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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
2018 Dr. Qian studied molecular interactions. He introduced a new algorithm to a conventional method to make it applicable in real life applications such as anti-cancer drug-screening technology. His research has provided a new solution to the measurement of drug-binding, and it will potentially benefit the pharmaceutical industry. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2018 Dr. Li studied the Kahler-Ricci flow on non-compact manifolds. He investigated conditions under which the solutions exist, and studied the existence time of the solutions. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2018 Dr. Chen's doctoral studies focused on the automatic broadcasting of team sports, like basketball and soccer. He developed several methods of learning knowledge from human operators. His research contributes to camera calibration, camera angle prediction and camera location prediction, using computer vision and machine learning techniques. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2018 Dr. Salkeld developed a foundation for applying computer programming languages to recordings of running software. Called "Time-travel Programming," it allows computer scientists to interact with previously recorded software behavior using the same tools and techniques as live execution. This approach can be used to diagnose previously unsolved, difficult-to-reproduce bugs. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2018 Flowering plants' genomes have large numbers of genes that arose by gene duplication events. Dr. Qiu studied the evolution of these duplicated genes. He characterized three new models of the evolutionary fates of gene pairs after duplication. Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD)
2018 Dr. Fang studied how to use seismic data to create an image of the Earth's interior. He developed a technique to achieve this goal without knowing the original signal characteristics. This technique can help oil and gas industries make better exploration decisions. Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD)
2018 Dr. Mansour investigated alternatives to antibiotics for bacterial infections caused by multidrug resistant pathogens. This resulted in the discovery of a novel peptide-based treatment, which could effectively treat skin infections caused by Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (or MRSA) as well as increase the efficacy of existing antibiotics. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2018 Dr. Balandeh developed a routine to grow high-quality single crystals of barium bismuth oxide and studied their electronic structure with x-ray spectroscopy measurements and theoretical calculations. Barium bismuth oxide family exhibits interesting physical properties including superconductivity. This research showed it is predominantly the oxygen that dictates these interesting physical and electronic behaviors. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2018 Dr. Miller's research studied the atomic properties of xenon. He produced states in xenon, which are sensitive to the effects of magnetism, and probed these states using ultraviolet laser light. His research will help create xenon-based magnetic sensors that work in the near-vacuum conditions of subatomic physics experiments. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2018 Dr. White characterized circumstellar disks of gas and debris around distant stars undergoing the late stages of planet formation. He used radio and millimeter wave astronomical data to study the properties of this material and constrain the radio emission of massive stars. Doctor of Philosophy in Astronomy (PhD)

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