Research Projects

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
Wilton Steven Electrical engineering, computer engineering, and information engineering; Integrated Circuits; Computer Architecture; Computer Hardware; Computer-Aided Design Algorithms; Field-Programmable Gate Arrays; High-Level Synthesis Any time / year round

Debug for FPGAs FPGA Architectures CAD for FPGAs

Winstanley Catharine Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Psychology and cognitive sciences; Addiction; Behavioural neuroscience; decision making; Gambling disorder; Impulsivity; Mental Health and Society; Neuronal Systems; Neuropharmacology; Trauma / Injuries; Traumatic Brain Injury

Exploring the neural, neurochemical and molecular basis of impulsivity and risky decision making, particularly as these cognitive traits relate to addiction disorders. Most of the work we do uses rat models of cognitive behaviour, but we are starting to translate our findings into human subjects.

Wisnovsky Simon Cancer genetics; Tumour immunology; Cellular immunology; Glycomics and glycobiology; Chemical genetics; Systems biology; Cellular interactions (including adhesion, matrix and cell wall); Genomics; Cancer molecular targets; glycobiology; carbohydrates; Tumor immunology; Functional genomics; CRISPR screening; Glycomics; Biochemistry; Molecular Genetics; Cell Biology; Cancer Any time / year round, 2021, 2022

Dr. Wisnovsky's lab studies the cell surface glycome, a dense network of sugar molecules that coats the surface of every living cell. The glycome plays a fundamental role in regulating the activity of our immune system, helping immune cells to distinguish normal, healthy cells from abnormal cells and invading pathogens. In diseases like cancer, the structure of the cell-surface glycome becomes... Read More

Withers Stephen Enzymes and Proteins; Blood Substitutes; Organic Molecules and Biomolecules; Biological and Biochemical Mechanisms; Diabetes; Drug development; enzyme inhibition; carbohydrates; glycobiology; metagenomics; directed evolution

Development of novel therapeutics for diabetes and lysosomal storage diseases
Discovery of enzymes for the enzymatic removal of cell surface antigens
In vitro and In vivo glycosylation of proteins

Wright Handel Educational policy; Specialized studies in education; (post)multiculturalism and multicultural education; Africana studies; Critical Race Theory; Cultural Studies; Educational Approaches; identity, citizenship and belonging; postcolonialism and decolonization; Transcultural Studies; Youth Studies; anti-racism Any time / year round

(post)multiculturalism; youth identity and belonging; cultural studies and education; Africana identity; comparative and international education; anti-racism activism

Wu Lyndia Biomechanical engineering; Biomedical instrumentation (including diagnostics); Biomedical signal processing; Mechanical characterization (including modeling, testing, and monitoring); Injury biomechanics; Soft Tissue Biomechanics; Traumatic Brain Injury; Sleep Biomechanics; Sensors and Instrumentation; Data Mining and Machine Learning; Wearable Sensing Any time / year round, 2021

Please refer to simpl.mech.ubc.ca for project areas and opportunities.

Wylie Alison Philosophy; feminist philosophy; philosophy of archaeology; philosophy of science; philosophy of the social and historial sciences; Philosophy, History and Comparative Studies; research ethics (non-medical); science studies Any time / year round

Feminist standpoint theory; community based collaborative practice; Indigenous/science; content effects of systemic inequities in the sciences.

Yada Rickey Enzymes (including kinetics and mechanisms, and biocatalyst); Other biological sciences; Food science; Food protein chemistry; Structure-function relationships; Enzymes; aspartic proteases Any time / year round

Current research interests include: the structure-function relationships of food and non-food related enzymes using molecular biology and various physico-chemical techniques (eg. circular dichroism spectroscopy, micro-calorimeter, small angle neutron scattering, ultracentrifugation, enzyme kinetics, etc.), carbohydrate metabolism in potatoes as it related to process quality as well as various... Read More

Yadav Vikramaditya Chemical engineering; Genomics; Medical and biomedical engineering; Bioactive Molecules; Biocatalysis; Bioinformatics; Biological and Biochemical Mechanisms; Biomass (Energy); Biomaterials; Bioprocess engineering; Bioremediation; Biotechnology; drug delivery; Drug discovery & development; Medical biotechnology; Metabolic engineering; Structural Tissue Engineering / Biomaterials; Synthetic biology; Technoeconomics; Tissue Engineering; Vaccines Any time / year round

