Faculty of Science

Canadian Immigration Updates

Review details about the recently announced changes to study and work permits that apply to master’s and doctoral degree students. Read more

Notice: Canadian Immigration Updates

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.

678

Master's Students

(2023)
1038

Doctoral Students

(2023)
435

Graduate Degrees Awarded

(2022)
428

Full-Time Faculty

(2023)
161.6

million in Research Awards

(2023/2024)

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

Antihydrogen Trapping and Spectroscopy at CERN
Pacific Institute for Theoretical Physics
TRIUMF: Canada’s National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics
UBC ATLAS Project at Large Hadron Collider

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.

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
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, Yue-Xian	Department of Mathematics	Calcium signalling in neuroendocrine cells Fertilization calcium waves in oocytes
Li, Xin	Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Botany	Molecules in plants, plants defence against pathogen infection, plant genes
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
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	Electronic and magnetic properties of condensed matter and supraconductivity; Nuclear chemistry; Development and applications of spectroscopic and structural techniques; Surfaces and structural properties of condensed matter; Solid state chemistry; Characterization of materials; Condensed matter experiments; Condensed matter characterization technique development; Condensed matter physics
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
Madison, Kirk	Department of Physics & Astronomy	Atomic, molecular, and optical physics; Quantum sensors; Quantum Gases; Laser cooling; Bose-Einstein Condesation; Fermi-Degenerate Gases; Quantum optics; Laser 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
Marziali, Andre	Department of Physics & Astronomy	Teaching methods, pedagogy, Robotics in education, Nanotechnology, Engineering Physics, Genomics, Biophysics, Genomics Technologies
Matsuuchi, Linda	Department of Zoology	Intracellular signaling, signal transduction, receptor and membrane biology; Cell Biology; Immunology
Matthews, Philip	Department of Zoology	Animal physiology, respiration; Insect biology; Animal physiology, biophysics; Comparative biomechanics; Animal physiological ecology; Comparative Physiology; biomechanics; Insect physiology; Respiratory Physiology
Matthews, Benjamin	Department of Zoology	Genomics; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Zoology; Aedes aeygpti mosquitoes; Arboviral pathogens; Chikungunya; Comparative Physiology; Dengue fever; Genome of mosquitoes; Yellow fever; Zika