Units in the Portfolio

The Indigenous Research Support Initiative provides research support and services to Indigenous communities and university researchers collaborating on projects and ensures that these projects are based on community-led interests, reciprocal relationships and principles of mutual accountability.

The Institutional Programs Office manages the full cycle of major federal, provincial and regional research awards including those offered by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF) and Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD).

Innovation UBC works with UBC’s researchers to support and accelerate the translation of their research into real world impacts. Through research partnerships, technology transfer, and venture building services, UBC researchers have access to a robust ecosystem of services and support to strengthen their translation opportunities. 

The Innovation Partnerships team provides cross-sector expertise to identify opportunities that stimulate innovation through building high-impact, mutually beneficial partnerships between UBC researchers and industry, government and non-profits.

The Office of Research Ethics ensures that research at UBC achieves the highest ethical standards, provides leadership on emerging issues in research ethics, delivers training to faculty and students and manages regulatory compliance for studies funded by the U.S. Public Health Service.

The Office of Research Prizes + Awards provides strategic guidance and nomination support for external awards and oversees UBC's internal faculty research awards program.

The Office of Research Services helps researchers find funding opportunities, obtain the institutional signature for grant applications, manages ongoing compliance requirements, sets up research accounts and spending limits, transfers research funds and register clinical trials. 

The VPRI office oversees management of institutional research support units and provides strategic support for major institutional initiatives and
competitions, including the teams listed below. 

• Horizon Europe
• Institutional Chair Programs
• Research Security
• Shared Research Platforms (UBCV)
• Strategic Initiatives and Internal Competitions (UBCV and cross-campus)

Research Finance ensures all sponsored research funds are spent in compliance with policies, prepares and submits financial reports to funders and helps to resolve any funding issues.

The staff at SPARC provide strategic research development services and resources designed to develop capacity, build collaborations and increase the success of UBC researchers when applying to Tri-Agency funding initiatives.

The University of British Columbia Press publishes high-quality works of original scholarship as Canada's leading social sciences publisher.

The University of British Columbia’s Advanced Nanofabrication Facility (ANF) is a world-leading device manufacturing facility that brings together partners from academia, industry, and government to reinforce Canada’s position as a leader in developing next-generation quantum devices and quantum technologies. 

Advanced Research Computing (ARC) supports high-performance computing and data management needs, and provides consultations, expertise and access to digital research infrastructure.

Together with UBC’s Animal Care Committee, Animal Care Services provides services in support of the UBC Animal Care and Use Program including research support, veterinary services, compliance, training, procurement, animal housing, technical services and administrative support.

FINDER is a full-service facility for researchers working with Risk Group 3 pathogens, providing expert advice for safety protocols, access and services for academic and industry projects as well as training and advice. FINDER is a Level 3 Containment facility funded as a partnership between the Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation, UBC's Faculty of Medicine and Genome BC.

LASIR is a multidisciplinary research laboratory exploring new frontiers in laser matter interaction, providing unprecedented accessibility to a wide range of researchers in fields as diverse as physics, biology, medicine, engineering, microbiology and chemistry.

The laboratories feature leading-edge laser sources, diagnostics and end stations for a broad range of research applications, and have the capabilities to analyze materials with state-of the-art laser systems spanning a range of wavelengths from deep UV to infrared, and timescales from nanosecond to femtosecond.

LOA is a community of scholars whose research focuses on history, culture, and materiality. LOA is a designated Provincial repository responsible for the care and housing of hundreds of thousands of belongings, debitage, and samples recovered from ancient villages throughout British Columbia as well as the archival records generated by archaeologists. These are legally held in trust for the peoples of British Columbia under the BC Heritage Conservation Act. LOA works with Indigenous communities to ensure informed consent for research of these testimonies left by their Ancestors.

Established in 2020 at the University of British Columbia, the Molecular and Advanced Pathology Core aims to bring spatial “omics” from the laboratory to patient care in the clinic. Through custom Akoya Opal™ multiplex immunofluorescence panels and the sole NanoString Technologies GeoMx® Digital Spatial Profiler in the province, the Molecular and Advanced Pathology Core is committed to furthering the success of “omics” research by translating findings to clinical utility.

The Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research (PCIGR) offers advanced instrumentation, training and end-to-end geochemistry services to support research in geology, oceanography, environmental sciences, biology, engineering, archaeology and more. PCIGR is funded as a partnership between the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences and the Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation.

UBC's Plant Care Services provides greenhouse and field facilities for scientific experiments, training, consultation on experimental design, and operational support for UBC researchers and external users. PCS is funded as a partnership between the Department of Botany, the faculties of Science, Forestry, and Land and Food Systems, and the Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation.

The UBC Sequencing and Bioinformatics Consortium (SBC) provides state-of-the-art facilities, training and support for UBC researchers and external partners through all stages of sequencing projects, from planning to analysis. SBC is funded as a partnership between the faculties of Science and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation.

The UBC Bioimaging Facility provides microscopy access, training and service to researchers across and beyond UBC. It is funded through a partnership between the Faculties of Science, Applied Science, Medicine, Forestry and Land and Food Systems, the Departments of Botany and Zoology, Professor and CFI-JELF grant holder Mark MacLachlan (Chemistry) and the Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation.

The ubcFLOW cytometry facility was established over fifteen years ago and has been growing each year. We started with a single cell sorter and cell analyser and have expanded to four high end cell sorters and seven analysers, all equipped with multiple laser and detectors to accommodate the variety of work performed at UBC. We now offer a state of the art facility with a range of instruments that can truly compete with any facility around the world.

Upright Open MRI offers North America’s only scanner of its type, dedicated for research use. It is funded through a partnership between UBC's Faculty of Medicine, the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, and the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation.

The Office of the Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation oversees management of research support units and offers internal competitions on the Okanagan campus; provides strategic support for major campus and institutional initiatives, including from the teams listed below. 

• Partnerships (including Venture Mentoring Service)
• Strategic Initiatives and Institutional Programs (UBCO)

The Office of Research Services (ORS) Okanagan provides research facilitation and administrative services. ORS-O helps researchers find funding and provides grant-program and application support, supplies the institutional signature for grant applications, manages new and ongoing compliance requirements, and sets up and provides ongoing maintenance for research accounts.

FiLTER is a state-of-the-art research facility specializing in trace element analysis and electron microscope imaging.

The Plant Growth Facility at UBC Okanagan is a state-of-the-art, 5,000 square-foot greenhouse facility that
provides ample space for large projects while allowing for isolation of different growth and treatment protocols.

The Research Data Centre at UBC Okanagan is a secure campus facility to access microdata from population and household surveys, administrative data holdings and linked data from Statistics Canada.

UBC Survive and Thrive Applied Research (UBC STAR) is research and development hub powered by a network of UBC researchers working collaboratively with academic and industry partners to develop technologies, strategies and standards for application in defence, sport and health.