The Hackathon returns to McGill campus
On November 3-5th, the McGill Physics Hackathon held its eighth annual event in person at the Rutherford Physics Building. The event attracted around 150 hackers, from CEGEP and undergraduate backgrounds, who joined forces to produce spectacular projects.
Congratulations to all those who participated!
Q&A with Jason Hessels, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Transient Astrophysics
In a ceremony today at Simon Fraser University, the Honourable Terry Beech, Minister of Citizens’ Services, announced that Professor Jason Hessels has been named the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Transient Astrophysics at McGill University.
McGill receives three Canada Excellence Research Chairs
The results of the 2022 Canada Excellence Research Chairs competition were announced this morning at Simon Fraser University by the Honourable Terry Beech, Minister of Citizens’ Services. The announcement was made on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and Ted Hewitt, President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and Chair of the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat Steering Committee.
Sixteen McGill researchers among the world’s most cited
Sixteen McGill researchers have been included on the Highly Cited Researchers™ (HCRs) list, as published by Clarivate. To be included in the prestigious list, researchers must rank in the top 1 per cent worldwide for their fields and publications in the Web of Science index.
McGill Physics Hackathon attracts students from high schools, CEGEPs, and universities
On November 3, the McGill Physics Hackathon kicked off its eighth annual event. Over the course of 24 hours, spread over three days, participants formed teams and took over the Rutherford Physics Building in a friendly computer programming competition. The goal? Use any programming language to demonstrate a concept or phenomenon in the physical sciences.
Congrats to former postdoc Dr. Alexander Demos and supervisor Dr. Caroline Palmer on their publication in Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Work by former postdoc Dr. Alexander Demos (now Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago) and supervisor Dr. Caroline Palmer was recently published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences. The publication is titled, "Social and nonlinear dynamics unite: Musical group synchrony" and can be found here for further reading.
Lessons learned from the inaugural Inclusive Teaching Initiative
From December 2022 to May 2023, a group comprising seven Faculty of Science instructors from six different departments met monthly to discuss ways of making their courses more inclusive.
Work by Dr. Ross Otto and colleagues featured in The Washington Post
Work by Dr. Ross Otto and colleagues on the concept of "prediction error" was featured in The Washington Post! Check it out here, inclusive of links to the relevant journal articles.
FSCI 198: Climate Crisis and Climate Actions featured in Le Devoir
A recent article in Le Devoir highlighted FSCI 198, a three-credit course for undergraduates focused on building skills for individual and collective actions to address climate change:
Devant les changements climatiques et leurs effets de plus en plus visibles, nombreux sont les jeunes paralysés par l’écoanxiété. À McGill, un cours veut susciter l’espoir et outiller les étudiants pour faire face aux changements climatiques.
Promoting student mental health through assessment practices, with Kira Smith
Reposted from the Teaching for Learning blog from McGill’s Teaching and Learning Services.
BY MARGO ECHENBERG
With community outreach, science is for everyone
The latest article by Made by McGill explores the mission, diversity, and impact of McGill’s many science outreach initiatives. The collective efforts of outreach groups and departments not only expand the scope of the University itself, but also engage members of the public with accessible science. This fosters a sense of curiosity and opens a new world of possibilities to all.
Russell T. Shinohara, former McGill student, receives 2023 Mortimer Spiegelman Award
Former McGill student Russell T. Shinohara has been named the recipient of the 2023 Mortimer Spiegelman Award for "his important contributions to biostatistics and imaging, as well as his proven track record of leadership and mentorship."
Paul Wiseman named 2024 Fellow of the Biophysical Society of Canada
Paul Wiseman, Professor of Physics and Chemistry at McGill, has been named the 2024 Fellow of the Biophysical Society of Canada for his major contributions to the development of new quantitative microscopy tools to reveal hidden properties of biomolecules.
Travelling seeds: a free lesson plan for schools
To celebrate Science Literacy Week, the Office of Science Outreach released a free lesson plan for elementary school teachers. The lesson, titled “Travelling seeds” explores how seeds are dispersed. The activities and discussions center inquiry-based learning, to encourage nature discovery through hands-on experiences and observations.
Seeing inside the heart at an unprecedented scale
A team of researchers in Canada and India has developed a novel method to image the whole mouse heart wall at a spatial resolution that is three orders of magnitude finer than that seen till now, revealing entirely new, previously unknown cardiac fiber systems within it.