Chemistry Opportunities

The Cleantech Research Centre is Western Canada’s clean technologies innovation centre created through $1.9 million in funding from Pacific Economic Development Canada, and contributions from NSERC, UBC, and industrial partners. The Centre is a cutting-edge innovation space located at UBC’s Okanagan Campus. It fosters academic-industry collaborations to promote clean technologies, help Canadian companies to bring their technologies and products to domestic and international markets, and support Canada’s transition to a low-carbon economy.

The UBC Bioreactor Technology Group offers exceptional experience to researchers through a state-of-the-art laboratory containing very specialized equipment. This allows researchers to focus on a variety of issues including: - Residuals to Bioenergy Conversion - Emerging Pretreatment Technologies for Advanced Biosolids Digestion - Fate and Transformation of Micropollutants during Biological Treatment Processes - Modeling, Simulation, and Optimization of Biological Wastewater/Sludge Treatment Processes - Waste Minimization and Resource Recovery

The Jaumouillé lab is interested in immunotherapies that promote the elimination of cancer cells through professional phagocytes. Our goal is to understand the mechanisms that restrict the anti-tumoral capacity of phagocytes to develop more effective therapeutic strategies. Our approach is to employ genetic engineering techniques to study and manipulate immune cells, including CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, chimeric antigen receptors, retroviral and transposon expression systems. Interested students should e-mail Dr. Jaumouillé with a brief description of their research interests and include a current transcripts and CV. (Posted 03JULY2025)

Multiple bioinformatics projects: Antimicrobial gene mobility; Pathogen-associated gene analysis; Data curation and visualization of integrated microbiome, clinical, environmental data.

Molecular mechanisms underlying asymmetric cell division

The Paetzel laboratory has research opportunities for undergraduate students interested in structural bioinformatics. A computer science background is helpful, but not always essential. (Posted 03JULY2025)

Molecular mechanisms underlying asymmetric cell division

The Hawkins lab studies the role of asymmetrically localized proteins and the Wnt signaling pathway in asymmetric cell division in C. elegans. We have focused on the protein HAM-1, that is asymmetrically localized at the cell cortex in many dividing cells in the embryo. This protein also has a DNA binding domain and localizes to the nucleus. We proposed that the asymmetric localization at the cell cortex is one mechanism to specifically distribute the protein to one of the two daughter cells during division. The goal is to watch the segregation of HAM-1 in living embryos during cell division. To accomplish this goal, the directed research project will involve generating a plasmid construct that fuses the ham-1 gene to a gene encoding a photoconvertible fluorescent protein (Dendra2). This construct will then be used to generate transgenic C. elegans. A series of experiments will then be undertaken to visualize Dendra2::HAM-1 localization and segregation in transgenic embryos.

15-credit Direct Research opportunities are available in the Choy lab for individuals interested in studying how immune responses contribute to transplant rejection and autoimmune disease. Interested students should e-mail Dr. Choy describing their research interests along with a copy of transcripts and CV.

The Hof group has hosted students from many different scientific and personal backgrounds. If you want to know more about experiences in the group through the lens of any particular identity, you can write to Dr. Hof before deciding about an application so he can try to put you in contact with a current or past student who shares some aspect of your personal identity, your academic background, and/or your cultural background.

University of Victoria undergraduate students intersted in developing their laboratory skills and experiencing the research environment should contact us regarding CHEM 298, 398, 399 and 499 projects (UVic).

Research at the intersection of chemistry and physics, focusing on spectroscopy and nanomaterials.

Investigates genome evolution and cell biology using modern molecular and computational approaches.

In the Gates Research Group, there are a range of opportunities available in assisting to developing new electrocatalysts and new battery materials, and studying the performance of these materials towards achieving more active, more durable, and more sustainable solutions for clean energy technologies. The specific areas of our work include synthesis of nanomaterials, preparation of coatings, and fabrication of textured materials, and the characterization of these materials using techniques that span from electron microscopy to elemental analysis to electrochemical analyses.

In the Siahrostami group, there are opportunities for CHEM 296, 396, 481-484, Summer NSERC/VPR USRA, and other research experiences - come and get involved with a wide range of projects involving Computational Material Design for Clean Energy. We use first-principles calculations to design catalyst materials for electrochemical devices such as fuel cells and batteries that are critical for a clean and sustainable energy society. Great opportunity to learn computer simulation of chemical processes on catalyst surfaces and learn about virtual and in-silico design of materials. Depending on the project, you will gain hands-on experience and training using a variety of amazing computational techniques, such as Atomic Simulation Environment, Materials Studio, Vienna Ab Initio Simulation Package, and Quantum Espresso.