My research group utilizes metabolic & enzyme engineering to investigate and customize novel biosynthetic enzymes that can convert biomass-derived feedstocks into value-added chemicals. We have published highly acclaimed papers on model-guided enzyme engineering, process development, enzyme discovery using metagenomics and engineering metabolic control schemes that bridge with bioprocess... Read More

Yip Calvin Biochemistry; Gene Regulation and Expression; Genetic Diseases; Enzymes and Proteins; Biological and Biochemical Mechanisms; Molecular Structure and Sizing; Imaging; Chromatin modification / epigenetic regulation; Molecular etiologies of rare diseases; Regulation of autophagy degradation
  1. Characterizing protein complexes involved in chromatin modification and epigenetic regulation
  2. Dissecting the regulatory mechanisms of autophagy degradation
  3. Investigating the molecular bases of rare diseases
Yoon Dongwook Computer and information sciences; Computer Science and Statistics; design; Educational Technologies; Augmented reality; computer supported cooperative work (CSCW); Educational technology; Human-computer interaction (HCI); Interaction and interface design; Multimodal interaction; Speech, touch, multitouch, stylus, gesture, mixed-reality, 3d interaction; Virtual Reality Any time / year round

My research lies at the intersection of human-computer interaction (HCI), computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), computer-mediated communication (CMC), and educational technology. My primary research focus is to build rich collaboration systems that offer expressive multimodal interactions, i.e., interactions through multiple communication channels (e.g., speech, gesture, and grasp). My... Read More

Zerriffi Hisham Forestry sciences; Biomass (Energy); Energy Transformation and Energy Using; International development; Environment and Society; Ideological, Political, Economical and Social Environments of Social Transformations; Social and Cultural Factors of Environmental Protection; energy poverty Any time / year round

I do not have current funding for additional graduate students or post-doctoral scholars but am generally interested in modeling of energy access in developing countries, assessment of socio-ecological linkages in energy use, household choice and welfare implications related to energy use, and synergies and tradeoffs in meeting sustainable development goals in forestry, energy and land-use. ... Read More

Zhang Wei Public and population health; Health Policies; Pharmacoeconomics; Economic evaluation; Health economics Any time / year round

Work productivity loss measurement;

Economic evaluation of health interventions 

Zhang Gaoheng Intercultural and Ethnic Relationships; Cultural Exchanges; Migrations, Populations, Cultural Exchanges; Media and Society; Media Ethics; Media and Democratization; Migration Studies; Mobility Studies; Postcolonial Studies; Gender and Masculinity Studies; Race Theory; Film and Media Studies; Rhetoric and Communication Studies; Cultural Theory; Italian-Chinese relations; Italy's global networks; Modern and contemporary Italian literature and culture Any time / year round

Migration, postcolonial, and tourism studies relating to Italy and Europe;
Networks between Italy and China, and Europe and East Asia;
Italy's international past and present;
Transnationalism and globalization in Italy;
Media, filmic, and literary depictions of minorities;
Italian and comparative male and gender identities.

Zhang Yuelin Plant biology; Plant immunity; Salicylic acid signaling; Systemic acquired resistance; ROS signaling; MAPK signaling; plant immune receptors Any time / year round

Systemic acquired resistance, SA signaling, ROS signaling, MAPK signaling, signal transduction pathways downstream of plant immune receptors

Zhang Jenny Li Accounting; Economics and business administration; Management information systems; Finance and Accounting; Financial reporting, corporate disclosure, restatements, pension

Financial reporting, corporate disclosure, restatements, disclosure of foreign firms listed in the U.S.

Zhou Youwen Autoimmunity; Dermatology; Gene and molecular therapy; Translation research; Genetics and genomics of skin diseases; Vitiligo, pigmentation diseases, eczema; Innovative therapeutic development Any time / year round
  1. Vitiligo pathogenesis and therapeutic development
  2. Novel melanin synthesis inhibitors
  3. Macrophage modulation in skin health

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