On behalf of the CAP and the CAP Foundation, we would like to thank you for your support in 2024 and to wish you the very best in 2025.
In this News Bulletin, you will find updates on the following:
- President’s Message
- 2025-2029 Strategic Plan
- Physics in Canada
- Membership update
- CAP-NSERC Liaison Committee update
- Science Policy
- IYQ update
- 2025 Undergraduate Lecture Tour
- 2025 CAP Congress
- Upcoming Dates
- Follow us on Social Media
President’s Message
As the end of another calendar year rapidly approaches, I would like to take a moment to extend yuletide felicitations and best wishes for the new year to our amazing CAP community. This period naturally reminds us to pause, reflect and look forward. As I reflect, I’m constantly amazed by the selfless acts of generosity of so many of you that continue to extravagantly give in so many ways to build and strengthen the CAP and sustain and grow the programs funded through the CAP Foundation by making much-needed charitable donations. Thank you.
As we face the new year there will be new (and old) challenges but I’m excited by the many opportunities that will also present themselves for us to continue to grow and evolve as an organisation. I am personally looking forward to the launching of our new Strategic Plan and vision for the CAP, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CAP, and the opportunity to celebrate and showcase the amazing contributions of Physics and Physicists to society through the upcoming celebrations of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ).
All the best,
Martin Williams
CAP President
2025-2029 Strategic Plan
The CAP Board has been working over the past 10 months on a new 5-year Strategic Plan. The planning process was initiated in March 2024 with the release of a community survey sent to all CAP members, member departments, and institutional partners with a request to circulate widely in an attempt to reach as many physicists and physics students in Canada as possible. The CAP also received the assistance of the American Physical Society (APS) who sent the survey out to all APS members with a mailing address in Canada.
The CAP Board then organized a Strategic Planning Session (SPS), which took place May 24-25 2024 and involved representatives from the broader CAP community including physicists in academia and industry, undergraduate and graduate students, CAP’s institutional partners and the CAP Foundation.
The planning session included a review of the physics community survey results and an assessment of the CAP’s internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats (SWOT). Participants identified a limited number of priorities that the CAP should focus on over the next 5 years. The draft strategic plan is being revised in stages following review by participants of the SPS; the CAP Executive, Executive Director and Program Manager; and finally the CAP Board and Advisory Council.
The CAP Strategic Plan 2025-2029 will be released in January along with an implementation plan.
Physics in Canada
It is with delight that we announce the publication of issue Vol. 77(2) of Physics in Canada. The last published issue Vol. 77(1) was a special issue on EDI titled “Inclusion for Excellence”. It was posted on the Physics in Canada website in June 2022. The Covid pandemic and other factors made it increasingly difficult to produce issues, especially in the traditional printed format.
It has been a long time coming, but a new vision of an online journal accessible on multiple platforms has taken shape. Vol. 77(2) includes material from the 2021 Congress and will be the first of several issues that will appear in the new format; it will be followed in quick succession by issues covering material from more recent Congresses. In June 2024, the United Nations proclaimed 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ) and we are planning a special issue on Quantum Research in Canada as a contribution to those celebrations.
We are looking forward to working with all of you to produce issues that will highlight the richness of our physics community.
Membership update
Membership renewal season is upon us! We invite you to renew your membership or join as a new member to become part of the Canadian Association of Physicists, an esteemed organization committed to advancing professional growth, fostering connections, and encouraging knowledge exchange within the field of physics. Through our annual congress, comprehensive website resources, regional representatives, and active social media presence, CAP brings together individuals who share a passion for physics and a dedication to both personal career development and the advancement of the field.
Explore our various membership categories to find the one that best suits your professional needs. Please note that beginning January 2025, CAP membership will be based on the calendar year rather than individual 12-month terms from the date of acceptance, with new memberships during the year being charged prorated fees for the duration of months still remaining. For more information, check the membership section of the website regularly.
CAP-NSERC Liaison Committee Update
The CAP-NSERC Liaison Committee (LC) provides a forum for discussion and information exchange between CAP and NSERC.
Below is a short summary of several items discussed at the last LC meeting (October 2024). For more detailed information, the minutes will be published on the CAP-NSERC LC website.
If you have any item to discuss or question to ask, please feel free to send an email to the Chair of the LC at sjoerd.roorda@umontreal.ca or any other Liaison Committee member.
Recent discussion points :
- The LC will add a student member to the committee, who will be selected from among the student representatives on the CAP’s Advisory Council and the co-chairs of the CAP’s Student Advisory Council (SAC).
- NSERC reported on the implementation of the increase in Discovery Grant (DG) award amounts. The detailed information will not be reported in this brief report but we noted that NSERC appreciated the input that the LC gave earlier on how the physics community would be best served.
- The LC discussed a concern that a significant reduction in the DG success rate, which would result in a significant number of faculty not holding a DG grant, would have more consequences than purely financial. Namely, holding a DG grant can be a formal eligibility requirement for other activities. The main example is the right to supervise USRA (‘summer’) students, where some universities require the supervisor to hold a DG grant. NSERC previously required the same, but dropped the requirement in large part because of EDI considerations; the LC will recommend that all universities follow suit and drop the requirement.
- The LC discussed a concern raised related to changes in how subatomic physics (SAP) project grants are divided between institutions.
Science Policy
James Fraser, the Director of Science Policy and Advocacy, has been actively engaged in promoting the interests of physicists and the broader scientific community. This year, James participated in various meetings with diverse stakeholders, including the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Administrators, the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies, and NSERC staff. Discussions focused on critical issues such as ensuring the April 2024 budget increases in funding to the tri-agencies reaches its intended target i.e. trainees, supporting non-academic career pathways for graduate students and postdocs considering the realities of budget constraints in post-secondary across the nation, addressing challenges posed by newly imposed international student study permit caps, and navigating the implications and opportunities of generative AI for research and education. James also attended the 16th annual Canadian Science Policy Conference in November 2024, to further represent and amplify the voice of the Canadian physics community in national science policy discussions in Ottawa.