Profs. Corina Andreoiu and Chris Charles are looking for a motivated and curious student who will develop a tin (Sn) ion beam at the Off-Line Ion Sources (OLIS) facility located at TRIUMF. Tin is element 50 in the periodic table, has 50 protons and that makes it an extra stable (magic) nucleus. Tin has the largest number of stable isotopes (10!) and this fact makes it one of the most studied isotopes. Having an intense and reliable tin beam is essential to perform fundamental nuclear structure experiments at TRIUMF. For example, we can accelerate a tin ion beam to velocities of 3-5% of the speed of light and collide it with carbon targets to study new nuclei produced in that reaction. The project will involve characterizing Sn+ emission from a dedicated oven heater inside the ion source, as a function of temperature and supporting gas bled into the ion source. The goal is to find optimal source parameters to produce beams of Sn isotopes for fundamental nuclear structure research.

This research develops materials and analytical methods to assess and maintain safe working environments across healthcare, manufacturing, and research settings using data science and chemometrics.

Research in the Williams group focuses on soft materials such as polymers and liquid crystals, as well as materials that change their properties in response to stimuli such as light, heat or chemical species. In this project, the student will examine reversible light-induced changes in liquid crystalline materials.

Profs. Corina Andreoiu and Chris Charles are looking for a motivated and curious student with an aptitude for hands-on experimental work, who will help design a quartz high-temperature oven for stable ion beam production for the Off-Line Ion Sources (OLIS) facility located at TRIUMF. This project is necessary to replace the commercially available ovens that are very expensive and can only be used for a single element, significantly reducing the cost associated with beam development. The new ovens will be used to produce stable isotope beams from nearly all elements with high intensity and reliability. The project will involve designing and building prototype ovens, testing with different stable element samples at the OLIS facility, and repeating those tasks to find an optimal oven design.

We have openings for motivated students interested in gaining experience in research in the area of experimental nuclear physics. Our projects use radiation detectors to study the nuclear decays of various beams to investigate nuclei with an unbalanced number of protons and neutron that are created in laboratory.

Phthalocyanines also have unique redox properties are very stable. Projects in this area in the Leznoff lab (www.leznoffchemistry.ca) include metal-containing phthalocyanine (PcM) use as catalysts for CO2 electroreduction or synthesis of biodegradable polylactide plastics; organometallic chemistry with PcM from across the periodic table; preparation of rare non-blue/green PcM dyes; and harnessing the redox-active ring system for a range of applications. You will get hands-on experience and training with lots of cool characterization equipment, including single-crystal X-ray diffraction, UV-visible-NIR absorption and fluorescence, MALDI-MS and more, depending on the project.

Coordination polymers are multi-dimensional materials that are held together with metal-ligand bonds, which can be self-assembled – like lego pieces - from judiciously chosen building blocks, and their structures and properties tuned to target a range of applications. Areas of exploration include colour-changing (vapochromic) sensors for toxic gases; light-emitting materials; materials with unusual thermal expansion or contraction properties; highly birefringent or refractive materials for optical applications; and magnetic complexes. You will get hands-on experience and training with lots of cool characterization equipment, including single-crystal X-ray diffraction, fluorescence, IR/Raman spectroscopy and more, depending on the project.

We are designing and synthesizing new metal complexes that selectively target and kill cancer cells. Our research is multidisciplinary, including synthesis, spectroscopy, and biological studies. My laboratory provides a welcoming and inclusive environment to learn new skills and be part of an active research group.

We use high-end HPLC and MS systems to characterize a variety of proteins sensitively and accurately for disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Students will work closely with other members in the lab on various projects. Together, the student will assist sample preparation and necessary data analysis. Qualified candidates will have opportunities to be supported for undergraduate fellowship applications and conference travel and presentations. Participants will have good opportunities to learn cutting-edge high throughput proteomics techniques, quantitative analytical skills, and applied biological knowledge. Our lab cultivates both team and independent research experiences, in which each member will interact closely and broadly to other students, and will sharpen problem solving and critical thinking abilities.

AI is artificial intelligence, which mimic human intelligence. One application of AI in bioanalytical chemistry is on the detection of fraud in sesame oil with the help of artificial intelligence combined with chemometrics methods and chemical compounds characterization by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. A part of AI is machine learning (ML), which includes principal component analysis (PCA) that is unsupervised ML. Students will learn PCA and generate results and plots using R programming.