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. Dettelbach demonstrated how ultraviolet light could be used to produce a silver-copper alloy that is difficult to obtain through commonly used methods. This alloy has applications toward clean energy conversion. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Wang explored scientific advancement in analytical methods for the quantification of small molecule medicines and the characterization of complex biopharmaceutical substances. His study assists people in producing medicines with better safety and efficacy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Heagy studied the use of electromagnetic data for monitoring hydraulic fracturing operations. Her work contributed to the understanding of electromagnetic fields and fluxes in settings with steel-cased wells, as well as the development of open-source software tools for building models of the subsurface from geophysical data. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Ahmed worked on developing better optimization algorithms. Optimization plays a key role in building more efficient artificial intelligence systems. Through Dr. Ahmed's work, machine learning systems can be trained faster and use less computer memory. This work has a lot of applications such as computer vision and natural language processing. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. MacWilliam studied gold mineralization in western Yukon and eastern Alaska. She found that different styles of gold mineralization are genetically related. Her results advance the understanding of gold deposit models, which can be applied for the benefit of exploration in the northern Cordillera as well as globally. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Fenninger studied the role of calcium channels in immune cells. He demonstrated that a specific channel is vital for an efficient immune response and that its mutation causes an immunodeficiency. His research highlights the importance of calcium channels in the immune system and their role as novel targets for therapeutic drug intervention. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Osmond created and analyzed mathematical models of evolution to ask how genetic adaptation is expected to overcome two challenges: (1) intermediate genotypes are deleterious and (2) rapid environmental change threatens extinction. Both are difficult problems but can be overcome by genetic drift and rapid evolution, respectively. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Henkelmann searched for heavy quarks, predicted by theories beyond the Standard Model of Particle Physics. He analyzed data recorded by the ATLAS detector at CERN and contributed to the determination of the relative spatial position of the inner most measurement devices of the detector, allowing for a successful data taking campaign. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2018 | Iron is a critical nutritional requirement for bacteria to establish infection. Dr. Verstraete investigated how the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus produces molecules to steal iron from the host. Her work demonstrates the ability of this pathogen to cause disease and opens new avenues for the development of diagnostics and therapies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Dinsdale developed new statistical methods to improve the prediction of oceanographic measurements, for example water temperature, using data collected by tags attached to marine mammals such as seals. This research helps to improve our understanding of changing ocean dynamics in sparsely sampled areas such as near Antarctica. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |