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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 new 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 updated 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 new 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
Pramanik, Malabika Department of Mathematics Harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, several complex variables
Radic, Valentina Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Atmospheric sciences; Geophysics; Climate Changes and Impacts; Climate Science; Glaciology; Meteorology
Ramdorai, Sujatha Department of Mathematics Algebraic theory of quadratic forms, non-cummutative Iwasawa theory, motives
Ramer, Matthew Department of Zoology Pain, Plasticity, Regeneration, Sensory neurons, Sympathetic neurons
Rechnitzer, Andrew Department of Mathematics Enumerative combinatorics, Simulation of combinatorial objects, Lattice statistical mechanics
Reichstein, Zinovy Department of Mathematics Group theory and generalisations; Algebra; Algebraic groups; algebraic geometry
Reid, Jolene Department of Chemistry
Reid, Andrea Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Fisheries sciences; Culturally significant fish and fisheries
Reinsberg, Stefan Department of Physics & Astronomy Medical physics, MRIs
Richards, Jeffrey Department of Zoology Adaptive significance of the mechanisms coordinating cellular responses to stress
Rieseberg, Loren Department of Botany Bioinformatics; Genomics; Plant biology; adaptation; crops; invasive plants; plant evolutionary biology; speciation; weeds
Robeva, Elina Department of Mathematics Statistical theory and modeling; Machine learning; Algebra; Algebraic statistics; Graphical Models; Tensor decomposition; Causality; Applied algebraic geometry; Shape-constrained density estimation; Tensor networks
Rosado Rey, Abel Department of Botany Plasma membrane repair mechanisms in plants
Rosen, David Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Animal physiology; Physiology, behaviour, and ecology of marine mammals;; Bioenergetics; Nutrition; Conservation physiology
Rottler, Joerg Department of Physics & Astronomy Physical sciences; Condensed Matter and Materials Physics; Nanomaterials; Polymers; Soft Matter; Solids
Rozali, Moshe Department of Physics & Astronomy String theory, high energy physics, quantum field theory, cosmology and classical gravitational physics
Russell, Kelly Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Physical sciences; volcanology; petrology; magma rheology; geochemical thermodynamics
Ryan, Katherine Department of Chemistry drug molecules in use today are organic compounds isolated from organisms such as bacteria, plants, and fungi; understand how natural products are made.
Sagan, Selena Department of Microbiology & Immunology role of RNA at the host-virus interface
Salibian-Barrera, Matias Department of Statistics S-regression estimationg, robust statistics, functional principal component analysis, bootstrap estimators, rgam, clustering algorithm
Sammis, Glenn Department of Chemistry Methods development, natural product synthesis, organic free radicals, radical fluorination
Samuels, Anne Lacey Department of Botany Plant biology; plant cell biology; plant cell walls
Satterfield, Theresa Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability Sustainable development, environmental health, First Nation & land management, social and cultural consequences of contamination
Saylor, Joel Edward Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Paleoaltimetry; Paleoclimatology; Tectonic Basin analysis; Quantitative sediment provenance analysis; Rivers; Tectonics; Sedimentary Basins; Structural Geology; Field Geology; Sedimentology; Stratigraphy; Sequence Stratigraphy; Sediments; Geology
Schafer, Laurel Department of Chemistry catalysis, chemical synthesis, heterocycles, titanium, zirconium, yttrium, tantalum, hydroamination, hydroaminoalkyltion, biodegraable polymers, sustainable synthesis, Green Chemistry, Organometallic and organic chemistry

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Graduate 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.

 

The catabolism of ethylene glycol by Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 and its dependence on mycofactocin
Publication: Applied and environmental microbiology
UBC Author(s): Lindsay Eltis (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 90
Page Range: e0041624
Publication Date: 24 July 2024

View Publication
Fairness in Classifying and Grouping Health Equity Information
Publication: Studies in health technology and informatics
UBC Author(s): Ivan Beschastnikh (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 315
Page Range: 368-372
Publication Date: 24 July 2024

View Publication
Statistical Combination of ATLAS Run 2 Searches for Charginos and Neutralinos at the LHC
Publication: Physical review letters
UBC Author(s): Alison Lister (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 133
Page Range: 031802
Publication Date: 19 July 2024

View Publication
Statistical Combination of ATLAS Run 2 Searches for Charginos and Neutralinos at the LHC
Publication: Physical Review Letters
UBC Author(s): Colin Gay (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00319007
Volume: 133
Publication Date: 19 July 2024

View Publication
From eyes to cameras: Computer vision for high-throughput liquid-liquid separation
Publication: Device
UBC Author(s): Jason Hein (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 2
Publication Date: 19 July 2024

View Publication
Topology in soft and biological matter
Publication: Physics Reports
UBC Author(s): Hongbin Li (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03701573
Volume: 1075
Page Range: 1-137
Publication Date: 18 July 2024

View Publication
Brilacidin, a novel antifungal agent against Cryptococcus neoformans
Publication: mBio
UBC Author(s): James Kronstad (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 15
Page Range: e0103124
Publication Date: 17 July 2024

View Publication
Showcasing advances and building community in modeling for sustainability
Publication: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
UBC Author(s): Amanda Giang (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 121
Publication Date: 16 July 2024

View Publication
Quantitative Visualization of Lipid Nanoparticle Fusion as a Function of Formulation and Process Parameters
Publication: ACS Nano
UBC Author(s): Sabrina Leslie (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 19360851
Volume: 18
Page Range: 18191-18201
Publication Date: 16 July 2024

View Publication
Ice in the intertidal: patterns and processes of freeze tolerance in intertidal invertebrates
Publication: The Journal of experimental biology
UBC Author(s): Katie Marshall (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 227
Publication Date: 15 July 2024

View Publication
Flexible Motion In-betweening with Diffusion Models
Publication: Proceedings - SIGGRAPH 2024 Conference Papers
UBC Author(s): Michiel Van de Panne (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
Publication Date: 13 July 2024

View Publication
Benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide Metal Complexes Self-Assembled in Nanofibers: Implications for Bimetallic Catalytic Nanomaterials
Publication: ACS Applied Nano Materials
UBC Author(s): Mark MacLachlan (Chemistry / Faculty of Science), Jolene Reid (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 7
Page Range: 15005-15011
Publication Date: 12 July 2024

View Publication
Erratum: Poison to promise: The resurgence of organophosphorus fluoride chemistry (Chem (2024) 10(6) (1644–1654), (S2451929424001724), (10.1016/j.chempr.2024.04.008))
Publication: Chem
UBC Author(s): Glenn Sammis (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 24519308
Volume: 10
Page Range: 2324-2327
Publication Date: 11 July 2024

View Publication
Molecular Interlayer with Large Cations Supports Efficient, Stable Perovskite Solar Cells
Publication: ACS Applied Energy Materials
UBC Author(s): Curtis Berlinguette (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 7
Page Range: 5371-5378
Publication Date: 8 July 2024

View Publication
Effect of high pressure synthesis conditions on the formation of high entropy oxides
Publication: Applied Physics Letters
UBC Author(s): Alannah Hallas (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00036951
Volume: 125
Publication Date: 8 July 2024

View Publication
High-speed cryo-microscopy reveals that ice-nucleating proteins of Pseudomonas syringae trigger freezing at hydrophobic interfaces
Publication: Science advances
UBC Author(s): Nadine Borduas-Dedekind (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 10
Page Range: eadn6606
Publication Date: 5 July 2024

View Publication
Catalytic Olefin Transpositions Facilitated by Ruthenium N,N,N-Pincer Complexes
Publication: Journal of Organic Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Corey Stephenson (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00223263
Volume: 89
Page Range: 9647-9653
Publication Date: 5 July 2024

View Publication
An alternative broad-specificity pathway for glycan breakdown in bacteria
Publication: Nature
UBC Author(s): Harry Brumer (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00280836
Volume: 631
Page Range: 199-206
Publication Date: 4 July 2024

View Publication
Agora: Motivating and Measuring Engagement in Large-Class Discussions
Publication: Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE
UBC Author(s): Kevin Leyton-Brown (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1942647X
Volume: 1
Page Range: 729-735
Publication Date: 3 July 2024

View Publication
A Handle-Free, All-Protein-Based Optical Tweezers Method to Probe Protein Folding-Unfolding Dynamics
Publication: Langmuir
UBC Author(s): Hongbin Li (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 07437463
Volume: 40
Page Range: 13721-13727
Publication Date: 2 July 2024

View Publication
Increasing the Soluble Expression and Whole-Cell Activity of the Plastic-Degrading Enzyme MHETase through Consensus Design
Publication: Biochemistry
UBC Author(s): Nobuhiko Tokuriki (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00062960
Volume: 63
Page Range: 1663-1673
Publication Date: 2 July 2024

View Publication
Bait and Cleave: Exosite-Binding Peptides on Quantum Dots Selectively Accelerate Protease Activity for Sensing with Enhanced Sensitivity
Publication: ACS Nano
UBC Author(s): Walter Algar (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 19360851
Volume: 18
Page Range: 17018-17030
Publication Date: 2 July 2024

View Publication
A critical assessment of physicochemical indices used to characterise natural dissolved organic carbon (DOC), their inter-relationships, and the effects of pH
Publication: Environmental Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Colin Brauner (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 14482517
Volume: 21
Publication Date: 2 July 2024

View Publication
Equitable charging infrastructure for electric vehicles: access and experience
Publication: Progress in Energy
UBC Author(s): Amanda Giang (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 6
Publication Date: 1 July 2024

View Publication
The fate of the spin polaron in the 1D antiferromagnets
Publication: SciPost Physics
UBC Author(s): Mona Berciu (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 17
Publication Date: July 2024

View Publication

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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
2023 Dr. Mehrabifard's research has addressed the problem of human-induced earthquakes resulting from the shift towards cleaner, lower carbon energy resources. By developing a deep understanding of the physics underlying these earthquakes, he has created effective predictive models and identified appropriate mitigation strategies to minimize their occurrence. Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Engineering (PhD)
2023 Dr. Nelson's work focussed on the role of the carbonic anhydrase enzyme within the unique respiratory system responsible for the success of the teleost fishes. Her work advances our understanding of the function, development, and evolution of a respiratory system present in half of all vertebrate species. Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Pan investigated new conditional inference and prediction methods after fitting a joint distribution based on vine copulas, including prediction of an arbitrary variable given others, prediction of a right-censored response, and prediction of an ordinal or continuous response when some explanatory variables are nominal categorical. Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Jana rigorously investigated algebraic invariants of two spaces: Classifying space for commutativity and Unordered flag manifolds. Their research explored algebraic topology, employing algebraic methods to analyze shapes. The core of the research lies in the pursuit of simplification through decomposition, marking its fundamental significance. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2023 Where do the chemical elements come from? Using the nuclear physics technique of mass spectrometry, Dr. Jacobs investigated potential astrophysical sites where some of these elements are produced. The findings point to binary neutron star mergers as a prime candidate for explaining a range of elemental abundances observed in stars. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Park's research focused on microbiome associated with seaweeds. He found that the ecological distribution of these host-associated microbes is linked to their positive impact on kelp growth and their ability to colonize kelp, as demonstrated through experimental tests. His work advances the application of ecological theory in probiotic discovery. Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD)
2023 Dr. Pinsonneault-Marotte participated in the realisation of the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment telescope and analysis, which resulted in a preliminary detection of hydrogen located nearly 11 billion light-years away. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Fomichev developed computational methods for predicting the properties of materials with strong electron-lattice interactions. Applying these methods to organic solar cell materials, he showed that lattice vibrations can break apart excitons to generate electricity, potentially explaining how this novel technology operates on an atomic scale. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Verma developed synthetic methods to access various pharmaceutically relevant building blocks. These developed one-pot methodologies can expedite the synthesis of a library of compounds thereby accelerating the early drug discovery programs and resulting in the rapid identification of new therapeutics for various diseases. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Dr. Ghahramani developed new empirical and numerical methods for predicting the characteristics of tailings flows resulting from breaches of tailings dams. The findings of this study are useful for improving the accuracy of risk assessments and emergency response plans for tailings dam breaches. Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Engineering (PhD)

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