PSI 15th Anniversary Reunion

Jun 18, 2024, 8:00 a.m. → Jun 20, 2024, 8:00 p.m. America/Toronto

PI/1-100 - Theatre (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)

PSIons celebrate 15 years of Perimeter Scholars International with the first ever PSI reunion event! 

 

Join us for 3 days that include:

• 3 former PSI Keynote Speakers in Industry 
• 3 former PSI Speakers in Academia
• A chance to win 1 of 7 Grants of up to 5000 CAD each for a PSI class project to be developed and presented at the reunion (see Call for Projects for details)
• Social events with your cohorts and PSI special guests
• Lots of time to connect with classmates and PSIons, while immersing yourself in Perimeter’s lively research and collaboration environment. 

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The Perimeter Scholars International (PSI) Master's program is offered in collaboration by Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo.

 

Tuesday, June 18

8:00 a.m. Registration

1 Welcome & Happy 15th Anniversary

2 Keynote

Speaker: Natacha Altamirano (Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc)

11:00 a.m. Break

3 Survey of a PSIon and building Jordan Geometry

In honor of the 15 year anniversary of the PSI program I ran an unofficial survey in which I asked the alumni from all years a number of fun questions about their lives, views, and experiences since leaving the program. The first part of my talk is a presentation of some of the survey results, covering questions like 'how many papers have you written?', and 'do you think AI will destroy humanity?'. The second part of my talk follows more of my own story, and covers a research program that I initiated while studying at the Perimeter Institute. Specifically, while a doctoral student I initiated the development of nonassociative spectral geometry together with Latham Boyle. The talk will be non-technical and will focus on the most beautiful and big picture ideas of the construction. I will explain why nonassociative geometry is interesting for particle physics, why it is difficult to develop, and how after many years I was recently able to successfully construct the first complete such geometries in collaboration with French Mathematician Fabien Besnard.

Speaker: Shane Farnsworth (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics)

12:30 p.m. Lunch

1:30 p.m. Cohort Project Collaboration

3:00 p.m. Break

4 Driving Quantum Readiness - An Innovation Perspective

"In this talk, I will share insights from my journey in driving innovation within the
quantum space across various sectors, including space, financial services,
healthcare & pharmaceuticals and across various emerging technologies.
Drawing from my current role at the National Quantum Computing Centre
(NQCC), I will discuss the transformative potential of quantum readiness driven
by the adoption of quantum computing use cases. I will briefly introduce the
NQCC, which was established under the UK government's National Quantum
Technologies Program, to address the challenge of scaling quantum computing
and discuss the various support mechanisms we have put in place to support
the quantum ecosystem in the Uk, including our flagship user engagement
program, SPARQ. Through these initiatives, the NQCC supports the discovery
of relevant quantum computing use cases and spearheads the development of
quantum computing applications. Throughout the talk, I will emphasize the
importance of engaging stakeholders from government, industry, academia, as
well as regulators and policymakers to spearhead responsible innovation."

Speaker: Sonali Mohapatra (National Quantum Computing Centre)

Wednesday, June 19

5 Industry Networking Breakfast Session

Breakfast networking session with industry reps from engineering, data science, teaching, banking and insurance fields. This session is sponsored by Perimeter's Career Trajectories group and coordinated with the PSI Alumni Project Group: Promoting Inclusivity in Physics Networking group.

Table hosts include:

Agata Branczyk, IBM (Senior Research Scientist)
Alvaro Ballon Bordo, Xanadu (Quantum Computing Educator)
Alexandre Vincart-Emard, Avanade Inc (Montreal) (Manager)
Alexandra Terrena, Minerva University (Assistant Professor of Computational Sciences)
Natacha Altamirano, Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc Director, Data Science
Sonali Mohapatra, National Quantum Computing Centre (Quantum Innovation Sector Lead - Space, AI, Healthcare)
Mohamed Hibat Allah, Perimeter Institute (PSI Fellow)
Dan Wohns, Perimeter Institute (Associate Director, Training Programs)

Join online at: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/94596686310

9:00 a.m. Cohort Project Collaboration

11:00 a.m. Break

6 My Non-Geodesic Career Trajectory: From Entrepreneurship to Data & AI Consulting

Speaker: Alexandre Vincart-Emard (Avanade Inc (Montreal))

