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This newsletter is a long one but packed with community goodness!
We encourage all interested graduate students and postdocs to join the monthly Advisory Committee Town Hall on Monday, March 3rd. 🗓️ Add to calendar.
As always, please reach out if you have news, events, or opportunities you’d like to share with the community.
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McDonald Institute Annual National Meeting:
Aug 6-8 (and Aug 5 HQP Workshop)
The McDonald Institute is pleased to share that this year’s Annual National Meeting will be held at Carleton University in Ottawa from Wednesday, August 6, to Friday, August 8. As in previous years, we will offer HQP registrants the option to attend a day of special workshops on Tuesday, August 5. The Institute will also provide residence room accommodations for students, technicians, and postdoctoral fellows to support their participation in any part of the workshop and meeting.
While the detailed agenda is still being developed, registration on the meeting’s Indico site is now open at https://indico.global/e/2025CAPCM
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Save the Dates! July 22-25
This year's Women+ In Physics Canada (WIPC+) Conference is being hosted at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, by members of the Queen's Department of Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy and the McDonald Institute. This conference aims to foster inclusivity and diversity within the physics community by providing a platform for gender minorities and their allies to share research, network, and develop professionally. Conference delegates will have the opportunity to build networks, explore career paths, and present research while also promoting gender equity and taking part in conversations about women in physics, equity, and inclusivity issues.
For more information, visit the Conference Website.
Registration opens later this month.
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Help Shape Professional Development at the McDonald Institute!
Calling all undergrads, grads, and postdocs!
We’re revitalizing the Professional Development Opportunities (PDO) program to better support your degree and career goals, and we need your input!
Please take a few minutes to complete the survey here and help us tailor future PDO sessions to your needs. Randomly selected participants will win various prizes, including McDonald Institute mugs, t-shirts, puzzles and books!
The survey will close on Feb 26, 2025. Participants will be invited to join a focus group to further explore their professional development needs.
Your feedback makes a difference—thank you for sharing your thoughts!
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The new MI HQP Seminar Series is a forum for graduate students and postdocs to deliver a higher-profile talk. This is an ideal venue for speakers to practice a long-form talk, such as a thesis defence or as part of a job application, and to add an invited talk to their CV. Supervisors, please consider discussing this opportunity with your HQP and encourage them to sign up! Interested parties, please contact Robert Collister at rcollister@physics.carleton.ca
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The next McDonald Institute HQP Seminar will be
February 26, at 15:00 EST / 12:00 PST
David Gallacher (McGill)
“Shedding light on neutrino nature: R&D for the nEXO light collection system."
🗓️ Add to calendar
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TRIUMF/UBC/SFU Saturday Morning Lectures
Saturday, March 1 · 10 am - 12:30 pm PST - Register here
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10:00 Chris Charles (TRIUMF): "Particle Accelerator Chemistry: Radiolytic Production of Organic Molecules and Emergence of Life in Extreme Planetary Environments"
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11:10 Darren Grant (SFU): "Ghost chasing 101: opening a new window to the extreme Universe"
Previous Saturday Morning Lectures are available on YouTube.
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Ingenuity Labs Research Institute, in partnership with Women in Engineering at Queen's University and the McDonald Institute, are pleased to present two events with NASA Program Scientist Dr. Hashima Hasan.
Fireside chat, Feb. 25 5-7pm
Women in Leadership in Technology Intensive Sectors
Seminar, Feb. 26 10:30am-12pm
From the Hubble to the James Webb Telescope: A personal Journey
Mitchell Hall, Room 395 (both events)
Dr. Hasan serves as the NASA Program Scientist for the Nuclear Spectroscopic Array (NuSTAR), Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), and the Keck Observatory. She also leads Education and Communication efforts for Astrophysics at NASA. This is a unique opportunity to learn directly from a highly accomplished scientist about leadership, scientific innovation, and career development in engineering and astrophysics.
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We’re back with another of our signature local events: Astronomy on Tap: Kingston
This free event is in the Living Room of The Mansion (506 Princess St, Kingston) on Thursday, February 27th at 6:30 pm.
Local astro-buff Mark Richardson will host three fantastic scientists at the cutting edge of their fields: astroparticle physicists Melissa Diamond, Zoe Brisson-Tsavoussis from Queen’s University, and astrophysicist Mike Earl from RMC. Melissa will give us the latest from the theory side and discuss new and developing candidates for dark matter particles. Zoe will tell us how a cubic kilometre of ice at the South Pole (IceCube Neutrino Observatory) helps us study black holes. And Mike will give us an astronomer’s perspective on UFOs!
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Last chance to see the Jol Thoms exhibit at Queen's! | |
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February is your last chance to see the astroparticle physics inspired exhibit by UK-based artist Jol Thoms at the Miller Museum of Geology. Thoms participated in the DRIFT: Art & Dark Matter residency and touring exhibition in 2021-22, and we are pleased to display a selection of his work from that project here on Queen’s Campus. The exhibit will be on display in the main foyer of Miller Hall, Mon-Fri, between 9 am and 5 pm until the end of the month.
The exhibit includes Thoms’ sculptures and installation pieces, as well as his 2-D digital prints and even a video self-portrait he created using the SNO+ detector as a “camera.” Through the work, Thoms grapples with the multiple layers of time and place, history, circumstance, knowledge and privilege. The exhibit is a beautifully unique opportunity to reflect on our scientific processes and motivations.
Groups of 3 or more may request a 30-minute guided tour of the display by contacting communications@mcdonaldinstitute.ca.
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New SNOLAB Affiliate and Emerit Policy
SNOLAB’s Research Group is rolling out a new Affiliate and Emerit policy designed to increase SNOLAB’s reach and profile in the science community. The purpose of this new program is to establish a formal professional affiliation between SNOLAB and individuals who do not work at SNOLAB, but who make substantial contributions to SNOLAB. Emerit status will be conferred to eligible individuals who have retired from full-employment status as Research Scientists at SNOLAB.
This new Affiliate and Emerit policy builds on the SNOLAB Underground Science Institute (SuSi) by establishing new avenues for collaboration within our community at SNOLAB. This policy aims to enhance the relationships between SNOLAB and its partners, while aligning with SNOLAB's three strategic goals: driving breakthrough discoveries in underground science, continuously improving SNOLAB infrastructure, and developing a skilled and diverse workforce.
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McDonald Instiute Staff updates
We’re excited to share some recent changes in the McDonald Institute administrative team.
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Mark Richardson - Associate Director, Operations
Formerly the Manager for Education and Public Outreach, Mark Richardson is now the Associate Director, Operations (Research Centres & Institutes) for the McDonald Institute at Queen’s University. Mark supports the administrative and scientific team at the McDonald Institute to deliver on their science, training, and community goals. Congratulations on the new role, Mark, and we look forward to exciting times ahead!
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Rudo Mudzi - Program Officer
We are thrilled to have Rudo Mudzi taking the role of Program Officer at the McDonald Institute. Rudo started in November and has quickly become an integral part of the team and smooth operations at the Institute. Rudo brings a wealth of experience as a data-driven professional with a strong background in data analysis, program development, and project management across multiple industries and continents. She holds an MSc in Statistics with Data Science from the University of Edinburgh and a BA in Physics from Mt Holyoke College. Most recently, Rudo was an adjunct faculty member in Physics at Redeemer University. Thank you for being a part of the team, Rudo!
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QDIUA Interns:
The Queen’s Doctoral Internship in University Administration (QDIUA) Program provides a unique opportunity for PhD candidates to learn more about the university administrative environment through an internship with an administrative unit at Queen’s University. The McDonald Institute is pleased to have three interns working with us from January through April.
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Eman Elharmeel is an accomplished documentary film producer and is taking the role of Special Events Intern to assist in coordinating the Women+ in Physics Canada Conference and the McDonald Institute Annual Community Meeting. | |
Folasade Aladesuyi is the Education and Outreach Intern and will be working to revitalize the McDonald Institute Professional Development Opportunities Program. Her experience with large-scale outreach programs, data collection, and program evaluation makes her an excellent fit for this role. | |
Shannon McConnel is an award-winning author and poet and is joining us as the Communications Intern working to develop some science stories, expand the astroparticle physics alumni network and assist in strategic Communications planning. | |
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Welcome interns, and thank you for joining us this Winter term!
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Sentiments from the community continue to pour in honouring Bruce Cleveland’s long and prolific career.
In November, Bruce Cleveland, one of the founders of astroparticle physics in Canada, announced his retirement. We shared a link to an article on the SNOLAB website written by Stephen Sekula, which offers an excellent overview of Bruce’s long and distinguished career. Sentiments from the community have continued to pour in, and we’re pleased to share this inspiring collection of notes and letters. They give a real sense of how foundational Bruce was to our community. Once again, we congratulate Bruce on his inspiring career and wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement!
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GRIDS 2025
The Graduate Instrumentation and Detector School (GRIDS) is a two-week summer school for graduate students and new post-docs in nuclear, particle, and astroparticle physics to get hands-on training with the detector and instrumentation technology used in modern experiments. It is aimed primarily at those students and postdocs with limited experience with experimental hardware. GRIDS 2025 will be held May 26 - June 6, 2025.
The application deadline has been extended to February 17th.
Find out more here: https://indico.triumf.ca/event/574/
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New opportunities in astroparticle physics!
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Monday, March 3rd, at 2:00 pm ET 🗓️ Add to calendar.
(First Monday of every month at 2pm ET)
The MI-HQPAC (McDonald Institute Highly Qualified Personnel Advisory Committee) invites you to join in an open, drop-in virtual Town Hall meeting. This event is open to all members of the astroparticle physics research community. It focuses on issues relevant to the HQP community (students, postdocs, and early career researchers, engineers, and technicians). The Committee holds the monthly Town Hall meetings the week before the monthly committee meeting, where topics brought up during the Town Hall can be discussed in more detail and put into action.
This meeting is an opportunity to connect with others who are passionate about making the HQP experience the best it can be. It is a chance to talk about all issues, ideas, and questions with the people who are working to address them. It is also a great way to become familiar with the Committee and is recommended for anyone who is considering joining the committee.
Details here.
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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.
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