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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

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 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 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 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
Leslie, Sabrina Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Physics & Astronomy
Leyton-Brown, Kevin Department of Computer Science Computer and information sciences; Artificial Intelligence; Algorithms; theoretical computer science; Resource Allocation; Computer Science and Statistics; Auction theory; game theory; Machine Learning
Li, Yue-Xian Department of Mathematics Calcium signalling in neuroendocrine cells Fertilization calcium waves in oocytes
Li, Xin Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Botany Molecules in plants, plants defence against pathogen infection, plant genes
Li, Hongbin Department of Chemistry Biophysical chemistry, biomaterials, single molecule studies, biological, atomic force, polymer chemistry
Lister, Alison Department of Physics & Astronomy Particle physics, experimental; Large Hadron Collier (LHC); ATLAS experiment; Search for physics beyond the standard model; top quarks; dark matter; Machine Learning; Long-lived particles
Loewen, Philip Department of Mathematics Mathematical optimization; Calculus of Variations; Optimal Control; optimization; Machine Learning
Lukes, Laura Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Earth and related environmental sciences; Psychology and cognitive sciences; Education; Geoscience Education Research (Discipline-Based Education Research); Self-regulated Learning; field-based experiential learning; learning in informal settings (e.g., museums, parks, science centers); crowdsourced and citizen science; teacher beliefs; motivation, emotion, and beliefs in learning; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in STEM; learning engineering
MacDonald, Colin Department of Mathematics List of publications; The Closest Point Method: a new method for PDEs on surfaces; Time-stepping for PDEs: constructing Runge-Kutta methods, strong-stability-preserving methods (visit the SSP Site); WENO spatial discretizations; The Predicted Sequential Regularization Method; List of talks and presentations.
MacFarlane, Andrew Department of Chemistry Electronic and magnetic properties of condensed matter and supraconductivity; Nuclear chemistry; Development and applications of spectroscopic and structural techniques; Surfaces and structural properties of condensed matter; Solid state chemistry; Characterization of materials; Condensed matter experiments; Condensed matter characterization technique development; Condensed matter physics
MacLachlan, Mark Department of Chemistry Supramolecular inorganic chemistry; Inorganic materials; Supramolecular organic chemistry; Synthesis of materials; Functional materials in materials chemistry sciences; Supramolecular Chemistry; Nanomaterials; Biomaterials; Cellulose nanocrystals; Chitin; Materials Chemistry; Inorganic Chemistry
MacLean, Karon Department of Computer Science Computer and information sciences; Information Systems; design of user interfaces; haptic interfaces; human-computer interaction; human-robot interaction
Madison, Kirk Department of Physics & Astronomy Atomic, molecular, and optical physics; Quantum sensors; Quantum Gases; Laser cooling; Bose-Einstein Condesation; Fermi-Degenerate Gases; Quantum optics; Laser physics
Madzwamuse, Anotida Department of Mathematics
Maldonado, Maite Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences Phytoplankton Trace Metal Physiology
Man, Allison Department of Physics & Astronomy Cosmology and extragalactic astronomy; galaxy formation and evolution
Mank, Judith Department of Zoology evolution; How selection acts on males and females within a species; How the genome responds to contradictory selection to encode sexually dimorphic traits; Sex chromosomes; Gene regulation; Sexual conflict
Marcus, Brian Harry Department of Mathematics Coding and information theory, symbolic dynamics, ergodic theory and dynamical systems
Marshall, Katie Department of Zoology Animal physiology, environmental stress; Environmental Change; Marine biodiversity; Population Ecology; invertebrates and temperature adaptation
Martin, Gregory Department of Mathematics Number theory, Diophantine Approximation and Classical Analysis
Martone, Patrick Department of Botany Plant biology; Protist; Plants; Physiology; Taxonomy and Systematics; Ecology and Quality of the Environment; Evolution and Phylogenesis; Biomaterials; Solid Mechanics; Fluid mechanics; biomechanics; Ecology; evolution; Intertidal Zone; Macroalgae; Phycology
Marziali, Andre Department of Physics & Astronomy Teaching methods, pedagogy, Robotics in education, Nanotechnology, Engineering Physics, Genomics, Biophysics, Genomics Technologies
Matsuuchi, Linda Department of Zoology Intracellular signaling, signal transduction, receptor and membrane biology; Cell Biology; Immunology
Matthews, Philip Department of Zoology Animal physiology, respiration; Insect biology; Animal physiology, biophysics; Comparative biomechanics; Animal physiological ecology; Comparative Physiology; biomechanics; Insect physiology; Respiratory Physiology
Matthews, Benjamin Department of Zoology Genomics; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Zoology; Aedes aeygpti mosquitoes; Arboviral pathogens; Chikungunya; Comparative Physiology; Dengue fever; Genome of mosquitoes; Yellow fever; Zika

