Mathematics - Doctor of Philosophy - PHD - Postgraduate / Graduate Program - UBC Grad School

Overview

Mathematicians use theoretical and computational methods to solve a wide range of problems from the most abstract to the very applied. UBC's mathematics graduate students work in many branches of pure and applied mathematics. The PhD program trains students to operate as research mathematicians. The focus of the program is on substantial mathematical research leading to the PhD dissertation. Students also develop their skills in presenting and teaching mathematics and its applications.

For specific program requirements, please refer to the departmental program website

What makes the program unique?

UBC has one of the largest and most vigorous departments of mathematics in Canada. Our faculty routinely win national and international awards for their research and teaching achievements. We have an engaged and sociable cohort of graduate students who are essential members of a broad selection of active research groups. Each group holds a variety of seminars and events that allow graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, visitors and faculty to enjoy regular interaction.

UBC is the headquarters for the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences (PIMS). PIMS hosts a plethora of mathematical events such as conferences and summer schools, greatly enriching the scientific environment in the quantitative sciences at UBC. Our mathematics students are also regular participants at the nearby Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery. Finally, our Institute for Applied Mathematics provides options for interdisciplinary studies for PhD students who wish to work in applied and computational mathematics.

I chose UBC because of the reputation of the university and mathematics department, the alignment of my research interests with my advisor’s expertise, and my love for Canada!

Ethan White

Quick Facts

Faculty Faculty of Science

Mode of delivery In person at UBC Vancouver

Registration options Full or Part-time

Program Components

Dissertation

Academic Unit Department of Mathematics

Specialization Mathematics

Tuition (First Year) Domestic: $5,407.56 | International: $9,500.19

Information Sessions Register

Apply Now

Apply for September 2024

If you don't have a UBC Campus-Wide Login (CWL) please create an account first.

Open All

Program Enquiries

Still have questions after reviewing this page thoroughly?

Admission Information & Requirements

1) Check Eligibility

Minimum Academic Requirements

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies establishes the minimum admission requirements common to all applicants, usually a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC). The graduate program that you are applying to may have additional requirements. Please review the specific requirements for applicants with credentials from institutions in:

Each program may set higher academic minimum requirements. Please review the program website carefully to understand the program requirements. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission as it is a competitive process.

English Language Test

Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application. Tests must have been taken within the last 24 months at the time of submission of your application.

Minimum requirements for the two most common English language proficiency tests to apply to this program are listed below:

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

Overall score requirement: 100

Reading

Writing

Speaking

Listening

IELTS: International English Language Testing System

Overall score requirement: 7.0

Reading

6.5

Writing

6.5

Speaking

6.5

Listening

6.5

Other Test Scores

Some programs require additional test scores such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Test (GMAT). The requirements for this program are:

The GRE is not required.

2) Meet Deadlines

September 2024 Intake

Application Open Date

01 October 2023

Canadian Applicants

Application Deadline: 31 December 2023

Transcript Deadline: 07 January 2024

Referee Deadline: 07 January 2024

International Applicants

Application Deadline: 31 December 2023

Transcript Deadline: 07 January 2024

Referee Deadline: 07 January 2024

Deadline Explanations

Application Deadline

Deadline to submit online application. No changes can be made to the application after submission.

Transcript Deadline

Deadline to upload scans of official transcripts through the applicant portal in support of a submitted application. Information for accessing the applicant portal will be provided after submitting an online application for admission.

Referee Deadline

Deadline for the referees identified in the application for admission to submit references. See Letters of Reference for more information.

3) Prepare Application

Transcripts

All applicants have to submit transcripts from all past post-secondary study. Document submission requirements depend on whether your institution of study is within Canada or outside of Canada.

Letters of Reference

A minimum of three references are required for application to graduate programs at UBC. References should be requested from individuals who are prepared to provide a report on your academic ability and qualifications.

Statement of Interest

Many programs require a statement of interest, sometimes called a "statement of intent", "description of research interests" or something similar.

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 Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)

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.

Citizenship Verification

Permanent Residents of Canada must provide a clear photocopy of both sides of the Permanent Resident card.

4) Apply Online

All applicants must complete an online application form and pay the application fee to be considered for admission to UBC.

Tuition & Financial Support

Tuition

Fees	Canadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / Diplomat	International
Application Fee	$114.00	$168.25
Tuition *
Installments per year	3	3
Tuition per installment	$1,802.52	$3,166.73
Tuition per year (plus annual increase, usually 2%-5%)	$5,407.56	$9,500.19
Int. Tuition Award (ITA) per year (if eligible)		$3,200.00 (-)
Other Fees and Costs
Student Fees (yearly)	$1,116.60 (approx.)
Costs of living (yearly)	starting at $19,323.20 (check cost calculator)

* 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 full-time students who begin a UBC-Vancouver PhD Mathematics program in September 2018 or later will be provided with a funding package of at least $24,256 for each of the first four years of their PhD. The funding package may consist of any combination of internal or external awards, teaching-related work, research assistantships, and graduate academic assistantships.

