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
Munzner, Tamara Department of Computer Science Human-centered computing; visualization; information visualization; visual analytics; data science
Murphy, Gail Department of Computer Science Computer and information sciences; Software Development; knowledge worker productivity; software design; software engineering; software evolution
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
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
Nasseri, Seyed Ali Nanoelectronics; Condensed matter physics, n.e.c.; Aerospace systems design; aerospace systems; engineering design; micromagnetics; nanomagnetism; spintronics; Computational physics; Applied physics; space safety; space sustainability
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
Nocera, Alberto ,
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;
Orians, Kristin Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Chemistry Chemical Oceanography, Trace metals in seawater
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
Ortner, Christoph Department of Mathematics Numerical analysis; Mathematical modelling and simulation; Partial and ordinary differential equations; Computational chemistry; Condensed matter modelling and density functional theory; Numerical modelling and mechanical characterisation; Numerical Analysis & Scientific Computing; Applied Analysis; Multi-scale Modelling and Coarse-graining; Molecular Simulation; Scientific Machine-learning, in particular for applications in multi-scale modelling
Orvig, Chris Department of Chemistry Chemical sciences; Chemical Synthesis and Catalysis; Imaging; Inorganic and Organometallic Compounds; Nuclear medicine; Chemical Processes; Chemotherapy; bioinorganic chemistry; coordination chemistry; ligand design and synthesis; medicinal inorganic chemistry; radiopharmaceutical chemistry
Osborne, Lisa Department of Microbiology & Immunology influence that the bacteria that live on and in our intestines, lungs and skin have on human health; understanding how the host recognizes the diverse species that reside in the gut - from microscopic viruses to large, multicellular helminthic worms - and tailors an immune response of the appropriate scope and magnitude necessary to achieve homeostasis
Oser, Scott Department of Physics & Astronomy Physical sciences; dark matter; Elementary Particles; neutrinos; particle physics; statistical methods for physics; gravitational wave astronomy; LISA
Otto, Sarah Department of Zoology evolution, mathematical modeling, population genetics, genomic evolution, evolution of sex, yeast experimental evolution, Population genetics and evolutionary biology, yeast
Pai, Dinesh Department of Computer Science Robotics, computer graphics, medical imaging, neuroscience, sensorimotor computation
Pakhomov, Yevhenii Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Feeding ecophysiology of aquatic invertebrates and fishes, Antarctic ecology, Antarctic krill biology, Tunicate biology, Fishery ecology, Stable isotope ecology
Pante, Nelly Department of Zoology Molecular trafficking pathways within the cell
Parfrey, Laura Department of Botany, Department of Zoology Microbial ecology, microbial diversity, microbiome, protists
Park, Mi Jung Department of Computer Science Privacy-preserving machine learning algorithms, Compressing neural network models using Bayesian methods, Relationships between differential privacy and other emerging notions in machine learning
Pasquier, Thomas Department of Computer Science Development of more transparent computer systems, Whole-system provenance, Computational experiments reproducibility, Intrusion detection, privacy and compliance

Pages

Graduate Student Stories

MengXing Na

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Coherent control of ultrafast dynamics of materials studied with time and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

Amelia Hesketh

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Potential impacts of ocean acidification on the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas

Xunyu Liang

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Dark matter in form of the axion quark nuggets

Mihai Cirstea

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)

The Microbiome and Parkinson's Disease

Florian Lüskow

Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD)

Trophodynamics of planktonic communities in coastal British Columbian waters, with focus on gelatinous zooplankton

Egor Larionov

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)

Contact Mechanics in Physically-based Simulation

Erika Gavenus

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

Interrogating Crown-imposed governance of First Nations’ fisheries through the lens of food justice

David Wakeham

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Connections between quantum gravity and information
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.

 

Variation in body mass and food intake of northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus)
Publication: Marine Mammal Science
UBC Author(s): David Rosen (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 08240469
Volume: 38
Page Range: 1160-1181
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Beyond specialization: re-examining routes of host influence on symbiont evolution
Publication: Trends in Ecology and Evolution
UBC Author(s): Laura Parfrey (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01695347
Volume: 37
Page Range: 590-598
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Thermal selection and delayed migration by adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) following escape from simulated in-river fisheries capture
Publication: Fisheries Research
UBC Author(s): Andrea Reid (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01657836
Volume: 251
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Parental Population Range Expansion before Secondary Contact Promotes Heterosis
Publication: American Naturalist
UBC Author(s): Sarah Otto (Zoology / Faculty of Science), Loren Rieseberg (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00030147
Volume: 200
Page Range: E1-E15
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Reversal of viral and epigenetic HLA class I repression in Merkel cell carcinoma
Publication: The Journal of clinical investigation
UBC Author(s): Keegan Korthauer (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 132
Publication Date: 1 July 2022

View Publication
Gauge invariant propagators and states in quantum electrodynamics
Publication: Annals of Physics
UBC Author(s): Philip C Stamp (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00034916
Volume: 442
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Collisional excitation of HNC by He found to be stronger than for structural isomer HCN in experiments at the low temperatures of interstellar space
Publication: Nature Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Ilsa Cooke (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 17554330
Volume: 14
Page Range: 811-815
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
The Set of Orthogonal Tensor Trains
Publication: Vietnam Journal of Mathematics
UBC Author(s): Elina Robeva (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 2305221X
Volume: 50
Page Range: 599-613
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Functional redundancy dampens precipitation change impacts on species-rich invertebrate communities across the Neotropics
Publication: Functional Ecology
UBC Author(s): Diane Srivastava (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02698463
Volume: 36
Page Range: 1559-1572
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Cell wall-localized BETA-XYLOSIDASE4 contributes to immunity of Arabidopsis against Botrytis cinerea
Publication: Plant Physiology
UBC Author(s): George Haughn (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00320889
Volume: 189
Page Range: 1794-1813
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Detecting signatures of selection on gene expression
Publication: Nature Ecology and Evolution
UBC Author(s): Judith Mank (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 6
Page Range: 1035-1045
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Factors controlling the temporal variability and spatial distribution of dissolved cadmium in the coastal Salish Sea
Publication: Continental Shelf Research
UBC Author(s): Richard Pawlowicz (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02784343
Volume: 243
Publication Date: 1 July 2022

View Publication
Reply to Holm et al. 2022, "comment on 'Five centuries of cod catches in eastern Canada,' by Schijns et al."
Publication: ICES Journal of Marine Science
UBC Author(s): Daniel Pauly (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10543139
Volume: 79
Page Range: 1708
Publication Date: 1 July 2022

View Publication
Do bromeliads affect the arboreal ant communities on orange trees in northwestern Costa Rica?
Publication: PLoS ONE
UBC Author(s): Diane Srivastava (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 17
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Megathrust Heterogeneity, Crustal Accretion, and a Topographic Embayment in the Western Nepal Himalaya: Insights From the Inversion of Thermochronological Data
Publication: Tectonics
UBC Author(s): Joel Edward Saylor (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02787407
Volume: 41
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
The level-1 trigger for the SuperCDMS experiment at SNOLAB
Publication: Journal of Instrumentation
UBC Author(s): Scott Oser (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 17
Publication Date: 1 July 2022

View Publication
Sticky Pi is a high-frequency smart trap that enables the study of insect circadian activity under natural conditions
Publication: PLoS biology
UBC Author(s): Cara Haney (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 20
Page Range: e3001689
Publication Date: 1 July 2022

View Publication
Transcriptome of the coralline alga Calliarthron tuberculosum (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) reveals convergent evolution of a partial lignin biosynthesis pathway
Publication: PLoS ONE
UBC Author(s): Patrick Martone (Botany / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 17
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Hybrid evolution repeats itself across environmental contexts in Texas sunflowers (Helianthus)
Publication: Evolution
UBC Author(s): Loren Rieseberg (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00143820
Volume: 76
Page Range: 1512-1528
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
A 4-D Iterative HYPR Denoising Operator Improves PET Image Quality
Publication: IEEE Transactions on Radiation and Plasma Medical Sciences
UBC Author(s): Vesna Sossi (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 6
Page Range: 641-655
Publication Date: 1 July 2022

