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
McDougall, Scott Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Other earth and related environmental sciences, n.e.c.; Geotechnical engineering; 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
Murugan, Mathav Department of Mathematics Mathematics and statistics; boundary theory; Metric geometry; potential theory; probability theory and analysis; quasiconformal mappings; relationship between behavior of Markov processes and the geometry of the underlying state space; Sandpile models
Ng, Raymond Tak-yan Department of Computer Science Data mining and analysis, health informatics, text summarization, text mining
Nichols, Eva Department of Chemistry Inorganic catalysis and reaction mechanisms; carbon dioxide reduction; electrocatalysis; bioinspired catalyst designs; molecularly-modified materials; molecular mechanisms; self-assembled monolayers; operando spectroscopy
Nolde, Natalia Department of Statistics Statistics; Statistics and Probabilities; Applications in finance, insurance, geosciences; Multivariate extreme value theory; Risk assessment
O'Connor, Mary Department of Zoology climate change, ocean, seafood, seagrass, eelgrass, invertebrate, ecology, environment,
Oberg, Gunilla Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability History and philosophy of science (including non-historical philosophy of science); Other earth and related environmental sciences, n.e.c.; Indigenous peoples environmental knowledge; All other social sciences, n.e.c.; Science and knowledge production; Scientific controversies surrounding the evaluation of chemical risk (epistemic and ontological); Indigenous data justice as related to chemicals regulation & management; Social and cultural factors of chemicals regulation & management; Vocabulary, Knowledge, Significance and Thought Building; environmental health; The challenge of teaching science as a process and not a deliverer of irrefutable facts; The role of deliberation in science
Ollivier, Rachel Department of Mathematics Langlands Programme, a central theme in pure mathematics which predicts deep connections between number theory and representation theory;
Orsi, Anais Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Atmospheric measurement techniques; Physics of snow and ice; Cryosphere processes, n.e.c.; Isotope geochemistry; Geochronology; Environmental geochemistry; Quantitative methods for environmental sciences; Earth system sciences; Climate change impacts and adaptation; climate change; Polar climate; Data analysis, inverse modeling; Paleoclimate

Pages

Graduate Student Stories

Neha Sharma-Mascarenhas

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

Analyzing data and policy outcomes for repair, reuse, and recycling for end-of-life electronics

Antoine Belley

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Probing beyond standard model physics through ab initio calculations of exotic weak processes in atomic nuclei

Baraa Orabi

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)

Design and complexity analysis of novel algorithms for annotation-independent detection of transcriptomic alternative splicing Isoforms using long-read sequencing

Alexandra Tully

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Charge-transfer dynamics in organic photovoltaic thin films using time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy

Alberto Campos

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

Rewilding the Brazilian Caatinga.

Cameron Herberts

Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD)

Using circulating tumour DNA to understand genomic evolution in metastatic prostate cancer

Evelyn Arriagada

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

Islander women mapping water-related problems and solutions

Sahar Ghadirianniari

Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Engineering (PhD)

Mud rush Risk Management in Block Cave Mining

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.

 

Understanding mechanism driven regioselectivity in zirconium-catalysed hydroaminoalkylation: homoallylic amines from conjugated dienes
Publication: Chemical Science
UBC Author(s): Laurel Schafer (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20416520
Volume: 15
Page Range: 10571-10576
Publication Date: 12 June 2024

View Publication
Explicit Orthogonal Arrays and Universal Hashing with Arbitrary Parameters
Publication: Proceedings of the Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing
UBC Author(s): Nicholas Harvey (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 07378017
Page Range: 1259-1267
Publication Date: 10 June 2024

View Publication
A Bulky Imidodiphosphorimidate Brønsted Acid Enables Highly Enantioselective Prins-semipinacol Rearrangements
Publication: ACS Catalysis
UBC Author(s): Jolene Reid (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 14
Page Range: 8518-8527
Publication Date: 7 June 2024

