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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. ÑÇÖÞÌìÌÃ’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
ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà 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 ÑÇÖÞÌìÌÃ'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
ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà 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
ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà 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
Research Centres
Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology
Computational Sciences and Mathematics
Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
- Lithoprobe: Canada's National Geoscience Project
Genomics and Biological Sciences
- Geomatics for Informed Decisions Network
Human-Computer Interaction
- Vancouver Institute for Visual Analytics
Life Sciences
Chemistry and Materials Science
Physics
- ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà ATLAS Project at Large Hadron Collider
Sustainability
Research Facilities
Designed to inspire collaboration and creativity across disciplines, the (ESB) lies at the heart of the science precinct on ÑÇÖÞÌìÌÃ’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, ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà 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.
ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà Science boasts 50 Canada Research Chairs and 10 fellows of the Royal Society of London, and has been home to two Nobel Laureates.Ìý
Schools / Departments
Graduate Degree Programs
Recent Publications
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Science.
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Recent Thesis Submissions
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(CHEM - PHD)
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(GSAT - PHD)
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(BIOF - MSC)
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(BIOF - MSC)
Doctoral Citations
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Dr. Nguyen studied different roles of the nuclear localization signals in the life cycle of the Influenza A virus. She found these signals are important for the virus's nuclear import and nucleolus accumulation. Her findings deepen our knowledge of the influenza A virus's biology, which may lead to new pharmaceutical approaches for flu treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Xing has been developing bioinformatic algorithms and tools for the unexplored tandem mass spectrometry data in untargeted metabolomics. In revealing the structural information of the undiscovered metabolome, his works paved way for revealing biological mechanisms behind various health disorders and diseases from the perspective of small molecules. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Tummuru studied quantum materials that can be assembled from simple building blocks to unveil novel emergent properties. Experimental realization of the proposed structures could find use in the development of quantum technology. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Natola studied the evolutionary process whereby 1 species splits into multiple different species using 3 hybridizing species of woodpeckers as a study system. She found the 3 species arose due to their environmental, behavioral, and genomic differences. Her study demonstrates evolutionary processes that have produced Canada's biodiversity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Aina developed new computer-based methods for engineering vaccines to treat brain diseases. He showed that the methods are effective for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease in computer models, making them valuable in drug development. His findings benefit those with brain diseases, as well as researchers and the pharmaceutical industry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Lawrence unified elements from reinforcement learning and control theory to solve industrially relevant problems. His framework enables learning stable control policies directly from data. This ensures that maintaining controllers in an industrial setting is efficient, safe, and automated. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Rowell studied explosive volcanic eruptions that interact with glaciers, lakes, and oceans, using both computer models and machine learning analysis of ash plumes in thermal camera imagery. He predicted how the behaviour, hazards, and climate impacts of eruptions evolve as they interact with increasingly greater volumes of water and ice. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Mowbray developed materials for electrochemical reactors that convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into chemicals and fuels. His thesis informs how to design and fabricate reactor materials that improve the efficiency of converting carbon dioxide into commodity chemicals using electricity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Zhuang developed the first inhibitors of tubulin glycylation initiase and elongase and developed inhibitors of type I isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase. These inhibitors will be very useful tools in studying the structure and mechanism of these enzymes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Yan's research focuses on a quantum computer architecture built upon photonic and spin qubits in silicon. Dr. Yan has developed a universal fault-tolerant architecture with practical implementation, as well as specific operational procedures that increase the quantum information fault-tolerant threshold. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |