Grad Student Profiles
Why UBC Physics & Astronomy?
Hear what these students say, and click on each profile to explore the student's experience. Also, learn more about why people choose grad school at UBC - visit the UBC graduate school website.
You can also learn the stories behind UBC PHAS students, faculty, and staff members through Humans of PHAS.
Robin Newhouse
I was particularly interested in the group I planned to work with (the UBC ATLAS group). I knew that this was a strong team with expertise in skills I wanted to develop. I was of course drawn to the financial support I would receive while doing research!
Adam Dvorak
[It was] the challenging, supportive, collaborative research environment that really made me want to stay (in UBC) after my undergraduate degree.
Samikshya Sahu
UBC's Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute is an unusual place. When I was looking at graduate programs, there are so many to choose from but very few that offer the unique environment that we have here.
Deborah Good
My program, and in particular my research group, is an excellent opportunity to do some of the best and most exciting science in my field. It’s not an exaggeration to say that CHIME/FRB is totally changing the face of the fast radio burst field and very few places can say that.
Xunyu Liang
My research requires a broad knowledge of miscellaneous subfields in physics including cosmology, particle physics, and condensed matter physics. In additional to its prestigious cosmology team, UBC also has close collaboration with TRIUMF and QMI.
Cassandra Miller
I have to admit that I was initially attracted to the beautiful campus and the possibility of spending my graduate degree hiking and studying at the beach! UBC is also a world-renowned institution and is performing cutting edge research in my field, so the choice was easy for me.
Sarah Morris
UBC has a Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP) accredited Medical Physics program, one of only a few in Canada.
Mengxing Na
The University of British Columbia is one of the best schools in Canada, and as such, it attracts many members from the international community of academics. Alongside an excellent education, one receives rich opportunities to network and collaborate with academics around the world.
Andrew Robertson
Everyone told me that as a graduate student, your relationship with your supervisor was the most important thing. I really took that to heart. The calibre of faculty here is very high.
Dominique Trischuk
I chose UBC because the ATLAS group is one of the best in Canada and has an amazing team of professors, post-docs and graduate students all working together to make important contributions to the ATLAS collaboration.
David Wakeham
My supervisor is a leading scholar in the field, and part of the Simons Foundation It From Qubit collaboration, an international/interdisciplinary network with nodes all over the world and opportunities for travel and research.
Félix Cormier
I was drawn to the strong research team in the UBC group of the ATLAS experiment, as well as to the beautiful province of British Columbia which I get to enjoy whenever I am not working!