View Publication
Ethanol Upgrading with N,N,N-Pincer-Based Ru Catalysts: Delineating Key Factors Governing Catalyst Evolution and Stability
Publication: ACS Catalysis
UBC Author(s): Corey Stephenson (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 14
Page Range: 8456-8462
Publication Date: 7 June 2024

View Publication
Combination of Searches for Resonant Higgs Boson Pair Production Using Formula Presented Collisions at Formula Presented with the ATLAS Detector
Publication: Physical Review Letters
UBC Author(s): Alison Lister (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00319007
Volume: 132
Publication Date: 7 June 2024

View Publication
Combination of Searches for Resonant Higgs Boson Pair Production Using pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV with the ATLAS Detector
Publication: Physical review letters
UBC Author(s): Colin Gay (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 132
Page Range: 231801
Publication Date: 7 June 2024

View Publication
Amyloidogenic regions in beta-strands II and III modulate the aggregation and toxicity of SOD1 in living cells
Publication: Open Biology
UBC Author(s): Steven Plotkin (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 14
Publication Date: 5 June 2024

View Publication
Orbital-selective time-domain signature of nematicity dynamics in the charge-density-wave phase of La<inf>1.65</inf>Eu<inf>0.2</inf>Sr<inf>0.15</inf>CuO<inf>4</inf>
Publication: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
UBC Author(s): Andrea Damascelli (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 121
Publication Date: 4 June 2024

View Publication
Conifers Concentrate Large Numbers of NLR Immune Receptor Genes on One Chromosome
Publication: Genome biology and evolution
UBC Author(s): Carl Bohlmann (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 16
Publication Date: 4 June 2024

View Publication
Biodistribution of Native and Nanoformulated Innate Defense Regulator Peptide 1002
Publication: Molecular Pharmaceutics
UBC Author(s): Robert E Hancock (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 15438384
Volume: 21
Page Range: 2751-2766
Publication Date: 3 June 2024

View Publication
Flexible Visual Preference Inspection in Group Decision Making
Publication: ACM International Conference Proceeding Series
UBC Author(s): Giuseppe Carenini (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
Publication Date: 3 June 2024

View Publication
WELCOME
Publication: ACM International Conference Proceeding Series
UBC Author(s): Cristina Conati (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
Publication Date: 3 June 2024

View Publication
Phenotypic lags influence rapid evolution throughout a drought cycle
Publication: Evolution
UBC Author(s): Amy Angert (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00143820
Volume: 78
Page Range: 1067-1077
Publication Date: June 2024

View Publication
Visualization of CO<inf>2</inf> electrolysis using optical coherence tomography
Publication: Nature Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Curtis Berlinguette (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 17554330
Volume: 16
Page Range: 979-987
Publication Date: June 2024

View Publication
A proposal for three categories of units within the SI
Publication: Metrologia
UBC Author(s): Lorne Whitehead (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00261394
Volume: 61
Publication Date: 1 June 2024

View Publication
Dilaton in a multicritical 3+epsilon-D parity violating field theory
Publication: Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
UBC Author(s): Gordon Walter Semenoff (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03702693
Volume: 853
Publication Date: June 2024

View Publication
Corrigendum to “Fixation and effective size in a haploid–diploid population with asexual reproduction” [Theoretical Population Biology 143 (2022) 30–45, (S0040580921000769), (10.1016/j.tpb.2021.11.002)]
Publication: Theoretical Population Biology
UBC Author(s): Sarah Otto (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00405809
Volume: 157
Page Range: 138
Publication Date: June 2024

View Publication
Terrestrial subsidies and light affect an aquatic micro-ecosystem in unexpected ways
Publication: Freshwater Biology
UBC Author(s): Diane Srivastava (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00465070
Volume: 69
Page Range: 879-893
Publication Date: June 2024

View Publication
Olivine in ultramafic rocks from the Polaris Alaskan-type intrusion: A geochemical record of open-system crystallization, diffusional re-equilibration, mantle source, and redox conditions in primitive arc magmas
Publication: Lithos
UBC Author(s): James Stewart Scoates (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00244937
Volume: 474-475
Publication Date: June 2024

