AI can tell if a patient battling cancer needs mental health support
Psychiatrists and computer scientists at UBC and BC Cancer have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) model that can accurately...
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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
- Biodiversity Research Centre
- Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research
- Centre for Microbial Diversity and Evolution
Computational Sciences and Mathematics
- Data Science Institute
- Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems
- Institute of Applied Mathematics
- Statistical Consulting and Research Laboratory
- Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences
Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
- Geophysical Inversion Facility
- Lithoprobe: Canada's National Geoscience Project
- Mineral Deposit Research Unit
- Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research
- Seismic Laboratory for Imaging and Modeling
Genomics and Biological Sciences
- Centre for High-Throughput Biology
- Geomatics for Informed Decisions Network
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics
- Michael Smith Laboratories
Human-Computer Interaction
- Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems
- Vancouver Institute for Visual Analytics
Life Sciences
- Centre for Blood Research
- Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
- International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries
- Life Sciences Institute
- Michael Smith Laboratories
- Neglected Global Diseased Initiative
Chemistry and Materials Science
- Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory
- Max Planck-UBC Centre for Quantum Materials
- Quantum Devices Group
- Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute
Physics
- Antihydrogen Trapping and Spectroscopy at CERN
- Pacific Institute for Theoretical Physics
- TRIUMF: Canada’s National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics
- UBC ATLAS Project at Large Hadron Collider
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
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
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Diet and the microbiome in Parkinson's disease (MIIM - PHD)
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. Lu studied social influence and its applications in viral marketing and recommender systems from a computational perspective. He proposed mathematical models to encode complex social interactions and designed algorithms to efficiently and effectively tackle influence maximization problems in such contexts. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Capelle investigated the role oceans play in controlling atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. His work identified the key processes responsible for the production and transport of the potent greenhouse gases nitrous-oxide and methane in coastal British Columbia waters and how they may respond to climate-driven ocean change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Owens explored the effects of hybridization on the genomes of sunflowers. He developed a novel method for quantifying genomic composition in hybrid species. His work has implications for how hybrid species form and how genes can move between species. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Aylesworth used seahorses as a case study to understand how to develop conservation action for data-poor marine fishes. Her research highlights ways that management can move forward with limited data, such as with local knowledge and new advances in data-poor fishery assessment methods, to address conservation issues for marine species. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Lague identified multiple cardio-respiratory strategies that high-altitude geese and ducks use to maintain oxygen supply in low oxygen conditions. This study highlights how the avian heart and lungs are influenced differently by lifelong residency or transient performance at altitude, lending insight into how some animals thrive at high altitude. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Acevedo studied the nuclear pore complex, the gate-like complex that protects, connects and controls traffic in and out of the cell's nucleus. She found one of the proteins is important during flu virus infection and its absence affects cellular organization. This knowledge provides us with the base to further design antivirals and target cancer cells in future therapeutics approaches. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Rudman's research explored the role of rapid evolution in driving ecological change using a series of experiments and observational field studies. These studies integrate across levels of biological organization to demonstrate how changes within species can alter ecological communities and ecosystems processes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Adolphs studied how electrons interact with the material they move in. He showed that common simple models fail to account for the important phenomena arising from these interactions, and found extended models that better predict their behaviour. His results deepen our understanding of complex materials and can aid in the design of better materials. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Guenther examined the effects of climate change, specifically ocean temperature and pH, on calcified red algae. She demonstrated that mature seaweeds were surprisingly resilient to climate stressors, but that spore adhesion declined in acidified seawater. Her findings suggests that habitat-forming seaweeds may be impacted by climate change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Kolb studied and developed a highly efficient structure for a new linear particle accelerator at TRIUMF. This accelerator will allow for more beam to be delivered to numerous experiments in nuclear and particle physics. His work allows for future upgrades of this electron accelerator to add additional use to this machine. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |