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At UBC Science, outstanding scientists and students strive to unravel the principles that underlie our universe - from the subatomic to the macroscopic, from pure mathematics to biotechnology, from ecosystems to galactic systems. Through the breadth and depth of our academic endeavours and the calibre of the people who make up our community, we take pride in discovering new scientific knowledge and preparing Canada’s and the world’s next generation of scientists.

A diverse range of highly ranked programs

With access to master’s and doctoral degrees through nine departments and 350 research groups, our graduate students work with world-class faculty to explore the basic sciences, and to pursue interdisciplinary and applied research across departments and units. UBC’s research excellence in environmental science, math, physics, plant and animal science, computer science, geology and biology is consistently rated best in Canada by international and national ranking agencies.

Committed to outstanding graduate training

UBC Science houses a wide range of prestigious NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Experience and related industry programs: from atmospheric aerosols to high-throughput biology, from biodiversity research and ecosystems services to plant cell wall biosynthesis, from quantum science and new materials to applied geochemistry. The options for enriched graduate training in industry related fields are almost endless.

World-class research infrastructure

Our affiliated institutes and centres include UBC's Michael Smith Laboratories, Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, Biodiversity Research Centre, Life Sciences Institute, Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, Mineral Deposit Research Unit, and TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics.

Top research talent

UBC Science boasts more than 50 Canada Research Chairs, 12 fellows of the Royal Society of London, and has been home to two Nobel Laureates. Our graduate students have won 15 prestigious Vanier Scholarships.

A diverse, supportive community of scholars

UBC Science is committed to excellence, collaboration and inclusion. Women account for 41 per cent of the Faculty's graduate enrollments, and the percentage of international students has increased to 50 per cent over the past decade.

Mission
To nurture an exceptional scientific learning and research environment for the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world.
 

Research Centres

Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology

Computational Sciences and Mathematics

Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

Genomics and Biological Sciences

Human-Computer Interaction

Life Sciences

Chemistry and Materials Science

Physics

Sustainability

Research Facilities

Designed to inspire collaboration and creativity across disciplines, the Earth Sciences Building (ESB) lies at the heart of the science precinct on UBC’s Vancouver Campus. The $75 million facility is home to Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Statistics, the Pacific Institute of the Mathematical Sciences, and the dean’s office of the Faculty of Science. ESB’s teaching facilities will help Canada meet the challenges of a transforming and growing resource sector. Just as importantly, the researchers and students working and learning in the facility will offer a valuable flow of well-trained talent, new ideas, and fresh professional perspectives to industry.

Research Highlights

Receiving more than $120 million in annual research funding, UBC Science faculty members conduct top-tier research in the life, physical, earth and computational sciences. Their discoveries help build our understanding of natural laws—driving insights into sustainability, biodiversity, human health, nanoscience and new materials, probability, artificial intelligence, exoplanets and a wide range of other areas.

UBC Science boasts 50 Canada Research Chairs and 10 fellows of the Royal Society of London, and has been home to two Nobel Laureates. 

Schools / Departments

Department

Graduate Degree Programs

Recent Publications

This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Science.

 

Recent Thesis Submissions

Doctoral Citations

A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
Year Citation Program
2016 Dr. Baillie was able to effect the conversion of methane, a greenhouse gas, into transportable, value-added chemicals using organometallic complexes of tungsten. He also established the individual steps involved in these transformations, thereby enhancing the possibility of performing this environmentally important chemistry in a catalytic manner. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2016 Dr. Grayson studied organic aerosols known to be important in the Earth's atmosphere. While these aerosols were previously assumed to be liquids, he demonstrated they may exist as semi-solids or solids. These studies improve our understanding of organic aerosols and as a result their impacts in the Earth's atmosphere. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2016 Dr. Wang studied DNAzymes that can function under physiological conditions. Using in vitro selection, she developed chemically modified DNAzymes to mimic the function of RNase A. Her work will have significant implications for therapeutics used for HIV-1 inhibition. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2016 The research of Dr. Karslidis was in the field of Harmonic Analysis. He worked on a functional inequality, called the small ball inequality, which has numerous applications in probability and approximation theory. He proved the optimal version of this inequality under mild hypotheses. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2016 Dr. Brehmer studied why and how people use data visualization tools and techniques to process information. He introduced a framework for classifying visualization tasks and used it to conduct design and evaluation projects in the domains of journalism and energy management. His research can be applied when developing new data visualization tools. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2016 Identifying worsening individuals in on-going clinical trials and treatment responders in completed trials are important tasks in the area of personalized medicine. Dr. Kondo developed statistical models to identify such individuals in comparative longitudinal studies. Her methods are implemented as a publicly available software, and they will help clinicians understand the complex nature of the disease progression in multiple dimensions. Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD)
2016 Aerosols are an important component of the atmosphere that influence weather and climate. Dr. Mason's research examined how aerosols may modify cloud formation, lifetime, and reflectivity by causing ice formation. In developing a new technique and deploying it in field studies, his results provide insight into the properties of ice-active aerosols. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2016 Dr. Afacan studied microbiology and immunology. Specifically she investigated the link between cellular metabolism and the activity of immune modulating peptides. Her results furthered our understanding of how these peptides act and revealed a potential new role for the peptides in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2016 Cancer patients are not optimally treated with injected radiation. Patient differences are being ignored. Dr.Uribe performed simulations and experiments, analysed patient data, and developed a protocol for personalized treatment. This will benefit millions of patients, bringing us one step closer to his dream of making cancer a non-lethal disease. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2016 Dr. Gao developed a novel method using molecularly imprinted polymers to separate small molecules in food samples and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to detect them. This method is rapid and sensitive. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

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