Program Overview

Overview

The Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD) program at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is designed to prepare students for employment in the public or private sector. The program focuses on the study of the Earth's materials, features, and processes, and offers a wide range of research areas, including field-based studies, experimental research, and laboratory analyses.

Program Details

• The program is offered by the Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences in the Faculty of Science.
• The program is available for full-time study, with a minimum of 4 years required for completion.
• The program requires a master's degree in an area of science or applied science, with clear evidence of research ability or potential.
• The program has a graduation rate of 75% based on 20 students admitted between 2011-2014.
• The average time to completion is 5.7 years.

Admission Requirements

• Minimum academic requirements: a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC).
• English language proficiency: 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.
• Prior degree requirements: students admitted to the PhD degree program normally possess a master's degree in an area of science or applied science.
• Other requirements: transcripts, letters of reference, statement of interest, and supervision.

Tuition and Financial Support

• Tuition fees: $5,626.02 (domestic) and $9,883.98 (international) per year.
• Financial support: PhD students are guaranteed minimum funding of CAN $26,530.20 (plus tuition) per year for the first four years.
• Funding packages: may consist of research assistantships, teaching assistantships, scholarships, and prizes.

Research Areas

• The program offers a wide range of research areas, including:
  • Field-based studies (e.g., mineral deposit research, volcanology, sedimentology, tectonics, petrology, hydrogeology).
  • Experimental research (e.g., hydrofracking, rock deformation, volcanic processes, CO2 sequestration).
  • Laboratory analyses (e.g., petrography, petrology, geochronology).

Facilities

• The program is housed in the Earth System Science Building, which includes world-class instrumentation for isotopic and geochemical research (PCIGR), the Electron Microbeam and XRD Facility (EMXDF), and the Centre for Experimental Studies of the Lithosphere (CESL).

Career Outcomes

• The program prepares students for employment in the public or private sector, with recent graduates taking positions in mineral exploration companies, government geological surveys, and academia.
• Sample employers: Western Michigan University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, University of British Columbia, Monash University, Hawaii Pacific University.
• Sample job titles: Geologist, Research Scientist, Senior Project Geologist, Senior Staff Geologist, Internal Controls Administrator, Volcanologist, Gemmologist, Technical Advisor in Geology, Senior Geochemist North America, Senior Geoscientist.

Research Supervisors

• The program has a list of faculty members with full supervisory privileges, including:
  • Ameli, Ali
  • Barker, Shaun
  • Beckie, Roger
  • Bustin, Robert Marc
  • Chritz, Kendra
  • Crowe, Sean
  • d'Arcy, Mitch
  • Eberhardt, Erik
  • Groat, Lee
  • Hickey, Kenneth
  • Jellinek, Mark
  • Johnson, Mark
  • Kopylova, Maya
  • Mayer, Ulrich
  • McDougall, Scott
  • Peacock, Simon
  • Prytulak, Julie
  • Saylor, Joel Edward
  • Scoates, James
  • Smit, Matthijs
  • Tarling, Matthew
  • Weis, Dominique

Sample Thesis Submissions

• Machine learning and linear programming models for targeting brucite-bearing serpentinite and kimberlite as feedstock for CO2 sequestration at nickel and diamond mines.
• Tracing the evolution of the Archean cratonic mantle using Lu-Hf isotopes.
• Diagnosing spatiotemporal catchment hydrologic behavior via causal inference, information theory, and machine learning.
• Lithium aluminosilicate formation and textural origins in evolved pegmatites: insights from the Tanco pegmatite, Manitoba and Prof pegmatite, British Columbia.
• Carbonatitic magmatism and metamorphic processes in the Monashee complex, British Columbia: thermotectonic evolution of the western North American margin from the Neoproterozoic to the Paleogene.
• Feasibility of in-situ carbon mineralization in serpentinite via shallow injection, B.C., Canada.
• The detection and quantification of reactivity in ultramafic rocks, minerals and mine waste for carbon dioxide removal via carbon mineralization.
• Zircon and apatite in the Skaergaard intrusion, East Greenland: trace element, isotopic, and geochronological constraints on crystallization of a closed-system magma reservoir with implications for magmatism in the North Atlantic Igneous Province.
• Geochemistry of shield basalts from Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i: exploring the emergence of the Hawaiian geochemical trends: [supplementary material].
• Constraining sources of mass bias in multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

Related Programs

• Master of Science in Geological Sciences (MSc)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Engineering (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD)
• Graduate Certificate in Applied Geological Engineering (GCAGE)
• Master of Applied Science in Geological Engineering (MASc)
• Master of Applied Science in Geophysics (MASc)
• Master of Engineering in Geological Engineering (MEng)
• Master of Science in Atmospheric Science (MSc)
• Master of Science in Geophysics (MSc)
• Master of Science in Oceanography (MSc)