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...
Learn MoreApplicants to master’s and doctoral degrees are not affected by the recently announced cap on study permits. Review more details
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.
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
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.
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.
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Science.
Year | Citation | Program |
---|---|---|
2015 | Dr. Hambrook studied the Fourier transform, which is the mathematical operation that decomposes a signal into its component frequencies. The Fourier transform is a fundamental tool in science, engineering, and technology. Dr. Hambrook's work has provided powerful insights into the deep geometric and arithmetic structure of this important operation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
2015 | Dr. Samarakoon studied the role of a receptor, CD45, in inflammatory bowel disease. She showed that CD45 modulates the production of inflammatory cytokines by immune cells and also the migration of those cells to the intestines. Her work provides further insight into how immune cells communicate and may provide new avenues for treatment of colitis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
2015 | Dr. Munson studied the geology of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. As conventional reservoirs are being depleted, focus is shifting to more complex sources of these hydrocarbons. He improved current methods and developed new methods to study unconventional reservoirs in order to better understand the location and production of oil and gas. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD) |
2015 | Using computer models to study how asteroids orbit the Sun, Dr. Greenstreet discovered they can sometimes orbit the Sun backwards. She also determined how often comets strike Pluto and its five moons, which can be used along with data from NASA's historic New Horizons mission to understand characteristics of the surfaces of Pluto and its moons. | Doctor of Philosophy in Astronomy (PhD) |
2015 | Dr. Jeanniard-du-Dot investigated the biology and ecology of fur seals in the Arctic and in Antarctica. She showed that the foraging strategy and efficiency of females affect their survival and reproduction success. Her study helps us understand how environmental changes impact the health of polar animals and their population for conservation purposes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
2015 | Why are particular plant species found only in particular places? To answer this question, Dr. Lee roamed the Rocky Mountains of North America in search of Townsend's Easter Daisies. Using genetic and climate modelling techniques, he improved our understanding of plant speciation and how climate and asexual reproduction affect plant distributions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
2015 | Looking at even the most ordinary objects at the tiniest of scales, we see particles that behave in strange, un-intuitive ways, according to quantum mechanics. Similarly, if matter cools to very low temperatures, its behaviour may become strange and quantum. Dr. Blois derived rigorous formulas aimed to describe this low-temperature quantum behaviour | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
2015 | Dr. Mehranpour created a model to identify which proteins are better targets for drugs, and which part of each protein interacts with drugs and enzymes. This model can be used by biochemists and biologists to probe the behaviour of proteins in different diseases, with the goal of controlling the progress of diseases such as Cancer and Alzheimer's. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
2015 | Dr. Ramogida developed new medical imaging agents for positron-emission tomography scans, to detect cancer and heart disease using radioactive metals. She studied methods to safely incorporate the metals into pharmaceuticals. These non-conventional metals have the potential to mitigate the global shortage of the metal used in current imaging agents. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
2015 | Dr. Qian investigated the mechanisms of enzymes involved in the synthesis of important natural products called ergot alkaloids, including the anti-migraine drug ergotamine. His novel work showed how these enzymes synthesize precursors from an amino acid. This research triggered the discovery of innovative approaches to synthesizing similar compounds. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |