| |  | | |
Welcome back to the McDonald Institute Newsletter! If you’re just joining us, welcome to the McDonald Institute astroparticle physics research network! At the McDonald Institute, we are committed to providing all members of the research community with resources and programming that foster continued growth and development as innovative, interdisciplinary, and international leaders and collaborators. There are many new people this time of year, so please consider sharing this newsletter or the McDonald Institute newsletter signup link.
The annual McDonald Institute Canadian Astroparticle Physics Community Meeting is one of the many ways we connect the network and provide a space to share initiatives and discuss topics that contribute to the greatness of our community. We’ve posted a conference proceedings page, recapping the presentations, panel discussions, and professional development workshops presented at the meeting. Whether or not you attended, we would appreciate it if you would share any feedback you have about the meeting. Thank you!
The McDonald Institute Highly Qualified Personnel Advisory Committee (HQPAC) is seeking new members! Graduate students and Postdocs interested in supporting and improving the academic environment for HQP, community development, and seeking network-building and professional development opportunities should contact hqpac@mcdonaldinstitute.ca or attend one of the Committee’s Town Hall meetings, held on the first Monday of each month. We invite Faculty and Supervisors to nominate committee members and encourage their HQP to participate. Following on the success of July’s event in Montreal, we will have an HQPAC lunch in Toronto at UofT on Friday, September 26th, and are planning an event in Waterloo at Perimeter Institute later this Fall. Be sure you’re subscribed to the Astroparticle Physics HQP Mailing List for more information.
| | |
HQP Welcome Packages!
The McDonald Institute is pleased to announce the offering of HQP Welcome Packages! Packages will contain an assortment of cool and useful items, including pens, stickers, and, yes, astroparticle physics game cards! We’ll also include a brochure and poster with key information about community events, opportunities, and mailing lists. As this is our first time offering the welcome package, we invite all new and current students, postdocs, engineers, technicians, faculty, and staff to receive a package. To receive a welcome package, please complete this short survey. Packages will be sent as early as mid-October.
| | |
McDonald Institute Seminar:
September 18, 2025, 1:30pm - 2:30pm ET
Brooks Thomas (Lafayette College)
“Dark Matter and Cosmology”
McDonald Institute seminars are held at Queen’s in Stirling Hall, Room 501. A Zoom link is also available and is shared via email by the organizers. Please reach out to admin@mcdonaldinstitute.ca for access.
MI HQP Seminar:
September 24, 3:00-4:00 PM ET
William Woodley (University of Alberta)
PICO: A Bubble Chamber Approach to Dark Matter Detection.”
The HQP Seminar Series is a monthly virtual seminar presented by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers across Canada. Seminars are held on the last Wednesday of each month and are broadcast via Zoom and YouTube (if the speaker chooses). The Zoom link is sent via the Astroparticle Physics HQP Mailing List. The seminars are an opportunity for HQP to gain experience giving a higher-profile, long-form talk and fielding questions from other experts in the field. This is an ideal venue to practice a thesis defense or colloquia talk, and also adds an invited talk on a CV. Supervisors, please consider discussing this opportunity with your HQP and encourage them to apply!
If you are interested in giving an HQP Seminar, please contact Ryan Curtis at ryan.curtis@queensu.ca
| | |
HQP Excellence Awards!
The McDonald Institute Highly Qualified Personnel Advisory Committee (HQPAC) is launching the HQP Excellence Awards (HExA) program to recognize strong contributions of individual HQP (Highly Qualified Personnel) in three key areas: Research Achievement, Community Building/Leadership, and Teaching & Science Communication. Each of these categories will have multiple awards based on career stage, with applications open to master’s students, PhD students, and Postdoctoral Researchers. A fourth award will be reserved for undergraduates with excellence in one or more of these categories.
The Committee is currently finalizing the application and nomination process, which will be shared in next month’s newsletter and through the HQP mailing list.
The deadline for the 2024-25 Awards will be November 15th.
| | |
Stitching Science Artist Talk!
Did you enjoy Lauren Wright Vartanian’s embroidered and embellished alphabet artwork in the McDonald Institute Visitor’s Centre this Summer? Come to the County Arts Lab in Picton this Saturday evening to hear her artist’s talk and learn more about the fascinating process of science illustration with thread and fabric!
https://mcdonaldinstitute.ca/events/stitching-science-artist-talk/
| | |
Public Events at Perimeter Institute!
Perimeter Institute is hosting several exciting events this month open to the public. Katie Mack will be giving a talk about the end of the Universe next week on September 16th, the Institute opens its doors to the public on Saturday and Sunday, Sept 20-21st, and they’re hosting two movie screenings! Check https://perimeterinstitute.ca/events regularly to stay on top of everything happening at PI!
| | |
Neutrino GeoScience Conference
Neutrino Geoscience 2025, hosted by Queen's University and the McDonald Institute, will be a workshop during which both geoneutrinos and multi-messenger tomography of the Earth will be explored and discussed. It follows from past conferences and workshops – most recently Neutrino Geoscience 2019 Prague and the second Workshop on Multi-Messenger Tomography of the Earth 2023 Paris.
The Registration deadline for the conference is tomorrow, Sept 12th.
https://indico.global/event/14476/
| | |
NNN25 abstracts due Sept 17th
The 24th International Workshop on Next Generation Nucleon Decay and Neutrino Detectors (NNN25) will take place in Sudbury from Monday, September 29, to Friday, October 3, 2025.
Over the last 25 years, the NNN series of workshops has been providing the international community with a forum for in-depth discussions on future large-scale detectors for research on nucleon decay and neutrino physics.
The main physics topics at NNN25 will include: searches for proton decay, CP violation in the lepton sector, determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy, and observation of neutrinos from core-collapse supernovae.
The call for abstracts deadline is September 17th
https://indico.snolab.ca/event/21/overview
| | 0vBB in Xe Next Generation Experiment Workshop | |
This workshop will bring together the Xe double beta decay community across different experiments to discuss potential strategies towards a sensitivity goal of 10^28 years and beyond. A potential outcome of the workshop could be the creation of a consortium or a working group to develop a more global Xe-focused strategy.
We invite interested participants to consult the preliminary agenda and register for the workshop at: https://nyx.physics.mcgill.ca/event/538/. For topics that we missed in the agenda, we hope that people will submit an abstract (also for blue sky ideas).
Registration opens: Sept 10, 2025
Abstract deadline: Oct 6, 2025 11:59 EDT
Registration deadline: Oct 28, 2025 11:59 EDT
Workshop: Nov 12-14, 2025 (Montreal)
| | |
Science Literacy Week 2025 - From Sea to Space
Let’s come together and celebrate the seas and skies that surround us! This Science Literacy Week, the McDonald Institute and the Carbon to Metal Coating Institute are partnering to showcase how Canadian researchers tackle the challenges of modern industry and technology, and explore the mysteries of the Universe using the vast waters and ice that cover our planet. Join us on October 11th, 2025, for a day of discovery, from Sea to Space.
In the afternoon, we will host a workshop for high school students to demonstrate how astrophysicists use the waters of the Pacific Ocean and the ice of the South Pole to study extreme places in the Universe, such as black holes and neutron stars. We will also explore the science and technology of carbon-based coatings—their applications across industries for long-lasting corrosion protection—and learn how data from advanced ocean observatory systems in the Pacific are used to test these coatings under some of the world’s most challenging marine conditions. Hands-on experiments and exciting demonstrations will be part of the experience! For the workshop, register here: https://forms.office.com/r/isBzcTpjaS
A public talk will follow in the evening, in collaboration with the Queen’s Observatory Public Open House, featuring a scientist who studies supermassive black holes using ancient Antarctic ice. The presentation will be followed by tours of the Queen’s Observatory, where our guests can observe planets and other celestial objects through our telescopes, as well as a guided tour to the Visitors Center of the Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute and the research labs of the Carbon to Metal Coating Institute. More information about the public talk here: https://mcdonaldinstitute.ca/events/science-literacy-week-2025-from-sea-to-space/
| | |
Canadian Journal of Physics: Special Astroparticle Physics edition
The Canadian Journal of Physics published a special edition of the journal this summer dedicated entirely to the field of astroparticle physics. The edition presents an in-depth survey of the state of dark matter and neutrino research, highlighting numerous Canadian-based projects and experiments.
“The development of the world's leading low-radioactivity environment in SNOLAB, following the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory experiment, is providing numerous opportunities to explore further properties of neutrinos and to search for interactions of dark matter particles,” explains Dr. Art McDonald. “Canadian researchers are also playing significant roles in major experiments at the forefront of this field internationally. Astroparticle physics has become a major area of particle physics research, and it is great to see how the present generation of Canadian scientists is pursuing measurements that appear at or near the top of any ranking of important topics in physics today.”
https://cdnsciencepub.com/toc/cjp/103/8?utm_source=csp_bsky&utm_medium=static&utm_campaign=cjp-si-astroparticle
| | |
Call for nominations now open for all NSERC prizes
Nominations are now being accepted for all NSERC prizes as per their new competition cycle. Prize recipients are role models for the research community and for future scientists and engineers. Consider nominating a colleague, a peer, a science promoter, a team or a partnership that is deserving of this honour.
https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NewsDetail-DetailNouvelles_eng.asp?ID=1545
| | Last Call: Join the astroparticle physics card game! | | |
Our newsletter provides the astroparticle physics community with updates, programs, and opportunities and we want to help share your story! We invite all members of the community to contribute to this newsletter.
The McDonald Institute at Queen’s University is situated in the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe & Haudenosaunee First Nations. The Institute is part of a national network of institutions and research centres which operate in other traditional Indigenous territories. Visit www.whose.land to learn about the traditional territories where astroparticle physicists are grateful to live and work across Canada.
Thank you for your support. If you would like to view past newsletters from the McDonald Institute, please visit the Newsletter Archive.
| | Join us on our social media channels | | |
To update your contact information, such as your email address, institution, or position, or to change your subscription preferences, please use the Update Profile link in the footer below.
Unsubscribe from this newsletter
| | | | |
