Research Projects

Currently Open Research Projects

This list of possible research projects is non-exhaustive. It only shows positions that are specifically advertised in the G+PS website.

Position Title Supervisor(s) Faculty Research Classification
PhD in Sampling Theory for Forest Growth Tzeng Yih Lam Faculty of Forestry Quantitiative methods in forestry, Forest dynamics (including stand dynamics), Survey methodology and analysis, Statistical inference, Probability theory
Postdoctoral Fellow - Climate Extremes and Coastal Ecosystems Simon Donner Faculty of Arts Oceanography, Climate change impacts and adaptation
Postdoctoral Scholar - Catalysis & Reaction Engineering David Chester Upham Faculty of Applied Science Chemical engineering, Chemical sciences
Postdoctoral Fellow in Wisnovsky & Williams Labs, UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences Karla Williams, Simon Wisnovsky Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences Cancer progression and metastasis, Tumour immunology
Collaborative Postdoctoral Position - Medical Imaging AI Ilker Hacihaliloglu Faculty of Medicine Image and video processing and analysis, Medical, health and life sciences, Computer and information sciences, Artificial intelligence engineering
Postdoctoral Fellow in Cardiovascular Metabolism Brian Rodrigues Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences Basic pharmacology, Intracellular signaling, signal transduction, receptor and membrane biology, Lipid biology (including lipidomics)
Postdoc Research Associate in RNA biology Xuesen Dong Faculty of Medicine Cancer drug development and therapeutics, Urology

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Faculty Members Recruiting Students

This list shows a selection of faculty members who are currently looking for new graduate students. They may have specified particular projects they wish to fill. Please ensure to review the departmental profile of each faculty member to learn more about their research interests and to ensure a good fit to your intended studies at UBC.

Last namesort descending First name Research Interests Desired start dates: Project areas
Ciocca Valter Auditory System; Perception and Representation; Recognition of Speech; Speech and Language Development Disorders; Auditory grouping of speech and non-speech sounds, also known as "auditory scene analysis"; perception and production of normal and disordered speech Any time / year round

Auditory scene analysis; perception and production of disordered speech

Conklin Annalijn Public health nutrition policy; Other basic medicine and life sciences; Social Determinants of Dietary and Metabolic Disorders; social nutritional epidemiology; Gender Epidemiology; women's health; Health Equity; Chronic Diseases in Elderly; Obesity; CVD risk factors; healthy ageing; food and nutrition policy; Indigenous health; Community Health / Public Health; disease management evaluation; healthcare quality improvement; Professional Practices; ethics of research and public health 2025

Gender differences in symptoms and outcomes of patients living with COPD;

Gender, social determinants and metabolic outcomes

Cookson Tara Public policy; Development; Social protection; Care work; Gender equality Any time / year round

Gender and development; social protection; care economy

Coops Nicholas Charles Forestry sciences; Telemetry (Remote Sensing, Radar); Space Techniques; Forestry Technology and Equipment; Plants and Forests Any time / year round

Application of remote sensing technologies to forest productivity and conservation issues

Cornelis Jean Thomas Earth and related environmental sciences; Pedology; Biogeochemistry; Soil-Plant Interactions 2022

- determine the extent to which changes in soil processes controlling carbon storage and (micro)nutrient supply are driven by land use

- understand soil abiotic controls on microbial and root nutrient-acquisition strategies and their role in agroecosystem resilience and food quality

- determine agroecosystem adaptation to climate change via bio-weathering processes induced by... Read More

Cretu Edmond Nano-technology; Electronics; Medical and biomedical engineering; microsystems and nanotechnology; sensor clusters and networks; Signal processing and control; Ultrasound Imaging; Microinstrumentation; Inertial measurement units; wearable systems Any time / year round

- Polymer-based transducer arrays for ultrasound imaging - applications in biomedical imaging, or for non-destructive testing of materials and structures

- Advanced microsystems for inertial navigation 

- Sensor microinstrumentation systems

- Signal processing and modern control applied to MEMS transducers

- Wearable body sensor systems

Cui Wei Law and legal practice; Taxation; Law; Social Organization and Political Systems; Chinese administrative law; Chinese legislative system; law and development; Law and political economy; tax and development; tax policy Any time / year round

The history of international taxation in light of the evolution of international trade

Compare redistributive policies in democratic v. authoritarian countries

Environmental taxation 

d'Arcy Mitch Earth and related environmental sciences; Geomorphology; Climate/palaeoclimate; Sedimentology; Geochronology; remote sensing Any time / year round, 2021

Projects could involve field work, geochronology, geochemistry, modelling and remote sensing depending on what the student finds exciting and interesting. I’m particularly seeking students interested in working on these topics (but I’m open to other suggestions, too):

  • Orbital climate changes and their effects on erosion and sedimentation
  • Recovering palaeoclimate signals... Read More
Daley Denise Bioinformatics; Asthma; Complex Trait Genetics; Epigenetics; gene-gene and gene-environment interactions; Genetic Diseases; genetic epidemiology; Genetics of Aging; statistical genetics; Susceptibility Genes Any time / year round

Genetics and epigenetics of common complex diseases including peanut allergy, food allergy, asthma, atopy, healthy aging, aortic valve stenosis. Longitudinal analyses of childhood birth cohorts. The lab is currently initiating several targeted whole genome bisulfate sequencing projects and we plan on integrating data from a variety of omics approaches. We are also developing genetic risk... Read More

Damascelli Andrea Electronic and magnetic properties of condensed matter and supraconductivity; Electronic Structure of Quantum Materials Any time / year round
  • Quantum Materials by Design
  • Quantum Materials in the Time Domain
  • Designing Quantum Phases in Monolayer Graphene
  • Creating 2-Dimensional Superconducting Electron Gases
  • Probing Condensate's Coherence: from Superconductors to Excitonic Insulators
Daniels Megan Classical religion; Archaeology of Greece and the broader eastern Mediterranean; Late Bronze Age to Hellenistic Period; Ancient religion, sanctuaries, votive objects; Cross-cultural interaction; Ancient economies and trade; Divine kingship; Digital/data science approaches to the ancient world, particularly ancient religion; Migration and mobility across Eurasia; Phoenician culture; Ceramic analysis

Ancient Mediterranean, 3000-100 BCE; ancient Greek religion; ancient economies, trade, and exchange; migration and mobility in the ancient Mediterranean; cross-cultural interaction in antiquity; archaeological ceramics; diversity and inclusion in teaching ancient history and archaeology

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 2023, 2024

Learning Spatial Representation from Brain recordings, in collaboration with Manu Madhav's lab at UBC

Dee Derek Enzymes (including kinetics and mechanisms, and biocatalyst); Proteomics; Nanofabrication, growth and self-assembly; Food chemistry (including fermentation); Protein Folding; protein stability; protein aggregation; protein engineering; funtional amyloid; bacterial amyloid; protein nanofibrils; food proteins; legume proteins; aspartic proteases; psychrophilic enzymes; precision fermentation; Biophysics; food chemistry; alternative food proteins; optical tweezers; single molecule force spectroscopy; cryoEM Any time / year round

1. bacterial biofilm amyloid: assembly mechanism and drug targeting

2. functional and engineered amyloid from plant (legume) proteins

3. protein (enzyme) engineering to control stability

Dennis Jessica Bioinformatics; Genetic medicine; Administrative health data; Complex Trait Genetics; Electronic health records; Epidemiology; genetic epidemiology; Genetics of Neurological and Psychiatric Diseases; Machine Learning; Mental Health and Psychopathology in Children and Youth; Precision Health; statistical genetics Any time / year round

The last decade has seen an unprecedented explosion of data. In medicine, data are increasingly being generated and linked across electronic health records, administrative databases, and biobanked samples. These resources hold tremendous promise for improving human health and achieving precision medicine, which will only be realized by thoughtful study designs and innovative analyses.

... Read More

Diamond Adele executive functions; prefrontal cortex; dopamine; working memory; self-control; self-regulation; cognition; COMT gene; Sex differences; stress; ACEs (adverse childhood experiences); ELS (early life stress); resilience; social determinants of health; ADHD; depression; PTSD; Physical Activity; the arts; mindfulness

In traumatized youth, can prefrontal cortex communication with the amygdala be restored by a stress-reduction program (e.g., Niroga’s yoga-based mindfulness program)? Are the benefits of music for improving executive functions (EFs), mood, and quality of life greater when the experience of listening to the music is socially shared? Can the benefits of listening to the spoken word be as great... Read More

Dollinger Stefan English language; Language Contact and Linguistic Changes; Linguistic Variation and Society; Lexicography and Dictionaries; Language Interactions; Language Rights and Policies; Bilingualism and Multilingualism

Projects revolving around the recently completed www.dchp.ca/dchp2, possibly towards a third edition.

For my work, see https://ubc.academia.edu/StefanDollinger for a nearly complete list and downloadable books/papers/squibs/reviews.

