Media Releases
February 5, 2012
University of British Columbia researchers have discovered the molecular pathway that enables receptors inside immune cells to find, and flag, fragments of pathogens trying to invade a host.
January 6, 2012
A UBC adjunct professor who invented a surgical technology that is used globally and an alumnus who helped to establish one of Canada’s first food banks have been named to the Order of Canada.
January 5, 2012
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have found a new way to block infection from the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the liver that could lead to new therapies for those affected by this and other infectious diseases.
December 20, 2011
University of British Columbia researchers have released a comprehensive estimate of the number of fisheries jobs around the world – including small-scale, artisanal operations that were previously not counted in official fisheries estimates.
December 6, 2011
University of British Columbia scientists have helped build the world’s largest astronomy camera with an internal temperature colder than anything else in the Universe.
December 5, 2011
Iconic marine predators such as sharks, tunas, swordfish, and marlins are becoming increasingly rare under current fishing trends, say University of British Columbia researchers.
November 28, 2011
The biodiversity loss caused by climate change will result from a combination of rising temperatures and predation – and may be more severe than currently predicted, according to a study by University of British Columbia zoologist Christopher Harley.
November 10, 2011
Humans play a far greater role in the fate of African elephants than habitat loss, and human conflict in particular has a devastating impact on these largest terrestrial animals, according to a new University of British Columbia study published online in PLoS ONE this week.
November 20, 2011
A new study led by University of British Columbia researchers reveals how the effect of climate change can further impact the economic viability of current fisheries practices.
November 28, 2011
The biodiversity loss caused by climate change will result from a combination of rising temperatures and predation – and may be more severe than currently predicted, according to a study by University of British Columbia zoologist Christopher Harley.
November 5, 2011
Seven University of British Columbia professors have been elected Fellows by the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) and were honoured at a ceremony yesterday at the University. The 2011 fellowships were awarded to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the sciences, social sciences and the arts and humanities.
October 22, 2011
After a national contest with 810 entries, a jumping spider, discovered in Eucador by the Beaty Biodiversity Museum’s scientific director Wayne Maddison, has been named Lapsias lorax - after a Dr. Seuss character.
October 12, 2011
Six new Canada Research Chairs have been appointed at the University of British Columbia and 11 more have been renewed, infusing $12.1 million into research at the university.
September 29, 2011
Rising world temperatures will cause most populations of herbivores – including plant-eating fish – to decline, according to a University of British Columbia biologist. That prediction resulted from updated mathematical models that integrate fundamental biological effects of temperature with the way herbivores and plants interact.
September 22, 2011
The temperate forests of Canada or Northern Europe may have much more in common with the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia or South America than commonly believed, according to a research group led by a University of British Columbia ecologist.
September 21, 2011
The University of British Columbia welcomed the announcement of $32.6 million in funding from Genome Canada and Genome BC for four research projects aimed at making Canada’s forests healthier and more economically productive.
September 20, 2011
Sarah Otto, a zoology professor and director of the Biodiversity Research Centre at the University of British Columbia, is one of 22 people to be picked for this year’s round of "genius grants" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
September 1, 2011
University of British Columbia research in climate change, chemistry, medical imaging and physical therapy received a $2.9 million boost today from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).
August 29, 2011
A hub for biology research and education at the University of British Columbia has received a $61.8 million makeover that provides more than 2,200 undergraduates and 370 researchers, staff and graduate students with brand new research labs and classrooms featuring the latest sustainability features, including one invented at UBC.
July 26, 2011
UBC researchers have invented a silicone chip that could make genetic analysis far more sensitive, rapid, and cost-effective by allowing individual cells to fall into place like balls in a pinball machine.
July 20, 2011
Researchers have made a major advance in predicting and quashing environmental decoherence, a phenomenon that has proven to be one of the most formidable obstacles standing in the way of quantum computing.
July 20, 2011
A 'four-eyed' fish that sees simultaneously above and below the water line has offered up a dramatic example of how gene expression allows organisms to adapt to their environment.
June 17, 2011
University of British Columbia researchers have received a total of $2 million from two grant programs of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). More than 140 UBC students also received NSERC scholarships, fellowships and awards.
June 3, 2011
Training for students in biomedical engineering, green building science and climate change research at the University of British Columbia has received a $4.9-million boost from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
June 1, 2011
Honour and shame work equally well in encouraging social cooperation, according to a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology.
May 12, 2011
Interactive teaching methods significantly improved attendance and doubled both engagement and learning in a large physics class, according to a University of British Columbia study published today in Science.
April 28, 2011
An international team of astronomers today revealed details of a “super-exotic” exoplanet that would make the planet Pandora in the movie Avatar pale in comparison.
March 31, 2011
Populations of Fraser River sockeye salmon are so fine-tuned to their environment that any further environmental changes caused by climate change could lead to the disappearance of some populations, while others may be less affected, says a new study by University of British Columbia scientists.
March 3, 2011
University of British Columbia researchers have identified a small virus that attacks another virus more than 100 times its own size, rescuing the infected zooplankton from certain death. The discovery provides clues to the evolutionary origin of some jumping genes found in other organisms.
March 1, 2011
Two University of British Columbia researchers have been given Killam Research Fellowships. Among Canada’s most distinguished research awards, the fellowships provide $70,000 a year for two years to enable recipients to pursue independent research.
February 25, 2011
University of British Columbia geophysicists are offering a new explanation for seismic tremors accompanying volcanic eruptions that could advance forecasting of explosive eruptions such as recent events at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, Chaiten Volcano in Chile, and Mount St. Helens in Washington State.
February 14, 2011
UBC researchers in engineering, medicine, chemistry and physics and astronomy are being honoured this evening in Ottawa at a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) award ceremony.
February 8, 2011
University of British Columbia researchers have uncovered the unique survival mechanisms of a marine organism that may be tiny, but in some ways has surpassed sharks in its predatory efficiency.
January 24, 2011
The genome of the fungus that helps mountain pine beetles infect and kill lodgepole pines has been decoded in a University of British Columbia study. Also known as blue stain fungus for the stain it leaves in the wood of infected trees, Grosmannia clavigera is carried to the host trees by pine beetles and weakens the trees’ natural defense system, allowing pine beetles to feed and reproduce in the tree bark.
January 13, 2011
Fraser River sockeye salmon with a certain genomic profile are more likely to die before spawning, contributing to the recent declines in British Columbian salmon, says a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
January 11, 2011
University of British Columbia researchers are part of European Space Agency’s Planck satellite mission that is revealing thousands of “exotic” astronomical objects, including extremely cold dust clouds, galaxies with powerful nuclei, and giant clusters of galaxies.
December 8, 2010
Sudden changes in the volume of meltwater contribute more to the acceleration – and eventual loss – of the Greenland ice sheet than the gradual increase of temperature, according to a University of British Columbia study.
December 1, 2010
Research at the University of British Columbia has received a $20-million boost with the appointment and renewal of 29 Canada Research Chairs (CRC) last week.
November 17, 2010
Using nanocrystals of cellulose, the main component of pulp and paper, chemistry researchers at the University of British Columbia have created glass films that have applications for energy conservation in building design because of their ability to reflect specific wavelengths of light, such as ultra violet, visible or infrared.
November 17, 2010
Using nanocrystals of cellulose, the main component of pulp and paper, chemistry researchers at the University of British Columbia have created glass films that have applications for energy conservation in building design because of their ability to reflect specific wavelengths of light, such as ultra violet, visible or infrared.
October 14, 2010
The University of British Columbia today welcomed the announcement of $5.4 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Genome British Columbia for research into how micro-organisms affect human health.
October 4, 2010
The University of British Columbia today forged a formal partnership with the Max Planck Society, Germany’s foremost basic research institution and home to 32 Nobel prizes.
September 23, 2010
The United States Senate has confirmed University of British Columbia professor and Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman for the position of Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
September 20, 2010
The world’s tiniest nuclear genome appears to have 'snipped off the ends' of its chromosomes and evolved into a lean, mean, genome machine that infects human cells, according to research published today by University of British Columbia scientists.
August 11, 2010
Forget Dragon’s Den, University of British Columbia entrepreneurs have an opportunity to pitch their business concepts and products directly to Silicon Valley venture capitalists at an August 31 alumni event at the Plug and Play Tech Centre in Sunnyvale, California.
August 4, 2010
University of British Columbia researchers have observed one of the fastest evolutionary responses ever recorded in wild populations. In as little as three years, stickleback fish developed tolerance for water temperature 2.5 degrees Celsius lower than their ancestors.
July 22, 2010
A University of British Columbia zoologist has discovered a new corticosteroid hormone in the sea lamprey, an eel-like fish and one of the earliest vertebrates dating back 500 million years.
July 8, 2010
Multidisciplinary research in the fields of prostate surgery, scar tissue reduction, drug monitoring and vascular disease monitoring at the University of British Columbia received a $1.7-million boost today from the Collaborative Health Research Projects (CHRP) program, and young researchers at UBC were awarded a further $1.6 million from the Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program to help upgrade their skills for a successful transition to the workplace.
June 4, 2010
Three University of British Columbia researchers have been given some of the most prestigious science and engineering prizes by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The Honorable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) and NSERC President Suzanne Fortier announced 19 recipients of five NSERC prizes in Ottawa this week.
June 3, 2010
Twenty-five doctoral students from the University of British Columbia have been awarded the 2010 Vanier Canada Scholarships, the Canadian equivalent of the Rhodes scholarships in the U.K. and the Fulbright scholarships in the U.S.
June 1, 2010
Inconspicuous 'little brown balls' in the ocean have helped settle a long-standing debate about the origin of malaria and the algae responsible for toxic red tides, according to a new study by University of British Columbia researchers.
May 28, 2010
A University of British Columbia researcher has uncovered what makes Rembrandt’s masterful portraits so appealing. In the study, published in the current issue of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s arts and sciences journal Leonardo, UBC researcher Steve DiPaola argues that Rembrandt may have pioneered a technique that guides the viewer’s gaze around a portrait, creating a special narrative and “calmer” viewing experience.
May 13, 2010
The University of British Columbia today officially opened the Beaty Biodiversity Centre, new home to some of the world’s top biodiversity researchers and Canada’s largest blue whale skeleton exhibit.
May 12, 2010
The djavad mowafaghian foundation has made a contribution of $4 million toward biodiversity outreach and early childhood development research at the University of British Columbia.
May 5, 2010
University of British Columbia researchers have cast artificial proteins into a new solid biomaterial that very closely mimics the elasticity of muscle.
March 26, 2010
The University of British Columbia will gain research strength in neuroscience, cancer screening, pediatrics, psychology, balance disorders and economics with the appointment and renewal of 12 UBC scholars as Canada Research Chairs.
March 25, 2010
University of British Columbia astronomer Ludovic Van Waerbeke, with an international team, has confirmed that the expansion of the universe is accelerating after looking at data from the largest-ever survey conducted by the Hubble Space Telescope.
March 23, 2010
US President Barack Obama has nominated UBC Professor Carl Wieman for the position of Associate Director of Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Wieman, a 2001 Nobel Laureate joined UBC's Faculty of Science in 2007 as professor of Physics and Director of the $12 million Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (CWSEI) to transform the teaching of science at UBC and elsewhere.
March 11, 2010
The architect of Canada’s Golden 2010 Games, a much-loved Canadian comedian, an acclaimed B.C. writer and artist, and an accomplished astronaut and engineer are among the 12 individuals who will receive honorary degrees during Spring and Fall ceremonies this year from the University of British Columbia.
March 4, 2010
Today's Federal Budget contains good news for Canada’s post-secondary sector with numerous initiatives to strengthen Canada’s research capacity, UBC President Professor Stephen Toope said.
January 17, 2010
Researchers from the University of British Columbia and Harvard University have co-developed a system that captures on video and barcodes the behavioral responses of zebrafish to chemical compounds on a large scale. The approach could dramatically speed up the discovery of new psychiatric drugs.
January 12, 2010
University of British Columbia researchers have received $10.5 million in funding from Genome Canada through the Government of Canada, Genome BC and international partners to enable them to create the first reference genome of the sunflower family – work that will pinpoint agriculturally important genes and could result in a hybrid sunflower that provides both biofuel and food products.
January 11, 2010
A University of British Columbia alumnus widely credited for mentoring Google’s founders and helping establish the company is supporting science education transformations with a $2-million gift to the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative.
December 9, 2009
Despite their ability to fly, tropical birds waited until the formation of the land bridge between North and South America to move northward, according to a University of British Columbia study published this week in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
December 4, 2009
Two University of British Columbia students have been awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, marking the first time the university has fielded two Rhodes Scholars in the same year. Kayli Johnson, an honours chemistry student, is the recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship for British Columbia. Jaspreet Khangura, a fourth-year student in medicine, is the recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship for the Prairie Region.
