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The supervisor is the key person in a thesis-based graduate degree program. The principal role of the supervisor is to help students achieve their scholastic potential and to chair the student’s Supervisory Committee. The Supervisor will provide reasonable commitment, accessibility, professionalism, stimulation, guidance, respect and consistent encouragement to the student. Learn more
Graduate programs have different expectations regarding prospective students contacting faculty members. Some require commitment of a faculty member as thesis supervisor prior to applying while others assign supervisors in the first year. Please review the requirements for each program in the degree listing under the heading "Admission Information & Requirements" in step 3 "Prepare Application" under "Thesis Supervision".
Advice on how to reach out to supervisors
Supervisor Directory
| Name |
Role |
Faculty | Academic Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vertinsky, Patricia | Professor | Faculty of Education | School of Kinesiology |
| Banthia, Nemkumar | Professor | Faculty of Applied Science | Department of Civil Engineering |
| Song, Kyungchul | Professor | Faculty of Arts | Vancouver School of Economics |
| Claxton, Dana | Professor | Faculty of Arts | Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory |
| Afshar, Kourosh | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Urologic Sciences |
| Drelichman, Mauricio | Professor | Faculty of Arts | Vancouver School of Economics |
| Aitken, Sally | Professor | Faculty of Forestry | Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences |
| Tanner, Martin | Professor | Faculty of Science | Department of Chemistry |
| Li, Yue-Xian | Professor | Faculty of Science | Department of Mathematics |
| Nielsen, Torsten | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine |
| Strynadka, Natalie | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
| Anderson, David | Professor | Faculty of Education | Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy |
| Sagan, Selena | Professor | Faculty of Science | Department of Microbiology & Immunology |
| Peirce, Anthony | Professor | Faculty of Science | Department of Mathematics |
| Heinkel, Robert Lee | Professor | Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration | Division of Finance |
| Lee, Tim | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Dermatology & Skin Science |
| Lam, Raymond | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Psychiatry |
| Lampe, Lutz | Professor | Faculty of Applied Science | Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering |
| Dauvergne, Catherine | Professor | Peter A. Allard School of Law | |
| Francois, Patrick | Professor | Faculty of Arts | Vancouver School of Economics |
| Gordon, Michael | Professor | Faculty of Science | Department of Zoology |
| Adem, Alejandro | Professor | Faculty of Science | Department of Mathematics |
| Kasahara, Hiroyuki | Professor | Faculty of Arts | Vancouver School of Economics |
| Weng, Andrew | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine |
| Wright, Handel | Professor | Faculty of Education | Department of Educational Studies |
| Castellarin, Simone | Professor | Faculty of Land and Food Systems | Applied Biology |
| Lam, Tania | Professor | Faculty of Education | School of Kinesiology |
| Lin, Kuo-Shyan | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Radiology |
| Kovach, Margaret | Professor | Faculty of Education | Department of Educational Studies |
| Nunn, Nathan | Professor | Faculty of Arts | Vancouver School of Economics |
| Bi, Xiaotao | Professor | Faculty of Applied Science | Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering |
| Sadovnick, Adele | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Medical Genetics |
| Phang, P Terence | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Surgery |
| Bizzotto, Dan | Professor | Faculty of Science | Department of Chemistry |
| Lence, Barbara Jean | Professor | Faculty of Applied Science | Department of Civil Engineering |
| Angeles, Leonora | Professor | Faculty of Applied Science | School of Community and Regional Planning, Institute for Gender, Race, Sex and Social Justice |
| Preston, Roanne | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics |
| Ellis, Naoko | Professor | Faculty of Applied Science | Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering |
| Lemieux, Victoria | Professor | Faculty of Arts | School of Information |
| Schluter, Dolph | Professor | Faculty of Science | Department of Zoology |
| Van Duzer, Leslie | Professor | Faculty of Applied Science | School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture |
| Eltis, Lindsay | Professor | Faculty of Science | Department of Microbiology & Immunology |
| Tebbutt, Scott | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Division of Respiratory Medicine |
| Howe, Leann | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
| Tanentzapf, Guy | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences |
| De Angelis, Franco | Professor | Faculty of Arts | Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies |
| Huddart, Emily | Professor | Faculty of Arts | Department of Sociology |
| Jenson, Jennifer | Professor | Faculty of Education | Department of Language & Literacy Education |
| Montgomerie, Johnna | Professor | Faculty of Education | Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy |
| Carleton, Bruce | Professor | Faculty of Medicine | Department of Pediatrics |
Pages
Other Researcher Directories
- UBC Faculties provide directories for their researchers:
- Faculty of Applied Science
- Faculty of Arts
- Faculty of Dentistry
- Faculty of Education
- Faculty of Forestry
- Faculty of Land and Food Systems - Directory
- Faculty of Law
- Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences
- Department of Emergency Medicine
- Department of Medical Genetics
- Department of Medicine (Experimental Medicine, Dermatology and Skin Science)
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
- Department of Physical Therapy
- Department of Psychiatry
- School of Audiology and Speech Sciences
- School of Population and Public Health
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences - Researcher Search Tool
- Faculty of Science
- The UBC Calendar lists the names of faculty members in faculties, schools and departments.
- For some topics such as Sustainability you can check special directories to identify potential supervisors working in that area:
Reaching Out Tips
Complete these steps before you reach out to a faculty member!
Check requirements
- Familiarize yourself with program requirements. You want to learn as much as possible from the information available to you before you reach out to a faculty member. Be sure to visit the graduate degree program listing and program-specific websites.
- Check whether the program requires you to seek commitment from a supervisor prior to submitting an application. For some programs this is an essential step while others match successful applicants