The Vancouver Summer Program with UBC Science provides students with the opportunity to study at a top international research university and experience local Vancouver culture.

What you might expect/course format

Courses with UBC Science include in-class and lab portions taught by UBC faculty members, graduate students, and guest lecturers. Courses also include short field trips and other engaging learning opportunities. Students can expect team-based learning activities and assignments.

Check out VSP Chemistry’s page here!

July 2025 Course Packages

Tackling Global Challenges with Modern Chemistry

Sustainability. Renewable energy. Nanomaterials. Clean water. Antibiotic resistance. This course explores upcoming challenges in modern society – and presents the impacts, analysis and potential solutions that modern investigators in the field of chemistry are actively studying. Students will be presented with case studies to explore the important problems facing our society.

Organic Chemistry – A Soft Introduction

Carbon is an interesting element as it forms chains and rings with itself and other important elements. This characteristic along with the properties of atoms such as nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and phosphorus create a framework through which Mother Nature can produce important carbon based structures to support life and we can create structures that impact human health. This soft introduction to the field of organic chemistry will present the important fundamental concepts to understand organic chemistry with a specific real-world paradigm that emphasizes the importance of the concept. Through practice, we can learn to explain how organic reactions work and perhaps even predict reactions that have yet to be considered!

Graduate (Master/PhD) Students: Not accepted

Graduating Students: Not Accepted

Minors (students aged under 19 at the start of the program): Not Accepted

For more information

Chemistry VSP Webpage

For VSP Chemistry-specific questions, email Tori Christianson at chemcom@chem.ubc.ca.

Student testimonials

“My favorite part of VSP was the connections I made with people, both inside and outside of the program. I also loved the laboratories.” VSP taught me many things, both knowledge and character development. The lectures were very knowledgeable especially when Hadi Sir used to teach us.

…He would make us think in ways we couldn’t even imagine. Our perspective over certain things changed a lot.”

– VSP Science Student, 2019