December 1, 2009
New media issues and opportunities and a better understanding of brain development in children are the subjects of two new Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) to be hosted by UBC.New media issues and opportunities and a better understanding of brain development in children are the subjects of two new Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) valued at more than $42 million over five years and to be hosted by UBC.
November 9, 2009
Together with TRIUMF and other partners, the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) has received a $1.3-million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to develop an alternative source of medical isotopes. The BC grant is the largest out of seven nationally funded projects.
October 22, 2009
Advances in ultrasound and digital display technologies developed by University of British Columbia researchers have been recognized by Canada’s leading science and engineering funding agency with two prestigious awards.
October 5, 2009
A team of University of British Columbia microbiologists has identified a key defence mechanism used by the immune system against Listeria with strong implications for the future development of vaccines.
September 23, 2009
An HIV/AIDS researcher who has influenced treatment world-wide and a leader in the field of artificial intelligence are among the five University of British Columbia faculty recently elected to the Royal Society of Canada.
September 23, 2009
The University of British Columbia will gain research strength in the environmental impact of trade, blood research, computer systems and security and nutrition-related diseases with the appointment of four new investigators to the university as Canada Research Chairs.
August 10, 2009
University of British Columbia researchers have developed a new way to extract DNA and RNA from small or heavily contaminated samples that could help forensic investigators and molecular biologists get to 'the truth.'
August 4, 2009
A gene previously associated with physical traits is also dictating behaviour in a tiny fish widely regarded as a living model of Darwin’s natural selection theory, according to a University of British Columbia study.
July 28, 2009
A higher density of blood vessels and other unique physiological features in the flight muscles of bar-headed geese allow them to do what even the most elite of human athletes struggle to accomplish – exert energy at high altitudes, according to a new UBC study.
June 18, 2009
Leading edge research in areas ranging from infectious disease prevention to geochemical analysis at the University of British Columbia today received a $38-million boost from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
June 8, 2009
Good old-fashioned detective work has turned up the first conclusive explanation for the origin of a massive bonebed in southern California, according to a new study led by a UBC paleontologist.
June 2, 2009
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have received $4.95 million over six years from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to fund three innovative training programs in the biological sciences.
May 21, 2009
Western Economic Diversification Canada announces funding of $960,000 to help establish a smart mineral exploration and mining research centre within the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences at UBC.
May 20, 2009
UBC astronomer Ingrid Stairs is part of the first international team to observe the transformation of an ordinary, slow-rotating pulsar into a superfast millisecond pulsar—a reborn star with an almost infinitely extended lifespan.
May 3, 2009
Seventeen UBC doctoral students are among recipients of the inaugural Vanier Canada Scholarships, the Canadian equivalent of the Rhodes scholarships in the U.K. and the Fulbright scholarships in the U.S.
April 8, 2009
Research infrastructure and sustainability at the University of British Columbia today received a major boost from the federal and provincial governments totaling nearly $68 million.
April 8, 2009
Scientists from the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia have helped unveil the birthplaces of ancient stars using a two-tonne telescope carried by a balloon the size of a 33-storey building.
April 6, 2009
University of British Columbia scientists have traced the fragrant scent of grapevine flowers to pollen grains stored in the anthers, contrary to common perception that petals alone produce perfume.
April 6, 2009
The Province is investing $37.5 million toward a state-of-the-art Earth science education and research facility that will help position the University of British Columbia as a world leader in Earth-science innovation, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today.
April 1, 2009
Scientists have come to agree that different environments impact the evolution of new species. Now experiments conducted at the University of British Columbia are showing for the first time that the reverse is also true.
March 25, 2009
A University of British Columbia researcher has discovered dozens of species of jumping spiders that are new to science, giving scientists a peek into a section of the evolutionary tree previously thought to be sparse.
March 20, 2009
The University of Manitoba has became a full member of TRIUMF, Canada's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics, based at UBC. "The University of Manitoba is excited to be joining this facility," said Dr. Digvir Jayas, Acting Vice-President (Research) at the University of Manitoba.
March 11, 2009
A University of British Columbia invention that brings natural sunlight into multi-floor office buildings will receive up to $2.1 million in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
February 25, 2009
UCB will gain research strength in consumer behaviour, industrial automation, genetic epidemiology, and chemical biology with the appointment of four investigators to the university as Canada Research Chairs.
January 29, 2009
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have discovered a mimic of one of 'nature’s antibiotics' that can be used to coat medical devices to prevent infection and rejection.
