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 |
---|---|---|
2020 | Dr. Gatev developed a new method for analyzing epigenetic data to characterize genomic regions of concordant DNA methylation, which is an important part of the epigenome. His approach was used to characterize sex differences in DNA methylation of blood tissue. This work will improve statistical discovery and validation in future applications. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
2020 | Dr. Colombo describes some of the first distributions of lead, iron, and manganese in the Canadian Arctic Ocean, as well as trace metals in remote rivers in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. His findings shed light on important biogeochemical processes and water masses circulation taking place in this unique and sensitive environment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD) |
2020 | Dr. Munz examined how plants and algae respond to a lack of nitrogen, a macronutrient that is essential for growth and development. Using the genetics model of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a single-cell green algae, Dr. Munz makes a critical first step toward uncovering the elusive signaling mechanism that responds to cellular nitrogen status. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
2020 | Dr. Zwartsenberg discovered a novel quantum mechanical approach to switching materials from electrically conductive, to electrically non-conductive. His results are not only of importance to the understanding of fundamental physics, but also open up new avenues to explore in the design of future electronics and sensing materials. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
2020 | Dr. Oyinlola studied the effects of climate change on global seafood production. His findings show that increasing greenhouse gases will negatively affect mariculture production in many regions of the world, particularly the tropics and sub-tropical regions. This research supports continuous mariculture related research and industry applications. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
2020 | Dr. Lix studied and improved a new type of ultrabright fluorescent probe called polymer dots that are used in bioanalysis and imaging. She investigated how these materials interact with other fluorescent materials. Her research will be used to develop new technologies that will enable medical diagnosis at the point-of-care. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
2020 | Dr. Wu studied the signaling transduction pathways in plant immunity. His work revealed novel regulatory mechanisms governing the activation of plant immune receptors, which may contribute to the engineering of broad-spectrum resistance in crops. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
2020 | Dr. Babanezhad's research explored optimizing parameters for machine learning algorithms, like those used in data processing, focusing specifically on computational cost. His proposed method, which he has tested on a new set of constraints and machine learning models, can train models in less time and achieve better results than previous methods. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
2020 | Dr. Paudel studied two key aspects of plant-virus interaction: how viruses coerce plants to produce viral products and how the plant defends itself. He identified regions in the viral genome that help in hijacking the host resources. Also, his results showed a variety of host antiviral defenses and highlighted the complexity of the interaction. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
2020 | Dr. Yeo examined the fundamental chemistry of early and late transition metal complexes. She studied the reactivity of early transition metal dinitrogen complexes and synthesized novel late transition metal complexes, exploring the capability of these chemical systems to provide insight for future advances in synthetic chemistry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |