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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Dr. Samuk showed that migration between populations of organisms can limit the location that adaptive evolution can occur in the genome. This helps us understand why evolution often re-uses the same genes, and will aid us in building predictive models of evolution. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Hwang proved that algebras for noncommutative 4 dimensional space, which both Mathematicians and Physicist are interested in, form a good family, and figured out what the family looks like. These results shed light on the mathematically concrete study of noncommutative algebras as a family. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Scott used mathematical models to show how life cycles are shaped by natural selection. Life cycles are highly evolutionarily significant but remarkably variable among organisms. Life cycles aspects investigated in this thesis include the evolution of seed dormancy, haploid and diploid stages, and sex chromosomes (e.g., X and Y chromosomes). | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Weekes investigated the potential for new lanthanum-based drugs to be applied as therapies for treating osteoporosis. His work contributed a fundamental understanding of the biological-chemical interplay of these drugs, and will influence future studies that could lead to a new type of pharmaceutical agent. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Wathier examined the mechanism and application of rhodium-catalyzed alkyne hydrothiolation. He has studied how the rhodium catalysts work and has helped demonstrate the use of the method for the synthesis of K777, a possible treatment for a Neglected Global Disease that afflicts millions of people in Latin America. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2016 | Using computational methods, Dr. Heide extracted two completely new image dimensions that are that were essentially invisible'' before. His research has enabled cameras that can look around corners, image through fog, and require only ultra-thin, cheap optics. This has widespread applications in consumer imaging, autonomous vehicles and scientific imaging. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Bergeron investigated the shape of representation spaces and their deformations. In this realm, he showed that the representation theory of nilpotent groups is not rigid. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Titichetrakun studied additive patterns of integers and lattices. His work provides a new method for studying patterns using a weighted version of hypergraph structural theorem. Studying additive patterns is related to many fields of mathematics such as harmonic analysis, dynamics or computer science. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Lima studied the application of machine learning algorithms in environmental sciences. He used artificial neural networks to forecast streamflow, precipitation, and surface air temperature. His research advances the use of model output statistics and extends predictions to variables not computed by the current numerical weather prediction model. | Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Letaw studied the coexistence of insect larvae living in water-filled tank bromeliads. She found that under some conditions, species coexist by interacting as if they are the same species. Such research enhances our ability to predict how ecosystem changes might affect the populations of species living in those ecosystems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |