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 |
---|---|---|
2021 | Dr. Salehi developed a statistical framework that characterises and predicts how cancerous tumours evolve over time, with or without treatment at a single-cell level. His research provides insight into therapeutic strategies promoting early intervention, drug combinations and evolution-aware approaches to clinical management of human cancers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
2021 | Silicon PhotoMultiplier technology is a new attempt to create ideal solid-state photon detectors. Dr. Gallina studied different characteristics of Silicon PhotoMultipliers and optimized them for the next generation of double beta decay and dark matter experiments. This research helps probe the boundaries of the standard model of particle physics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
2021 | Dr. Stuart investigated the nanoscale electronic properties of a number of novel quantum materials. He completed the first ever scanning tunneling microscopy measurements of the drumhead surface state in a topological semi-metal. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
2021 | Dr. Khoda searched for new heavy particles that decay into pairs of electrons or top quarks and their respective antiparticles by analyzing proton-proton collisions using the ATLAS detector and placed strong constraints on new physics scenarios. He also developed part of a new algorithm to efficiently reconstruct close-by charged particle tracks. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
2021 | Dr. Kabernik developed a framework for utilizing the mathematical structures of operator algebras in quantum mechanics. This framework simplifies the analysis of dynamics in quantum systems and has been applied to problems in quantum computing. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
2021 | Dr. Tran developed a simple, rapid, and inexpensive method for visualizing cancer cells that were labeled with various ultrabright fluorescent particles on a 3-D printed, smartphone-based imaging platform. His research demonstrates potential for applications in point-of-care diagnostic testing and personalized medicine. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
2021 | Dr. Yang developed recommender systems to unveil binding preferences of experimentally unexplored RNA-binding proteins. He utilized cutting-edge deep learning techniques in the systems to improve the understanding of such proteins and to provide new opportunities to investigate the complex post-transcriptional regulations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
2021 | Big data requires algorithms to be efficient in time and working memory. Dr. Melnykova's research provides performance guarantees of such algorithms for sparse recovery. Her analysis on the impact of mapping linear measurements onto reconstruction error using a process called quantization bridges a gap in the literature between theory and practice. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
2021 | Dr. Liu developed an advanced magnetic resonance imaging technique called myelin water imaging to quantify the content of myelin, an insulating layer around nerves of the human brain and spinal cord. His work largely improved the clinical feasibility of using myelin water imaging to assess myelin damage in various neurological diseases and injuries. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
2021 | Dr. Vashishta demonstrated the trapping of polyatomic free radicals using solenoid coils and permanent magnets. This work showed for the first time the possibility of trapping polyatomic radicals, which can now be used to enhance our understanding of fundamental processes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |