Matharu

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Synthesis of bis-cyclometalated pt(II) complexes for targeting supramolecular materials

Mauricio Carvallo Aceves

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

Coastal adaptation strategies under uncertain climate change and sea level rise

Pierre Rogy

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Integrating energy channels and ecological stoichiometry theory using invertebrate food webs

Nikola Surjanovic

Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD)

Scalable Bayesian Methods for Sampling From Complex Probability Distributions

Daniel Korchinski

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Amorphous yielding beyond the athermal quasisatic limit

Sasha McDowell

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Taste processing in Drosophila melanogaster

Oguzhan Can

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Topological superconductivity

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 delay-differential model for representing small pelagic fish stock dynamics and its application for assessing alternative management strategies under environmental uncertainty

Publication: Fish and Fisheries
UBC Author(s): Villy Christensen (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14672960
Volume: 24
Page Range: 544-566
Publication Date: July 2023

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The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Bayesian Limits on Gravitational Waves from Individual Supermassive Black Hole Binaries

Publication: Astrophysical Journal Letters
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20418205
Volume: 951
Publication Date: 1 July 2023

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Thermophilic Dehalococcoidia with unusual traits shed light on an unexpected past

Publication: ISME Journal
UBC Author(s): Elitza Tocheva (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 17517362
Volume: 17
Page Range: 952-966
Publication Date: July 2023

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Numerical investigation on the generation and evolution of nonlinear internal waves in the southern Strait of Georgia

Publication: Progress in Oceanography
UBC Author(s): Richard Pawlowicz (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00796611
Volume: 215
Publication Date: July 2023

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Special Lagrangian Cycles and Calabi-Yau Transitions

Publication: Communications in Mathematical Physics
UBC Author(s): Sebastien Picard (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00103616
Volume: 401
Page Range: 769-802
Publication Date: July 2023

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The NANOGrav 15yr Data Set: Search for Signals from New Physics

Publication: Astrophysical Journal Letters
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20418205
Volume: 951
Publication Date: 1 July 2023

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Deciphering the biosynthesis of a novel lipid in Mycobacterium tuberculosis expands the known roles of the nitroreductase superfamily

Publication: Journal of Biological Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Lindsay Eltis (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00219258
Volume: 299
Publication Date: July 2023

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Antimalarials and amphotericin B interact synergistically and are new options to treat cryptococcosis

Publication: International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents
UBC Author(s): James Kronstad (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09248579
Volume: 62
Publication Date: July 2023

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Closed-Form Solution of the Unit Normal Loss Integral in 2 Dimensions, with Application in Value-of-Information Analysis

Publication: Medical Decision Making
UBC Author(s): Paul Gustafson (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0272989X
Volume: 43
Page Range: 621-626
Publication Date: July 2023

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Value-of-Information Analysis for External Validation of Risk Prediction Models

Publication: Medical Decision Making
UBC Author(s): Paul Gustafson (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0272989X
Volume: 43
Page Range: 564-575
Publication Date: July 2023

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Using qPCR of environmental DNA (eDNA) to estimate the biomass of juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.)

Publication: Environmental DNA
UBC Author(s): Brian Hunt (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 5
Page Range: 683-696
Publication Date: July 2023

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Thank You to Our 2022 Peer Reviewers

Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
UBC Author(s): Michael Bostock (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 21699313
Volume: 128
Publication Date: July 2023

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A new member of the flavodoxin superfamily from Fusobacterium nucleatum that functions in heme trafficking and reduction of anaerobilin

Publication: Journal of Biological Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Michael Murphy (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00219258
Volume: 299
Publication Date: July 2023

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Crowd-sourced observations of a polyphagous moth reveal evidence of allochronic speciation varying along a latitudinal gradient

Publication: PLoS ONE
UBC Author(s): Katie Marshall (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 18
Publication Date: July 2023

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The NANOGrav 12.5 yr Data Set: Bayesian Limits on Gravitational Waves from Individual Supermassive Black Hole Binaries

Publication: Astrophysical Journal Letters
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20418205
Volume: 951
Publication Date: 1 July 2023

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Bromeliads compete with microorganisms for nutrients in their phytotelm

Publication: Aquatic Botany
UBC Author(s): Diane Srivastava (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03043770
Volume: 187
Publication Date: July 2023

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Evaluating propensity for fugitive gas migration from integrity compromised oil and gas wells in the Peace Region, British Columbia, Canada, with a petrophysical approach