12:30 p.m. Lunch

1:30 p.m. //

7 Solid State Detectors for Low-Mass Dark Matter Searches

"We are faced with convincing evidence that approximately a quarter of the
universe is composed of something whose gravitational effects can be seen
in a variety of astrophysical phenomena, but which we have been unable
to detect and identify in the laboratory. The majority of physicists agree that
this ""dark matter"" (DM) consists of as-yet-undiscovered subatomic
particle(s) that are not included in our Standard Model of particle physics;
the quest to discover its exact nature is among the foremost missions in
modern physics and the greatest treasure hunts in history. Direct DM
searches over the past few decades have been largely focused on Weakly
Interacting Massive Particles with masses much greater than that of the
proton. The absence of any conclusive discovery, along with various
theoretical developments and certain astrophysical observations, has
recently motivated the direct detection community to broaden our
experimental program to search for DM candidates in lower mass ranges.
Solid-state detectors provide many advantages for such searches. This talk
will summarize recent advances in phonon- and ionization-based
semiconductor crystal experiments, cryogenic scintillating calorimeter
experiments, and Charge-Coupled Device experiments. It will also discuss
future prospects and discovery potential for solid-state detectors with
respect to various low-mass DM candidates, including dark photons,
axion-like particles, and lightly-ionizing particles."

Speaker: Miriam Diamond (Arthur B. McDonald-Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute)

3:00 p.m. Break

8 Quantum many-body systems - how to tame and control them

In this presentation, I will talk about my personal journey in physics – starting in high school and concluding with my research in quantum many-body control. In the first half, I will discuss what motivated me during the different stages of my studies and share a few insights that I learned on the way. In the second half, I will dive deeper into my current field of research: quantum many-body systems (and how to tame and control them). Understanding quantum many-body effects is crucial not only for quantum technologies but also to provide new insights into many promising research directions such as the study of high temperature superconductivity. However, the many-body aspect also presents a computational challenge known as the curse of dimensionality. I will introduce two different strategies of facing this challenge. In a first approach, I will show how to leverage tensor networks to efficiently simulate quantum many-body systems classically. As a second approach, I will discuss how in an experimental setup one quantum system can be used to simulate another. I will explain why optimal control is required to successfully run such a quantum simulation and show how reinforcement learning, a subfield of machine learning, can be used to solve these quantum control tasks. Finally, I will tell you how all of the introduced concepts come together in a general framework for quantum many-body control.

Speaker: Friederike Metz (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

5:00 p.m. Cohort Project Collaboration

Thursday, June 20

9:00 a.m. Cohort Project Collaboration

Physicists for Climate Action Presentation and discussion

In the 15 years since the birth of the PSI program, addressing the consequences of climate change has become one of the greatest global challenges. Effective response requires actions on multiple fronts, and there are many opportunities for the physics community to engage in meaningful ways.

This project aims to stimulate discussion about impactful action within the physics community, with a focus on two arenas: the first, Climate-informed Science, relates to actions the research community can take to support sustainable ways of doing science. The second, Science-informed Climate action, refers to research and outreach directions that have an impact on the development of materials, policies, and education, leading to better climate outcomes.

To kickstart this, we have hosted a virtual workshop before the reunion, and have circulated a survey to gather data and raise awareness about climate impact trends within the research community. We will be running a hybrid workshop session during the reunion to stimulate further discussion about how our science and our ways of doing science can help this major global challenge.

What we hope to achieve through this project is the consolidation of a community of climate-conscious researchers, the identification of climate-mitigation strategies relevant to the physics community, and long-term outreach through e.g. web-based game development

Join virtually with the interactive zoom link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/94233469773

Anonymous interactive survey - Find out your Carbon Footprint

Mental Health of Physics Graduate Students Panel

Panel discussion lead by the Mental Health of Physics Graduate Students PSI Alumni Project group (Kim-Tuyen Hoang, Yang Lu, Maeve Manion-Fischer, José Ricardo Oliveira, Laura Piispanen, and Tianheng Wang)

Join this discussion with interactive zoom link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/94233469773

Mental Health of Physics Graduate Students poster (1).pdf

11:00 a.m. Break

9 Cohort Project Presentation - "Catching Up": Holography

Authors from PSI 2022:

Charlie Cummings, Eivind Jørstad, and Manu Srivastava

ABSTRACT:
Quantum gravity is a notoriously deep subject, spanning topics such as quantum field theory, general relativity, statistical mechanics, and the many seemingly distinct attempts to unify these three pillars of physics. “Catching up”, even within a single subfield of quantum gravity, can be a daunting task. One useful approach is to carefully read through the seminal papers of the field. Another is to eschew the original works, and focus on high level reviews of recent progress. These reviews have the benefit of hindsight, as well as being more manageable time commitment for already overworked students. Additionally, reviews can serve as a vital tool for finding the seminal works in the first place!

Within quantum gravity, holography is relatively young approach, with the foundational paper of Maldacena being written only 25 years ago. Most reviews in this field were written 10-20 years ago, before vital recent progress. For example, the phenomena of “islands” is now seen as an essential feature of holography, yet does not appear in any major review because they were first formulated less than 5 years ago. We propose to create a modern review of holography, with an emphasis towards pedagogy and highlighting the papers which have risen to the level of classics in recent years. Any student who studies this review will be confident that they have not missed any of the major concepts which have shaped this modern approach to quantum gravity, and can form an informed opinion about if this approach is compatible with their interests.

Perimeter is home to many of the giants of holography, who have developed key insights into the nature of quantum gravity. Furthermore, although the scope of this review is planned to focus on holography, we hope to make as many connections as possible to other approaches such as M theory compactifications, loop quantum gravity, asymptotic safety, causal set theory etc., as we believe that an interdisciplinary approach will only strengthen the usefulness of the review for students. Perimeter is also home to many experts in these other approaches, who will serve as a valuable resource in guiding us through the relevant literature of those fields. Access to such experts, as
well as the vast enhancement of productivity with in-person collaboration makes our in-person travel to Perimeter essential for this project. Without the PSI Reunion Project Grant, the review will be significantly less interdisciplinary and less comprehensive even within the main scope of holography. It will be easy to present this project to the PSI alumni, as we can present both a broad overview of the physics involved in the review, as well as a more meta explanation about the importance of understandability in making physics more accessible, not just to the public but also to beginner students with less access to resources at their home institutions, increasing accessibility of a historically terse field.

Speakers: Charlie Cummings (University of Pennsylvania), Eivind Jørstad (Perimeter Institute), Manu Srivastava (MIT)

10 Cohort Project Presentation - Merging space and time for fault-tolerance

Authors from PSI 2021:
Jacob Hauser, Dongjin Lee, Leonardo Lessa, Neel Modi, Amirreza Negari, Sydney Timmermann, and Jinmin Yi

Abstract:
The rapid development of noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices has made it an exciting time to study their resilience to gate errors and faulty measurement readouts. It is well known that certain quantum error correction codes can be used to ameliorate these undesirable effects. Some of these codes, such as topological codes in two dimensions, provide a robust way to store quantum information and perform computations fault-tolerantly up to a finite threshold in the error probability. Importantly, they are also robust to faulty measurements if the correction procedure is applied multiple times. Our proposal investigates the connection of adding this time variable to other quantum codes in one dimension higher, and vice-versa.

Speakers: Amirreza Negari (Perimeter Institute), Dongjin Lee (Perimeter Institute), Jacob Hauser (UC Santa Barbara), Jinmin Yi (Perimeter Institute), Leonardo Lessa (Perimeter Institute), Neel Modi (University of California, Berkeley - Department of Physics), Sydney Timmermann (Stanford University)

12:00 p.m. Lunch

11 Cohort Pitch 1 - GlobeGov

Development of a Global Citizen-Centric e-Governance and Awareness Platform (GlobeGov)

Author from PSI 2015: Sonali Mohapatra

Seeking members for this group. Please see link in "Presentation Materials" section to apply.

