Program Overview

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Overview

The graduate program in Cell and Developmental Biology offers M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees to students undertaking advanced study and research in cell and developmental biology. The program is flexible and is designed to accommodate the diverse backgrounds of students and the broad nature of research in cell and developmental biology.

Program Details

• The program's courses provide a thorough understanding of the scientific fundamentals and methodologies of contemporary cell and developmental biology.
• All students also undertake original and significant research from the start of their studies.
• With nearly 50 faculty members engaged in cutting-edge research in cell and developmental biology, a wide range of research topics is available to students.
• The program also aims to enhance linkages and facilitate research interactions between the larger community of cell and developmental biologists in British Columbia by acting as a common forum for scholarly exchange in cell and developmental biology through its student-led seminar series, research retreats, and other activities.

What Makes the Program Unique?

• The Program is administered through the Life Sciences Institute (LSI), Canada's largest Institute for life science research, which houses over 80 laboratories conducting internationally recognized research in areas such as cell and molecular biology, cancer biology, diabetes, and microbiology & immunology.
• Program faculty and students also conduct research at hospital-based research Institutes and Centres, including the BC Cancer Research Centre, the Biomedical Research Centre, the Centre for Brain Health, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, and the Centre for Macular Research.
• All of these Institutes and Centres offer highly collaborative research environments and provide outstanding facilities and resources to the ~100 graduate students who call the program home.
• Given the number of researchers associated with the program and their varied Departmental and Faculty affiliations, the potential range of research topics available to students in the Program is very large.
• Minimum level of financial support for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students of $32,500 per year, with top-ups for students who receive scholarships.

Quick Facts

• Faculty: Faculty of Medicine
• Academic Unit: Cell & Developmental Biology Program
• Specialization: Cell and Developmental Biology
• Mode of delivery: In person at UBC Vancouver
• Program Components: Dissertation
• Tuition (First Year): Domestic: $5,626.02 | International: $9,883.98
• Median Funding: 50% of students receive $40,488 or more funding per year in the first 4 years, before tuition and fees

Admission Information & Requirements

Program Instructions

• Acceptance into the Program is dependent upon a prospective student getting written agreement from a Faculty member that he/she will be their Research Supervisor.

1) Check Eligibility

Minimum Academic Requirements

• The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies establishes the minimum admission requirements common to all applicants, usually a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC).
• The graduate program that you are applying to may have additional requirements.

English Language Test

• Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application.
• Tests must have been taken within the last 24 months at the time of submission of your application.

Minimum Requirements for English Language Proficiency Tests

• TOEFL: Overall score requirement: 100
  • Reading: 22
  • Writing: 22
  • Speaking: 22
  • Listening: 22
• IELTS: Overall score requirement: 7.0
  • Reading: 6.5
  • Writing: 6.5
  • Speaking: 6.5
  • Listening: 6.5

2) Meet Deadlines

• See the graduate degree program listing for additional deadline details.
• Program Name: Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD)
  • Intake: May 2026
    • Canadian Applicant Deadline: 30 November 2025
    • International Applicant Deadline: 30 November 2025
  • Intake: September 2026
    • Canadian Applicant Deadline: 31 March 2026
    • International Applicant Deadline: 31 March 2026
  • Intake: January 2027
    • Canadian Applicant Deadline: 31 August 2026
    • International Applicant Deadline: 31 August 2026
  • Intake: May 2027
    • Canadian Applicant Deadline: 30 November 2026
    • International Applicant Deadline: 30 November 2026

Tuition & Financial Support

Tuition

• Fees:
  • Application Fee: $118.50 (Canadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / Diplomat), $168.25 (International)
  • Tuition per year: $5,626.02 (Domestic), $9,883.98 (International)
  • Student Fees (yearly): $1,144.10 (approx.)

Financial Support

• Applicants to UBC have access to a variety of funding options, including merit-based and need-based opportunities.
• Program Funding Packages: Research Supervisors must commit to supporting students financially during the course of their training.
• Minimum level of financial support: $32,500 per year, for a minimum of 4 years.
• Financial support is in the form of a minimum funding package which can be made up from several sources – usually a combination of a Scholarship/Award, a Teaching Assistantship, and a Research Assistantship.

Career Outcomes

• Our graduates are well-prepared and highly competitive for the next step in their careers, whether in academia or in other sectors (e.g., biotechnology, healthcare, government, business, finance) where an in-depth knowledge of modern cell and developmental biology is required.
• Sample Employers in Higher Education:
  • University of British Columbia
  • New York University
  • National Tsing Hua University
  • University of California - San Diego
  • Western University (Ontario)
  • Simon Fraser University
  • Douglas College
  • University of Bonn
  • University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  • Duke University Medical Center
• Sample Employers Outside Higher Education:
  • STEMCELL Technologies
  • National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health
  • Lowy Medical Research Institute
  • Allen Institute for Brain Science
  • Carl Zeiss Canada Ltd.
  • Alberta Health Services
  • Cardiac Services BC
  • GFY Biotech Consulting
  • Amgen
  • TRI
• Sample Job Titles Outside Higher Education:
  • Director
  • Consultant
  • Senior Manager, External R&D and Alliances
  • Postdoctoral Fellow
  • Manager
  • TV Producer
  • Senior Product Marketing Manager
  • Account Manager
  • Senior Associate Scientist
  • Scientist

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

• New Enrolment: 5 (2023), 1 (2022), 4 (2021), 3 (2020), 7 (2019)
• Total Enrolment: 51 (2023), 46 (2022), 40 (2021), 40 (2020), 32 (2019)
• Graduation Rate: 93% based on 32 students admitted between 2011 - 2014.
• Average Time to Completion: 4.52 years

Research Supervisors

• List of faculty members with full supervisory privileges who are affiliated with this program:
  • Accili, Eric
  • Allan, Douglas
  • Auld, Vanessa
  • Bamji, Shernaz
  • Beristain, Alexander Guillermo
  • Bruce, Heather
  • Cembrowski, Mark Steven
  • Conibear, Elizabeth
  • Coombs, Daniel
  • Dong, Xuesen
  • Gold, Michael
  • Gordon, Michael
  • Graf, Daniel
  • Greenblatt, Ethan
  • Haas, Kurt
  • Hakkinen, Lari
  • Hilton, Brett
  • Hoffman, Bradford
  • Hoodless, Pamela
  • John Peter, Arun
  • Johnson, James
  • Kieffer, Tim
  • Kopp, Janel
  • Krentz, Nicole
  • Lange, Philipp

Sample Thesis Submissions

• Delineating the roles of integrin alpha6 in central nervous system involved acute lymphoblastic leukemia
• Investigating the role of podocalyxin in solid tumour collective invasion
• Integrin activation by talin regulates mammalian development and hemostasis
• Analysis of talin-mediated linkage to actin in cell-ECM adhesion in mice
• The mRNA deadenylase PAN complex plays an evolutionarily conserved role in M-phase of the cell cycle during microtubule stress
• Functional recovery following spinal cord injury: remyelination as a therapeutic target in aging
• Eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase EFK-1/eEF2K promotes starvation resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans
• Consequences and repair of mitochondrial protein import defects in mammals
• Regulation of fat storage in Drosophila melanogaster females
• Investigating the role of the putative lipid transport protein Fmp27 at ER-PM membrane contact sites
• Applying super-resolution microscopy to investigate caveolin-1 and clathrin endocytosis
• Characterization of autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa-associated rhodopsin missense mutations in Xenopus laevis rod photoreceptors
• Electrophilic stress induction in macrophages and its application to disease models of immune hyperactivation
• Roles of autophagy and transcription factor EB (TFEB) in β-cell viability and function
• Dynamic insulin gene activity states in insulin producing cells
• Characterization and functional perturbation of the adult dentition of leopard gecko
• Mutations in Frizzled2 and Dishevelled1 inhibit skeletogenesis and disturb WNT signaling during the craniofacial development in the chicken embryo
• TBX3 advances the developmental chromatin landscape towards the hepatic fate
• Corticosteroid-binding globulin shapes the sexual dimorphism of adrenal, hepatic, and neuroendocrine responses
• In vivo analysis of blood progenitor differentiation and hematopoietic niche maintenance in Drosophila melanogaster

Related Programs

• Master of Science in Cell and Developmental Biology (MSc)
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Biology at the UBC Okanagan Campus

Further Information

• Specialization: Cell and Developmental Biology
• UBC Calendar: graduate-and-postdoctoral-studies/degree-programs/cell-and-developmental-biology
• Program Website:
• Faculty: Faculty of Medicine
• Academic Unit: Cell & Developmental Biology Program
• Program Identifier: VGDPHD-DU
• Classification: Natural sciences » Biological sciences » Cell biology

Alumni Stories

• Perveen Biln: Senior Specialist, Medical Affairs at Merck Canada
• Geoffroy Noel: Associate Professor at McGill University

Program Enquiries

• Contact the program for further information.