Dong Xuesen Cancer progression and metastasis; Gene and molecular therapy; Prostate Cancer; Drug development; RNA splicing and Gene Regulation; Hormone Dependent Cancers; Endocrine Regulation Any time / year round
  1. neuroendocrine prostate cancer;
  2. AR driven castrate-resistant prostate cancer
  3. computer aided drug design 
  4. cell free nucleotide biomarkers from liquid biopsy
Donner Simon Atmospheric sciences; Oceanography; Other media and communication; Climate Science; climate change impacts; Climate policy; Coastal Ecosystems; Marine Environment; Climate modelling and prediction; Science communication; Net-zero emissions; Coral reefs Any time / year round, 2023, 2024, 2025

I am a climate scientist focused on helping the world prevent and prepare for climate change. I serve as a member Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body, which advises the Canadian government on climate change solutions, and was a lead author on the most recent assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments.

My research program lies primarily at the intersection... Read More

Douglas Jennifer Personal recordkeeping and archives; Community archives; Person-centred archival theory and practices; Grief and recordkeeping and archives; Emotions and recordkeeping and archives; Archival arrangement and description Any time / year round

Personal and/or community archives and recordkeeping; grief and recordkeeping and archives; archival creation; archival representation. 

Effros Bonnie Humanities and the arts; History of archaeology; Antiquarianism and collecting in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Late antique and early medieval history and archaeology; Gender history and archaeology Any time / year round

history of archaeology, history of collecting and museums, medievalism, early medieval history and archaeology, early medieval gender

Elliott Alison Other health sciences; rare disease; genomics; Congenital Malformations; Skeletal and limb anomalies; Genetic Counselling; Health services implementation science

Genetic counselling

Birth defects

Health Implementation Science

Ellis Jason Canadian history; Specialized studies in education; Educational policy; Education policy; history of education Any time / year round

Projects related to my current research: history of education and social mobility, opportunity; education and housing markets; political economy of metropolitan schooling; policy; space and historical GIS mapping; history of immigration and education; history of educational finance and taxation. Or any project in the history of education; education policy.

Eltis Lindsay Biochemistry; Genomics; Immunology; Microbiology; Bacterial catabolism of steroids and lignin; biocatalyst development; Enzymes and Proteins; Metabolism (Living Organisms); Mycobacterium tuberculosis Any time / year round

Understanding the degradation of cholesterol catabolism by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its role in pathogenesis. Developing new therapeutics that target cholesterol catabolism. Understanding the bacterial degradation of lignin and developing biocatalysts to upgrade lignin.

Etminan Mahyar Eye and Visual System Diseases; Pharmacoepidemiology; Epidemiology; Oular Epidemiology; Drug Safety; Epidemiologist Study Design; Causal Inference; Cancer Epidemiology

Glaucoma, Macular Degeneration, Drug Safety (all therapeutics areas)

Etxabe Julen Law and society; Literature and critical theory; History and philosophy of law and justice; Law and humanities; Legal Theory and Jurisprudence; Human Rights; Political Theory; Law and literature; Cultural Studies Any time / year round
  • Law and Humanities
  • Law and Literature
  • Jurisprudence and Legal Theory
  • Critical Theory
  • Poilitical Theory
  • Cultural Studies and Legal History
  • International Human Rights
Everhart Avery Health geography; Population geography; Geographic information system (GIS and GPS) applications; Health and community services; Bioinformatics, n.e.c.; Social and cultural geography; Sex and gender-based analysis; Ethical, legal, and social issues in health, health systems and health research; Gender and health relationship; Health information systems (including surveillance); Geographic Information Science; Medical Geography; Demography & Population Studies; Critical Data Studies, Critical GIS & Digital Geographies; Transgender Studies; Intersectionality in Empirical Social Science; Health Services Research & Access to Healthcare; Community-Based Participatory Research; Feminist & Queer Theories; Measuring & Combatting STructural Racism 2024, 2025

Geographic access to gender-affirming care (in multiple countries) through surveys, quantiative analysis and GIS

Applying intersectionality theories to empirical social scientific and health sciences research

Medical geography involving field work and community-based participatory or participatory action research

Fast Danya Social sciences; Substance Use; Substance Use Care; Adolescents and Young Adults; urban health; Urban Poverty; Medical Anthropology; Canada; East Africa Any time / year round

I am currently recruiting incoming PhD students with strong backgrounds in qualitative, community-based participatory action, and/or anthropological methods who are passionate about doing research broadly focused on youth, substance use and care. Students will carve out an independent project as part of one of the following studies:

(1) The Treatment Trajectories Study explores young... Read More

Faulkner Guy Kinesiology; Community Health / Public Health; behavioral medicine; Exercise Psychology; mental health; physical activity and public health; physical activity interventions Any time / year round

Physical activity and public health - intervention development and evaluation

Fisher Kevin Prehistoric archaeology; Anthropology; Archaeological theory; Archaeometry; Archeological Data Analysis; Archeological Excavation Methods and Techniques; architecture; built environments; digital archaeology; Dynamics of Social Transformations; Mediterranean archaeology; Near Eastern archaeology; power; Social Life / Societal Life; social interaction; Urban Spaces and Urbanity; urbanism Any time / year round

Kalavasos and Maroni Built Environments (KAMBE) Project: http://kambe.cnrs.ubc.ca/

Computational Research on the Ancient Near East (CRANE) Project: https://www.crane.utoronto.ca/

Flynn Alexandra Law and society; Municipal Law; Local Governance; property law; Administrative Law; Experiential legal education; Socio-Legal Studies; Law & Cities 2022
  • urban law and governance
  • housing law
Folk Joshua Physical sciences; 2D materials and Vanderwaals heterostructures; Quantum electronics; Thermodynamics of quantum systems; Strongly correlated phenomena; Topological phenomena; Quantum transport Any time / year round

Vanderwaals heterostructures; Entropy of quantum systems; Thermodynamic probes of 2D materials; Fractional quantum Hall effect

Forbes Connor Urology; Other basic medicine and life sciences; Drug discovery, design and delivery; Endourology; Minimally Invasive Surgery; Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia; Kidney stones; Translational research 2024

Dr Connor Forbes graduated from UBC Medicine and completed his residency in Urology at UBC. His fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre was a combined research and clinical fellowship including subspecialty training in Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH), Kidney Stones, and advanced minimally invasive surgical approaches to upper and lower tract urologic diseases. 

Dr Forbes'... Read More

Ford Nancy Medical physics; Medical biotechnology diagnostics (including biosensors); Dental materials and equipment; micro-computed tomography; physiological gating; contrast agents; models of respiratory disease; image-based measurements; dental imaging; x-ray imaging 2025

Effects of e-cigarettes on respiratory and oral health

Contrast-enhanced micro-CT using novel targeted contrast agents

Dual-energy cone-beam CT

Dental radiography

Frank Erica Health sciences; Public and population health; Other education; Free education; Preventive Medicine; Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Architecture; Holocaust studies; Exile Reintegration; Democratization; Intervention Research Any time / year round

My primary research is on my invention, NextGenU.org, uniquely providing free education from first grade to PhD.  Starting with a focus in the health sciences, NextGenU.org's accredited courses are being used every country, including through half of US medical schools.

Founded/invented by me in 2001 (predating MOOCs by 7 years), we globally launched our first full course in March 2012.... Read More

Frankel Adam Other basic medicine and life sciences; Enzymes (including kinetics and mechanisms, and biocatalyst); Protein Biochemistry; arginine methylation; Histones; Nucleosomes; post-translational modifications; Biological and Biochemical Mechanisms; Organic Molecules and Biomolecules; Bioactive Molecules; Proteins; Chemical Biology; drug discovery; Target Engagement; yeast; Amino acids 2024

"Methylation Dynamics in Cellular Processes" in the Frankel lab. 

"Overcoming Dihydrofolate Reductase Inhibitor Resistance Using Pyrimethamine-inspired Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras" with Drs. Brent Page and Karla Williams.

Friedman Jan Marshall Other clinical medicine; Genetic medicine; Genomics; Health counselling; Application of whole genome sequencing to diagnose genetic disease; Birth defects epidemiology; Clinical genomics; Developmental Genetics; Genetics and Heredity; Neurofibromatosis Any time / year round
  • Improving the sensitivity of whole genome sequencing as a clinical test for genetic causes of intellectual disability
  • Use of advanced genomic and bioinformatic methods to find mutations that cause genetic disease but that are missed by standard genome sequencing
  • Clinical genetics/genomics health services research 
Friedman Joel Computer and information sciences; Algebraic Graph Theory; Combinatorics; Computer Science Theory Any time / year round

Computer Science Theory, Graph Theory, Combinatorics, Algebraic Topology applied to Combinatorics

Frostad John Chemical engineering; Food sciences (including food engineering); Emulsions; Physics of Soft Matter; Agricultural Sprays; Food Physics; Interfacial Rheology; Novel Instrumentation; Foams; Fluid mechanics Any time / year round

For more information, please see: http://food.chbe.ubc.ca/opportunities/

Gaertner David Indigenous literatures; Media, visual and digital culture; Critical identity, ethnic and race studies; Indigenous Literature; Digital storytelling; Digital Humanities; Speculative fiction; Reconciliation; New Media; Indigenous Cyberspace

Indigenous new media theory and design via CEDaR (Centre for Engaged Documentation and Research) the Indigneous new media lab I co-operate with Daisy Rosenblum. 

Giammarino Ronald Financial management; corporate theory; bank regulation; real options Any time / year round

Municipal corporate finance

Giang Amanda Atmospheric sciences; Mechanical engineering; Natural environment sciences; Atmospheric Pollutants; Chemical Pollutants; Climate Changes and Impacts; Public Policies; Social and Cultural Factors of Environmental Protection

modelling the impact of technology and policy on the long range transport of global pollutants; developing tools and processes to support community-based environmental monitoring; understanding the role of scientific assessment in environmental governance, from global to local scales

Gibson William Genetic medicine; Genetic Diseases; Chromosomes: Structure / Organization; Epigenetics Any time / year round

Genetics of Rare Obesity and Overgrowth Disorders; Epigenetics of Body Weight and Body Composition; Genetics of Familial Intracranial Aneurysms.     Please note that recruitment is extremely competitive. Applicants with external scholarship/fellowship funding are strongly preferred, as are applicants who already have an MD or MBBS degree, or who are applying to UBC's MD-PhD program.... Read More

Glassheim Eagle European history (except British, classical Greek and Roman); History of Central and Eastern Europe; Environmental History Any time / year round

Environmental history; histories of health of communities and landscapes; mining history; histories of communism in Central/Eastern Europe

Goerges Matthias Electronic health (e-Health); Health information systems (including surveillance); Expert systems technologies in artificial intelligence; Anesthesiology; Medical devices; Human-computer systems and interface; Bio-signal processing and analysis; Digital health; predictive analytics; decision support systems; Critical Care Medicine; Biomedical Technologies; Health Care Technologies; Human Computer Interaction and Design; Medical informatics; Software Development; patient-oriented research; Data sharing / open data 2025, 2026

The introduction of information technology in medicine has enabled a transformational change in recent decades. The coronavirus pandemic further accelerated the introduction of virtual care and digital health solutions. Thus, most of my work focuses on designing, implementing, and evaluating ways that leverage technology to improve patient-relevant outcomes.

Clinical... Read More

Goldbach Toby Susan Law and legal practice; Political Culture, Society and Ideology; Procedural Law; Jurisprudence; Comparative Law; Dispute Resolution; Judicial Politics; law and development Any time / year round

Fairness hearings in class action settlements in the US; judges' international travel for judicial education; development of court-connected ADR in Ghana

Gordon Michael Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Zoology; Chemosensation; Drosophila; Feeding; Gustation; Neural circuits; Neuronal Systems; neuroscience; Sensory systems; Taste Any time / year round

Most projects centre on the neural circuits underlying taste processing and feeding in the fly brain. Potential projects include looking at circuit mechanisms underlying taste integration, hunger, feeding, taste memories, chemosensory integration, and taste circuit development.

Graham Sean Plant phylogenetics; Plant systematics; Plant evolution; Organelles; Phylogenomics; Land plants; Mycoheterotrophs Any time / year round

Plant phylogenetics and molecular evolution

Granville David Autoimmunity; Medical molecular engineering of nucleic acids and proteins; Proteases; Granzymes; Extracellular matrix; Chronic inflammation; Aging; Disease models; Autoimmune disease; Skin; Vascular biology Any time / year round, 2025

I am looking for post-doctoral fellows. Trainees will be actively involved in the translational research effort pertaining to understanding the physiological and/or pathophysiological role(s) of the serine protease family, granzymes, in the context of skin or vascular inflammation regeneration, in aging, autoimmune and/or chronic disease. Granzymes are a family of 5 serine proteases in humans... Read More

Groat Lee Mineralogy and crystallography (except soil mineralogy and chemicals aspects of crystallography); Inorganic geochemistry; Economic geology; mineralogy; crystal chemistry; Geochemistry; economic geology; gem deposits; pegmatites 2021

Gem deposits and pegmatites in northern Canada.

Gunderson Lee Paul Languages and literature; reading-research; immigrant-achievement; home literacy environment Any time / year round

ESL(ELL) Literacy Assessment

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