Average Funding

Based on the criteria outlined below, 50 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 averaging $38,684.

46 students received Teaching Assistantships. Average TA funding based on 46 students was $13,304.
41 students received Research Assistantships. Average RA funding based on 41 students was $11,084.
4 students received Academic Assistantships. Average AA funding based on 4 students was $3,735.
50 students received internal awards. Average internal award funding based on 50 students was $13,256.
5 students received external awards. Average external award funding based on 5 students was $38,000.

Study Period: Sep 2021 to Aug 2022 - average funding for full-time PhD students enrolled in three terms per academic year in this program across years 1-4, the period covered by UBC's Minimum Funding Guarantee. Averages might mask variability in sources and amounts of funding received by individual students. Beyond year 4, 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 20 hours a week.

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 Calculator

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

Career Outcomes

88 students graduated between 2005 and 2013: 1 is in a non-salaried situation; for 19 we have no data (based on research conducted between Feb-May 2016). For the remaining 68 graduates:

RI (Research-Intensive) Faculty: typically tenure-track faculty positions (equivalent of the North American Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor positions) in PhD-granting institutions
TI (Teaching-Intensive) Faculty: typically full-time faculty positions in colleges or in institutions not granting PhDs, and teaching faculty at PhD-granting institutions
Term Faculty: faculty in term appointments (e.g. sessional lecturers, visiting assistant professors, etc.)

Sample Employers in Higher Education

University of Oregon (3)
University of British Columbia (2)
University of Notre Dame (2)
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (2)
University of Manitoba (2)
University of Kansas (2)
Harvard University (2)
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (2)
Autonomous University of Yucatan
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

Sample Employers Outside Higher Education

Google (3)
Sanoma B.V.
Centre for Human Drug Research
Futurice GmbH
Contact Energy Ltd.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB)
Contextual Genomics
MDA Corp.
Amazon
Facebook

Sample Job Titles Outside Higher Education

Data Scientist (3)
Software Engineer (2)
Actuarial Analyst
Lead Software Creator
Quantitative Analyst
Senior Analyst
Applied Research Mathematician
Education Specialist
Programmer
Senior Software Engineer

PhD Career Outcome Survey

You may view the full report on career outcomes of UBC PhD graduates on outcomes.grad.ubc.ca.

Disclaimer

These data represent historical employment information and do not guarantee future employment prospects for graduates of this program. They are for informational purposes only. Data were collected through either alumni surveys or internet research.

Career Options

A great majority of our PhD graduates move on to postdoctoral fellowships and faculty positions at universities and research institutes in North America and around the world. However, a significant fraction of students move into careers in industry. Students considering non-academic careers are encouraged to complete an industrial internship (for instance through the Mitacs Accelerate program - headquartered at UBC) during their studies.

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

These statistics show data for the Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD). Data are separated for each degree program combination. You may view data for other degree options in the respective program profile.

ENROLMENT DATA

	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
Applications	167	176	176	114	144
Offers	21	27	29	22	26
New Registrations	11	17	14	18	9
Total Enrolment	68	64	65	72	67

Completion Rates & Times

This program has a graduation rate of 79% based on 70 students admitted between 2009 - 2012. Based on 49 graduations between 2019 - 2022 the minimum time to completion is 3.75 years and the maximum time is 8.88 years with an average of 5.3 years of study. All calculations exclude leave times.

Disclaimer

Admissions data refer to all UBC Vancouver applications, offers, new registrants for each registration year, May to April, e.g. data for 2022 refers to programs starting in 2022 Summer and 2022 Winter session, i.e. May 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023. Data on total enrolment reflects enrolment in Winter Session Term 1 and are based on snapshots taken on November 1 of each registration year. Program completion data are only provided for datasets comprised of more than 4 individuals. Graduation rates exclude students who transfer out of their programs. Rates and times of completion depend on a number of variables (e.g. curriculum requirements, student funding), some of which may have changed in recent years for some programs.

Research Supervisors

Supervision

Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)

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.

