Nikola Surjanovic
Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD)
Scalable Bayesian Methods for Sampling From Complex Probability Distributions
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Applicants to Master’s and Doctoral degrees are not affected by the recently announced cap on study permits. Review more details
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
- Biodiversity Research Centre
- Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research
- Centre for Microbial Diversity and Evolution
Computational Sciences and Mathematics
- Data Science Institute
- Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems
- Institute of Applied Mathematics
- Statistical Consulting and Research Laboratory
- Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences
Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
- Geophysical Inversion Facility
- Lithoprobe: Canada's National Geoscience Project
- Mineral Deposit Research Unit
- Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research
- Seismic Laboratory for Imaging and Modeling
Genomics and Biological Sciences
- Centre for High-Throughput Biology
- Geomatics for Informed Decisions Network
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics
- Michael Smith Laboratories
Human-Computer Interaction
- Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems
- Vancouver Institute for Visual Analytics
Life Sciences
- Centre for Blood Research
- Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
- International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries
- Life Sciences Institute
- Michael Smith Laboratories
- Neglected Global Diseased Initiative
Chemistry and Materials Science
- Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory
- Max Planck-UBC Centre for Quantum Materials
- Quantum Devices Group
- Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute
Physics
- Antihydrogen Trapping and Spectroscopy at CERN
- Pacific Institute for Theoretical Physics
- TRIUMF: Canada’s National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics
- UBC ATLAS Project at Large Hadron Collider
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
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Piret, James | Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering | Biomedical engineering, regenerative medicine Cell-based therapies have the potential to provide improved treatments for major diseases such as cancer and diabetes |
| Plan, Yaniv | Department of Mathematics | applied probability, high-dimensional inference, random matrix theory, compressive sensing, and matrix completion. |
| Pleiss, Geoffrey | Department of Statistics | Statistical theory and modeling; Machine learning; Computational methods in statistics; Spatial statistics; Numerical analysis; Machine Learning; neural networks; Gaussian processes; Bayesian optimization; reliable deep learning |
| Plotkin, Steven | Department of Physics & Astronomy | Biophysics theory and computation |
| Poole, David | Department of Computer Science | Computer and information sciences; Artificial Intelligence; Decision Analysis; Knowledge Representation; Machine Learning; Preference Elicitation; Probabilistic Graphical Models; Reasoning under Uncertainty; Relational Learning |
| Potter, Andrew | Department of Physics & Astronomy | Condensed matter theory, Atomic, molecular, and optical theory, Quantum information science and quantum computing, Topological phases of matter, Strongly correlated quantum materials, Quantum dynamics, thermalization, and localization, Quantum criticality |
| Pottinger, Rachel | Department of Computer Science | Computer and information sciences; Computer Science and Statistics; data integration; data management; databases; metadata management |
| Pramanik, Malabika | Department of Mathematics | Harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, several complex variables |
| Radic, Valentina | Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences | Atmospheric sciences; Geophysics; Climate Changes and Impacts; Climate Science; Glaciology; Meteorology |
| Ramdorai, Sujatha | Department of Mathematics | Algebraic theory of quadratic forms, non-cummutative Iwasawa theory, motives |
| Ramer, Matthew | Department of Zoology | Pain, Plasticity, Regeneration, Sensory neurons, Sympathetic neurons |
| Rechnitzer, Andrew | Department of Mathematics | Enumerative combinatorics, Simulation of combinatorial objects, Lattice statistical mechanics |
| Reichstein, Zinovy | Department of Mathematics | Group theory and generalisations; Algebra; Algebraic groups; algebraic geometry |
| Reid, Jolene | Department of Chemistry | |
| Reid, Andrea | Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries | Fisheries sciences; Culturally significant fish and fisheries |
| Reinsberg, Stefan | Department of Physics & Astronomy | Medical physics, MRIs |
| Rhodin, Helge | Department of Computer Science | Computer and information sciences; Shape Recognition and Computer Graphics; Virtual Reality; Neuronal Systems; computer graphics; Computer Vision; Machine Learning |
| Richards, Jeffrey | Department of Zoology | Adaptive significance of the mechanisms coordinating cellular responses to stress |
| Rieseberg, Loren | Department of Botany | Bioinformatics; Genomics; Plant biology; adaptation; crops; invasive plants; plant evolutionary biology; speciation; weeds |
| Ritschel, Nico | ||
| Robeva, Elina | Department of Mathematics | Statistical theory and modeling; Machine learning; Algebra; Algebraic statistics; Graphical Models; Tensor decomposition; Causality; Applied algebraic geometry; Shape-constrained density estimation; Tensor networks |
| Rosado Rey, Abel | Department of Botany | Plasma membrane repair mechanisms in plants |
| Rosen, David | Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries | Animal physiology; Physiology, behaviour, and ecology of marine mammals;; Bioenergetics; Nutrition; Conservation physiology |
| Rottler, Joerg | Department of Physics & Astronomy | Physical sciences; Condensed Matter and Materials Physics; Nanomaterials; Polymers; Soft Matter; Solids |
| Rozali, Moshe | Department of Physics & Astronomy | String theory, high energy physics, quantum field theory, cosmology and classical gravitational physics |
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Graduate Student Stories
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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.
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. Racz developed a method for retrieving a configuration of the subglacial drainage network and its changes throughout the melt season. This work contributes to a better understanding of subglacial hydrology which plays a crucial role in regulating glacier movement, and is, therefore, essential for predicting future sea level rise. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Woodward used genetic barcoding to study population dynamics of intestinal pathogens. She found that manipulating host protective barriers to infection determines overall disease outcome. This research provides insights into infection ecology and how the gut environment can shape the population-level diversity of outbreaks. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2023 | The crystal structures of lithium halides are dependent on a complex balance between competing forces at the atomic scale. Dr. Scheiber's research explores this complexity in detail using new theoretical and computational methods. The research contributes new tools and data to improve our understanding of these seemingly simple salts. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Ji became the first UBC researcher in perovskite solar cell fabrication and successfully finished his four projects by making over 2500 devices in Ph.D program in the Department of Chemistry. He demonstrated creative works by incorporating chemical methods and thinking in developing this new-generation solar cell technology. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Sato developed robotic platforms to analyze heterogeneous chemical reactions and developed a new analytical methodology for monitoring nanocluster synthesis. This work enables greater understanding of reaction mechanisms, helping to optimize these challenging-to-sample reactions and is actively being applied in industry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Jo studied inviscid damping phenomena in mathematical fluid dynamics. He developed a derivative loss minimizing methodology that captures the extra stabilizing mechanism around certain stationary states of the governing fluid systems that are not inherently energy dissipative. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Gysbers calculated the properties of atomic nuclei using a first principles description of interacting protons and neutrons. He resolved a long-standing discrepancy between theory and experiment in rates of beta decays and improved predictions of nuclear reactions for comparison to future and ongoing experiments. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Adak identified and demonstrated, for the first time, activity of enzyme involved in conferring antibiotic resistance to certain Gram-negative bacteria. This identification may help in the pursuit of making effective antibiotics against opportunistic bacteria that colonise the compromised lungs of individuals suffering from cystic fibrosis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Whelan examined the genomes of a group of poorly-studied organisms called microsporidia. Their reduced genomes make them invaluable models to study complex cellular processes as there has been significant simplification. Overall, his research has broadened our understanding of the minimum requirements for cellular machinery. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Fatigoni contributed to our understanding of the early Universe by designing, building and deploying a Cosmic Microwave Background telescope at the South Pole. Her research was focused on understanding how to clean data from Atmospheric noise, so to improve the quality of observation made from the ground. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |