Focused symposia offer the opportunity for a mini-meeting within the general Congress that helps support physics research in Canada by providing an opportunity for networking and collaboration within focused research areas. Each symposium will be scheduled in one room with coffee nearby to encourage networking. New this year, the symposia will run in two sessions on Wednesday afternoon. The Wednesday morning session can also be used by the symposium organizers, if an additional session is needed.
There are currently a number of symposia being planned and more will be communicated as details are available. These symposia will include an exciting lineup of invited talks. Contributed abstracts submitted to a Division track may also be considered for presentation in a symposium. If this occurs, you will be contacted by the symposium organizer. If you have questions about a specific symposium, please contact one of the symposium organizers or the Congress Program Chair (wwhelan@upei.ca).
Future Energy Frontier Facilities
With the discovery of the Higgs boson the Standard Model is now complete. Yet key questions remain unanswered: the matter–antimatter asymmetry, the nature of dark matter and the origin of neutrino masses. Addressing these requires physics beyond the Standard Model and motivates intensified collider exploration. This symposium will bring together researchers working on new facilities that will enable exploration of the energy frontier. Discussion topics will include theory motivations, experimental developments, and accelerator technologies that enable the next generation of experiments.
A portion of the symposium will be dedicated to convene Canadian researchers interested in learning about or contributing to the Future Circular Collider (FCC). This new accelerator is designed to extend our reach with unprecedented sensitivity, precision, and energy beyond the TeV scale. If pursued by CERN and Europe, 2028–2034 will be a critical period for building collaborations and developing the required detector technologies. The goal is to engage researchers in material science, computational physics, instrumentation, accelerator technology and high energy theory and experiment in shaping a new effort that could be a major part of Canada’s subatomic physics community.
Organizers: Max Swiatlowski (TRIUMF), Jesse Heilman (Carleton University), Dag Gillberg (Carleton University), Alison Lister (University of British Columbia), Thomas Koffas (Carleton University), Luise Poley (TRIUMF)
Big data in matter, materials, and beyond
Physics has been an empirical science for centuries, but contemporary data exist in quantities that dwarf Newton’s Principia. Today, marshalling data to distill the understanding to describe emergent behaviours, invent new materials, and develop new solutions for improving technologies and human health requires fundamentally different approaches. This symposium will draw together physicists working across disciplinary borders to forge new approaches to empirical science in the 21st century.
Planned speakers include expertise in machine learning and artificial intelligence, information geometry, big data, and applications in materials, condensed matter, biophysics, and the physics of medicine. In addition, speakers include Canadians currently abroad, foreign physicists near (ish) to Ottawa or with research connections to Canada, and Canadian physicists at diverse career stages. We expect contributed talks and participation from students in condensed matter and beyond with academic and industry interests in machine learning, data science, and applied physics.
Organizers: Bill Atkinson (Trent University), Greg van Anders (Queen’s University)
Advancing Quantum Simulation based on 2 Dimensional Materials Through Canadian Collaboration
The field of quantum science and technology, focusing specifically on quantum simulation, deals with the development of novel quantum systems and hardware to realize new approaches to understanding and controlling complex quantum many-body systems on different time and energy scales.
The Programmable Quantum Simulators Based on 2-Dimensional (2D) Materials initiative, supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), is a national-scale research effort uniting three Canadian quantum hubs. The collaboration spans eight research groups across six universities and includes three industry partners. The project is structured around three core goals: design and construct a specialized quantum simulator capable of emulating the complex behavior of quantum systems; implement programmable quantum devices leveraging 2D material-based hardware platforms; and build large-area high-quality 2D materials and theoretical models to enhance the development of quantum devices and their fabrication.
This initiative targets fundamental challenges in quantum phases of matter, including correlated insulators, superconductors, Wigner crystals, topological phases, spin liquids and magnetism. Beyond fundamental science, it holds promise for technological breakthroughs, such as unraveling mechanisms behind high-temperature superconductivity or optimizing the performance of quantum materials (semiconductors, magnets, ferroelectrics, and topological materials) for applications in electronics and optoelectronics. The symposium will bring together Canadian physicists to present the initiative recent advances and ongoing challenges, highlight potential industrial and academic impacts and foster new collaborations within the Canadian quantum research ecosystem.
Organizers: Adina Luican-Mayer (University of Ottawa, University of Illinois Chicago), Pawel Hawrylak (University of Ottawa), Louis Gaudreau (University of Ottawa, National Research Council Canada (NRC)), Didier Guignard (University of Ottawa)
Novel Biomedical Imaging
This special Symposium is to recognize the impactful research and training undertaken by Prof. Kostadinka Bizheva, of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo. Prof. Bizheva recently passed away, at the height of her career. Prof. Bizheva’s research has had and will continue to have a substantial impact on the development of optical coherence tomography for high resolution imaging of the retina and the diagnosis and tracking of eye diseases. In addition, Prof. Bizheva had a tremendous impact on her many graduate students, to whom she provided unwavering support. Invited speakers will present the novel methods and the resulting impacts on the diagnosis and treatment of eye and other diseases. The Symposium will allow researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students to gather in Prof. Bizheva memory while celebrating the use of novel physics techniques for diagnostic imaging, including those advanced by her research.
Organizer: Melanie Campbell (University of Waterloo)
Private Sector Physics
Over 75% of physics graduates work in the private sector. Young physicists, or those interested in learning about physics career paths outside academia, are encouraged to attend this interactive symposium, which will provide insights into the careers of private sector physicists and offer insights and advice into the possible pathways and training needed to transition your physics training into an engaging and rewarding career beyond academia. Included in the symposium day schedule is an interactive Panel Session, hosted by the Director of Private Sector Physics, where you can learn more about the people and their careers as private sector physicists.
Organizers: Ian D’Souza (ian.a.dsouza@gmail.com), Daniel Cluff (daniel.cluff@deepmining.ca), and Steffon Luoma (luoma@live.ca)