Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
Overview
The Department of Physics and Astronomy is a broad-based department with a wide range of research interests covering many key topics in contemporary physics, astronomy, and applied physics. We are a vibrant community that engages in a wide range of research directions, from probing the origin of the universe to exploring emergent phenomena in complex systems, that provide deep insights into the nature of the universe and practical solutions that will help define the world of tomorrow. Departmental research activities are supported by several computing and experimental facilities, and excellent electronics and machine shops.
Our graduate programs include approximately 200 graduate students, working on experiments and theory in research fields that include: Applied Physics, Astronomy/Astrophysics, Atomic/Molecular/Optics, Biophysics, Condensed Matter, Cosmology, Gravity, Medical Physics, Nuclear Physics, Particle Physics, and String Theory.
What makes the program unique?
The Department of Physics & Astronomy at UBC is noted for the excellence of its research and its high academic standards and integrity. It is one of the largest and most diverse physics and astronomy departments in Canada. We are constantly rated as one of the top Physics & Astronomy programs in the world. Much of the Department's research is enhanced by local facilities such as the TRIUMF National Laboratory, the Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory (AMPEL), and the BC Cancer Agency, UBC, and associated teaching hospitals, in addition to many specialized research laboratories housed within the Department. There is a great deal of collaboration and overlap of interests among the various groups.
Each year, our faculty bring over $20 million in research grants. This enables us to maintain world-class research laboratories and computational facilities, attract distinguished post-doctorate researchers, and support highly skilled engineers and technicians whose expertise is critical to our research.
Quick Facts
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Subject
Science
Mode of delivery
On campus
Registration options
Full-time
Specialization
Physics
Program Components
Dissertation
Faculty
Faculty of Science
Program Enquiries
If you have reviewed the information on this program page and understand the requirements for this program, you may send an enquiry
Requirements
TOEFL (ibT) Overall Score Requirement
90
22
21
22
21
IELTS Overall Score Requirement
6.5
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
Deadline Details
Application Deadline
Deadline to submit online application. No changes can be made to the application after submission.
Transcript DeadlineDeadline 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 DeadlineDeadline for the referees identified in the application for admission to submit references. See Letters of Reference for more information.
September 2020 Intake
Application Open Date
15 October 2019Canadian Applicants
Application Deadline: 01 December 2019
Transcript Deadline: 15 December 2019
Referee Deadline: 15 December 2019
International Applicants
Application Deadline: 01 December 2019
Transcript Deadline: 15 December 2019
Referee Deadline: 15 December 2019
Funding Sources
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.
All full-time students who begin a UBC-Vancouver PhD program in September 2018 or later will be provided with a funding package of at least $18,000 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. Please note that many graduate programs provide funding packages that are substantially greater than $18,000 per year. Please check with your prospective graduate program for specific details of the funding provided to its PhD students.
Career Outcomes
108 students graduated between 2005 and 2013: 2 graduates are seeking employment; for 11 we have no data (based on research conducted between Feb-May 2016). For the remaining 95 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 British Columbia (7)Simon Fraser University (2)
Goethe University Frankfurt
Stanford University
Queen Mary University of London
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Duke University
Washington University in St Louis
Beijing Normal University
Harvard University
Sample Employers Outside Higher Education
BC Cancer Agency (8)United States Department of Energy (3)
1QB Information Technologies (1QBit) (2)
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) (2)
MTT Innovation Inc. (2)
Google (2)
Coanda Research and Development Corporation (2)
FINCAD (2)
Bayer (2)
Ottawa Hospital
Sample Job Titles Outside Higher Education
Medical Physicist (10)Data Scientist (2)
Research Scientist (2)
Engineer (2)
Director (2)
Software Engineer (2)
Staff Scientist (2)
Senior Strategy Consultant
Product Engineer
Chief Executive Officer
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.Tuition / Program Costs
| Fees | Canadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / Diplomat | International |
|---|---|---|
| Application Fee | $104.00 | $168.25 |
| Tuition * | ||
| Installments per year | 3 | 3 |
| Tuition per installment | $1,665.26 | $2,925.58 |
| Tuition per year (plus annual increase, usually 2%-5%) | $4,995.78 | $8,776.74 |
| Int. Tuition Award (ITA) per year (if eligible) | $3,200.00 (-) | |
| Other Fees and Costs | ||
| Student Fees (yearly) | $930.14 (approx.) | |
| Costs of living (yearly) | starting at $16,884.10 (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.
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.
Statistical Data
Enrolment Data
| 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applications | 98 | 97 | 88 | 118 | 90 |
| Offers | 14 | 23 | 13 | 18 | 21 |
| New registrations | 12 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 18 |
| Total enrolment | 114 | 108 | 114 | 120 | 131 |
Completion Rates & Times
This program has a graduation rate of 76.56% based on 64 students admitted between 2005 - 2008. Based on 61 graduations between 2014 - 2017 the minimum time to completion is 3.33 years and the maximum time is 9.00 years with an average of 5.69 years of study. All calculations exclude leave times.
Disclaimer
Admissions data refer to all UBC Vancouver applications, offers, new registrants for each year, May to April [data updated: 22 March 2019]. Enrolment data are based on March 1 snapshots. Program completion data are only provided for datasets comprised of more than 4 individuals. 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 [data updated: 23 September 2018].
