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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

Research Supervisors in Faculty

or browse the list of faculty members in various academic units. You may click each unit to view faculty members appointed in that unit. View the full faculty member directory for more search and filter options.
Name Academic Unit(s) Research Interests
Hauert, Christoph Department of Mathematics Mathematics and statistics; Modelization and Simulation; Evolution and Phylogenesis; Biological Behavior; dynamical systems; evolution; game theory; social dilemmas; stochastic processes
Haynes, Charles Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering Protein purification, recombinant proteins, molecular thermodynamics, biocompatible polymers
Heagy, Lindsey Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Geoelectrics and geoelectromagnetics; Magnetism and paleomagnetism; Gravimetry; Environmental monitoring; Numerical computation; Machine learning; Geophysics; Inverse theory; data science; Machine Learning; Electromagnetics; Carbon sequestration; Groundwater; Environmental geophysics; Resource exploration
Hearty, Christopher Department of Physics & Astronomy Particle physics, experimental; Experimental Particle Physics; e+e- collider; Physics beyond the Standard Model; Dark sector; dark matter
Hein, Jason Department of Chemistry discovery, design and study of new organometallic and organocatalytic reactions; investigating complex systems where multiple pathways compete, partitioning the active catalyst among many possible pathways
Hermon, Jonathan Department of Mathematics probability theory; Markov chains and the cutoff phenomenon; particle systems; percolation
Heyl, Jeremy Department of Physics & Astronomy Astronomical and space sciences; Physical sciences; Astrophysics; Black Holes; Neutron Stars; quantum phenomena; Quantum-Field Theory; Stellar; Stellar Physics
Hickey, Kenneth Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences understand the processes involved in the genesis of mineral deposits from a multidisciplinary perspective; Post-mineralization weathering, denudation and subsequent burial of Carlin-type Au-mineralization at the Cortez Hills deposit: Implications for finding Au-deposits in bedrock under cover.
Hickson, Paul Department of Physics & Astronomy cosmology, galaxies, telescopes, adaptive optics., Astronomy, astrophysics, Galaxies, clusters, instrumentation, adaptive optics
Hieter, Philip Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Medical Genetics Molecular biology of eukaryotic chromosome transmission
Hinshaw, Gary Department of Physics & Astronomy cosmology, cosmic background radiation, Cosmology, Measuring diffuse background radiations
Hirst, Martin Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Michael Smith Laboratories Bioinformatics; Clinical oncology; Genomics; Immunology; Microbiology; Carcinogenesis; Cellular Differentiation; Epigenomics; Leukemia; Molecular Genetics
Hoang, Nguyen Phong Department of Computer Science networking; security & privacy; network security; online privacy; Internet measurement
Holmes, Reid Department of Computer Science Computer and information sciences; computer science; open source software; software comprehension; software development tools; software engineering; software quality; software testing; static analysis
Holmes-Cerfon, Miranda Department of Mathematics Mathematical modelling and simulation; Computational methods in statistics; Numerical analysis; Thermodynamics and statistical physics
Horwitz, Marc Department of Microbiology & Immunology Mechanisms of viral-induced immune disease in a variety of complex chronic disorders
Hu, Alan Department of Computer Science Computer and information sciences; formal methods; formal verification; model checking; nonce to detect automated mining of profiles; post-silicon validation; security; software analysis
Huan, Tao Department of Chemistry Bioinformatics, n.e.c.; Analytical spectrometry; Metabolomics; Separation science; Cancer progression and metastasis; Human nutrition and metabolism; Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Machine Learning; Bioinformatics
Hudson, Zachary Department of Chemistry Synthesis of materials; Functional materials in materials chemistry sciences; Organic chemical synthesis; Optical properties of materials; Luminescent materials; Organic electronics; Polymer chemistry; Organic chemistry; Organic light-emitting diodes
Hunt, Brian Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Marine ecology (including marine ichthyology); Biological oceanography; Biodiversity; Ecosystem function; Ecological impacts of climate change; Community ecology (except invasive species ecology); marine food webs; ecosystem oceanography; plankton dynamics; open ocean; Coastal Ecosystems; climate change impacts on the ocean; salmon ecology; food web nutrition; microplastics; stable isotopes; forage fish; zooplankton; Urban oceans; Thiamine defficiency; Stormwater
Hutchinson, Norman Department of Computer Science Computer and information sciences; Computer Systems; distributed systems; File Systems; Virtualization
Irwin, Darren Department of Zoology Zoology; evolutionary genetics; genomic differentiation; hybridization; ornithology; seasonal migration; speciation
Jankowski, Jill Department of Zoology Ecology
Jean, Francois Department of Microbiology & Immunology Medical virology; Protein trafficking in cell biology; Proteomics; Enzymes (including kinetics and mechanisms, and biocatalyst); Organelle function; Virology; Systems biology; Cellular virology; Emerging human viruses; COVID-19; Host-virus interactions; Broad-based antiviral agents; Antiviral agents; Natural products as antiviral agents; Lipid-modulating drugs; Cellular protease inhibitors; Viral protease inhibitors; Human coronaviruses; SARS-CoV-2; Human flaviviruses; Dengue virus; Zika virus; West Nile virus; Influenza A virus; Human microRNAs; Therapeutic microRNA; Viral and cellular biomarkers; Molecular diagnostics for detecting viral infection; Circulating exosomes; Exosomal microRNAs; Proteomics-based technologies; Multiplexed and Mass Spectrometric quantitation assays
Jefferies, Wilfred Arthur Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Medical Genetics Iron transport molecules

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Graduate Student Stories

Rane Simpson

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Highly-charged radioactive molecules: Amplifying sensitivity for new physics

Michael Yin

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)

Supporting and extending virtual entertainment experiences

Katrin Steinthorsdottir

Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD)

Feasibility of in-situ carbon mineralization in serpentinite via shallow injection, B.C., Canada

Aaron Klymasz-Swartz

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Physiological development of the amphibian gill; do the gills take on a dominant role for ion regulation before gas exchange as observed in developing teleost fish?

Becca Beutel

Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD)

Water mass variability on the northeast Pacific shelf and what this means for biogeochemical conditions under a changing climate

W. Austin Guild

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)

Investigating the protective role of endogenous retroviruses against herpes simplex virus-2 infection

Madison Chapel

Master of Science in Bioinformatics (MSc)

Evolution of gene regulatory networks

Cara James

Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD)

Understanding deep-sea mining particulate clouds: predicting environmental impacts, informing regulation and monitoring pollutants
All Student Stories

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.

 

A Repeating Fast Radio Burst Source in the Outskirts of a Quiescent Galaxy
Publication: Astrophysical Journal Letters
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science), Mark Halpern (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20418205
Volume: 979
Publication Date: 1 February 2025

View Publication
The Massive and Quiescent Elliptical Host Galaxy of the Repeating Fast Radio Burst FRB 20240209A
Publication: Astrophysical Journal Letters
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20418205
Volume: 979
Publication Date: 1 February 2025

View Publication
Search for baryogenesis and dark matter in B+ → Λc+ +invisible decays
Publication: Physical Review D
UBC Author(s): Christopher Hearty (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 24700010
Volume: 111
Publication Date: 1 February 2025

View Publication
Remote Sensing-Based Ecohydrogeological Characterisation and Perceptual Model of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia
Publication: Hydrological Processes
UBC Author(s): Mark Johnson (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 08856087
Volume: 39
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
The impact of simultaneous infections on phage-host ecology
Publication: Theoretical Population Biology
UBC Author(s): Christoph Hauert (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00405809
Volume: 161
Page Range: 42-49
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
DNA metabarcoding captures temporal and vertical dynamics of mesozooplankton communities
Publication: ICES Journal of Marine Science
UBC Author(s): Brian Hunt (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10543139
Volume: 82
Publication Date: 1 February 2025

View Publication
Near-Critical and Finite-Size Scaling for High-Dimensional Lattice Trees and Animals
Publication: Journal of Statistical Physics
UBC Author(s): Gordon Slade (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00224715
Volume: 192
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
The Psychology of Poverty: Current and Future Directions
Publication: Current Directions in Psychological Science
UBC Author(s): Jiaying Zhao (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09637214
Volume: 34
Page Range: 21-28
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Correction: Characterization of a cytochrome P450 that catalyzes the O-demethylation of lignin-derived benzoates (Journal of Biological Chemistry (2024) 300(11), (S002192582402310X), (10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107809))
Publication: Journal of Biological Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Lindsay Eltis (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00219258
Volume: 301
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Harnessing the Full Power of Data to Characterise Biological Scaling Relationships
Publication: Global Ecology and Biogeography
UBC Author(s): Sean Michaletz (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1466822X
Volume: 34
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
A stable splitting for spaces of commuting elements in unitary groups
Publication: Journal of the London Mathematical Society
UBC Author(s): Alejandro Adem (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00246107
Volume: 111
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Toll/interleukin-1 receptor-only genes contribute to immune responses in maize
Publication: Plant Physiology
UBC Author(s): Xin Li (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00320889
Volume: 197
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
The State of the Art in User-Adaptive Visualizations
Publication: Computer Graphics Forum
UBC Author(s): Cristina Conati (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01677055
Volume: 44
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Detections of interstellar aromatic nitriles 2-cyanopyrene and 4-cyanopyrene in TMC-1
Publication: Nature Astronomy
UBC Author(s): Ilsa Cooke (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 9
Page Range: 262-270
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Water tariffs and social equity: Towards water service connections and pricing instruments for the poor
Publication: World Water Policy
UBC Author(s): Leila Harris (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 11
Page Range: 38-60
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
The dynamics of hematopoiesis over the human lifespan
Publication: Nature Methods
UBC Author(s): Geoffrey Schiebinger (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 15487091
Volume: 22
Page Range: 422-434
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
The history of Earth’s sulfur cycle
Publication: Nature Reviews Earth and Environment
UBC Author(s): Sean Crowe (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 6
Page Range: 106-125
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
How does personalized feedback on carbon emissions impact intended climate action?
Publication: Environment, Development and Sustainability
UBC Author(s): Jiaying Zhao (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1387585X
Volume: 27
Page Range: 3593-3607
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Single cell approaches define neural stem cell niches and identify microglial ligands that can enhance precursor-mediated oligodendrogenesis
Publication: Cell Reports
UBC Author(s): Freda Miller (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 26391856
Volume: 44
Publication Date: 28 January 2025

View Publication
Airspace closures due to reentering space objects
Publication: Scientific reports
UBC Author(s): Aaron Boley (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 15
Page Range: 2966
Publication Date: 23 January 2025

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HOTSSea v1: a NEMO-based physical Hindcast of the Salish Sea (1980-2018) supporting ecosystem model development
Publication: Geoscientific Model Development
UBC Author(s): Villy Christensen (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1991959X
Volume: 18
Page Range: 211-237
Publication Date: 20 January 2025

View Publication
Commit: Mini article for dynamic reporting of incremental improvements to previous scholarly work
Publication: Digital Discovery
UBC Author(s): Jason Hein (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 4
Page Range: 301-302
Publication Date: 20 January 2025

View Publication
Transfection Potency of Lipid Nanoparticles Containing mRNA Depends on Relative Loading Levels
Publication: ACS applied materials & interfaces
UBC Author(s): Anna Blakney (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 17
Page Range: 3097-3105
Publication Date: 15 January 2025

View Publication
Highly oxygenated cyclohexenes from the leaves of Uvaria grandiflora Roxb. ex Hornem and their cytotoxic and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities
Publication: Heliyon
UBC Author(s): Raymond Andersen (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 11
Publication Date: 15 January 2025

View Publication
A Redox-active Cyclometalated Platinum Ring Enables Synthetic Post-processing of a [2]Rotaxane
Publication: Angewandte Chemie - International Edition
UBC Author(s): Mark MacLachlan (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14337851
Volume: 64
Publication Date: 15 January 2025

View Publication

Pages

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
2024 Dr. Bajpai made theoretical and algorithmic contributions to the study of integer solutions to polynomial equations. He developed methods to resolve several new families of such equations, and applied these methods to prove novel results on approximations to complex numbers. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2024 Dr. Liu investigated the evolutionary mechanisms underlying freshwater adaptation in ancestrally marine fish. She found that both local habitats and time since marine isolation play a role in the responses to varied salinities in prickly sculpin. Her study provides a possible explanation for how marine fish diversified and colonized fresh water. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2024 Dr. Tully's work lays the foundation for measuring the electronic structure and fate of excitations in carbon-based solar cell materials. Her measurements of excited states in C60 films demonstrate the first high-quality data on such systems with lab-scale equipment, enabled by advances in film quality developed by Dr. Tully. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2024 Dr. Cang examined emotionally expressive touch behaviour for human-robot interaction. To be truly reactive, devices must address the dynamic nature of emotion. For her dissertation, she developed multi-stage machine learning protocols to train robots to respond to your evolving feelings. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2024 Dr. Rostamzadeh's Markerless Dynamic Tumor Tracking method revolutionizes cancer treatment, utilizing the lung-liver interface for precise radiation targeting, reducing side effects, and providing hope to liver and lung cancer patients. Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Physics (PhD)
2024 Dr. Strouth examined how people decide if a community is 'safe enough' from landslides. In addition, he put landslide risks into context with other types of risks. Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Engineering (PhD)
2024 Dr. McNutt studied the hormone somatostatin and its role in slowing the growth of breast cancer. She demonstrated that two similar subtypes of breast cancer respond variably to treatment with somatostatin. This research underscores the multiple mechanisms responsible for cancer growth and may contribute to the development of new therapeutics. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2024 Dr. Florko explored how habitat changes affect predator-prey dynamics in the Arctic. Her research, which modelled prey shifts and tracked seal and polar bear movements in Hudson Bay, provides insights into their interactions. This work advances our understanding of predator-prey ecology, crucial for identifying critical habitat. Doctor of Philosophy in Oceans and Fisheries (PhD)
2024 Dr. Krekhno investigated the breakdown of steroids by mycobacterial pathogens and identified several genes that result in toxicity upon disruption. These insights into steroid utilization provide valuable information on how these bacteria cause infection and may contribute to the development of new, more effective therapies. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2024 Dr. Gauthier's thesis work outlined the development, optimized, and diagnostic test performance of pathogen-agnostic sequencing for diagnosis of respiratory viral infections. His thesis work helped to overcome key translational barriers to aid in the translation of genomic sequencing technologies for applications in diagnostic virology. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)

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