Research Community and Partnerships

Faculty and Associate Faculty

In 2023/24, Perimeter Institute was home to 25 research faculty members across nine research areas, as well as three teaching faculty members and one outreach faculty member. There are now 21 research associate faculty jointly appointed with seven partner universities across Canada.

For a full list of faculty and associate faculty, including biographies, see the Appendix.

Perimeter Research Chairs

Named for legendary scientists whose insights helped define physics, and supported by donors, Perimeter Research Chairs are doing groundbreaking research in their fields.

Robert Myers
Director, Perimeter Institute
BMO Financial Group Isaac Newton Chair in Theoretical Physics

Asimina Arvanitaki
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Aristarchus Chair in Theoretical Physics

Freddy Cachazo
Freeman Dyson Chair in Theoretical Physics

Kevin Costello
Krembil William Rowan Hamilton Chair in Theoretical Physics

Savas Dimopoulos (Visiting)
Stanford University
Coril Holdings Archimedes Chair in Theoretical Physics

Davide Gaiotto
Krembil Galileo Galilei Chair in Theoretical Physics

Luis Lehner
Carlo Fidani Rainer Weiss Chair in Theoretical Physics

Subir Sachdev (Visiting)
Cenovus Energy James Clerk Maxwell Chair in Theoretical Physics

Kendrick Smith
Daniel Family James Peebles Chair in Theoretical Physics

Neil Turok (Visiting)
Director Emeritus
Carlo Fidani Roger Penrose Distinguished Visiting Research Chair in Theoretical Physics

Pedro Vieira
Clay Riddell Paul Dirac Chair in Theoretical Physics

PSI Start students Madison Schuetze and Gautier Duchesne

Visiting Scientists

Perimeter’s visiting scientist programs bring members of the physics community from across Canada and internationally to participate in Perimeter’s vibrant research environment. Scientists at all career levels and across all physics research areas are encouraged to visit Perimeter under a number of programs, for visits ranging from several days to a year.

Over the 2023/24 year, 719 visitors came to Perimeter Institute under these programs, including Distinguished Visiting Research Chairs (DVRCs), Visiting Fellows, Affiliates, seminar speakers, and other collaborators and guests.

Distinguished Visiting Research Chairs

Some of the world’s most eminent theoretical physicists come to Perimeter for extended visits as DVRCs, while retaining permanent positions at their home institutions. DVRCs use their time at Perimeter to collaborate extensively, present seminars, co-organize and attend conferences and workshops, and lecture in the PSI master’s program. DVRCs are appointed to renewable three-year terms. In 2023/24, two new DVRCs were appointed, bringing the total to 44. This year’s new appointees are:

Carlton Caves
University of New Mexico

Samir Mathur
Ohio State University

For a full list of DVRCs see Appendix.

Visiting Fellows, Visiting Researchers, and Affiliate Members

Visiting Fellows

International physicists across a range of career stages are appointed as Visiting Fellows for renewable terms to visit Perimeter for up to six months each year while retaining their positions at home institutions. In 2023/24, three new Visiting Fellows were appointed, bringing the total to 75.

Affiliate members

Scientists from Canadian universities in the Affiliate network have a standing invitation to visit Perimeter at any time to do research. The goal of the Affiliate program is to foster interaction between Perimeter and universities across Canada and strengthen the Canadian physics community through increased collaboration. In 2023/24, five new Affiliates were appointed through the program. The total number of Affiliates in 2023/24 was 101, 46 percent of whom were located outside of Ontario.

Visiting Researchers

Perimeter encourages applications from Canadian and international scientists to come as Visiting Researchers for extended stays of up to a year, often through a sabbatical program with their home institution. In 2023/24, five Visiting Researchers came to Perimeter over a total of 203 days.

We welcome applications from scientists at various career levels and in all physics research areas for periods of time ranging from several days to a year.

Find out more

Partnerships

Perimeter Institute collaborates extensively with the Canadian and international research community through a variety of formal research and training partnerships. Perimeter engages with research and training partners across Canada to strengthen national research capacity in many focus areas, such as quantum science, radio astronomy, and cosmology, as well as in PhD student training and mentorship. International partnerships with high-calibre institutions across the globe foster research collaboration through visitor exchange and joint workshops and connect Canada to leading researchers from around the world.

Perimeter’s research and training partners in Canada are:

Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA)
CHORD Telescope (McGill University [lead], National Research Council of Canada, University of Alberta, University of Toronto)
Dalhousie University
Fields Institute
IVADO
McMaster University
SNOLAB
TRIUMF
University of Guelph
University of Toronto
University of Waterloo
University of Western Ontario
York University

Perimeter’s international research and training partners are:

Astroparticle and Cosmology Laboratory, Paris, France
Chapman University, Institute for Quantum Studies, California, US
International Centre for Theoretical Physics, South American Institute for Fundamental Research, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, Tokyo, Japan
Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
SISSA (International School for Advanced Studies), Trieste, Italy
Tensor College, Dhaka, Bangladesh
University College London, United Kingdom
University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
International Centre for Theory of Quantum Technologies, University of Gdansk, Poland

Industry Partnerships

Perimeter Institute also collaborates with industry partners through memoranda of understanding that give skilled talent at quantum companies the opportunity to work side by side with Perimeter researchers in the Perimeter Institute Quantum Intelligence Lab.

Perimeter’s industry partners are:

1QBit
Haiqu
IonQ
Quantum Industry Canada

Explore Further:

Full list of Perimeter’s partners

Quantum computing and AI experts join forces to fuel the next technology revolution

Perimeter Institute and IVADO – an AI research, training, and knowledge mobilization consortium led by the University of Montreal – held a quantum and AI workshop in November that featured a keynote talk from Yoshua Bengio, one of the “godfathers of AI.” The workshop was hosted on site at Perimeter and led by Research Associate Faculty member Christine Muschik. The collaboration also included two of IVADO’s academic members in Quebec: Institut Courtois, which brings together leading researchers in chemistry, physics, and computer science to accelerate AI discoveries, and Mila, an AI centre in Quebec that boasts the largest concentration of deep-learning academic researchers in the world. The fusion of AI and quantum computing is poised to bring about the next technological revolution, and the workshop built exciting new research connections between experts in both fields. The workshop at Perimeter set the foundation for an ongoing partnership with a subsequent joint workshop hosted in Montreal in 2024 and a planned joint workshop in Waterloo in 2025.

Founders & Physicists: Strengthening our innovation ecosystem

In December 2023, Perimeter Institute hosted the inaugural “Founders & Physicists” event, bringing together 65 researchers and entrepreneurs from Waterloo Region and beyond. Designed to strengthen connections within Waterloo’s innovation ecosystem, the event included a fireside chat between Sabrina Pasterski, a research faculty member at Perimeter and co-founder of the event, and Marcelo Cortes, chief technology officer and co-founder of Faire. Physicists and founders alike connected over the importance of working with brilliant people who challenge you, the rigours of building a high-performing team, and the pressure of ensuring your work is funded.