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 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. 

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
Marziali, Andre Department of Physics & Astronomy Teaching methods, pedagogy, Robotics in education, Nanotechnology, Engineering Physics, Genomics, Biophysics, Genomics Technologies
Matsuuchi, Linda Department of Zoology Cell signaling of specific membrane receptors, combining aspects of Cell Biology, Immunology , Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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
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
Mattison, Thomas Department of Physics & Astronomy Subatomic physics, Particle & Nuclear Physics, Applied Physics
Mayer, Ulrich Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Geology; groundwater contamination; groundwater remediation; hydrogeology; low-temperature geochemistry; mine waste management
McAllister, Murdoch Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Statistical methods for fisheries risk assessment, estimation, decision analysis and management strategy evaluation
McDonald, Daniel Department of Statistics High dimensional data analysis; Computational methods in statistics; Statistical theory and modeling; Machine learning; Epidemiology (except nutritional and veterinary epidemiology); Methods and models for epidemiological forecasting; Estimation and quantification of prediction risk; Evaluating the predictive abilities of complex dependent data; Application of statistical learning techniques to time series prediction problems; Investigations of cross-validation and the bootstrap for risk estimation
McDougall, Scott Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Debris flows / floods, Geohazards, Landslide-generated waves, Landslides, Natural and man-made geological hazards, Rock avalanches, Shoreline erosion, Tailings dam breaches
McGrenere, Joanna Department of Computer Science Computer and information sciences; computer science; computer supported cooperative work (CSCW); human-computer interaction; interactive technologies for older users and people with cognitive disorders; personalized user interfaces; universal usability
McIver, Jess Department of Physics & Astronomy General relativity and gravitational waves in astronomical and space sciences; Gravitational wave astrophysics; Multi-messenger astronomy; Characterization of large-scale physics instrumentation; data science
McKenna, Janis Department of Physics & Astronomy Physical sciences
Mehrkhodavandi, Parisa Department of Chemistry Chemical sciences; Inorganic and Organometallic Compounds; Polymers; Chemical Synthesis and Catalysis; Bio-based polymers; Bioproducts; catalysis; Green Chemistry; Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry; Polymer Chemistry and Characterization
Mehta, Aastha Department of Computer Science Networking, Security & Privacy, Systems security, Data privacy, Operating systems, Distributed systems
Michal, Carl Department of Physics & Astronomy Soft condensed matter; Development and applications of spectroscopic and structural techniques; Solid-state NMR; NMR and MRI of brain tissue; NMR methods and instrumentation; Biological and functional materials
Michaletz, Sean Department of Botany Plant physiological ecology; Plant biology; Surface processes; Natural hazards; Ecophysiology; Ecosystem ecology; climate change; macroecology; Geophysics; Scaling; Fire
Miller, Freda Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Medical Genetics
Milner, Valery Department of Physics & Astronomy Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics; Ultrafast Quantum Coherent Control; Ultrafast Spectroscopy
Mitchell, Ian Department of Computer Science safety critical systems, assistive technology (mobility), robotics, scientific computing, cyber-physical systems, Mathematical software, computational science and engineering, hybrid and cyber-physical systems, verification and validation, reproducible research, level set methods, robotic path, planning
Mizumoto, Kota Department of Zoology Cell and Developmental Biology
Mohn, William Department of Microbiology & Immunology pollutant biodegradation, pollutant bioremediation, biological treatment of forest industry effluents and wastes, microbial ecology, environmental biotechnology, forest soil microbial ecology, tuberculosis, microbial genomics, Microbial ecology
Momose, Takamasa Department of Chemistry Spectroscopy, Chemical physics
Munzner, Tamara Department of Computer Science Human-centered computing; visualization; information visualization; visual analytics; data science
Murphy, Michael Department of Microbiology & Immunology Bacteriology; Enzymes (including kinetics and mechanisms, and biocatalyst); Alternatives to antibiotics; Bacterial pathogenesis; Biological and Biochemical Mechanisms; Functional and Structural Proteomics; Microbial metal metabolism
Murphy, Gail Department of Computer Science Programming languages and software engineering; Software Development; knowledge worker productivity; software design; software engineering; software evolution

Pages

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: Astronomy and Astrophysics
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00046361
Volume: 677
Publication Date: 1 September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Marine Policy
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0308597X
Volume: 155
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0004637X
Volume: 954
Publication Date: 1 September 2023

View Publication
Publication: New Phytologist
UBC Author(s): Carl Bohlmann (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0028646X
Volume: 239
Page Range: 2138-2152
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Journal of Biological Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Hongbin Li (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00219258
Volume: 299
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Information and Inference
UBC Author(s): Elina Robeva (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 12
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Journal of High Energy Physics
UBC Author(s): Mark Van Raamsdonk (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 2023
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: New Directions for Teaching and Learning
UBC Author(s): Laura Lukes (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02710633
Volume: 2023
Page Range: 61-70
Publication Date: Fall 2023

