News

Congratulations to UBC Chemistry alumnus Ryoga Hojo on being named the first-ever recipient of the Chris Orvig Doctoral Prize in Chemistry! Hojo completed his PhD in the Hudson Group, graduating in August 2025.

This annual award recognizes the best PhD thesis in the Department of Chemistry. Hojo’s thesis is titled “Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence: From Rational Design to Applications in Photocatalysis”.

...

Congratulations to Prof. Jason Hein and Research Associate Dr. Ivory Zhang, whose IvoryOS project has been selected by the Innovation UBC’s Venture Founder program!

While self-driving labs (SDLs) are promising in accelerating scientific discoveries, high barriers to entry – such as the need for specialized programming expertise and the lack of standardized...

Congratulations to the 2025 UBC Chemistry Alumni Award winners, Dr. Renata Oballa (Alumni Award of Distinction) and Dr. Janet Ochola (Young Alumnus Award)!

Alumni Award of Distinction | Dr. Renata Oballa, BSc ’89, PhD '95

This award recognizes an alumnus whose accomplishments are of such excellence that they provide inspiration and leadership to students and other alumni. The recipient has shown significant leadership either in their professional career...

Telescope Innovations Corp. a UBC Department of Chemistry Spinoff Company from Professor Jason Hein, announces the successful installation of the first pharmaceutical Self-Driving Lab (“SDL”) in South Korea, delivered to the Korean Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (“KPBMA”) for its new AI-focused R&D training centre in Seoul. The installation, completed only three weeks after the purchase was...

Congratulations to Professor Takamasa Momose for being a recipient of UBC's 2025 Distinguished University Scholars!  

The Distinguished University Scholar awards recognize exceptional members of faculty who have distinguished themselves as scholars in research and/or teaching and learning. The program runs every two years. The award is conferred by the President on the recommendation of an Adjudication Panel.

Two self-driving labs at the Acceleration Consortium (AC) are transforming the way scientists purify chemicals, thanks to a new funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s Alliance program. This brings the project’s total support to over $1 million, alongside its partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb—as part of the AC’s industry-sponsored collaborations.

The funded project focuses on automating liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) — a...

Congratulations to Associate Professor Jolene Reid for receiving the 2026 Keith Fagnou Award! The Keith Fagnou Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution to organic chemistry while working in Canada.

Since...

Congratulations to Dr. Nadine Borduas-Dedekind for being one of 9 individuals to receive the 2026 ACS Rising Star Award!

This award recognizes exceptional early to mid-career women chemists across all areas who have demonstrated outstanding promise for contributions to their respective fields. To be given annually, this new award is also intended to help promote retention of women in science.

Read...

Over the past year, a unique research collaboration between interdisciplinary experts at the University of British Columbia and local marine transportation company, Seaspan Ferries, is trying to address unanswered questions key to unlocking decarbonization in the marine industry. The collaboration provides an exciting opportunity for four separate research labs to work together, analyzing real-world emissions and air quality data collected along the Fraser River in multiple studies across...