
Michael Hoff
Job Title
Assistant Professor
Employer
University of Washington
Review details about the recently announced changes to study and work permits that apply to master’s and doctoral degree students. Read more
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.
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.
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.
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:
Overall score requirement: 90
Reading
22
Writing
21
Speaking
21
Listening
22
Overall score requirement: 6.5
Reading
6.0
Writing
6.0
Speaking
6.0
Listening
6.0
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.
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.
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.
Many programs require a statement of interest, sometimes called a "statement of intent", "description of research interests" or something similar.
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.
Permanent Residents of Canada must provide a clear photocopy of both sides of the Permanent Resident card.
All applicants must complete an online application form and pay the application fee to be considered for admission to UBC.
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. |
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.
From September 2024 all full-time students in UBC-Vancouver PhD programs will be provided with a funding package of at least $24,000 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 $24,000 per year. Please check with your prospective graduate program for specific details of the funding provided to its PhD students.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Applicants have access to the cost estimator to develop a financial plan that takes into account various income sources and expenses.
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:
These statistics show data for the Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD). Data are separated for each degree program combination. You may view data for other degree options in the respective program profile.
2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applications | 102 | 90 | 103 | 94 | 86 |
Offers | 25 | 16 | 19 | 13 | 19 |
New Registrations | 14 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 16 |
Total Enrolment | 111 | 114 | 112 | 111 | 116 |
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.
These videos contain some general advice from faculty across UBC on finding and reaching out to a supervisor. They are not program specific.
Year | Citation |
---|---|
2018 | Dr. Contreras investigated claims of a hemispheric asymmetry of power in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), showing some models can be ruled out with the current data, but very sensitive polarization data are required for many others. He also showed that the CMB is consistent with no parity violation at the tightest precision available with current data. |
2018 | Dr. Wang studied one of nature's great puzzles: what is dark energy which causes the accelerating expansion of our Universe? He proposed that dark energy is the vacuum energy of quantum fields, which curve the spacetime in a particular way to drive the accelerating expansion of the Universe. This work is a crucial step towards a theory of everything. |
2018 | Dr. Polovy presented the creation, using a specialized sequence of laser pulses, and preliminary lifetime measurements of Lithium-6 molecules that are 1,000,000 times colder than outer space, in several quantum configurations. |
2018 | Some rubbers have a structure on the scale of nanometres and can be reformed and recycled (typical rubbers cannot). Dr. Parker used computational modelling and developed a network model to connect the properties of these rubbers (for example strength or elasticity) to details of how they act on this much smaller, nanometre, length scale. |
2018 | Dr. Marchetto has devised an improved technique for designing the magnets used to separate exotic nuclei for nuclear and astrophysics experiments. This allows mass selection even for masses whose separation is as small as one part in 20,000. |
2018 | Dr. Thomas studied topological aspects of Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory of strong nuclear force, in a simplified toy model. He showed how certain structures, which are believed to exist in the true theory, arise in the simplified model, and discussed how they could potentially answer some questions about how the universe works. |
2018 | Dr. Gordon studied the physics of strongly interacting elementary particles, performing detailed calculations in the framework of quantum field theory. He elucidated features of the quantum vacuum and generated predictions that enable precise tests of holographic duality, an important but conjectural relation between quantum theory and gravity. |
2018 | Dr. Suzuki studied how entanglement among internal degrees of freedom of a composite object can affect its interaction with the other physical objects. This study has applications to the fundamental questions of the transition from quantum to classical physics, quantum gravity, quantum computing, quantum chemistry and condensed matter physics. |
2018 | Dr. Berkman measured properties of the pervasive tiny neutral particles called neutrinos with the T2K experiment. She developed a method to detect a second type of neutrino interaction. This method recovers neutrino events that were previously discarded and predicts a 40% increase in the total number of neutrinos used in analysis. |
2018 | Dr. Macdonald characterized imaging artifacts in Fourier analysis of noble metal surface states, studied with scanning tunnelling microscopy. He co-developed a new technique for nano-scale location of magnetic atoms on surfaces. These works helped researchers unravel electronic correlations in quantum materials and probe single-atom magnetism. |
Physics provides research opportunities in many subfields of physics, including
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