The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) is an independent research centre in foundational theoretical physics located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1999[2]. The Institute's founding and major benefactor is Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist Mike Lazaridis[3].
The original building, designed by Saucier + Perrotte, opened in 2004[4] and was awarded a Governor General's Medal for Architecture in 2006[5]. The Stephen Hawking Centre, designed by Teeple Architects, was opened in 2011[6] and was LEED Silver certified in 2015[7].
In addition to research, Perimeter also provides scientific training and educational outreach activities to the general public. This is done in part through Perimeter’s Educational Outreach team.[8]
History
Lazaridis' initial donation of $100 million was announced on October 23, 2000, believed to be the biggest private donation in Canadian history to that point[9]. A subsequent personal donation of $50 million was made on June 4, 2008.[10]
Research operations began in 2001. Along with its research activities, Perimeter Institute operates an international outreach program. It hosts the International Summer School for Young Physicists every summer, which is a physics camp for high school students.
The Ontario budget, announced in March 2006, included a commitment to provide $50 million in funding to PI from the Ministry of Research and Innovation.
In May 2008, Dr. Neil Turok, a cosmologist, was appointed as Perimeter Institute's Director replacing Howard Burton.[11]
In November 2008, it was announced that physicist Stephen Hawking would take the position of Distinguished Visiting Research Chair, a visiting position, at the Institute.[12][13]
Research
Perimeter's research encompasses nine fields:
Condensed matter
Cosmology
Mathematical physics
Particle Physics
Quantum fields and strings
Quantum foundations
Quantum gravity
Quantum information
Strong gravity
Perimeter Institute Recorded Seminar Archive (PIRSA)
An extensive, up-to-date archive of the Institute's varied research activities is readily available to the public via the internet. The Perimeter Institute Recorded Seminar Archive (PIRSA), is a permanent, free, searchable, and citable archive of recorded seminars, conferences, workshops and outreach events. Seminars with video and timed presentation materials can be accessed on-demand in Windows and Flash formats together with MP3 audio files and PDFs of the supporting materials.
Educational Outreach
Perimeter’s Educational Outreach team’s activities include a monthly public lecture series, a two-week summer camp for the world’s top science students, a series of in-class resources, week-long professional development workshops for science teachers, cultural activities with local and international artists, an online archive of educational resources, an extensive network of science teachers to share content across Canada, and many other special events and science festivals contributing to physics outreach.[14][15]
Public Lectures Series
Perimeter Institute has welcomed a number of very prominent scientists to deliver lectures on a wide variety of subjects.[16] Lecturers have included: Freeman Dyson, Gerard ‘t Hooft, Jay Ingram, Seth Lloyd, Jay Melosh, Sir Roger Penrose, Michael Peskin, Leonard Susskind, Frank Wilczek and Anton Zeilinger.[17]
ISSYP
The International Summer School for Young Physicists (ISSYP) brings approximately 40 Canadian and international students aged 16 – 18 to Perimeter for two weeks each year.[18]
EinsteinPlus
The annual EinsteinPlus summer school for high school physics teachers is held for one week each summer.
BrainSTEM: Your Future is Now
This festival connected technological innovations to the scientific breakthroughs that make them possible. The festival, held September 30 to October 6, 2013, featured science-centre styled exhibits, special presentations, public lectures, Science in the Club events and insider-tours of the Perimeter Institute. Webcast Public Lectures featured James Grime, Ray Laflamme and Lucy Hawking.[19]
Quantum to Cosmos: Ideas for the Future festival
Held in October, 2009, the Quantum to Cosmos: Ideas for the Future festival (Q2C Festival) was a science outreach event held in Canada. The festival included events and activities spanning: lectures, panel discussions, pub talks, cultural activities, a PI documentary premiere (The Quantum Tamers: Revealing Our Weird and Wired Future), sci-fi film festival, an art exhibit and the hugely popular Physica Phantastica exhibit centre, a 460-square-metre (5,000 sq ft) space filled with demonstrations, hands-on activities, experiments and an immersive 3D tour of the universe narrated by Stephen Hawking.[20]
The Q2C Festival attracted some 40,000 attendees (including over 6,000 in the secondary school program that brought students from Ontario and New York State and nearly one million viewers – and counting – through online streaming, video-on-demand services and special television broadcasts. Special editions of TVO’s “The Agenda with Steve Paikin”, filmed live in PI’s Atrium in Waterloo attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers from across Canada with just five broadcasts.[21]
Training
Joint masters-level program
In partnership with the University of Waterloo, PI conducts Perimeter Scholars International (PSI), a master's level course in theoretical physics.[22] The 10-month course was inaugurated in August 2009, and admits 30 scholars per year. Students admitted (on average 8% of all applicants) receive full scholarships and living expenses. The master's degree itself is issued by the University of Waterloo.[23][24][25]
Doctoral studies
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics also hosts PhD students wishing to pursue full-time graduate studies under the supervision of a PI faculty member. PhD students receive their doctoral degrees from a university partner, such as the University of Waterloo.
Courses
Perimeter Institute offers a number of planned courses each year, including cross-listed programs with universities and mini-courses given by PI faculty, associate faculty and visiting researchers. The courses are made available to all students enrolled in surrounding universities. The popular courses are attended by students from University of Waterloo, University of Western Ontario, McMaster University, University of Guelph, University of Toronto, York University, and other centres.
Expansion
Stephen Hawking Centre at Perimeter Institute
Designed by Teeple Architects, a new 5,000 m2 (55,000 sq ft) expansion, the Stephen Hawking Centre at Perimeter Institute, was completed in September 2011.[26] The Stephen Hawking Centre at Perimeter Institute was the first-ever Gold Seal-managed project in Ontario. It attained LEED Silver certification in 2015.[27][28] The Centre's grand opening was in September 2011 and was attended by Stephen Hawking.[29]
References
"Physics World: Neil Turok chosen to lead Perimeter Institute".
Evaluation, Government of Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Office of the Deputy Minister, Audit and. "Summary of the evaluation of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics". www.ic.gc.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
Bonikowsky, Laura Neilson. "Mike Lazaridis". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
THEODORE, DAVID. "Perimeter Institute for Research in Theoretical Physics". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
"Governor General's Medals in Architecture — Past Recipients | RAIC | Architecture Canada". www.raic.org. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
"Hawking to open new wing that bears his name | TheRecord.com". TheRecord.com. 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
"Stephen Hawking Centre at Perimeter Institute | Project 11818 -- Canada Green Building Council". leed.cagbc.org. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
"Physics in Canada – Mission: Outreach" (PDF). 2010. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
"$100-million donation may be biggest in Canadian history". The Globe and Mail. 2009-04-26. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
"RIM co-founder donates $50M to Waterloo physics centre". CBC News. CBC News. June 5, 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
Johnston, Hamish. "Neil Turok chosen to lead Perimeter Institute". Physics World. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
"TheStar.com | sciencetech | Physicist Stephen Hawking accepts post at Waterloo institute". Toronto: Thestar.com. 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
Hand, Eric (23 September 2009). "The Edge of Physics". Nature. 461 (7263): 462–465. PMID 19779427. doi:10.1038/461462a. Retrieved 25 December 2009.
"PI Outreach Continues to Grow Across Ontario, Canada and Beyond". 2010. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
"Outreach Overview - Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics". Perimeterinstitute.ca. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
Butterworth, Jon (3 October 2015). "Perimeter Lecture: Neil Turok on "The Astonishing Simplicity of Everything"". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
"Perimeter Institute – View Past Public Lectures". 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
Corbett, Neil (8 August 2014). "Living the Big Bang Theory". Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadow News. Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadow News. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
"Perimeter Institute reaches out to young students with BrainSTEM". Waterloo Region Record. Waterloo Region Record. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
"Looking Back on Quantum to Cosmos: Ideas for the Future". Retrieved 2012-01-08.
Gionas, Sandra. "Quantum to Cosmos: The Science and Inspiration behind this Week's Programs". TVO. TVO. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
"Perimeter Scholars International Award". University of Waterloo Graduate Studies. University of Waterloo. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
"About PSI".
"Perimeter Scholars International Graduates Inaugural Class".
Wells, Paul (8 September 2013). "Perimeter Institute: Jacob’s classmates". Maclean's. Maclean's. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
"Stephen Hawking Centre at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics / Teeple Architects". Arch Daily. Arch Daily. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
PI Expansion Achieves First Gold Seal Rating in Ontario 2010-07
"Perimeter's Stephen Hawking Centre Gains LEED Silver Status". Perimeter Institute. Perimeter Institute. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
"Stephen Hawking to visit Canada in September". CBC News. 2011-07-27.
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