Upcoming Doctoral Exams
Thursday, 7 November 2019 - 9:00am - Room 203
Oscar Javier Hernandez
Nuclear Structure Corrections in Muonic Atoms With Statistical Uncertainty Quantification
Friday, 15 November 2019 - 12:30pm - Room 203
Berend Zwartsenberg
Spin-Orbit Coupling in Iridates
Monday, 25 November 2019 - 4:00pm - 309, Hennings, 6224 Agricultural Road
Ilaria Caiazzo
QED and X-Ray Polarization from Neutron Stars and Black Holes
Research Supervisors
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.
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Lister, Alison (Elementary Particles, Large Hadron Collier (LHC), ATLAS experiment, Search for physics beyond the standard model, top quarks, Dark Matter, Detector development)
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MacKay, Alexander (Medical physics, Use of Magnetic Resonance Techniques to Investigate Human Pathology)
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Madison, Kirk (Condensed matter, atomic, molecular and optical physics )
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Marziali, Andre (Teaching methods, pedagogy, Robotics in education, Nanotechnology, Engineering Physics, Genomics, Biophysics, Genomics Technologies)
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Matthews, Jaymie Mark (Stellar seismology, stellar structure and evolution, exoplanets, magnetic peculiar stars, photometry and spectroscopy, space astronomy)
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Mattison, Thomas (Subatomic physics, Particle & Nuclear Physics, Applied Physics)
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McKenna, Janis (Experimental Particle Physics)
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Michal, Carl (Nuclear magnetic resonance, biological and energy storage materials )
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Milner, Valery (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics; Ultrafast Quantum Coherent Control; Ultrafast Spectroscopy )
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Oser, Scott (Elementary Particles, particle physics, neutrinos, dark matter, statistical methods for physics)
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Plotkin, Steven (Biophysics theory and computation )
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Rauscher, Alexander (Algorithms, Brain Metabolism, Imaging, Neurological Diseases, Modelization and Simulation, magnetic resonance imaging, physics, quantitative susceptibility mapping, myelin water imaging, brain)
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Raussendorf, Robert (Measurement-based models for quantum computation, fault-tolerant quantum computation under geometric constraints, quantum cellular automata)
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Reinsberg, Stefan (Medical physics, MRIs )
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Richer, Harvey (astronomy, stars, galaxies, universe, solar system, stellar astrophysics, tellar populations, Astronomy, Stellar populations, star clusters white dwarfs)
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Rottler, Joerg (Solids, Polymers, Nanomaterials, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Soft Matter)
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Rozali, Moshe (String theory, high energy physics, quantum field theory, cosmology and classical gravitational physics)
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Schleich, Kristin (Theoretical physics, general relativity )
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Scott, Douglas (Science and Knowledge, Cosmology)
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Semenoff, Gordon Walter (Theoretical and mathematical physics, the physics of elementary particles, condensed matter physics, String theory, quantum field theory, statistical mechanics, Moedal experiment, Large Hadron Collider, CERN)
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Sigurdson, Kris (The Universe, Cosmology, Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Particle Physics, Astrophysics, Cosmic Microwave Background, Cosmic 21-cm Fluctuations, Radio Astronomy, CHIME )
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Sossi, Vesna (Medical Imaging, Brain imaging )
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Stairs, Ingrid (pulsars, gravity, general relativity, radio astronomy, radio pulsars, pulsar searches and long-term timing, Radio astronomy)
Pages
Recent Doctoral Citations
- Dr. Huai-Che Yeh
"New understanding of space and time arises in the fundamental realization of the Universe. Dr. Yeh studied space as a pixel picture encoded in a set of matrices. He found how matrices reconstruct smooth spaces. His research contributes to revealing the origin of the Universe." (May 2019) - Dr. Arash Khazraie Zamanpour
"Dr. Khazraie studied the electronic structure of bismuth oxides. He showed that holes form on oxygen ions in contradiction to the ideas of charge fluctuations in Bismuths. His work can create a new class of materials that can host coexisting electron and hole gasses and lead to the realization of excitonic insulators." (May 2019) - Dr. Alan Patrick Manning
"Myelin is a material in the brain which is damaged by certain diseases. Dr. Manning researched techniques to better detect myelin with an MRI scan." (May 2019) - Dr. Jeff Maki
"Dr. Maki studied the motion of expanding strongly interacting atomic gases. His research showed that the symmetry associated with fractals, a type of geometric figure, enables predictions about the rate of expansion for these gases. This research improves our understanding of atomic gases, which are a prime candidate for novel quantum technologies." (May 2019) - Dr. Leonard Ruocco
"Dr. Ruocco developed a new analytical model for exploring the effects of quantum coherence in macroscopic systems. He found that in certain photosynthetic systems, quantum mechanics can play a significant role in facilitating highly efficient energy transfer." (May 2019)
Sample Thesis Submissions
Further Program Information
Program Website
Faculty Overview
Academic Unit
Program Identifier
VGDPHD-T5
September 2020 Intake
Application Open Date
15 October 2019 Canadian Applicant Deadline
01 December 2019 International Applicant Deadline
01 December 2019 Program Enquiries
If you have reviewed the information on this program page and understand the requirements for this program, you may send an enquiry
Departments/Programs may update graduate degree program details through the Faculty & Staff portal. To update the application inquiries contact details please use this form.