Research
In 2022/23, Perimeter Institute was home to 26 research faculty members across nine research areas, as well as three teaching faculty members and one outreach faculty member. There are now 22 research associate faculty jointly appointed with seven partner universities across Canada.
Perimeter welcomed two new research faculty members in 2023. Recruited the previous year, both completed prestigious postdoctoral positions before beginning their faculty positions at the Institute.
Alex May is a quantum information and quantum gravity theorist who is interested in how these fields can be used to glean insights from one another. He completed his PhD in 2021 at the University of British Columbia and joins Perimeter from Stanford University, where he held a joint It from Qubit and Q-FARM fellowship.
Sisi Zhou works on quantum information and condensed matter, focusing on quantum error correction and quantum metrology. She completed her PhD at Yale University in 2021 prior to a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter at the California Institute of Technology.
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
Gluskin Sheff / Onex 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
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
The Perimeter Institute Centre for the Universe, originally founded in 2017, has received renewed support to energize initiatives in the study of cosmology and extreme events throughout our universe. The Centre establishes Canada as a world leader in the field of cosmology by providing a focal point for research. It promises to transform our understanding of black holes, the big bang, dark matter, and dark energy.
This fresh injection of energy has also resulted in the creation of two new chairs: the Carlo Fidani Rainer Weiss Chair for Perimeter Research Faculty member Luis Lehner and the Carlo Fidani Roger Penrose Distinguished Visiting Research Chair for Director Emeritus Neil Turok.
The visiting scientist programs are a means by which Perimeter engages with the wider scientific community from across Canada and around the world, while diversifying its own community. After several years of limited in-person visits due to travel restrictions and public health guidelines, visiting scientists once again returned to Perimeter during the full 2022/23 year. Over the year, 466 visitors – including Distinguished Visiting Research Chairs (DVRCs), Visiting Fellows, Affiliates, seminar speakers, and other collaborators and guests – spent a total of 8,540 days at Perimeter, three times more than in 2021/22.
Perimeter is a second research home to many of the world’s top physicists. DVRCs are appointed to renewable three-year terms and normally make extended research visits to Perimeter, while retaining permanent positions at their home institutions.
DVRCs use their time at Perimeter to focus intensively on their research, often in collaboration with Perimeter researchers, as well as to co-organize conferences and present seminars. Many DVRCs hold office hours for students and participate in talent and career development activities.
In 2022/23, eight new DVRCs were appointed, bringing the total to 47. This year’s new appointees are:
Marica Branchesi
Gran Sasso Science Institute
Sergey Bravyi
IBM Research – Thomas J. Watson Research Center
Marcela Carena
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Bob Coecke
Quantinuum
Charles Gammie
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Daniel Gottesman
University of Maryland, College Park
Vladimir Kazakov
École Normale Supérieure
Riccardo Rattazzi
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Perimeter’s visitor programs provide opportunities for accomplished researchers at varied career stages to join the Institute’s dynamic research environment for both short- and long-term stays.
Visiting Fellows are appointed to renewable terms, retain their positions at home institutions, and enrich the Perimeter research community during their extended stays. In 2022/23, 19 new Visiting Fellows were appointed, for a total of 75.
Affiliate members are scientists from Canadian universities who have an open invitation to visit Perimeter at any time to do research. This year, six new Affiliate members were appointed, bringing the total to 99 from 31 universities.
We also encourage applications from scientists to come as Visiting Researchers while on sabbatical leave from faculty positions at their home institutes. The 2022/23 year saw the program return to normal after several years of reduced activity due to pandemic restrictions. Five Visiting Researchers spent 245 days at Perimeter.
“I spent about three months visiting PI while on sabbatical. This was an ideal experience. There are so many interesting talks, group meetings, and people to discuss with and learn from, and it is so easy to interact. The building design is beautiful and encourages interactions, as does the Bistro, the hub of the institute.”
Ted Jacobson, Visiting Fellow in 2022/23
