Atmospheric Science: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - UBCV is a doctorate in Natural Sciences & Mathematics programme offered by The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The programme is delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 10,082 per year (CAD 5,739 per year for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Doctorate
Field:Natural Sciences & Mathematics
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 5,739 / year
International tuition: CAD 10,082 / year
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
The PhD in Atmospheric Science applies classical physics to the behaviour of the atmosphere at every scale, from turbulent eddies and storm clouds up to global circulation, and is driven by problems that will not wait: climate change, air quality and the integration of renewable energy. It is a dissertation-based degree, and applicants are asked to name the faculty they would like to work with, though no supervisory commitment is required before applying, and the faculty involved are spread across Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Geography, Chemistry, Mathematics, Soil Science and Mechanical Engineering, so projects are often genuinely interdisciplinary. Research includes numerical weather prediction, boundary-layer and urban micrometeorology, cloud physics, aerosols and atmospheric radiation, air pollution chemistry and pollutant transport, weather-driven hazards such as wildfire smoke, avalanches and floods, climate dynamics and glaciology, remote sensing, ocean-atmosphere interaction, and machine learning applied to environmental prediction. Doctoral students combine laboratory and field measurement with numerical modelling, using specialised field instrumentation and the department's cluster computing, within one of the largest geoscience departments in Canada.
Requirements
Minimum GPA:76.00 / %
Admission Requirements: Admission follows the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies' general standard of a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC); the program does not require an undergraduate or graduate degree in atmospheric science specifically but expects a strong physics, mathematics and computational background, and states that meeting the minimum average does not guarantee admission in what is a competitive process. The GRE is optional. Applicants from institutions where English is not the primary language of instruction must submit, within the last 24 months, IELTS Academic overall 6.5 with no component below 6.0, TOEFL iBT overall 90 (post-January-2026 scale: 4.5), or the Duolingo English Test overall 125 with no component below 115.
Application Details
Start Date:September and January
Application Deadline:Domestic and international undergraduate applicants both apply through EducationPlannerBC for Winter Session 2027/28 (September 2027 entry) and Summer 2027: applications open in early October 2026 and the equal-consideration deadline is 15 January 2027, 11:59 p.m. PST, the same date for both groups; a few programs keep reviewing late applications on a space-available basis afterwards. Earlier dates apply only to entrance-award consideration -- 15 November 2026 for the International Scholars Program and 1 December 2026 for Presidential/Centennial/Beyond Tomorrow scholars. Several limited-entry programmes -- Law, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nursing (advanced entry), Occupational/Physical Therapy, Social Work and Teacher Education -- set their own earlier deadlines from October 2026 through February 2027. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