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Graduate Student Stories

Daniel Lipshutz Forrest

Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)

Co-constructing a mutualistic city: Envisioning future scenarios to support people and nature in urban landscapes
Luke Polson's image

Luke Polson

Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Physics (PhD)

Enhancement and quantification in nuclear medicine imaging using artificial intelligence
Betinol's image

Isaiah Betinol

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Statistical Models and Machine Learning for the Design and Optimization of Novel Catalysts
Brandon McNabb's image

Brandon McNabb

Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD)

Characterizing the distributions and mechanisms driving oceanic methylated sulfur cycling
Herringer Paul's image

Paul Herringer

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

Classifying computational phases of quantum matter in 2D and 3D
Borch Annie's image

Annie Borch

Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD)

The history and impact of volcanism and glacial systems on landscape evolution in the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, BC
Ina Na's image

Ina Na

Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD)

The diversity and evolution of apicomplexans
Faeze Keshavarz's image

Faeze Keshavarz

Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)

Understanding cellular pathways modifications in cancer using the transcriptome
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.

 

Inversions contribute disproportionately to parallel genomic divergence in dune sunflowers
Publication: Nature Ecology and Evolution
UBC Author(s): Marco Todesco (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science), Loren Rieseberg (Botany / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 9
Page Range: 325-335
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Neuroimmune-competent human brain organoid model of diffuse midline glioma
Publication: Neuro-Oncology
UBC Author(s): Xin Tang (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 15228517
Volume: 27
Page Range: 369-382
Publication Date: 1 February 2025

View Publication
Covering the Sierpiński carpet with tubes
Publication: Israel Journal of Mathematics
UBC Author(s): Pablo Shmerkin (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00212172
Volume: 265
Page Range: 769-799
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
New constraints on the timing and nature of metamorphism in the eastern Meguma terrane, Nova Scotia, Canada
Publication: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
UBC Author(s): Matthijs Smit (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00084077
Volume: 62
Page Range: 484-512
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Assessing the ecological and economic transformation pathways of plastic production system
Publication: Journal of Environmental Management
UBC Author(s): Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03014797
Volume: 374
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
The 4 m International Liquid Mirror Telescope: Construction, operation, and science
Publication: Astronomy and Astrophysics
UBC Author(s): Paul Hickson (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00046361
Volume: 694
Publication Date: 1 February 2025

View Publication
Order among chaos: High throughput MYCroplanters can distinguish interacting drivers of host infection in a highly stochastic system
Publication: PLoS Pathogens
UBC Author(s): Kayla King (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 15537366
Volume: 21
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Intracellular Pseudomonas aeruginosa persist and evade antibiotic treatment in a wound infection model
Publication: PLoS Pathogens
UBC Author(s): Robert E Hancock (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 15537366
Volume: 21
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Short-Term Grasslands in Agriculture Support Both Natural Enemy and Phytophagous Arthropod Populations
Publication: Journal of Applied Entomology
UBC Author(s): Claire Kremen (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09312048
Volume: 149
Page Range: 100-110
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Morphology of 137 Fast Radio Bursts Down to Microsecond Timescales from the First CHIME/FRB Baseband Catalog
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0004637X
Volume: 979
Publication Date: 1 February 2025

View Publication
A Repeating Fast Radio Burst Source in the Outskirts of a Quiescent Galaxy
Publication: Astrophysical Journal Letters
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science), Mark Halpern (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20418205
Volume: 979
Publication Date: 1 February 2025

View Publication
The Massive and Quiescent Elliptical Host Galaxy of the Repeating Fast Radio Burst FRB 20240209A
Publication: Astrophysical Journal Letters
UBC Author(s): Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 20418205
Volume: 979
Publication Date: 1 February 2025

View Publication
Search for baryogenesis and dark matter in B+ → Λc+ +invisible decays
Publication: Physical Review D
UBC Author(s): Christopher Hearty (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 24700010
Volume: 111
Publication Date: 1 February 2025

View Publication
Remote Sensing-Based Ecohydrogeological Characterisation and Perceptual Model of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia
Publication: Hydrological Processes
UBC Author(s): Mark Johnson (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 08856087
Volume: 39
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
The impact of simultaneous infections on phage-host ecology
Publication: Theoretical Population Biology
UBC Author(s): Christoph Hauert (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00405809
Volume: 161
Page Range: 42-49
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
DNA metabarcoding captures temporal and vertical dynamics of mesozooplankton communities
Publication: ICES Journal of Marine Science
UBC Author(s): Brian Hunt (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10543139
Volume: 82
Publication Date: 1 February 2025

View Publication
Near-Critical and Finite-Size Scaling for High-Dimensional Lattice Trees and Animals
Publication: Journal of Statistical Physics
UBC Author(s): Gordon Slade (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00224715
Volume: 192
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
The Psychology of Poverty: Current and Future Directions
Publication: Current Directions in Psychological Science
UBC Author(s): Jiaying Zhao (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09637214
Volume: 34
Page Range: 21-28
Publication Date: February 2025

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Correction: Characterization of a cytochrome P450 that catalyzes the O-demethylation of lignin-derived benzoates (Journal of Biological Chemistry (2024) 300(11), (S002192582402310X), (10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107809))
Publication: Journal of Biological Chemistry
UBC Author(s): Lindsay Eltis (Microbiology & Immunology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00219258
Volume: 301
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Harnessing the Full Power of Data to Characterise Biological Scaling Relationships
Publication: Global Ecology and Biogeography
UBC Author(s): Sean Michaletz (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 1466822X
Volume: 34
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
A stable splitting for spaces of commuting elements in unitary groups
Publication: Journal of the London Mathematical Society
UBC Author(s): Alejandro Adem (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00246107
Volume: 111
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Toll/interleukin-1 receptor-only genes contribute to immune responses in maize
Publication: Plant Physiology
UBC Author(s): Xin Li (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00320889
Volume: 197
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
The State of the Art in User-Adaptive Visualizations
Publication: Computer Graphics Forum
UBC Author(s): Cristina Conati (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01677055
Volume: 44
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Detections of interstellar aromatic nitriles 2-cyanopyrene and 4-cyanopyrene in TMC-1
Publication: Nature Astronomy
UBC Author(s): Ilsa Cooke (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 9
Page Range: 262-270
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication
Water tariffs and social equity: Towards water service connections and pricing instruments for the poor
Publication: World Water Policy
UBC Author(s): Leila Harris (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 11
Page Range: 38-60
Publication Date: February 2025

View Publication

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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
2024 Dr. Suhail has made significant strides in computer vision by pioneering diverse methodologies that elevate semantic comprehension and geometric reasoning abilities within computer vision systems. His works have received nominations for Best Paper Awards, highlighting the substantial impact of his work in the field. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2024 The terrestrial plants possess a cuticle which comprises a mixture of ubiquitous waxes that have important physiological roles. Dr. Gozdzik investigated the cuticles of several plant species to infer biosynthetic mechanisms for non-ubiquitous specialty wax compounds which furthers the understanding of the roles and origins of those wax compounds. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2024 Dr. Banados Schwerter studied the formal requirements for detecting type inconsistencies in programming languages that combine static and dynamic type checking, and a novel reporting technique for these errors. His research will assist the design of new programming languages and help their future programmers to find and fix programming mistakes. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2024 Dr. Feng proposed an inexpensive method to reduce the amount of human labeling in the task of extracting relations from documents. He proposed a novel self-training method to improve the performance of text generation and relation extraction when few labeled data is used to train a machine learning model. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2024 Dr. He developed a self-supervised machine learning tool that minimizes the need for extensive human annotation, thereby alleviating the reliance on costly human labor during the machine learning development process. Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD)
2023 Dr. Huggins studied how microorganisms use nitrogen in low-oxygen marine waters. She found that, in some cases, nitrogen can be recycled faster than it is lost from the environment. Her work adds to our knowledge about the impacts of oxygen loss and climate change in the oceans. Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Irwin studied how to use computers to solve noisy optimization problems, which are optimization problems where one cannot measure the quantity one wants to optimize exactly. He developed three new computer algorithms for solving noisy optimization problems, including an industrial problem encountered by makers of computer chips. Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Yin developed new methods to improve mass spectrometry based proteomic research. His work enabled more comprehensive and accurate measurement of proteins, thus contributing to a deeper understanding of the state of biological systems studied. The methods he developed has potential future applications in advancing disease diagnosis and therapeutics discovery. Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2023 Dr. Jones developed and implemented phylogenetic methods to estimate integration dates of HIV proviruses. His findings have provided a better understanding of within-host HIV dynamics and is beneficial for HIV cure research. Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)
2023 Quite surprisingly, some quantum systems can encode gravitational physics in a higher dimensional space. Dr. Waddell used this fact to study a key quantum system arising in string theory, to show that information about a black hole's contents is not destroyed when it evaporates, and to propose a quantum description of universes similar to our own. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

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