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. 

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
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 Cell signaling of specific membrane receptors, combining aspects of Cell Biology, Immunology , Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Matthews, Jaymie Mark Department of Physics & Astronomy Stellar seismology, stellar structure and evolution, exoplanets, magnetic peculiar stars, photometry and spectroscopy, space astronomy
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 respiratory adaptations of animals, primarily insects
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; 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 biology; fire behavior and effects; macroecology; Plant physiological ecology
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

Pages

Graduate Student Stories

Gaylean Davies

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

Women, Water + Empowerment: Investigating connections and disconnections in small water enterprises in Ghana

Melody Salehzadeh

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Local regulation of glucocorticoids in the nervous and immune systems

Deanna Pepin

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)

Impact of osmotic perturbations on the gut microbiota

Reid Merrill

Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD)

Fluids and seismicity in northern Cascadia

Evan Warner

Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD)

Genomic and epigenomic features of prostate tumors with high metastatic potential

Jonathan Doucette

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Probing Brain Tissue Microstructure with Magnetic Resonance Imaging through Bayesian Learning of Signal Dynamics

Tessa Blanchard

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Developmental Plasticity

Cassandra Miller

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

The Efficacy of Quantitative Imaging for Dosimetry in Dual-Isotope Molecular Radiotherapies
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.

 

Channel-independent function of UNC-9/Innexin in spatial arrangement of GABAergic synapses in C. elegans
Publication: eLife
UBC Author(s): Kota Mizumoto (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 11
Publication Date: 15 November 2022

View Publication
Singlet Oxygen Seasonality in Aqueous PM<inf>10</inf>is Driven by Biomass Burning and Anthropogenic Secondary Organic Aerosol
Publication: Environmental Science and Technology
UBC Author(s): Nadine Borduas-Dedekind (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0013936X
Volume: 56
Page Range: 15389-15397
Publication Date: 15 November 2022

View Publication
Highly Tunable Ferromagnetic 2D Electron Gases at Oxide Interfaces
Publication: Advanced Materials Interfaces
UBC Author(s): Ke Zou (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 9
Publication Date: 14 November 2022

View Publication
Aquaculture over-optimism?
Publication: Frontiers in Marine Science
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science), Daniel Pauly (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 9
Publication Date: 14 November 2022

View Publication
Polarized x-rays from a magnetar
Publication: Science (New York, N.Y.)
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 378
Page Range: 646-650
Publication Date: 11 November 2022

View Publication
Polarized x-rays constrain the disk-jet geometry in the black hole x-ray binary Cygnus X-1
Publication: Science (New York, N.Y.)
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Heyl (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 378
Page Range: 650-654
Publication Date: 11 November 2022

View Publication
Transitions in the Learnability of Global Charges from Local Measurements
Publication: Physical Review Letters
UBC Author(s): Andrew Potter (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00319007
Volume: 129
Publication Date: 11 November 2022

View Publication
Editorial: Monocot phylogenetics and trait evolution
Publication: Frontiers in Plant Science
UBC Author(s): Sean Graham (Botany / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 13
Publication Date: 10 November 2022

View Publication
Decadal migration phenology of a long-lived Arctic icon keeps pace with climate change
Publication: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
UBC Author(s): Marie Auger-Methe (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 119
Publication Date: 8 November 2022

View Publication
Comment on "Manifolds of quasi-constant SOAP and ACSF fingerprints and the resulting failure to machine learn four-body interactions" [J. Chem. Phys. 156, 034302 (2022)
Publication: The Journal of chemical physics
UBC Author(s): Christoph Ortner (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 157
Page Range: 177101
Publication Date: 7 November 2022

View Publication
The future of fungi: threats and opportunities
Publication: G3 (Bethesda, Md.)
UBC Author(s): James Kronstad (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 12
Publication Date: 4 November 2022

View Publication
Protect global values of the Southern Ocean ecosystem
Publication: Science
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00368075
Volume: 378
Page Range: 477-479
Publication Date: 4 November 2022

View Publication
Seasonal dissolved copper speciation in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada
Publication: Frontiers in Marine Science
UBC Author(s): Maria Maldonado-Pareja (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 9
Publication Date: 3 November 2022

View Publication
Rebuilding fish biomass for the world's marine ecoregions under climate change
Publication: Global Change Biology
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science), Daniel Pauly (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 13541013
Volume: 28
Page Range: 6254-6267
Publication Date: November 2022

View Publication
Consequences of adjusting cell density and feed frequency on serum-free expansion of thymic regulatory T cells
Publication: Cytotherapy
UBC Author(s): James Piret (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14653249
Volume: 24
Page Range: 1121-1135
Publication Date: November 2022

View Publication
Massive circumpolar biomass of Southern Ocean zooplankton: Implications for food web structure, carbon export, and marine spatial planning
Publication: Limnology and Oceanography
UBC Author(s): Yevhenii Pakhomov (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 67
Page Range: 2516-2530
Publication Date: November 2022

View Publication
Functional traits and metacommunity theory reveal that habitat filtering and competition maintain bird diversity in a human shared landscape
Publication: Ecography
UBC Author(s): Diane Srivastava (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09067590
Volume: 2022
Publication Date: November 2022

View Publication
A standardized methodology for economic and carbon footprint assessment of CO<inf>2</inf> to transport fuels: Comparison of novel bicarbonate electrolysis with competing pathways
Publication: Applied Energy
UBC Author(s): Curtis Berlinguette (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03062619
Volume: 325
Publication Date: 1 November 2022

View Publication
A guanidinium group is an effective mimic of the tertiary carbocation formed by isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase
Publication: Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters
UBC Author(s): Martin Tanner (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0960894X
Volume: 75
Publication Date: 1 November 2022

View Publication
Fractional factorial experimental design for optimizing volatile fatty acids from anaerobic fermentation of municipal sludge: Microbial community and activity investigation
Publication: Renewable Energy
UBC Author(s): Steven Hallam (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09601481
Volume: 199
Page Range: 733-744
Publication Date: November 2022

View Publication
The formation of steeply-plunging folds in fold-and-thrust belts
Publication: Journal of Structural Geology
UBC Author(s): Kenneth Hickey (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01918141
Volume: 164
Publication Date: November 2022

View Publication
Why Do Both Mean Dose and V<inf>≥x</inf> Often Predict Normal Tissue Outcomes?
Publication: Advances in Radiation Oncology
UBC Author(s): Stefan Reinsberg (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 7
Publication Date: 1 November 2022

View Publication
Consistency of the MLE under a two-parameter Gamma mixture model with a structural shape parameter
Publication: Metrika
UBC Author(s): Jiahua Chen (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00261335
Volume: 85
Page Range: 951-975
Publication Date: November 2022

View Publication
Impact of warming and deoxygenation on the habitat distribution of Pacific halibut in the Northeast Pacific
Publication: Fisheries Oceanography
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10546006
Volume: 31
Page Range: 601-614
Publication Date: November 2022

View Publication
Linking observed changes in pelagic catches to temperature and oxygen in the Eastern Tropical Pacific
Publication: Fish and Fisheries
UBC Author(s): Daniel Pauly (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14672960
Volume: 23
Page Range: 1371-1382
Publication Date: November 2022

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
2021 Dr. Fang studied first-order optimization algorithms. His work has contributed to a better understanding of first-order methods for structured problems. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2021 Certain phases of matter admit an intriguing connection to gravity, providing a fruitful way to study exotic objects such as black holes and wormholes. Dr. Lantagne-Hurtubise studied toy models of such holographic quantum matter, discovering new phenomena and developing connections to physical platforms where they may be experimentally probed. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2021 Dr. Lin studied how Campylobacter jejuni helical cell shape is generated by enzyme actions. She found the shape-determining enzymes digest sites in the cell wall structure. This knowledge adds mechanistic insight on bacterial morphology maintenance, and provides a platform to design drugs targeting the helical cell shape necessary for infection. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2021 Dr. Gilchrist combined laboratory, field and computer-based methods to characterize explosive volcanic eruptions ranging from small puffs of ash to civilization-ending super eruptions. The culmination of his PhD dissertation is a new classification for eruptions that represents a paradigm shift in the direction of future volcanology research. Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD)
2021 In this dissertation, Dr. Cheng studied analytical and numerical methods of partial differential equations. Dr. Cheng studied the Allen-Cahn dynamics, the Oxygen depletion model and the stationary surface quasi-geostrophic equation. These models can be applied to material sciences, biology and geography. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2021 Dr. Zonno studied the physical properties of quantum materials, such as superconductors and rare-earth compounds, by employing laser excitations and chemical substitution. Her results testify to the importance of electron-electron interactions in dictating the behavior of these materials, which may play a vital role in future technologies. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2021 Dr. Coleman investigated the physiological mechanisms that allow some kelp species to develop progressively narrower and longer photosynthetic blades as water flow increases. His research has improved our understanding of an important biomechanical adaptation to variable flow conditions in a group of ecologically important marine organisms. Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD)
2021 Dr. Yuan studied how organic molecules interacted with light. She synthesized a variety of sulfur-bridged chromophore dimers and examined the effect of oxidation on the photophysical and photochemical properties. She demonstrated how these materials could be used for potential applications in anti-counterfeiting. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Dr. Cen studied the effects of insulin levels on insulin receptor expression. He showed that high insulin reduces insulin receptors in muscle, thereby causing insulin resistance. He also identified proteins that control insulin receptor expression and movement within cells. His findings improve our understanding of insulin resistance and diabetes. Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD)
2021 Dr. Wong searched for exotic particles beyond the Standard Model of particle physics with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The searches helped constrain new physics scenarios, including leptoquarks and hidden strong dynamics. He also contributed to the upgrade of a tracking system of the detector, allowing efficient recording of collision data. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Pages

 

UBC fisheries researcher named 2022 AAAS fellow

Dr. Rashid Sumaila, a leading interdisciplinary fisheries economist, has been elected to the latest class of American Association for the...

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UBC biologist wins prize for research on ‘dazzling’ explosions of evolution

UBC evolutionary biologist Dr. Dolph Schluter has been awarded the Crafoord Prize in Biosciences by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (...

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Toxic toilet paper and long-lasting chemicals found in endangered killer whales

A chemical used in the production of toilet paper and 'forever chemicals' have been found in the bodies of orcas in B.C. , including the...

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UBC Biodiversity Research Centre welcomes new leadership

Marine ecologist Dr. Mary O’Connor has been appointed director of UBC’s Biodiversity Research Centre (BRC), effective January 1, 2023....

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UBC Science Best of 2022

As 2022 comes to a close, we look back at some of the significant research and teaching advances to come out of UBC Science over the past...

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How intensive agriculture turned a wild plant into a pervasive weed

New research in Science is showing how the rise of modern agriculture has turned a North American native plant, common waterhemp, into a...

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