View Publication
Monte Carlo on manifolds in high dimensions
Publication: Journal of Computational Physics
UBC Author(s): Miranda Holmes-Cerfon (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00219991
Volume: 506
Publication Date: 1 June 2024

View Publication
Phylogenomics reveals Adeleorina are an ancient and distinct subgroup of Apicomplexa
Publication: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
UBC Author(s): Patrick John Keeling (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10557903
Volume: 195
Publication Date: June 2024

View Publication
Parallel functional reduction in the mitochondria of apicomplexan parasites
Publication: European Journal of Protistology
UBC Author(s): Patrick John Keeling (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09324739
Volume: 94
Publication Date: June 2024

View Publication
Endemic does not mean constant as SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve
Publication: Evolution
UBC Author(s): Sarah Otto (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00143820
Volume: 78
Page Range: 1092-1108
Publication Date: June 2024

View Publication
Ecotoxicological Assessment of Microplastics and Cellulose Particles in the Galápagos Islands and Galápagos Penguin Food Web
Publication: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Yevhenii Pakhomov (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science), Brian Hunt (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science), Edward Grant (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 07307268
Volume: 43
Page Range: 1442-1457
Publication Date: June 2024

View Publication
Retentiveness of rare earth elements in garnet with implications for garnet Lu-Hf chronology
Publication: Journal of Metamorphic Geology
UBC Author(s): Matthijs Smit (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02634929
Volume: 42
Page Range: 703-727
Publication Date: June 2024

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
2023 Dr. Dostert studied communities of the highly antibiotic resistant bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. She identified genes mediating community growth in diverse environments. Her research demonstrated the strong influence of the growth environment on the entire gene network and provided interesting gene candidates for the design of novel drugs. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Xiao made notable contributions in the field of text summarization through her innovative application of machine learning techniques. She enhanced AI summarizers with discourse information. Her impactful research is a valuable asset in our data-driven and time-constrained society, offering an effective solution for managing information overload. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2023 Dr. Emry examined how the distribution of marine species across environmental gradients mediates response to climate change. She found that species often respond to abiotic stress in ways that correlate with their environmental conditions, and that the indirect effects of this stress can have significant impacts on the structure of communities. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Haenel studied the signatures of the Higgs mode in exotic superconducting materials. The Higgs mode emerges as a quasiparticle in the framework of superconductors. It is the condensed-matter-analogue of the Higgs Boson in the the Standard Model. Research on these collective excitations in superconductors can lead to a better understanding of the mechanism of high temperature superconductors. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Luo developed engineering approaches to apply a protective polymer coating onto the blood vessels of organs that interact with the immune system to improve organ quality and transplantation success. The protective immunomodulatory coating can be adapted for other immune functions, opening up possibilities for the development of novel therapies. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Dr. Marroquin Madera studied the initial density dependence of plasma formation and properties of a Nitric Oxide molecular Rydberg gas, along with the effects of applying radiofrequencies and electric fields. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Dr. Clayworth studied how glial cells in the nervous system wrap and protect neurons. She found a novel role for the dystroglycan protein, which is disrupted in muscular dystrophy, in glial wrapping of neurons. Her work improves our understanding of the mechanisms of glial protection of neurons and their potential involvement in muscular dystrophy. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Morales Duran found that acidic environmental pH decreased the activity of antibiotics against the CF pathogen B. cenocepacia, and induced changes in the bacterium that are associated with host colonization and pathogenicity. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Darwish developed, characterized, and applied brightly light-emitting, nanometer-sized particles toward simple and cost-effective detection and analysis of targeted cell types and molecules. Her research contributes new scientific knowledge, methods, and technologies to make healthcare more accessible, efficient, and inclusive. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Dr. Branch examined the impact that severe drought has on the plant species, scarlet monkeyflower. Her research found that different populations evolve in different ways but maintain growth and improve water efficiency. Her work highlights that stress can be inherited across generations. Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD)

Pages