UBC Physics & Astronomy

What UBC Physics & Astronomy does

UBC Physics & Astronomy is an academic department within The University of British Columbia, located in the Hennings Building on UBC's Vancouver campus. The department conducts research across ten areas — Applied Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics, Biophysics, Condensed Matter, Medical Physics, Particle & Nuclear Physics, Physics & Astronomy Education, Quantum Information, and Theoretical Physics — and offers undergraduate and graduate (MSc/PhD) programs serving students, academic researchers, and the broader public through outreach programs. Core research capabilities include quantum materials discovery and characterization, development of astronomical instrumentation for telescopes including CHIME, ELT/ANDES, and CCAT, participation in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration for gravitational wave detection, MRI research using Bayesian inference methods, and particle physics contributions through the Belle II experiment.

The department does not generate commercial revenue. Operations are funded through federal research grants (Canada Foundation for Innovation, NSERC, Canada Research Chairs program), university allocations, and donor contributions. Notable infrastructure includes the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, the UBC MRI Research Centre, and the CHIME transit radio telescope, with the CFI 2026 Innovation Fund awarding $50.6M across 14 UBC projects including nearly $11.3M for the ANDES instrument on the Extremely Large Telescope. The department also engages in public outreach through community events, podcast content, recorded lectures on YouTube, and programs targeting K-12 students. Affiliated institutes include the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (IREx), TRIUMF (Canada's national particle accelerator centre), and the UBC-Max Planck Institute-University of Tokyo Centre for Quantum Materials.

Name

UBC Physics & Astronomy

Legal name

Department of Physics & Astronomy, The University of British Columbia

Website

https://phas.ubc.ca

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UBC Physics & Astronomy is an academic department within The University of British Columbia that conducts research across ten physics and astronomy areas and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, serving students, academic researchers, and the public through education and outreach.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education and Academic Research

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Space Research and Technology (92711), Medical Laboratories (621511)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Research Universities with National Laboratories/Big Science Facilities (EDAHAAAJ)

Keywords

• Physics research
• Astronomy education
• Graduate science programs
• Astrophysics research
• University physics department

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

UBC Physics & Astronomy is an academic department at the University of British Columbia that delivers undergraduate and graduate teaching in physics and astronomy while conducting fundamental research across astrophysics, biophysics, medical physics, quantum materials, and gravitational-wave astronomy. The department contributes to major international collaborations including LIGO and the CHIME absorber project, and operates research infrastructure such as a rooftop observatory and specialized undergraduate teaching laboratories. It is primarily funded through federal research grants and university support rather than commercial product sales.

