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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Dr. Brown discovered how malnutrition can affect gut microbes, metabolites and the immune system in the intestine. He used this information to develop the first animal model of an inflammatory disease called environmental enteropathy, which will be used to screen new therapies for reversing malnutrition. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Harrower showed how the structure of temperate grassland food webs changed when ecosystems go from wet to dry. His experiments help us understand how climate change events, such as persistent drought, will impact grassland biodiversity and ultimately have an effect on human activities such as ranching. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Omid developed and used novel methods to study 2+1 dimensional quantum field theories that are made of strongly interacting ingredients. His results explain the strange behaviors that these complex systems show in the experiments. A deeper understating of these systems helps us to utilize them in future. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Haslam studied the synthesis of plant cuticular waxes, which waterproof plant surfaces and prevent desiccation. Waxes are extremely long, modified fatty acids. Dr. Haslam identified and characterized a novel protein family that controls the extensive elongation of fatty acids that occurs during cuticular wax metabolism. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Zakariaee developed methods that improve the accuracy of dose estimates for the bladder in women treated with radiotherapy for cervical cancer. She then applied these methods to study dose effects on urinary morbidity in these patients. This work contributes towards the development and application of improved dose assessment techniques in radiotherapy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Seifi studied people's perceptions of and language for 'synthetic touch' feedback, such as vibrations from mobile phones and smartwatches. Based on her findings, she developed simple and effective mechanisms that enable ordinary people to design and personalize their everyday vibration notifications on a mobile device. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Clark studied salivary dysfunction induced by head-and-neck cancer radiotherapies. He identified which salivary gland portions should be spared radiation by quantifying regional importance. He also developed a technique to identify patient-specific organ structure. Incorporation of this work into future cancer treatments could eliminate severe dysfunction. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Liu developed statistical methods to predict and interpret high dimensional spatial tracks based on observations from multiple sources. His study has improved the tracking of endangered marine mammals and advanced our understanding of their behaviour. His methods can handle big data efficiently and solve other modern tracking problems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Chen designed and studied new ring-shaped molecules with tunable shapes and sizes. These molecules spontaneously stack into organized nanotubes that can be used in microelectronics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Hahn's dissertation builds on our current understanding of the complex microbial communities driving nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, and presents new methods with which to analyze microbial sequence data. Ultimately, this work can help facilitate the design of microbial communities with properties beneficial to humans and the planet. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |