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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. 

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
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, Hongbin Department of Chemistry Biophysical chemistry, biomaterials, single molecule studies, biological, atomic force, polymer chemistry
Li, Xin Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Botany Molecules in plants, plants defence against pathogen infection, plant genes
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 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
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
Mattison, Thomas Department of Physics & Astronomy Subatomic physics, Particle & Nuclear Physics, Applied Physics

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Graduate Student Stories

Betinol's image

Isaiah Betinol

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Statistical Models and Machine Learning for the Design and Optimization of Novel Catalysts
Brandon McNabb's image

Brandon McNabb

Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD)

Characterizing the distributions and mechanisms driving oceanic methylated sulfur cycling
Herringer Paul's image

Paul Herringer

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Classifying computational phases of quantum matter in 2D and 3D
Borch Annie's image

Annie Borch

Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD)

The history and impact of volcanism and glacial systems on landscape evolution in the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, BC
Ina Na's image

Ina Na

Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD)

The diversity and evolution of apicomplexans
Faeze Keshavarz's image

Faeze Keshavarz

Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)

Understanding cellular pathways modifications in cancer using the transcriptome
Betz Emma's image

Emma Betz

Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD)

Developing a new inorganic proxy to explore trophic dynamics in the past

Joshua MacEachern's image

Joshua MacEachern

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Designing a new radio telescope to help study the universe when it was just a fraction of a second old
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.

 

How Does Selfing Affect the Pace and Process of Speciation?
Publication: Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology
UBC Author(s): Loren Rieseberg (Botany / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 16
Publication Date: 1 November 2024

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Examining the effect of salbutamol use in ozone air pollution by people with exercise-induced bronchoconstriction
Publication: Physiological Reports
UBC Author(s): Nadine Borduas-Dedekind (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 12
Publication Date: November 2024

View Publication
Search for pair production of boosted Higgs bosons via vector-boson fusion in the bb¯bb¯ final state using pp collisions at s=13TeV with the ATLAS detector
Publication: Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
UBC Author(s): Colin Gay (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03702693
Volume: 858
Publication Date: November 2024

View Publication
Experimental constraints on barium isotope fractionation during adsorption–desorption reactions: Implications for weathering and erosion tracer applications
Publication: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
UBC Author(s): Harold Bradbury (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00167037
Volume: 384
Page Range: 194-212
Publication Date: 1 November 2024

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First evidence of cryptic diversity in mud dragons (kinorhyncha) and description of Echinoderes quasae sp. nov. from the northeastern pacific coast
Publication: Zoologischer Anzeiger
UBC Author(s): Brian Leander (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00445231
Volume: 313
Page Range: 241-254
Publication Date: November 2024

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Studying geometry of the ultraluminous X-ray pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124 using X-ray and optical polarimetry
Publication: Astronomy and Astrophysics
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00046361
Volume: 691
Publication Date: 1 November 2024

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Monitoring stress-induced brittle rock mass damage for preventative support maintenance
Publication: International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences
UBC Author(s): Erik Eberhardt (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 13651609
Volume: 183
Publication Date: November 2024

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The glow of axion quark nugget dark matter: II. Galaxy clusters
Publication: Astronomy and Astrophysics
UBC Author(s): Ariel Zhitnitsky (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00046361
Volume: 691
Publication Date: 1 November 2024

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Turning up the heat: infrared sensing during mosquito host-seeking
Publication: Trends in Parasitology
UBC Author(s): Benjamin Matthews (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14714922
Volume: 40
Page Range: 954-955
Publication Date: November 2024

View Publication
Frequency-dependent returns in nonlinear public goods games
Publication: Journal of the Royal Society Interface
UBC Author(s): Christoph Hauert (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 17425689
Volume: 21
Publication Date: 30 October 2024

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Calmodulin-Based Dynamic Protein Hydrogels with Three Distinct Mechanical Stiffness
Publication: Advanced Functional Materials
UBC Author(s): Hongbin Li (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1616301X
Volume: 34
Publication Date: 29 October 2024

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Applied Organometallic Chemistry: From Foundational to Translational
Publication: Organometallics
UBC Author(s): Laurel Schafer (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02767333
Volume: 43
Page Range: 2377-2380
Publication Date: 28 October 2024

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Tantalum Catalyzed Hydroaminoalkylation Enables a Telescoping Catalytic Reaction Sequence for the Synthesis of Benzoannulated Indolizidines and Quinolizidines
Publication: Organometallics
UBC Author(s): Laurel Schafer (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02767333
Volume: 43
Page Range: 2397-2402
Publication Date: 28 October 2024

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Using k-means to sort spectra: Electronic order mapping from scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements
Publication: Applied Physics Letters
UBC Author(s): Douglas Andrew Bonn (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00036951
Volume: 125
Publication Date: 28 October 2024

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Electronic Tunability of Ruthenium Formyl and Hydroxymethyl Intermediates Relevant to Sustainable CO-to-Methanol Conversion
Publication: Organometallics
UBC Author(s): Eva Nichols (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02767333
Volume: 43
Page Range: 2626-2636
Publication Date: 28 October 2024

View Publication
Two-Stage Growth for Highly Ordered Epitaxial C<inf>60</inf> Films on Au(111)
Publication: Journal of Physical Chemistry C
UBC Author(s): David Jones (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science), Andrea Damascelli (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 19327447
Volume: 128
Page Range: 18128-18134
Publication Date: 24 October 2024

View Publication
Secretory IgA in breast milk protects against asthma through modulation of the gut microbiota
Publication: Cell Reports
UBC Author(s): B Brett Finlay (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 26391856
Volume: 43
Publication Date: 22 October 2024

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Transparency in aquaculture subsidy reporting urgently needed
Publication: Science advances
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 10
Page Range: eadt5484
Publication Date: 18 October 2024

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A review of the global use of fishmeal and fish oil and the Fish In:Fish Out metric
Publication: Science advances
UBC Author(s): Daniel Pauly (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 10
Page Range: eadn5650
Publication Date: 18 October 2024

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Global sustainability assessment of cephalopod fisheries based on pressure-state-response framework
Publication: iScience
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 27
Publication Date: 18 October 2024

View Publication
Combination and summary of ATLAS dark matter searches interpreted in a 2HDM with a pseudo-scalar mediator using 139 fb<sup>−1</sup> of s=13 TeV pp collision data
Publication: Science Bulletin
UBC Author(s): Alison Lister (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science), Colin Gay (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20959273
Volume: 69
Page Range: 3005-3035
Publication Date: 15 October 2024

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The carbon balance and water use efficiency of an intensively managed forage crop in the Lower Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada
Publication: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
UBC Author(s): Mark Johnson (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01681923
Volume: 357
Publication Date: 15 October 2024

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On the invertibility of matrices with a double saddle-point structure
Publication: Linear Algebra and Its Applications
UBC Author(s): Chen Greif (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00243795
Volume: 699
Page Range: 403-420
Publication Date: 15 October 2024

View Publication
Atomic cluster expansion without self-interaction
Publication: Journal of Computational Physics
UBC Author(s): Christoph Ortner (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00219991
Volume: 515
Publication Date: 15 October 2024

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Differences in brain structure and cognitive performance between patients with long-COVID and those with normal recovery
Publication: NeuroImage
UBC Author(s): Vesna Sossi (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10538119
Volume: 300
Publication Date: 15 October 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. Suhail has made significant strides in computer vision by pioneering diverse methodologies that elevate semantic comprehension and geometric reasoning abilities within computer vision systems. His works have received nominations for Best Paper Awards, highlighting the substantial impact of his work in the field. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2024 The terrestrial plants possess a cuticle which comprises a mixture of ubiquitous waxes that have important physiological roles. Dr. Gozdzik investigated the cuticles of several plant species to infer biosynthetic mechanisms for non-ubiquitous specialty wax compounds which furthers the understanding of the roles and origins of those wax compounds. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2024 Dr. Banados Schwerter studied the formal requirements for detecting type inconsistencies in programming languages that combine static and dynamic type checking, and a novel reporting technique for these errors. His research will assist the design of new programming languages and help their future programmers to find and fix programming mistakes. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2024 Dr. Feng proposed an inexpensive method to reduce the amount of human labeling in the task of extracting relations from documents. He proposed a novel self-training method to improve the performance of text generation and relation extraction when few labeled data is used to train a machine learning model. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2024 Dr. He developed a self-supervised machine learning tool that minimizes the need for extensive human annotation, thereby alleviating the reliance on costly human labor during the machine learning development process. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2023 Dr. Huggins studied how microorganisms use nitrogen in low-oxygen marine waters. She found that, in some cases, nitrogen can be recycled faster than it is lost from the environment. Her work adds to our knowledge about the impacts of oxygen loss and climate change in the oceans. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Irwin studied how to use computers to solve noisy optimization problems, which are optimization problems where one cannot measure the quantity one wants to optimize exactly. He developed three new computer algorithms for solving noisy optimization problems, including an industrial problem encountered by makers of computer chips. Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Yin developed new methods to improve mass spectrometry based proteomic research. His work enabled more comprehensive and accurate measurement of proteins, thus contributing to a deeper understanding of the state of biological systems studied. The methods he developed has potential future applications in advancing disease diagnosis and therapeutics discovery. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Dr. Jones developed and implemented phylogenetic methods to estimate integration dates of HIV proviruses. His findings have provided a better understanding of within-host HIV dynamics and is beneficial for HIV cure research. Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)
2023 Quite surprisingly, some quantum systems can encode gravitational physics in a higher dimensional space. Dr. Waddell used this fact to study a key quantum system arising in string theory, to show that information about a black hole's contents is not destroyed when it evaporates, and to propose a quantum description of universes similar to our own. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

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