
Jo Fitzgibbons
Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)
Co-constructing a mutualistic city: Envisioning future scenarios to support people and nature in urban landscapes
Review details about the recently announced changes to study and work permits that apply to master’s and doctoral degree students. Read more
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.
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
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.
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.
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 |
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Science.
Year | Citation | Program |
---|---|---|
2024 | Dr. Kunstner studied optimization for machine learning. His work develops new algorithms that automatically adapt to the problem and identifies bottlenecks in the training of deep learning models. These advances support the development of more efficient machine learning systems that take less human efforts to tune. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Hofmann used high-throughput microscopy, machine learning and creative visualizations to map protein changes in yeast cells to look at how membrane contact site proteins change localization. Additionally, she conducted teaching research and explored the attitudes of undergraduate biology students towards biology and math. | Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Harvey developed machine learning models which generate and edit images and video. His work had a particular focus on enabling the same model to be used for many different editing tasks. Potential applications include editing films and developing controllers for robots. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Wang identified three immune regulators functioning downstream of immune receptor SNC2 and emphasizes the importance of homeostasis control of key immune regulator BDA1 in Arabidopsis. These findings provide advanced understanding on how plants regulate defense responses and may inform the sustainable solutions to crop protection. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Chernobai studed global existence of local energy solutions for Navier-Stokes equations, which describe a motion of incompressible fluid, and constructed solutions for the new class of initial data. She also researched the regularity of solutions to elliptic equations with critical drift, and proved the existence, uniqueness and higher regularity of such solutions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Zhou's research delves into extreme value modelling with application to reverse stress testing, identifying scenarios of risk factor changes that lead to a specified adverse portfolio outcome. She developed multiple statistical methodologies to overcome the challenges due to limited historical data records of risk factors and associated portfolio losses. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Sora modeled the Canadian Arctic under environmental changes. She found that key species and habitats are particularly vulnerable. Her findings revealed valuable insights for the integration of climate change considerations into marine spatial planning, the conservation objectives of protected areas, and the interests of Indigenous communities. | Doctor of Philosophy in Oceans and Fisheries (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Trainor's research lies in the intersection of analysis, discrete mathematics, and geometry. She studies discrete analogues of classical continuous problems, and focuses on a recent, effective method in these fields known as the polynomial method. Her dissertation applies and advances this method to new problems and in new settings. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Orabi studied and developed computational methods for analysing bioinformatics data, with a special focus on RNA and DNA sequencing technologies. His main contributions include designing and testing novel algorithms for detecting alternative splicing using long-read RNA sequencing without relying on existing annotation databases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Vacariu synthesized substrates for the study of “AmpG”, a membrane transport protein critical to the induction of bacterial antibiotic resistance. These substrates were used to demonstrate the first ever binding interactions for “AmpG” outside the bacterial environment and will be used to map the parts of “AmpG” responsible for its function. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |