2026 Characterization@UBC Fall Training School
October 20 - October 22, 2026
Overview
The annual three-day Characterization@UBC Fall Training School will be held from October 20-22, 2026, at UBC Vancouver in Fred Kaiser 2020/2030 - featuring seminars and workshops in the field of advanced characterization. This training school is open to all levels of trainees across both UBC campuses (e.g., Master's, PhD, postdocs, etc.). To kick things off, we invite attendees to join us for a student mixer and networking event on the evening of Monday, October 19.
We are thrilled to work with several of our incredible industry partners for this year's event. Thank you to our confirmed lineup of sponsors - Edge Scientific, h-Bar Instruments, Soquelec, Systems for Research (SFR), TESCAN, and the Microscopy Society of Canada.
Registration
Please register your seat here. Registration will close on Friday, Oct 9.
Note - If you can no longer attend, please let Joey Yeap (joey.yeap@ubc.ca) know asap so that we can offer the spot to someone else.
Training School Programming
We are currently finalizing our program schedule and have so far confirmed two exciting plenary speakers - Dr. Rhonda Stroud (ASU) and Dr. Arun Devaraj (PNNL)! Please refer to the tentative schedule below (subject to change) as we update this page with additional details on seminar and workshop topics, as well as the student mixer.
Lab tours will be held tentatively on Monday (during the day), Oct 19; and Tuesday (evening), Oct 20. Participating labs will be announced closer to the date. Please indicate your interest for lab tour(s) when you register.
Time | Mon, Oct 19 | Tues, Oct 20 | Wed, Oct 21 | Thurs, Oct 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
8:00 - 9:00 am |
| Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast |
6x lectures (one-hour each including Q&A) - fundamentals and principles of basic characterization techniques (e.g., electron microscopy, microanalysis, optical microscopy, X-ray CT, XRD, scanning/ transmission electron microscopy). Cross-faculty and department UBC speakers. There will be breaks and lunch in between lectures. | Welcome speech | |||
9:00 - 10:00 am |
| Plenary I | Plenary II | |
10:00 - 11:00 am |
| Break | Break | |
8x trainee's talks (10-min each) | 6x talks (30-min including Q&A) - new and emerging techniques; and their applications (e.g., electrochemistry, cathodoluminescence). There will be lunch and posters session in between talks. | |||
11:00 - 12:00 pm | Lab tours (tentative) | |||
12:00 - 1:00 pm |
| 6x talks (30-min including Q&A) - principles of more 'advanced' characterization techniques (e.g., atom probe, EBSD, mass spec, cryo-EM). There will be lunch and posters session in between talks. | ||
1:00 - 2:00 pm |
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2:00 - 3:00 pm |
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3:00 - 4:00 pm | Student mixer; posters set-up | |||
4:00 - 5:00 pm | Closing and awards | |||
5:00 - 6:00 pm | Lab tours (tentative) |
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Oral Presentation
The (contributed) oral presentations will presented on Wednesday morning, Oct 21, and should be a maximum of 10 mins in duration each, there will be an additional Q&A of up to 3 mins for each talk. Both oral and poster acceptance will be announced by Tuesday, September 15, 2026. There is only one Qualtrics form to be filled out for both oral and/or poster abstract submission - please refer to the 'Poster Submission' section below.
Poster Session
As part of the Fall School programming, we are pleased to invite trainees and researchers to participate in a poster session that will be held at the Fred Kaiser Building Atrium. This session provides a valuable opportunity to showcase research findings, promote knowledge exchange, and foster professional connections in the field of advanced characterization. We welcome a broad range of poster submissions related to the use of characterization tools and techniques. Submissions may include, but are not limited to work involving:
- Scanning/transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM);
- X-ray, micro-computed tomography;
- Optical, confocal, and fluorescence microscopy;
- Electrochemical methods;
- Mechanical testing techniques;
- Other qualitative and quantitative analysis methods (e.g., data analysis).
Poster Submission
We are currently accepting applications for poster submissions until Tuesday, September 8, 2026, by 11:59 pm PST. All poster acceptance will be sent out by Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
Eligibility: Open to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and research staff from UBC (Vancouver & Okanagan campuses) and affiliated institutions/ organizations participating in the Fall School e.g., speaker.
Please place your submission via the Qualtrics form. You will be asked to provide the following:
- Presenter details: name, position (e.g., grad student, postdoc), university/organization, email, supervisor(s);
- Author details: names and affiliations of up to five authors;
- Abstract title;
- Abstract text (max. 250 words).
Poster Guidelines
- Only authors listed on the abstract may present. The poster content must closely align with the submitted abstract.
- Presenters are responsible for printing and transporting their posters. The organizing team will not provide printing support.
- Maximum display area is 4 ft × 3 ft (48 in × 36 in), in either portrait or landscape orientation. Leave margins around the edges for pushpin placement (pins will be provided).
- Posters should be legible from at least 1 m (3 ft) away. Use large font sizes, clear visuals, and bold graphics.
- Each poster must include the project title, names and affiliations of all authors.
- Do not fold your poster, roll and bring it with you in an appropriate container to the session.
- Posters must be removed at the end of the day on October 22, 2026. The organizing team will not be responsible for any posters left behind after the event.
- We encourage participants to explore online guides on effective poster design, including content selection, layout, color use, and typography.
- While we do not require a specific template, participants who wish to align their posters with UBC branding can download UBC-branded templates here.