Master of Science in Physics (MSc) | Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

Admission Information & Requirements

Tuition & Financial Support

Tuition

Fees	Canadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / Diplomat	International
Application Fee	$116.25	$168.25
Tuition *
Installments per year	3	3
Tuition per installment	$1,875.34	$3,294.66
Tuition per year (plus annual increase, usually 2%-5%)	$5,626.02	$9,883.98
Int. Tuition Award (ITA) per year (if eligible)		$3,200.00 (-)
Other Fees and Costs
Student Fees (yearly)	$1,144.10 (approx.)
Costs of living	Estimate your costs of living with our interactive tool in order to start developing a financial plan for your graduate studies.

* Regular, full-time tuition. For on-leave, extension, continuing or part time (if applicable) fees see UBC Calendar.
All fees for the year are subject to adjustment and UBC reserves the right to change any fees without notice at any time, including tuition and student fees. Tuition fees are reviewed annually by the UBC Board of Governors. In recent years, tuition increases have been 2% for continuing domestic students and between 2% and 5% for continuing international students. New students may see higher increases in tuition. Admitted students who defer their admission are subject to the potentially higher tuition fees for incoming students effective at the later program start date. In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.

Financial Support

Applicants to UBC have access to a variety of funding options, including merit-based (i.e. based on your academic performance) and need-based (i.e. based on your financial situation) opportunities.

Program Funding Packages

All students who are accepted to the MSc in Physics are guaranteed at least a minimum level of financial support, sufficient to cover tuition and living expenses.

Applicants who are interested in the production, preparation, and application of nuclear isotopes for science and medicine may consider the IsoSiM program that provides additional funding and professional development opportunities. Applicants who are interested in quantum materials may consider the QuEST program. Applicants who are interested in nanomaterials synthesis, characterization and application, and nanoscience instrumentation may consider the NanoMat program.

Funding Statistics

Based on the criteria outlined below, 25 students within this program were included in this study because they received funding through UBC in the form of teaching, research, academic assistantships or internal or external awards with a mean of $33,724 and a median of $34,361.

This results in a net balance (any funding provided to the student minus tuition and fees) mean of $24,628 and median of $25,286.

22 students received Teaching Assistantships. Median TA funding based on 22 students was $11,528.
24 students received Research Assistantships. Median RA funding based on 24 students was $17,756.
5 students received Academic Assistantships. Median AA funding based on 5 students was $2,500.
8 students received internal awards. Median internal award funding based on 8 students was $3,700.
2 students received external awards. Median external award funding based on 2 students was $13,125.

Study Period: Sep 2023 to Aug 2024 - funding for full-time Thesis-Required Master's students enrolled in three terms per academic year in this program across years 1-2. Mean and median values might mask variability in sources and amounts of funding received by individual students. Beyond year 2, funding packages become even more individualized.
Review methodology

Scholarships & awards (merit-based funding)

All applicants are encouraged to review the awards listing to identify potential opportunities to fund their graduate education. The database lists merit-based scholarships and awards and allows for filtering by various criteria, such as domestic vs. international or degree level.

Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA)

Many professors are able to provide Research Assistantships (GRA) from their research grants to support full-time graduate students studying under their supervision. The duties constitute part of the student's graduate degree requirements. A Graduate Research Assistantship is considered a form of fellowship for a period of graduate study and is therefore not covered by a collective agreement. Stipends vary widely, and are dependent on the field of study and the type of research grant from which the assistantship is being funded.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA)

Graduate programs may have Teaching Assistantships available for registered full-time graduate students. Full teaching assistantships involve 12 hours work per week in preparation, lecturing, or laboratory instruction although many graduate programs offer partial TA appointments at less than 12 hours per week. Teaching assistantship rates are set by collective bargaining between the University and the Teaching Assistants' Union.

Graduate Academic Assistantships (GAA)

Academic Assistantships are employment opportunities to perform work that is relevant to the university or to an individual faculty member, but not to support the student’s graduate research and thesis. Wages are considered regular earnings and when paid monthly, include vacation pay.

Financial aid (need-based funding)

Canadian and US applicants may qualify for governmental loans to finance their studies. Please review eligibility and types of loans.

All students may be able to access private sector or bank loans.

Foreign government scholarships

Many foreign governments provide support to their citizens in pursuing education abroad. International applicants should check the various governmental resources in their home country, such as the Department of Education, for available scholarships.

Working while studying

The possibility to pursue work to supplement income may depend on the demands the program has on students. It should be carefully weighed if work leads to prolonged program durations or whether work placements can be meaningfully embedded into a program.

International students enrolled as full-time students with a valid study permit can work on campus for unlimited hours and work off-campus for no more than 24 hours a week during academic sessions.

A good starting point to explore student jobs is the UBC Work Learn program or a Co-Op placement.

Tax credits and RRSP withdrawals

Students with taxable income in Canada may be able to claim federal or provincial tax credits.

Canadian residents with RRSP accounts may be able to use the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) which allows students to withdraw amounts from their registered retirement savings plan (RRSPs) to finance full-time training or education for themselves or their partner.

Please review Filing taxes in Canada on the student services website for more information.

Cost Estimator

Applicants have access to the cost estimator to develop a financial plan that takes into account various income sources and expenses.

	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019
Applications	202	214	279	224	226
Offers	58	35	70	64	66
New Enrolment	20	8	30	31	32
Total Enrolment	46	51	65	66	55

Research Supervisors

Supervision

Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor. Please follow the instructions provided by each program whether applicants should contact faculty members.

Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for this program

Applicants should browse faculty profiles and indicate in their application who they are interested in working with. No commitment from a supervisor prior to applying is necessary, but contacting faculty members is encouraged.

Advice and insights from UBC Faculty on reaching out to supervisors

These videos contain some general advice from faculty across UBC on finding and reaching out to a supervisor. They are not program specific.

This list shows faculty members with full supervisory privileges who are affiliated with this program. It is not a comprehensive list of all potential supervisors as faculty from other programs or faculty members without full supervisory privileges can request approvals to supervise graduate students in this program.

Aronson, Meigan (heavy-ferromagnetic compounds; charge density waves; magnetic nanoparticles)
Berciu, Mona (condensed matter theory; polarons, bipolarons; strongly correlated systems; Condensed matter theory, Polarons, bipolarons, Strongly correlated systems)
Boley, Aaron (Astronomy and Astrophysics; Planet formation, protoplanetary disk evolution, formation of meteorite parent bodies)
Bryman, Douglas (Experimental Particle Physics; Applied physics; physics; Experimental Particle Physics, Applied physics, Physics)
Burke, Sarah (Scanning probe microscopy, organic materials, nanoscale materials, surface physics, photovoltaics)
Choptuik, Matthew (Theoretical physics, Relativity/Computational Physics)
Damascelli, Andrea (Electronic Structure of Quantum Materials; Electronic Structure of Quantum Materials)
Dierker, Steve (Physical sciences; Collective dynamics of condensed matter systems; Dependence on reduced dimensionality, strong interactions, disorder, and mesoscale structure)
Folk, Joshua (2D materials and Vanderwaals heterostructures; Quantum electronics; Thermodynamics of quantum systems; Strongly correlated phenomena; Topological phenomena; Quantum transport; 2D materials and Vanderwaals heterostructures, Quantum electronics, Thermodynamics of quantum systems, Strongly correlated phenomena, Topological phenomena, Quantum transport)
Franz, Marcel (Condensed matter theory)
Gay, Colin (Experimental subatomic physics, Beyond Standard Model physics, Extra dimensions)
Gladman, Brett (Astronomy, Planetary Science, meteorites, astrobiology, Solar system formation and evolution)
Hallas, Alannah (Quantum materials; Materials design and discovery; magnetism; Disorder; superconductivity; Quantum materials, Materials design and discovery, Magnetism, Disorder, Superconductivity)
Halpern, Mark (Cosmology, Cosmic background radiation, history of star formation, measuring the geometry and contents of the Universe, satellites, balloon-borne telescopes, the physics of music, Physics of music, Cosmic Microwave Background, Physical Cosmology, Star formation history)
Hasinoff, Michael (Low-energy particle physics)
Hearty, Christopher (Experimental Particle Physics; e+e- collider; Physics beyond the Standard Model; Dark sector; dark matter; Experimental particle physics , e+e- collider, Physics beyond the Standard Model, Dark sector, Dark matter)
Heyl, Jeremy (Astrophysics; Black Holes; Neutron Stars; quantum phenomena; Quantum-Field Theory; Stellar; Stellar Physics; Astrophysics, Black Holes, Neutron Stars, Quantum Phenomena, Quantum-Field Theory, Stellar, Stellar Physics)
Hickson, Paul (cosmology, galaxies, telescopes, adaptive optics., Astronomy, astrophysics, Galaxies, clusters, instrumentation, adaptive optics)
Hinshaw, Gary (cosmology, cosmic background radiation, Cosmology, Measuring diffuse background radiations)
Jones, David (Atomic, optical and molecular physics,Ultrafast Optics, Spectroscopy)
Karczmarek, Joanna (Emergent spacetime and gravity; Matrix models; Noncommutative geometry; String theory; Emergent spacetime and gravity, Matrix models, Noncommutative geometry, String theory)
Kunimoto, Michelle (exoplanet detection, characterization, and demographics)
Leslie, Sabrina
Lister, Alison (Large Hadron Collier (LHC); ATLAS experiment; Search for physics beyond the standard model; top quarks; dark matter; Machine Learning; Long-lived particles; Large Hadron Collier (LHC), ATLAS experiment, Search for physics beyond the standard model, top quarks, Dark Matter, Machine Learning, Long-lived particles)
Madison, Kirk (Quantum sensors; Quantum Gases; Laser cooling; Bose-Einstein Condesation; Fermi-Degenerate Gases; Quantum optics; Laser physics; Quantum sensors, Quantum Gases, Laser cooling, Bose-Einstein Condesation, Fermi-Degenerate Gases, Quantum optics, Laser physics)

Overview

Quick Facts

Admission Information & Requirements

1) Check Eligibility

Minimum Academic Requirements

English Language Test

TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language - internet-based

IELTS: International English Language Testing System

Other Test Scores

Prior degree, course and other requirements

2) Meet Deadlines

3) Prepare Application

Transcripts

Letters of Reference

Statement of Interest

Supervision

Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for this program

Citizenship Verification

4) Apply Online

Tuition & Financial Support

Tuition

Financial Support

Program Funding Packages

Funding Statistics

Scholarships & awards (merit-based funding)

Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA)

Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA)

Graduate Academic Assistantships (GAA)

Financial aid (need-based funding)

Foreign government scholarships

Working while studying

Tax credits and RRSP withdrawals

Cost Estimator

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

ENROLMENT DATA

Completion Rates & Times

Disclaimer

Research Supervisors

Supervision

Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for this program

Advice and insights from UBC Faculty on reaching out to supervisors

Sample Thesis Submissions

Related Programs

Same specialization

Same Academic Unit

Further Information

Specialization

UBC Calendar

Program Website

Faculty

Academic Unit

Program Identifier

Classification

Oliver Tong

Errol Bowman

Michael Sekatchev

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