View Publication
Macroevolutionary dynamics in the transition of angiosperms to aquatic environments
Publication: New Phytologist
UBC Author(s): Sean Graham (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0028646X
Volume: 235
Page Range: 344-355
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
The role of demographic compensation in stabilising marginal tree populations in North America
Publication: Ecology Letters
UBC Author(s): Amy Angert (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1461023X
Volume: 25
Page Range: 1676-1689
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
The scaling of diversification rates with age is likely explained by sampling bias
Publication: Evolution
UBC Author(s): Matthew Pennell (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00143820
Volume: 76
Page Range: 1625-1637
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Uncertainty and the Value of Information in Risk Prediction Modeling
Publication: Medical Decision Making
UBC Author(s): Paul Gustafson (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0272989X
Volume: 42
Page Range: 661-671
Publication Date: July 2022

View Publication
Flexible automation accelerates materials discovery
Publication: Nature Materials
UBC Author(s): Curtis Berlinguette (Chemistry / Faculty of Science), Jason Hein (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14761122
Volume: 21
Page Range: 722-726
Publication Date: July 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. Lai investigated the Green tensor of incompressible flows in the half space and examined existence theorems of fluid-related models such as plasma, polymetric liquid, and swimming bacteria. His research provides insights on boundary behavior of fluid flows and gives a deeper understanding of complex fluids. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2021 Dr. Yang explored the extreme limits of chemical bonding in both long and short directions. The molecular systems designed with the new theories can be used as molecular switches, narrow band-gap conducting polymers, and superhigh energy density materials. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Dr. Gil discovered novel anatomical structures in baleen whales that protect the nasal cavities from pressure damage and the respiratory tract from water and food incursion. She proposed a mechanism for how these whales can swallow huge volumes of food through a surprisingly small esophagus, contributing to the evolution of their enormous size. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2021 Dr. Berk analyzed sensitivity of LASSO programs, which are well-known algorithms at the interface of convex optimization and probability. This sensitivity analysis builds on important tools from high-dimensional probability theory, and informs the practitioner's selection of the right computational tool. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2021 Dr. Melo developed a super-resolution microscope, combining interferometric scattering and Raman microscopies, which he applied to nanoscopic and biological systems. He also developed a non-invasive methodology to diagnose Brugada Syndrome, a precursor of sudden cardiac death, from the analysis of electrocardiograms using a deep neural network. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Dr. Qu explored methods of modifying graphene on a silicon carbide substrate using adsorbed and intercalated atoms. Using a variety of surface characterization techniques, she studied the electronic properties of the resulting materials. This research helps us understand how graphene could eventually be used in everyday electronics. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2021 Dr. Foth developed new synthetic methods to incorporate fluorine atoms into organic molecules that are more efficient and practical than existing methods. These strategies access industrially-relevant compounds and will aid in the development of future pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and materials. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Dr. Wang used optical tweezers to investigate the mechanical properties of proteins at the single molecular level. His study provided invaluable insights into the protein folding-unfolding mechanisms, and assisted us in understanding a variety of biological processes in the nano scale. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2021 Tumours are heterogeneous entities composed of genetically and functionally distinct cell populations. Dr. LeBlanc's work characterized this heterogeneity in brain tumours, shedding light on the biology of these lethal cancers and providing a resource to help guide the appropriate use of brain tumour models crucial to research. Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD)
2021 Dr. Silva studied rocks formed in a sea that existed 240 million years ago in present-day British Columbia and Alberta. His research reconstructs how these rocks were deposited and describes how the minerals and rock properties vary across space, contributing to the understanding of the geologic history and energy resources of western Canada. Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD)

Pages

 

Diet high in guar gum fibre limits inflammation, MS symptoms in mice

Diets high in guar gum, a common food additive and dietary fibre, limited inflammation and delayed the onset of multiple sclerosis (MS)...

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Why whales don’t get brain damage when they swim

Special blood vessels in whale brains may protect them from pulses, caused by swimming, in their blood that would damage the brain, new UBC...

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Math, Stats researchers join Royal Society of Canada

Four UBC Science researchers have been elected to join the Royal Society of Canada, highlighting the Faculty’s strength in the computation...

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We're heading to the moon and maybe Mars. So who owns them?

Humanity is set to make a return to the Moon with the Artemis program, in what NASA says is a first step to Mars. So, who gets first dibs...

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New courses at UBC tackle real world problems

New classes and labs rolling out this year will give UBC Science students the opportunity to tackle climate change with community partners...

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How to avoid becoming a mosquito’s dinner

Summer is almost over, but that doesn’t mean mosquitoes aren’t still searching for their next meal—and you might be next. A new study co...

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