Due to the efforts of Chitra Rangan, James received contact information for many physics graduate chairs/coordinators from across the country. We have been having discussions about creating a “community” to improve communications and share best practices. For example, on the issue of study permits, as of January 2025, it appears international graduate applicants will require a provincial attestation letter to apply for a study permit. This new requirement has created significant uncertainty as universities grapple with how to implement this process. Simply adopting procedures used for undergraduates is problematic due to the fundamental differences in graduate programs, including diverse funding sources and the individualized nature of graduate education. This lack of clarity and potential for inconsistent application across institutions could create significant barriers for international students seeking graduate education in Canada, potentially impacting research and training efforts by our members. Understanding how other universities are navigating these challenges will be helpful in advocating for effective and equitable processes at our own institutions. By learning from their approaches, successes, and failures, we can develop informed strategies and recommendations to ensure a supportive experience for international graduate students. This is of course only one challenge facing our members. Feedback about creating a community of grad chairs is welcomed.
IYQ Update
Get ready: 2025 is the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology!
For several months, members of the quantum ecosystem from across Canada have been coming together to work on a proposal for activities to celebrate the year 2025 in a fun way! Activities planned (so far) include a nation-wide student design competition for IYQ Canada merchandise, a nation-wide Quantum Day celebration “Quantum Canada Open Doors”, the production and distribution of Quantum education outreach kits for teachers, the production of a special issue of Physics in Canada as well as dedicated Quantum conferences and local events with more to be announced in the coming weeks.
Check out our recent CAP NewsFlash with details of background and planning, and about two special initiatives:
Sponsoring IYQ Canada initiatives
All stakeholders in quantum science and technology, including universities, research institutes, scientific societies, charitable foundations, industry and companies, are invited to support our IYQ 2025 activities. Sponsorship opportunities are outlined on the CAP’s IYQ webpage.
CAP-IYQ 2025 Design Competition – deadline January 10, 2025
The CAP invites all physics students in Canada to create a design for the Canada-wide celebration of the International Year of Quantum 2025 – compete for the prize of $1000, and see your design on t-shirts, mugs etc. distributed across the country in 2025! The jury will start reviewing the submissions on January 3. Full details about the competition can be found on the CAP’s IYQ webpage.
For more information on the IYQ Task Force and regional members, and for information about sponsorship opportunities for Canadian IYQST initiatives, visit the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology Canada website.
2025 Undergraduate Lecture Tour
The 2025 Undergraduate Lecture Tour will focus on in-person lectures between January and March. Ten universities across the country have agreed to act as a local host for a speaker; 22 speakers covering a broad array of exciting topics were nominated; and students at the host universities have ranked their preferred lectures. Nearby universities can arrange for speakers to visit through the local hosts. A new high school/cégep lecture program is also being piloted in 2025. The Lecture Tour Coordinator, Prof. Gwen Grinyer (gwen.grinyer@uregina.ca), is now working with the speakers, host institutions, and regional coordinators to schedule the talks at the host universities and nearby institutions. Click here for more information about the lecture tour program.
The CAP’s lecture tour and high school/cégep lecture program are supported by a $300k endowment received by the CAP Foundation in 2023.
2025 CAP Annual Congress – June 9-13 in Saskatoon SK
The scientific program for the 2025 CAP Congress is currently being developed by the Congress Program Committee. Please check the CAP 2025 Congress webpage to see an outline of the 2025 Congress, and to keep up to date on further developments.
We are delighted to announce that Shohini Ghose, Professor, Physics & Computer Science, Wilfrid Laurier University, NSERC Chair for Women in Science & Engineering, and Chief Technology Officer, Quantum Algorithms Institute, will be presenting the Herzberg Memorial Lecture.
Three plenary speakers are also confirmed:
- Naoko Kurahashi Neilson (Department of Physics, Drexel University)
- Pieter Cullis (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia)
- Dennis Whyte (Department of Nuclear Science & Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Other highlights include:
- a number of symposia in a variety of physics topical areas
- a special session on physics, climate change, and the transition to sustainability, highlighting the essential contributions of the physics community in Canada to this critical issue
- a number of workshops and events for students
- student oral and poster presentation competitions
- plenary talks presented by the 2025 CAP Medalists
- the awarding of CAP Fellowships
- a community update from NSERC
- and much more!
There is lots to do in Saskatoon in June, check out https://www.discoversaskatoon.com/
The annual CAP Congress is an excellent opportunity to share your research, to learn more about regional and national physics initiatives and to network with physicists and physics students from across the country. We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2025 CAP Congress in Saskatoon, the home of the University of Saskatchewan and the Canadian Light Source.
Upcoming Dates
- January 3, 2025 – Judges will start reviewing entries for the IYQ design competition
- January 15, 2025 – Nominations for open positions on the 2025-2026 CAP Board due
- January 15, 2025 – Applications for CAP/CAPF Graduate Scholarships due
- Mid-January – Call for abstracts for the CAP 2025 Congress
Follow us on Social Media
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Nominations are open for positions on the CAP Board, Advisory Council and Executive! Interested in being part of the voice of Physics in Canada? Click here to view the full post. |
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Congratulations and welcome to the new faculty members joining Canadian physics departments! Click here to view the full post. |
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Canadian Association of Physicists 2024 Undergraduate Lecture Series – Philippe St.-Jean at UQTR. Click here to watch the full video. |
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