Adem, Alejandro (Cohomology of finite groups, orbifolds, stringy topology, algebra, sporadic simple group, group actions, arithmetic groups, K-theory, homotopy theory, spaces of homomorphisms)
Angel, Omer (Probability theory, percolation, random graphs, random walks, particle processes, scaling limits)
Bachmann, Sven (Mathematics and statistics; Mathematical Analysis; quantum phenomena; Mathematical physics; Quantum statistical physics; Topological states of matter)
Balmforth, Neil (Fluid mechanics, nonlinear dynamics and applied partial differential equations)
Behrend, Kai (Moduli spaces, Gromov-Witten invariants, string theory, Donaldson-Thomas invariants, Euler characteristics, categorification)
Bennett, Michael (Number Theory, Diophantine Approximation and Classical Analysis)
Bryan, Jim (Algebraic and differential geometry; Algebraic geometry, moduli spaces, enumerative invariants related to theoretical physics.)
Cautis, Sabin (Mathematics and statistics; Geometry)
Chau, Albert (Differential Geometry and Partial Differential Equations)
Chen, Jingyi (Algebraic and differential geometry; Differential Geometry, Partial Differential Equations)
Colliander, James (hamiltonian dynamical systems; partial differential equations; harmonic analysis)
Coombs, Daniel (Mathematical biology; Cellular immunology; Complex physical systems; Epidemiology (except nutritional and veterinary epidemiology); Cell Signaling and Infectious and Immune Diseases; Cell biophysics; Disease models; Epidemiology; Immune cell signalling; Mathematics)
Cytrynbaum, Eric (Bacterial cell division, Microtubule and cellular organization, Wave propagation in excitable media)
Dao Duc, Khanh (Genomics; Mathematical biology; Neurocognitive patterns and neural networks; Agricultural spatial analysis and modelling; combine mathematical,computational and statistical tools to study fundamental biological processes; regulation and determinants of gene expression and translation; Machine Learning for Biological Imaging and Microscopy; Database development and management; Biological and Artificial Neural Networks for geometric representation)
Doebeli, Michael Walter (Mathematical ecology and evolution, evolution of diversity, adaptive speciation, evolution of cooperation, game theory, experimental evolution in microorganisms)
Feng, James (Chemical engineering; Mathematics and statistics; Biophysics; Complex fluids; Fluid mechanics; Mathematical biology)
Fraser, Ailana (Differential Geometry, Geometric Analysis)
Friedlander, Michael (numerical optimization, numerical linear algebra, scientific computing, Scientific computing)
Frigaard, Ian (Fluid mechanics (visco-plastic fluids))
Ghioca, Dragos (Drinfeld modules, isotrivial semiabelian varieties, Lehmer inequality)
Gordon, Julia Yulia (Representation theory of p-adic groups and motivic integration; Trace Formula and its applications)
Gustafson, Stephen James (Mathematics and statistics; Mathematical Analysis; Differential Equation; Global and Non-Linear Analysis; Mathematical physics; Nonlinear partial differential equations; Nonlinear waves; Topological solitons)
Hauert, Christoph (Mathematics and statistics; Modelization and Simulation; Evolution and Phylogenesis; Biological Behavior; dynamical systems; evolution; game theory; social dilemmas; stochastic processes)
Hermon, Jonathan (probability theory; Markov chains and the cutoff phenomenon; particle systems; percolation)
Holmes-Cerfon, Miranda (Mathematical modelling and simulation; Computational methods in statistics; Numerical analysis; Thermodynamics and statistical physics)

Pages

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
2023	Counting sums and differences between sets is a central part of many questions in additive combinatorics. Dr. White developed a new technique combining harmonic analysis and optimization to nearly resolve a longstanding question in this field. He expects that his new method can be extended to other problems in additive combinatorics.
2023	Dr. Lawrence unified elements from reinforcement learning and control theory to solve industrially relevant problems. His framework enables learning stable control policies directly from data. This ensures that maintaining controllers in an industrial setting is efficient, safe, and automated.
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.
2023	Dr. MacDonald solved several problems related to symbolic dynamics, a mathematical field that explores deep, technical analogies between the thermodynamics of gases and magnets and the grammars of formal languages. She introduced definitions and methods that put earlier work in a systematic framework, emphasizing structural and combinatorial ideas.
2022	Dr. Pietromonaco studied curve-counting in certain geometries with singular points. His new results lead to some beautiful formulas, and reveal some new structure in the enumerative geometry of these singular spaces.
2022	Number-theoretical approach to geometric objects and their transformations has applications ranging from quantum physics to cryptography. Dr. Rüd obtained results on invariants related to local and global properties of tori, developed algorithms to study them numerically, and established a more general framework to study similar properties.
2022	Dr. Fu studied three kinds of numerical schemes for phase field models and proved that they preserve intrinsic properties including the maximum principle and the energy dissipation law. This research offers high-order structure-preserving numerical solutions for phase field models and other gradient flows with special structures.
2022	Algebraic geometry studies the geometry of shapes obtained as solutions to polynomial equation systems. Dr. Annala has investigated how to understand intersections of such objects using methods of homotopy theory. The results might find applications in various areas of mathematics, ranging from number theory to mathematical physics.
2022	Dr. Falcao developed new methods to analyze single-particle tracking data. She achieved breakthroughs in estimating the number of distinct mobile states, while showing how to properly correct for experimental errors. Her work substantially advances our ability to analyze biological dynamics at the single-protein scale.
2022	Dr. Folinsbee developed a sheaf model for Riemann functions. He used this model to express the graph Riemann-Roch theorem as a Euler characteristic.

Pages

Sample Thesis Submissions

Further Information

Faculty Overview

Faculty of Science

Academic Unit

Department of Mathematics

Program Identifier

VGDPHD-PO

Classification

Mathematics and statistics

Pure mathematics

Applied mathematics

Program Website