View Publication
Publication: Mineralogy and Petrology
UBC Author(s): Maya Kopylova (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09300708
Volume: 117
Page Range: 553-571
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Vadose Zone Journal
UBC Author(s): Ulrich Mayer (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 22
Publication Date: September/October 2023

View Publication
Publication: Biometrics
UBC Author(s): Paul Gustafson (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0006341X
Volume: 79
Page Range: 1986-1995
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0004637X
Volume: 954
Publication Date: 1 September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Nature Reviews Earth and Environment
UBC Author(s): Dominique Weis (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 4
Page Range: 604-625
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Limnology and Oceanography: Methods
UBC Author(s): Philippe Tortell (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 21
Page Range: 529-541
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Heliyon
UBC Author(s): Jiaying Zhao (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 24058440
Volume: 9
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Physical review letters
UBC Author(s): Scott Oser (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 131
Page Range: 091801
Publication Date: 1 September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Marine Policy
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0308597X
Volume: 155
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Regional Environmental Change
UBC Author(s): Kai Chan (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14363798
Volume: 23
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00358711
Volume: 524
Page Range: 3834-3845
Publication Date: 1 September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Trends in Biochemical Sciences
UBC Author(s): Nobuhiko Tokuriki (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09680004
Volume: 48
Page Range: 751-760
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Environment Systems and Decisions
UBC Author(s): Amanda Giang (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 21945403
Volume: 43
Page Range: 358-370
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Cellulose
UBC Author(s): Edward Grant (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09690239
Volume: 30
Page Range: 8259-8274
Publication Date: September 2023

View Publication
Publication: Chemical Engineering Journal
UBC Author(s): Steven Hallam (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 13858947
Volume: 471
Publication Date: 1 September 2023

View Publication
Publication: The Behavioral and brain sciences
UBC Author(s): Jiaying Zhao (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 46
Page Range: e180
Publication Date: 30 August 2023

View Publication

Pages

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
2022 Dr. Wharton studied metal-based radioactive drugs for the diagnosis and therapy of cancer. His work led to the development of several radiopharmaceuticals which achieved effective imaging of tumours. His research deepens our understanding of viable approaches to drug design and has implications for the further advancement of cancer treatments. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2022 Dr. Cristiani studied the movement of marine invertebrates among different areas of the British Columbia coast. His research modeled the spatial extent of animal dispersal and predicted where habitat is connected. This work is now being incorporated into planning the placement of marine protected areas to better conserve biodiversity. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2022 Dr. Baker studied metals in which electronic motion does not obey Ohm's law. He looked at metals where electrons develop preferred directions of motion because of strong interactions with the ionic lattice. He developed a theory of how this leads to new electrical and optical properties, and measured these novel effects in palladium cobalt oxide. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2022 Dr. Ju developed prediction methods that go beyond classical settings. Her proposals are built upon the idea of ensemble learning and use data that contain extreme or function-valued variables. The resulting algorithms provide computational tools for practitioners to deal with complex data seen in various applications. Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD)
2022 Dr. Blain tested for predicted effects of competitive interactions among co-occurring fish phenotypes in post-glacial lakes. She demonstrated weak or no evidence for predictions from theory for selection and evolution in solitary stickleback populations and some evidence for habitat and trait repeatability in assemblages of sympatric salmonids. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2022 Dr. Jung investigated the regulation of respiratory gases within the gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular system in teleost. She also studied the potential implications associated with osmoregulation and digestion. Her research illuminates maintenance of blood homeostasis despite the extreme extracorporeal environment in the tract. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2022 Dr. DeLisle used quantum information theory to study electromagnetic and gravitational fields. His work argued that upcoming laboratory experiments should be capable of observing quantum superpositions of space-time, and resulted in the discovery of a new kind of electric current, responsible for emitting the longest wavelengths of light in Nature. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2022 Dr. Christidis developed a new class of statistical algorithms designed to analyze data in high dimensions. He made theoretical and computational contributions to support his work. His methods were applied to study the relationship between genetic patterns and different types of diseases. Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD)
2022 Dr. Bruns examined the mechanisms of heat transport in carbon nanotubes at the atomic level. He showed that the small spatial dimensions of these materials require a rethinking of some fundamental laws of thermal science. His research improves our understanding of the thermal performance of some technologically important materials. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2022 What happens when you fall into a black hole? Gravity predicts one answer, quantum mechanics another. Dr. Wakeham explored this problem, using an approach which combines quantum and gravitational effects, and in particular exploited surfaces called end-of-the-world branes to peer inside black holes and understand the fate of someone who falls in. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Pages