News

Congratulations to UBC Statistics PhD student Rachel Lobay on receiving the 2025–2026 Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award!

This award highlights the outstanding impact that graduate teaching assistants have on teaching and learning at UBC. Each year, up to nineteen graduate teaching assistants are selected for this honour — this year, Rachel is one of them.

Please join us in celebrating Rachel for this truly well‑earned achievement!

The UBC Statistics Department Colloquium Series features talks that are broad, accessible, and engaging—and open to everyone!

Our second talk of the series will take place on Tuesday, April 21st. We’re excited to welcome Dr. Edward Kennedy, Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at Carnegie Mellon University.

Date: Tuesday, April 21, 206
Time: 11 AM - 12 PM
Location: ESB 5104/5106

Congratulations to Nikola Surjanovic on being awarded the 2025-2026 Marshall Prize.

Nikola is in his final year at UBC and will be graduating with a PhD in Statistics under the supervision of Dr. Alexandre Bouchard-Côté and Dr. Trevor Campbell. While completing his PhD, Nikola has taken on the role of Applied Scientist II (ML/AI) at Amazon, working on the supply chain optimization Technologies team.

The Department of Statistics at UBC is pleased to announce that Margarita Kapustina has been selected as the recipient of the 2025–2026 Department of Statistics Award in Data Science.

UBC Statistics is launching a new Department Colloquium Series! These talks will be broad, accessible, and engaging — all are welcome!

Our inaugural talk will take place on Monday, March 16th. We’re excited to launch this new series by welcoming Dr. David Haziza, Professor in the department of mathematics and statistics at the University of Ottawa.

Date: Monday, March 16, 2026
Time: 3 - 4 PM
Location: ESB 5104/5106

Join us for the 3rd Annual UBC Life Sciences Symposium!

On Friday, April 10th, join 400+ researchers for a day of student talks, professional development workshops, and an EDI panel. The event is free for all UBC students and staff, and food will be provided all day!

Register or submit an abstract here: https://lss.lsi.ubc.ca/

Poster/Talk Deadline: March 20th
General Registration: April 3rd

Dr. Marie Auger-Méthé is the recipient of one of six UBC Killam Accelerator Research Fellowships which are provided annually from the Killam endowment established through a bequest from the late Dorothy J. Killam. The Killam Accelerator Research Fellowships (KARF) are designed to empower early‑career scholars who have already demonstrated notable impact in their fields and are poised to advance to the next stage of their research careers, providing research funding and valuable time to devote to their work.

The UBC Department of Statistics congratulates Kevin Lin, Director of Finance, HR, and Operations, on being awarded a 2025 Faculty of Science Excellence in Service Award. 

This award recognizes staff and faculty who have made exceptional contributions beyond their regular responsibilities, advancing the mission and strategic goals of UBC Science through their dedication, service, and impact. 

Kevin has been recognized for his "service and leadership infused with creativity, diligence, empathy, humility, integrity, and intelligence".

Congratulations, Kevin!

UBC Statistics Professor Daniel McDonald and Assistant Professor Charles Margossian joined The Early Edition’s Associate Producer, Laurence Watt, to discuss the chances of the U.S. national team playing in Vancouver during the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer.

The Department of Statistics is soliciting nominations for the Department of Statistics Award in Data Science, an award to recognize the importance of developing and applying tools to answer important questions through the analysis of data.