Faculty of Science

Message from the Dean

This is an exciting year in the world of Science. High profile advances have included the possible discovery of the Higg’s boson at CERN and the Curiosity Rover landing on Mars. These global headlines link immediately to the research of our own scientists:

An important detector in the Higg’s boson discovery was built at TRIUMF, Canada’s national particle physics laboratory. Researchers from our own departments of Physics and Chemistry are key members of experimental teams at TRIUMF; for example, Dr. Jeff Martin of the Physics department is a leader in TRIUMF’s ultra-cold neutron (UCN) project seeking to measure the electric dipole moment of neutrons. If successful, this project will have an impact analogous to that of a Higg’s discovery.

Meanwhile in Geography, Dr. Ed Cloutis’ Mars research is well known. Space science in the twenty-first century is a team sport, and Dr. Cloutis has a long track record of participation in space agency teams seeking to unravel the properties of Mars, particularly regarding the possible presence of methane, a bio-signature.

While continuing its excellence in scientific research, this year the Faculty of Science also extended its track record of excellent teaching and community involvement. The Richardson College for the Environment and Science Complex has been open for over a year now and is a premier facility in North America among scientific teaching laboratories. This large and visually striking building daily sees some 2,000 students passing through its doors, and this past year hosted several scientific and community events. As one highlight, in May 2012, Science Rendezvous brought hundreds of community members through our building to experience Science in a hands-on way, and was featured on CTV television.

Our faculty continues to be active in a great many community outreach activities. These include Café Scientifique, EcoKids on Campus, the High School Enrichment Program, the Kangaroo Mathematics Contest and Let’s Talk Science as well as Science Rendezvous mentioned above. All of these activities contribute significantly to the University’s outreach into the community.

With the cooperation of Science Chairs, this year we weathered strong financial pressures. Like other faculties at UW, Science continues to face difficult budget challenges this year. Sometimes these can be buffered by large research grants earned by our outstanding scientists; for example, research into the production of medical isotopes, funded through the PIPE consortium, gave welcome support to activities in Physics this past year, and the University continues to participate in solving the current world-wide medical isotope crisis. Nevertheless, in general, by necessity, we run a very tight ship. This year Science saw only 3 tenure-track hires, replacements of retiring faculty that could no longer be delayed. The excellence in research, teaching and community service in Science is particularly striking in this context of constrained resources.

Enrolments within the Faculty of Science continue to be solid. A number of departments, notably Applied Computer Science, Biology and Mathematics & Statistics continue to grow. Other departments, including Physics and Anthropology, have maintained their steady enrolment numbers. Our graduate programs in Bioscience, Technology and Public Policy and in Applied Computer Science and Society are full. As resources permit, we look forward to emerging strength in our Science & Business stream, in cooperative education and in the forthcoming Professional Science Masters program.

We in the faculty remain proud of what we have been accomplishing, and we look forward to the next year.

Dr. James D. Currie, Dean of Science