Product overview

UBC Physics & Astronomy is a university department offering undergraduate and graduate educational programs in physics and astronomy, along with research programs across multiple areas including applied physics, astronomy & astrophysics, atomic molecular & optical physics, biophysics, condensed matter, medical physics, particle & nuclear physics, physics & astronomy education, quantum information, and theoretical physics. The department does not offer commercial products or services in the traditional sense.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BSc Major in Physics Undergraduate major program in physics providing foundational training in classical and modern physics for BSc candidates at UBC.
• BSc Combined Honours in Physics Combined honours undergraduate program pairing physics with another subject such as mathematics or astronomy, offering more advanced coursework than the major.
• BSc Major in Astronomy Undergraduate major program in astronomy for BSc candidates, including observation- and theory-based coursework in stellar, galactic, and extragalactic astronomy.
• BSc Major in Biophysics Interdisciplinary undergraduate major program covering applications of physics to biological systems, intended for students interested at the intersection of physics and life sciences.
• MSc in Physics Thesis-based Master of Science program in physics for graduate students pursuing advanced study and original research under faculty supervision.
• PhD in Physics Doctoral research program in physics in which students complete original, publishable research and contribute to the department's research output across astrophysics, biophysics, and quantum materials.
• CHIME Absorber Research Project Research project exploring fast radio burst absorbers and 21-cm cosmology signals using the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope.
• LIGO Gravitational Wave Research Program Research program contributing UBC faculty and graduate students to the LIGO Scientific Collaboration for gravitational-wave detection, instrumentation, and data analysis.
• Quantum Materials Research Program Research program led by the Canada Research Chair in Quantum Materials, focusing on experimental investigation of quantum materials using spectroscopic and materials-characterization techniques.
• Rooftop Observatory Public Outreach Public outreach programming that uses the department's rooftop observatory for Open House events, star parties, and Astronomy-as-Tool lectures targeted at the broader community.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Université de MontréalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 May 2026Lead institution for ANDES instrument development on Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). UBC contributes as major partner, with Allison Man as co-PI, to develop key components of ANDES spectrograph for exoplanet atmospheric detection.
• Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic (OMM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution in ANDES instrument development, bringing expertise from SPIRou, NIRPS, and Canada NIRISS instrument on JWST
• Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (IREx)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-leading the Canadian ANDES contribution team with René Doyon as Director and co-PI of the project
• LIGO Scientific CollaborationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational collaboration detecting gravitational waves using LIGO detectors; UBC team led by Jess McIver contributes to analysis and detector development
• European Southern Observatory (ESO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization building and operating the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT); Canadian contribution through ANDES provides guaranteed telescope access despite non-membership
• CHIME CollaborationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTransit radio telescope collaboration enabling blind surveys for 21-cm absorption systems; Arash Mirhosseini's thesis presents CHIME Absorber Project findings
• Virgo CollaborationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean gravitational wave detector network collaborating with LIGO and KAGRA on joint observation runs
• KAGRA CollaborationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJapanese gravitational wave detector contributing to international network with LIGO and Virgo
• Belle II ExperimentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational particle physics experiment at KEK laboratory in Japan; UBC team including Janis McKenna searches for new physics through electron-positron collisions
• TRIUMFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCanada's national particle accelerator centre; UBC faculty collaborate on experiments including RadMol radioactive molecule research led by Kirk Madison
• Canadian Galactic Emission Mapper (CGEM)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject to map polarized radio emission from Milky Way at 8-10GHz frequencies for cosmology research; Dr. Thomas J. Rennie working on CGEM at UBC
• Blusson Quantum Matter InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUBC institute providing research facilities and collaboration opportunities for condensed matter physics; Meigan Aronson and Andrea Damascelli serve as principal investigators
• Max Planck InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-director relationship through UBC-Max Planck Institute-University of Tokyo Centre for Quantum Materials; collaborative research in quantum materials

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics: Canadian-based theoretical physics research institute with strong overlap in quantum information, quantum gravity, and theoretical cosmology. Adjacent but emerging player that recruits from and competes with UBC's theoretical physics faculty pool.

Broad incumbents

• MIT Department of Physics: Global leader in physics research with significantly larger resources across quantum information, condensed matter, astrophysics, and particle physics. Sets the competitive ceiling for top UBC faculty recruitment and aspirational benchmark for research output.
• Stanford Physics Department: Top US physics department with strong programs in particle physics (SLAC), condensed matter, and quantum information. Comparable research breadth to UBC at substantially larger scale.
• Caltech Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy: Elite US physics division with deep involvement in LIGO, gravitational-wave science, and cosmology. Shares research overlap with UBC through LIGO collaboration and acts as global benchmark for instrumentation-driven discovery.

Others

• TRIUMF: Canada's national particle accelerator centre and a core UBC partner (Kirk Madison RadMol collaboration, Saturday Morning Lectures). Not a direct competitor but a key infrastructure provider and collaborator for UBC's particle and nuclear physics research.

Direct peers

• University of Toronto Department of Physics: Largest Canadian physics department with comparable research breadth across particle physics, condensed matter, astrophysics, and quantum information. Direct domestic peer competing for the same CFI, NSERC, and Canada Research Chair funding pools.
• McMaster University Department of Physics and Astronomy: Mid-sized Canadian physics department with research in medical physics, astrophysics, and condensed matter. Direct peer competing for CFI infrastructure and NSERC grants in similar sub-fields.
• University of Alberta Department of Physics: Major Canadian physics department with complementary strengths in astrophysics, particle physics, and condensed matter. Direct peer for faculty recruitment and graduate applicant pools in western Canada.
• University of Waterloo Department of Physics and Astronomy: Canadian research university physics department with overlapping strengths in astrophysics, quantum information (Institute for Quantum Computing), and condensed matter. Comparable scale and federal funding profile.
• McGill University Department of Physics: Another top Canadian physics department with strong particle physics, condensed matter, and astrophysics programs. Direct peer competing for graduate students, faculty, and federal research infrastructure funding.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/ubcphas
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ubc-physics-astronomy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UBC Physics & Astronomy