January 27, 2009
Lignin, one of the chemical underpinnings vital to the self-supporting nature of land plants--and thought unique to them--has been found in marine algae by a team of researchers including scientists at UBC and Stanford University.
January 23, 2009
Animation research by a University of British Columbia computer scientist is playing a key role in the new adventure film Inkheart, starring Brendan Fraser and Oscar-winning actor Helen Mirren, in theatres today.
December 31, 2008
University of British Columbia researchers are offering the first compelling evidence to explain regular tremors under Vancouver Island.
December 19, 2008
Earth's location in the Universe is utterly unremarkable, despite recent theories that propose toppling a foundation of modern cosmology, according to a team of University of British Columbia researchers.
November 27, 2008
As most American families sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, a University of British Columbia researcher is revealing how one of the largest animals on earth feasts on the smallest of prey – and at what cost.
November 12, 2008
University of British Columbia researchers have found a way to accurately predict the impact of climate change on imperilled Pacific salmon stocks that could result in better management strategies.
October 27, 2008
Canadian and U.S. researchers have made a surprising discovery that some endangered Pacific salmon stocks are surviving in rivers with hydroelectric dams as well as or better than in rivers without dams.
October 20, 2008
The University of British Columbia announced today that it has received a pledge from Dolby Laboratories, Inc. to provide $1.15 million in funding to support research in High-Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging technologies.
September 9, 2008
A former University of British Columbia staff member is honoured today for creating the dot-ca domain that put Canada on the Internet map.
September 4, 2008
An international team of scientists that includes University of British Columbia astronomer Brett Gladman has found an unusual object whose backward and tilted orbit around the Sun may clarify the origins of certain comets.
August 28, 2008
Shedding some genetically induced excess baggage may have helped a tiny fish thrive in freshwater and outsize its marine ancestors, according to a UBC study published today in Science Express.
August 27, 2008
Two Canadian amateur stargazers will trade in their backyard telescopes for one 820 kilometres up in space.
August 5, 2008
The ability to work together and capture larger prey has allowed social spiders to stretch the laws of nature and reach enormous colony sizes, UBC zoologists have found.
July 21, 2008
Revealing the science behind age-old magic tricks will help us better understand how humans see, think, and act, according to researchers at the University of British Columbia and Durham University in the U.K.
June 23, 2008
A team of University of British Columbia researchers has developed a technique that controls the number of electrons on the surface of high-temperature superconductors, a procedure considered impossible for the past two decades.
May 29, 2008
Researchers from UBC and McGill University have simulated in the lab the process that can turn ordinary volcanic eruptions into so-called supervolcanoes.
May 23, 2008
A $1.35 million grant from The Boeing Company will put Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia in the forefront of the emerging field of visual analytics, leading to better ways for governments, industry and academia to cope with an increasing flood of information.
May 14, 2008
A blue whale skeleton buried in Prince Edward Island 20 years ago will see the light of day for the first time this weekend when a team of University of British Columbia scientists exhumes its remains.
Apr. 4, 2008
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have discovered an anti-virulence factor in Salmonella, knowledge that could be used to design improved Salmonella vaccines.
Apr. 2, 2008
In the first experiment of its kind conducted in nature, a University of British Columbia evolutionary biologist has come up with strong evidence for one of Charles Darwin’s cornerstone ideas -- adaptation to the environment accelerates the creation of new species.
Mar. 4, 2008
As the University of British Columbia celebrates its first Centenary, the oldest building on its Vancouver campus reopens today with new state-of-the-art research and learning facilities and its historic charms intact.
Mar. 3, 2008
The skeleton of a blue whale that washed up on Prince Edward Island 20 years ago will have a permanent home at The University of British Columbia’s new Beaty Biodiversity Museum.
Feb. 21, 2008
A University of British Columbia astronomer with an international team has discovered the largest structures of dark matter ever seen. Measuring 270 million light-years across, these dark matter structures criss-cross the night sky, each spanning an area that is eight times larger than the full moon.
Jan. 14, 2008
UBC researchers have discovered some of the genetic secrets that enable pine and spruce trees to fight off pests and disease, uncovering critical new information about forests’ natural defense systems.
Jan. 10, 2008
For the first time astronomers are able to see indirect evidence of dark matter and how this invisible force impacts on the crowded and violent lives of galaxies. University of British Columbia researcher Catherine Heymans has produced the highest resolution map of dark matter ever captured before.
