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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Dr. Irish researched the concentrations, properties and sources of particles that catalyse the formation of ice crystals in clouds in the Arctic. The results from this research will be used in numerical models for predicting future climate in this region. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2019 | The ongoing loss of mountain glaciers influences sea level rise and the supply of freshwater to communities and ecosystems. Through observations in the mountains of British Columbia, Dr. Fitzpatrick examined the atmospheric conditions affecting melt rates, and developed methods to better understand the response of glaciers in a changing climate. | Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science (PhD) |
| 2019 | DNA sequencing machines read the A, C, G, and T nucleotides that compose chromosomes, but they read only short snippets of DNA and make errors. Dr. Jackman developed tools to reconstruct the true genome sequence from imperfect DNA sequencing reads. He used these tools to assemble the western red cedar genome, which is four times larger than the human genome. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Kleynhans studied how species evolve to environmental change when interacting with other species. She found that species interactions alter the probability of persistence and trajectory of evolution. Findings show that overall, the community in which a species lives profoundly influences how it evolves to climate change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Brown developed metal complexes that manipulate light. He demonstrated that the number of oxygen atoms bonded to a sulfur atom can finely tune the properties of metal complexes, in particular regarding the colour of light emitted from a material. This work opens a new avenue of control for lighting technologies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Siren completed her doctoral studies in the field of biomaterials chemistry. She studied how naturally occurring polymers at the blood vessel surface influence the immune response. These findings led to the development of a synthetic polymer-based therapeutic which was used to suppress the onset of organ rejection with reduced side-effects. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Cutts used novel radiometric dating methods to study the dynamics of Himalayan-style mountain building and the role of the mantle in preserving Earth's oldest crust. His results provide key insight and predictions into the uniformity of continental collision through time and on the feedbacks and interactions between the crust and mantle and the other Earth systems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Milbury analyzed the effects of common blood cancer mutations to determine how they may contribute to the development of cancer. She demonstrated that cancer mutations in the gene DIS3 interfere with the stability of DNA in a yeast cell model. This finding could influence drug selection for patients carrying these mutations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Page developed sensitive detectors designed to detect dark matter particles. To search for the dark matter particles, he operated the detectors from a low-radiation cavern in a mine half a mile underground. Analysis of data from the detectors ruled out certain dark matter particles with a mass close to the proton mass. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Sun studied the regulation of plant immune responses mediated by two transcription factors, which were found to play a broad role in plant immunity. His study also provided new insight on how plants perceive salicylic acid, an essential plant defense hormone. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |