Welcome to the Faculty of Science at UBC! It's a great pleasure to serve as Dean pro tem of this extraordinary community of scholars, students and staff.
UBC is an amazing place—our researchers are constantly expanding the boundaries of knowledge, and delivering innovations to improve our lives and address the key challenges of our world.
This environment has driven remarkable results across the Faculty. Many of UBC Science’s disciplines are ranked at or near the top in Canada, and some are among the very best around the globe. Because of the outstanding reputation of UBC Science and the high-quality training we provide, renowned institutions around the world and top Canadian companies consistently recruit our graduates. UBC Science has also become a leader in transforming undergraduate STEM education, with world-class institutions looking to us to help guide their own efforts to improve their STEM programs. We’ve also made great progress over the past five years to renew and diversify our scholars—bringing new energy and perspectives to our research and teaching.
I’m confident we’re poised to do even more.
We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Numerous emerging challenges are impacting our lives—climate change, food and resource scarcity, energy production and delivery gaps, global pandemics, loss of biodiversity, to name just a few. Solving these problems requires more collaborative research, a more inclusive academy, more scientists able to think across domains, and more investment in Canada’s next generation of investigators.
Globally recognized post-secondary institutions like UBC play crucial roles in addressing these challenges. Fundamental discovery research drives innovation, feeds technical applications, and culminates in translational and social outcomes that improve lives.
Knowing that our researchers and young scholars play a key part in the knowledge ecosystems within Canada and around the world, I’m optimistic about our future.
Dr. Mark MacLachlan
Dean pro tem, Faculty of Science
Professor, Department of Chemistry
