Faculty of Science

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
Straus, Suzana Department of Chemistry Chemical sciences; Proteins; Antimicrobial peptides; Protein-protein interactions; Structure-function; Viral membrane proteins
Stull, Roland Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Meteorology and weather; weather; Meteorology; atmospheric science; numerical weather prediction; clean energy meteorology; storms; transportation weather; forest fire weather; weather disasters; atmospheric boundary layers; aviation meteorology
Sugioka, Kenji Department of Zoology Basic medicine and life sciences; Cell division; Animal morphogenesis; Cytoskeletal dynamics
Sumaila, Ussif Rashid Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs Bioeconomics, marine ecosystem valuation and the analysis of global issues such as fisheries subsidies, IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing and the economics of high and deep seas fisheries
Summers, Alexander Department of Computer Science Programming languages and software engineering; programming languages; software engineering
Sun, Jim Department of Microbiology & Immunology host immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)
Sutherland, Danica Department of Computer Science
Suttle, Curtis Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Botany, Department of Microbiology & Immunology Bioinformatics; Fisheries sciences; Immunology; Microbiology; Oceanography; Plant biology; Biological Oceanography; Environmental Virology; Marine Environment; Marine Microbiology; Microbial Diversity; Phage; Viral Discovery; Viruses
Tanner, Martin Department of Chemistry Enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of the sialic acids in mammals
Taylor, Eric Department of Zoology possible threats to native fish; native BC fish biodiversity; fish biology and conservation; evolution, Evolution and conservation of fishes
Tetzlaff, Wolfram Department of Zoology Neural development and regeneration
Thachuk, Mark Department of Chemistry Reaction dynamics, mathematical techniques, Chemical physics
Tocheva, Elitza Department of Microbiology & Immunology Microbiology; Biological and Biochemical Mechanisms; Functional and Structural Proteomics; Microbial Ultrastructure; Cryo-electron tomography and Structural Biology; bacterial physiology; Microbial Diversity; Secretion systems and Mechanisms of pathogenesis; Novel bacterial phyla
Todesco, Marco Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Botany Plant biology; Quantitative genetics (including disease and trait mapping genetics); Biological adaptation; Developmental genetics (including sex determination); Genomics; Population, ecological and evolutionary genetics; Paleogenomics; Genetics engineering; Plant-animal interactions; Genetic and molecular basis of adaptation; Plant genomics; Chromosomal structural variation; Crop improvement and bioengineering; Wild sunflowers ecology and evolution; Cannabis diversity and domestication
Tokuriki, Nobuhiko Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Experimental evolution of proteins and molecular networks.
Tokuyama, Maria Department of Microbiology & Immunology Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), Chronic interaction between viruses and the immune system
Tortell, Philippe Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Botany Biological / Chemical Oceanography, Climate-active Trace Gases, Primary Productvity, Polar Marine Ecosystems
Trites, Andrew Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries marine mammals, seals, sea lions, whales, dolphins, fisheries competition, population biology, ecology, Marine mamals research centre, biology of marine mammals, population dynamics, bioenergetics, fisheries
Tropini, Carolina Department of Microbiology & Immunology, School of Biomedical Engineering Immunology; Medical and biomedical engineering; Microbiology; Bacteria; Bacteriophages; Bioengineering; Bioinformatics; Biological and Biochemical Mechanisms; Biophysics; Gut microbiota; Inflammatory bowel disease
Tsai, Tai-Peng Department of Mathematics Differential equations and integral equations in pure mathematics; Partial Differential Equations; Mathematical physics
Tseng, Michelle Department of Botany, Department of Zoology Population ecology; Community ecology (except invasive species ecology); Evolutionary impacts of climate change; Biological adaptation; Ecological impacts of climate change; Insect & plankton ecology; Community and evolutionary ecology; Community responses to warming; Urban biodiversity
Unruh, William Department of Physics & Astronomy black holes; cosmology; quantum computers; theory of gravity
Van de Panne, Michiel Department of Computer Science Computer Science and Statistics; Computer Sciences and Mathematical Tools; Robotics and Automation; simulation of human movement; computer animation; Robotics; deep reinforcement learning; motor control; computer graphics
Van Raamsdonk, Mark Department of Physics & Astronomy elementary particle theory, high energy theory.  , String theory, quantum field theory, quantum gravity
Van Waerbeke, Ludovic Department of Physics & Astronomy astrophysics, cosmology, dark energy, universe, gravitational lensing, galaxy, galaxies, Cosmology, dark matter, galaxy formation, structure formation

Pages

Graduate Student Stories

Cassandra Miller

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

The Efficacy of Quantitative Imaging for Dosimetry in Dual-Isotope Molecular Radiotherapies

Haiming Luo

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Immunomodulation through modification of cell surfaces using polymers

Helena Koniar

Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Physics (PhD)

Assessing the Dosimetry and Biodistribution of Actinium-225 for Targeted Alpha Therapy

Deanna Pepin

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)

Impact of osmotic perturbations on the gut microbiota

Reid Merrill

Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD)

Fluids and seismicity in northern Cascadia

Adam Dvorak

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of myelin in the central nervous system

Sarah Morris

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Development, validation and application of advanced MRI techniques to measure white matter microstructure

Ben Nadeau

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

First-row transition metal catalysis
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.

 

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. Pascual showed how variation in genetics, habitat and time impact gene exchange in Texan wild sunflowers. Their encounter with Hurricane Harvey revealed the remarkable resilience of the species. These findings provide unique insights into how a single species can diverge into two, and how some species might respond to climate-driven disasters. Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD)
2023 Dr. Reynolds used experiments in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance to correct assumptions made in clinical practice about how fats and water interact in the human brain during an MRI scan, affecting accurate measurements. In doing so, he further developed a model of nuclear relaxation leading to a potential new form of contrast in MRI images. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Michta studied how phase transitions occur in finite volume for some classical models from statistical physics. This work contributes to a better and rigorous understanding of finite-size scaling theory in high dimensions. This is useful to the wide spectrum of people working at the interface between physics and mathematics. Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Tsai explored how luminescent materials and nanoparticles are useful for detecting biological molecules. In particular, she developed a new and improved method for directly sensing multiple genes, in parallel, in biological samples. She also elucidated important concepts in designing sensors based on more sustainable nanoparticle materials. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Can we find structure in complex systems, like social networks or the interactions between cell proteins? Dr. Briercliffe designed a class of statistical models for discovering hidden structure in networks.By harnessing probability theory, his research created practical tools that allow scientists to reveal order and structure in our complex world. Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Walsgrove investigated how the incorporation of phosphorus into small molecules and polymers can create functional systems. Through his thesis work he showed that phosphorus can impart useful properties into synthetic frameworks and furthered the active research field of phosphorus chemistry. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Genetic research implicates virtually every human gene in one or more diseases but cannot state how genetic differences lead to disease. Using statistical techniques, Dr. Casazza discovered the function of many genetic differences across different scenarios. Similarly, he shows that these functions are involved in disease for children and adults. Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)
2023 Dr. He developed a protocol of multicomponent hetero-Diels-Alder reactions using a type of diene that has notable bench stability and imines. This method could be used to construct functionalized six-membered nitrogen heterocycles that have wide applications in natural products, active pharmaceutical ingredients and light-luminating materials. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Dr. Bevington developed image processing and analysis algorithms for human brain imaging data. These algorithms help provide more accurate and precise images of the healthy and diseased brain. They are being applied in clinical research studies that are discovering alterations to dopamine release and brain energy production in Parkinson's disease. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Alomeir developed new ways to simplify database provenance using visual tools and summarization techniques. He focused on relational databases, making provenance easier for users of database systems to explore. His methods also help users gain a clearer understanding of a database's origins in a concise manner. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)

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