Abstract:

In an era defined by rapid globalization and complex international challenges [1], the need for inclusive, transparent, citizen-centric, and engaging governance has never been more pressing. However, a significant gap persists between global institutions and the citizens they impact, exacerbated by a lack of awareness, inaccessible and opaque data platforms, and the pace of technological development leaving behind a substantial portion of the global population.

The rapid advancement of cross-cutting, general-purpose technologies, such as quantum computing [2] and artificial intelligence (AI) [3], has led to the uncovering of a wide range of their applications across various sectors, including medicine, drug discovery, military, transport, space, energy, and climate change. As these technologies progress and their potential impacts become more evident, we are witnessing an unprecedented convergence of science and social sciences. This convergence is crucial for understanding and addressing the complex, interconnected challenges facing our world today. Furthermore, with an increasingly diverse workforce fostered over the last two decades, it is essential that we harness this diversity to foster innovation and develop lasting solutions to global risks. By leveraging the unique perspectives, skills, and experiences of individuals from different backgrounds, we can unlock new approaches to problem-solving and create a more resilient, adaptable, and inclusive society. Moreover, with increasing public frustration with traditional models of representative politics which feel increasingly out of touch, there is a pressing need to be bold in our experimentations by learning from pioneering innovations in digital democracy taking place across Europe and beyond [4] and integrate them with powerful technological developments to spearhead innovations at a global scale.

The Global Citizen-Centric Governance Awareness Platform (GlobeGov) is an ambitious initiative that aims to transform global governance by educating, empowering and enabling citizens worldwide to actively participate in decision-making processes and collaborate on solutions to pressing global challenges such as climate change, digitalisation, migration, depleting resources, and food security. Recognizing the interconnectedness of global challenges and the imperative for a united, citizen-driven approach to governance, GlobeGov builds upon previous digital e-governance, and citizen-centric social innovation models trialed in various parts of the world over the last two decades [5]. The platform emphasizes the role of technology, education, and transparent, inclusive platforms in enabling a shift towards a governance model that respects the planet and its inhabitants. By doing so, GlobeGov aims to bring together our collective human intelligence and knowledge across various sectors to operationalize calls for collective action, redefine global priorities, and implement solutions that ensure a sustainable and just future for all.

GlobeGov will democratize access to key data that forms the basis of global governance decisions and policy outlines through innovative technologies, accessible data visualization methods, and engagement strategies. The platform will serve as a comprehensive hub for data on international institutions, policies, funding, and their effects on global and local scales. By aggregating data, facilitating intelligent discussions, and offering immersive experiences, GlobeGov aims to educate and engage citizens in global governance processes, making these systems more accessible, accountable, and responsive to the needs of people everywhere. At its core, GlobeGov is a comprehensive digital platform that combines data aggregation and analysis, educational resources, and interactive tools for citizen engagement. The platform will feature a robust database of international treaties, policies, and funding flows, enabling users to access and explore critical information about global governance structures. Through AI-powered analytics and visualization tools, GlobeGov will provide citizens with personalized insights and recommendations, empowering them to make informed decisions and contribute to policy discussions.

GlobeGov will also serve as a platform for experimentation and innovation in global governance. Through features such as virtual town halls, simulated governance games, and collaborative policy drafting tools, citizens will have the opportunity to engage directly with decision-makers, propose solutions, and have a chance to get more involved with international policies. To ensure the platform's accessibility and impact, GlobeGov will prioritize inclusivity and, over time, partner with grassroots organizations and leverage offline engagement strategies to reach marginalized communities. The initiative will also emphasize rigorous impact measurement, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to assess its effectiveness in promoting citizen engagement, enhancing transparency, and driving progress towards the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

The development and implementation of GlobeGov will require significant resources and collaboration across sectors. We are seeking an initial grant of 5,000 CAD to support the first phases of the project, including platform design, data acquisition, and stakeholder engagement. This seed funding will lay the foundation for the platform's development and build momentum for further investment and collaboration.

References:
[1] World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2024
[2] Quantum computing just might save the planet | McKinsey
[3] 5 ways AI is doing good in the world right now
[4] Six pioneers in digital democracy | Nesta
[5] Digital Social Innovation | Nesta

Speaker: Sonali Mohapatra (National Quantum Computing Centre)

Join this group

12 Cohort Pitch 2 - Mental Health of Physics Graduate Students

Authors from PSI 2011:
Yang Lu , Maeve Manion-Fischer, José Ricardo Oliveira, Laura Piispanen, Tianheng Wang, and Kim-Tuyen Hoang

PANEL DISCUSSION: Thursday, June 20 @ 10am in Skyroom
Panel Moderator: Sarah Pearson
Panelists: Yang Lu, Tibra Ali, Jordan Krywonos, and Aldo Riello

INTRODUCTION:

Coming Soon

Speakers: José Ricardo Oliveira, Kim-Tuyen Hoang (Lumentum), Laura Piispanen (Aalto University), Maeve Manion-Fischer (TriCycle), Tianheng Wang (Chinese Acadamy of Science), Yang Lu

Mental Health of Physics Graduate Students poster.pdf

13 Cohort Pitch 3 - Simulating the Future through Science Fiction

Authors from PSI 2022 & 2023:

Anna Knörr, Anna Brandenberger, Astha Jain, Jaime Redondo-Yuste, Matthew Fox, and
Shawn Skelton

ABSTRACT:
The technological and social reverberations of theoretical research, and especially theoretical physics, have long been an object of public speculation and imagination. This is reflected strongly at Perimeter - in the institute‘s founding, ethos, and architecture. Residents at PI regularly pass under a reminder that „today‘s theoretical physics is tomorrow‘s technology“.

The paradox of story, as a mechanism of both truth-telling and escapism, can be used to navigate the otherwise tricky path of discussing prospective scientific advances. HG Wells' trip to the Moon and Ursula K. Leguin’s socio-philosophical explorations in the Hainish cycle novels are both paradigmatic examples of science fiction enacting social analogies. Starting from emerging theoretical physics, we use the narrative medium to explore its possible ramifications into the future.

We incorporate multi-perspective storytelling in order to explore several possible future
scenarios while including diverse voices and backgrounds. Such perspective shifts allow us to go beyond a reductive manichaeist framing of scientific advances, and instead emphasize the sometimes contradictory social gains and losses of technological shifts. Finally, our literary approach helps us ask the question: Can the language and metaphors underlying 21st century theoretical physics help give rise to technologies and movements that nurture care-based societies and relationships to our environments?

Examples will be drawn from our collective expertise in AI, ethics, quantum technology,
environmental issues, the physics of toys and public outreach. Our primary focus will be on exploring how emerging disciplines such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing can enlarge technological capabilities and transform our collective social imaginations, or, contrastingly, increase existing socioeconomic inequalities, environmental harm and geopolitical Tensions.

Within the Reunion we will further develop the literary voices and lenses to be included in the full text. We anticipate presenting a short reading from our work, along with a discussion of our motivations, at the closure of the conference. After the Reunion we will further develop the text, with the aim of making it public in several online and traditional formats. We target our text at a general public level, and strive to fulfill two interconnected aims: supporting public curiosity about 21st century physics and sparking new social imaginaries about where "purely academic" science may lead us.

RELATED ACTIVITIES:

Speakers: Anna Brandenberger (MIT), Anna Knörr (ETH Zurich), Astha Jain (Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi), Jaime Redondo Yuste (Niels Bohr Institute), Matthew Fox (Univ of Colorado), Shawn Skelton (Leibniz University Hannover)

Abstract and related event details

14 Cohort Pitch 4 - Physicists for Climate Action

Authors from PSI 2016:
Leilee Chojnacki, Adrian Franco Rubio, Álvaro Mozota Frauca, and Nitica Sakharwade

Abstract
In the 15 years since the birth of the PSI program, addressing the consequences of climate change has become one of the greatest global challenges. Effective response requires actions on multiple fronts, and there are many opportunities for the physics community to engage in meaningful ways.

This project aims to stimulate discussion about impactful action within the physics
community, with a focus on two arenas: the first, Climate-informed Science, relates to
actions the research community can take to support sustainable ways of doing science. The second, Science-informed Climate action, refers to research and outreach directions that have an impact on the development of materials, policies, and education, leading to better climate outcomes.

To achieve this, we plan to host a virtual workshop before the reunion, with several
instances to accommodate different time zones, as described in our attached proposal. We also plan a hybrid workshop session during the reunion.

What we hope to achieve through this project is the consolidation of a community of
climate-conscious researchers, the identification of climate-mitigation strategies relevant to the physics community, and long-term outreach through web-based game development.

See Presentation Materials for links to detailed project proposal and survey

Speakers: Adrian Franco Rubio (Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics), Leilee Chojnacki (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University), Nitica Sakharwade (University of Naples Federico II), Álvaro Mozota Frauca (University of Girona)

Detailed Project Proposal

Please complete survey to compute your carbon footprint

15 Cohort Pitch 5 - Physics without Words

Authors from PSI 2022 & 2023:
Cynthia Arias Pruna, Caroline De Lima Vargas Simões, Javiera Hernández Morales, and Raquel Izquierdo García

Our project is a game that combines concepts from flashcards and card memory games: one has a deck of cards where half the cards correspond to drawings that represent certain concepts of physics, while the other half contain short explanations of the same concepts. All cards are put on a table face down, and one can reveal only two cards at a time. A player wins a pair of cards when they successfully match a drawing with its corresponding explanation, and the player that collects more pairs wins the game.

ACTIVITIES: We are asking for your help! We have a list of concepts that could potentially part of the game, and we want to ask the whole Perimeter Community to collaborate with our project by:
• Making a drawing about a concept,
• Provide an “in a nutshell” explanation,
• Provide a long explanation.
You can participate by coming to our stand in the Atrium and draw using pencil and paper provided there. You can also draw on a blackboard or tablet and submit a photo/file to the linked form (it will require you to sign in to a google account to be able to upload the document). You can provide the explanations by filling the form as well. Please write your name in your drawing/explanation so we can credit you when the game comes out!

PROJECT DETAIL:
When I was in my last year of high school, I participated in a summer camp on "didactics of mathematics", where I spent a full week sharing with other high school students around mathematics, and it was one of the best experiences I remember from that time of my life.

During this summer camp, we had an activity where we got to meet "proofs without words", a concept in mathematics where you are challenged to prove a mathematical theorem only using pictures and drawings. We had tons of fun trying to match the pictures we were provided, with the mathematical theorems we thought they were trying to prove, and this image of me working in groups with my friends came back to my mind immediately after seeing the call for projects for the PSI reunion conference.

Me, Javiera, together with my fellow PSIons Carol, Cynthia, and Raquel, want to propose for our project the creation and development of a board game based on this idea and call it "Physics Without Words". The idea is to create a deck of cards where half the cards are drawings that illustrate a particular physical phenomenon (for example a bent line to show Snell's Law), while the other half would be the explanations of the phenomena, and the main goal is to match them all correctly. This game would be an excellent tool for teachers in schools and could be easily accommodated to the different levels from primary school to high school.

We intend to involve the Perimeter Institute Community by asking all participants of the conference to help us create the cards. We could provide a list of phenomena that we want to explain, and we could have professors, postdocs, PhDs, or even PSI members suggesting explanations "in a nutshell" that can fit in the back of a playing card (something along the lines of "Snell's Law is..."), as well as proposing drawings. We could give credit for this help by putting the name of the person on the card, which would also help students and teachers get to know the names of the amazing researchers who work at PI.

Our main expenses so far (detailed in the document) would be 1) Travel: to financially help two members of our group who are currently based in Germany and the Czech Republic, and 2) Game: need to hire a graphic designer to design the cards, then to print several decks, and finally promote their use and distribute them in schools. In the future, we can think of mass production of the game, translation into different languages, promotion via TikTok and YouTube, and many ideas that we already have.

We believe that this is a project with a huge potential, that can promote collaboration not only in PI during this conference, but also in every classroom where it will be played. We are also very proud of being a group composed of only women, with a variety of backgrounds that highly enrich our project.

Speakers: Caroline Lima (Perimeter Institute), Cynthia Arias Pruna (Charles University), Javiera Hernandez Morales (University of Greifswald), Raquel Izquierdo García (Perimeter Institute)

Drawing, Concept, & Explanation Submission

16 Cohort Pitch 6 - Promoting Inclusivity in Physics Networking

Authors from PSI 2020:
Ghislaine Coulter-de Wit, Jonas Neuser, Gloria Odak, Dalila Pîrvu, Melissa Rodriguez Zarate

PROJECT PROPOSAL:

Within academia it is widely acknowledged that some of the most prominent physicists encountered challenges developing interpersonal skills. For instance, speculation suggests that Newton and Einstein may have belonged to the autism spectrum. In fact, we do not need to look far to notice that a considerable number of physicists diverge
from neurotypical behavior; a mere conversation among peers often reveals that many of us deviate from conventional cognitive norms. Contemporary understanding recognizes these deviations in cognitive functioning as neurodiver-gence; an umbrella term encompassing conditions such as autism, anxiety, ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia, as well as less formal - and yet extremely impactful - experiences including impostor syndrome, among others. Increasing diversity benefits both individuals and the field, which should not be limited to race, gender, neurotype or physical ability.

Building a successful academic career can be a greater challenge for those who are neurodivergent, particularly when they also belong to another underrepresented group, further complicating their path. A crucial component in advancing one’s career is the ability to establish professional connections. However, accessibility to networking
events can often be challenging. As an example we consider a typical networking event, such as a cocktail hour. It often takes place in a brightly lit room with high bar tables, offering unlabeled or sparsely labeled food and drinks. Attendees must navigate joining existing groups or forming their own. Furthermore, sensory sensitivities might create
challenges with bright florescent light while clustered bar-height tables neglect those who struggle with prolonged standing, or navigating with a wide mobility aid. Unlabeled food and drink can lead to stress and uncertainty for individuals with allergies, religious requirements, lifestyle preferences, and sensory sensitivities already exacerbated
by eating in a social setting. People struggling with imposter syndrome or communication differences, may struggle creating or joining groups in such a setting, even if they are perfectly capable of having meaningful discussions in other contexts. These struggles are not indicative of an individual’s scientific aptitude but rather their ability to endure social interactions, engage in small talk, and manage activities like eating and drinking in such settings.

Our aim is to explore and suggest improvements to accessibility including adapting existing systems.

Perimeter Institute and the team behind the `Promoting Inclusivity in Physics Networking' project are dedicated to enhancing the PSI 15 Year Reunion experience for all participants. As part of this initiative, we are piloting several new measures and refining existing ones with the goal to create a more inclusive networking environment. We hope to identify effective practices that can be further developed and
implemented in future events.

1.- Participants can now display their preferred level of social engagement and interaction, via physical markers on their lanyards.

2 - Participants can display their preferred pronouns with a sticker.

3.-Participants can pick up squeezy brain ball and earplugs at registration desk

4.-Throughout the conference, private rooms with online conference capabilities have been pre-booked for participants who prefer a quiet environment or smaller group networking. During the "Collaboration" sessions the available rooms are the mezzanine glass office , PSI Time Room, Reflecting Lounge, SkyRoom, and courtyard areas. For the "Industry Networking Session" on Wednesday, the the Reflecting Lounge Room next to the library will be available and the mezzanine glass office is booked for online Zoom participation.

5.- Participants are encouraged to make the most of break times by using the various patios and hammocks scattered across the building grounds, as well as the neighbouring park.

6.- Food inclusivity: detailed menus are available in advance for the breakfast and banquet events; on-display labels for every food item at every meal indicating whether they are vegan, vegetarian, gluten or lactose-free.

7.- For the event we put special attention on noise levels. We sectioned off quieter areas during the networking breakfast, the banquet and the breaks. This is intended to minimize sensory overload. Free earplugs are also available at the registration desk.

Survey link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevYsGyTK9IPF-YPfOMljkVt_a3DPihGOCXWYDic1NLHD5eYg/viewform

Speakers: Dalila Pirvu (Perimeter Institute), Ghislaine Coulter-de Wit (Heinrich Heine Universität Duesseldorf), Gloria Odak (Centre de Physique Théorique), Jonas Neuser (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg - Department of Physics), Melissa Rodriguez Zarate (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität)

Survey Link

3:00 p.m. Break

17 Closing Remarks

5:00 p.m. PSI 15th Anniversary Banquet