Publication: Marine and Petroleum Geology
UBC Author(s): Roger Beckie (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02648172
Volume: 153
Publication Date: July 2023

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Olivine in lamprophyres of the Kola Alkaline Province and the magmatic evolution of olivine in carbonate melts

Publication: Lithos
UBC Author(s): Maya Kopylova (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00244937
Volume: 448-449
Publication Date: July 2023

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Classification of maps sending lines into translates of a curve

Publication: Linear Algebra and Its Applications
UBC Author(s): Jozsef Solymosi (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00243795
Volume: 668
Page Range: 161-172
Publication Date: 1 July 2023

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A polarimetrically oriented X-ray stare at the accreting pulsar EXO 2030+375

Publication: Astronomy and Astrophysics
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00046361
Volume: 675
Publication Date: 1 July 2023

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X-ray pulsar GRO J1008-57 as an orthogonal rotator

Publication: Astronomy and Astrophysics
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00046361
Volume: 675
Publication Date: 1 July 2023

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Ionic liquid as hydrogen bond acceptor in the extraction of nutritional natural products

Publication: Food Chemistry
UBC Author(s): David Chen (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03088146
Volume: 412
Publication Date: 30 June 2023

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SpatialSort: a Bayesian model for clustering and cell population annotation of spatial proteomics data

Publication: Bioinformatics (Oxford, England)
UBC Author(s): Alexandre Bouchard-Cote (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 39
Page Range: i131-i139
Publication Date: 30 June 2023

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Exploring the Potential of Broadband Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Micro-Coil Nuclear Magnetic Resonance for Environmental Research

Publication: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)
UBC Author(s): Carl Michal (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 28
Publication Date: 29 June 2023

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Dynamics of molecular rotors in bulk superfluid helium

Publication: Science advances
UBC Author(s): Valery Milner (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 9
Page Range: eadi2455
Publication Date: 28 June 2023

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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
2023	Dr. Huang studied the initiation and regulation of plant innate immunity with the model organism Arabidopsis. He identified an indispensable transcription factor that plays dual roles in plant defense signalling. His studies provide new insights into how plants activate the biosynthesis of defense hormones to prevent pathogen attack.	Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD)
2023	Hawaiian volcanoes are direct windows into the chemical composition of Earth's deep interior. Dr. Williamson's research on Hawaiian lavas revealed a change in mantle chemistry along the Hawaiian Islands about 5 million years ago. Her work provides new insight for tracking the distribution of chemical reservoirs in the Earth's mantle through time.	Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD)
2023	Dr. Loos investigated sustainable materials for oil spill remediation using gels. This research was conducted in collaboration with a local company, and is now being considered for commercialization.	Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023	Dr. Santos studied how pathogenic E. coli manipulates normal human intestinal cell functions. He found that E. coli modifies important human signalling proteins, allowing it to influence how cells behave throughout an infection. This research provides insight into the mechanisms E. coli uses to survive and thrive during infection.	Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2023	Dr. Hayes used the high-energy proton collisions of the Large Hadron Collider to study the Higgs boson, a fundamental particle that gives mass to all other particles. Her work contributed to the first observation of a specific process involving the Higgs boson and furthered our understanding of this piece of the Standard Model of particle physics.	Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2023	How do conservation actors make decisions in practice? Dr. Stevens shows that governance of protected areas is changing to reflect new commitments to human rights, collaboration and evidence. Her analyses highlight diverse solutions to the biodiversity crisis, offering policy-relevant insights for more just and effective community-led conservation.	Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)
2023	Dr. Kim introduced a new theory to understand terrestrial evaporation from a land-atmosphere coupling perspective. The proposed theory effectively estimates evaporation and its upper limit, which he evaluated using field observations and climate simulations. This study improves hydrologic analyses particularly in warming climatic conditions.	Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)
2023	Dr. Ma developed a novel electrochemical DNA biosensor fabrication method. This method results in biosensors with higher binding efficiency and stability. Her work addressed key limitations hindering commercial application and provides valuable guidance for improved sensor fabrication.	Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2022	Dr. Huang studied how the transition from traditional chemistry to green chemistry can be accomplished through an in-situ hydrogen supply reactor. She engineered catalysts with finely-tuned structures for hydrogenation reactions. These reactions can be used in crucial industries such as pharmaceuticals, plastics, disinfection, and fuels.	Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2022	Dr. Pietromonaco studied curve-counting in certain geometries with singular points. His new results lead to some beautiful formulas, and reveal some new structure in the enumerative geometry of these singular spaces.	Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)