Season’s Greetings and Year-End CAP Program Updates

On behalf of the CAP, we would like to thank you for your support in 2021 and to wish you the very best in 2022. In this News Bulletin, you can find updates on the following:


Greetings from the CAP President

As we prepare to say farewell to the 2021 year, I am honoured to represent the CAP Board, the CAP Foundation Board, our Advisory Council, and the Student Advisory Council, in extending our thanks to all of our members, affiliates, partners, donors, and numerous volunteers whose support makes our operations possible.  I would also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season.  We look forward to working with everyone in 2022.

There have been many exciting activities over the past year and many more moving forward.  We invite you to read about several of them below.   As always we welcome your input and feedback on our programs and activities.  Please submit via e-mail to our Executive Director, Francine Ford, at execdir@cap.ca.

Manu Paranjape, PhD, P.Phys
Université de Montréal

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CAP contracts a professional management team to bolster administrative support for members and volunteers

Megram Consulting Services Inc. has been contracted to, among other things, provide membership services, full accounting services, board guidance, and administrative and communications support for our numerous programs and Congress planning, thereby, over time, enabling our Executive Director to focus on delivering strategic initiatives to members.

Megram has been advising not-for-profit associations for the past twenty years; they have experience guiding board of directors, arranging AGMS, ensuring bylaws are followed and the Canada Not for Profit Act is respected. They are seasoned event planners capable of planning large annual conferences, educational workshops, and committee meetings. Their staff are focused on member services ensuring that member needs are heard and dealt with. They offer bilingual membership support and maintain a high service standard level when responding to membership inquiries.

“We are thrilled to have been chosen to act as CAP’s secretariat and want to assure members that the interests of your society will be our focus” states Lynn Burgess, Director of Client Services at Megram. “Under the leadership of the President of Megram, Robert Cross, we have assembled a team that includes Paola Biramvu who will continue to serve in the role of Membership Administrator”.

The transition to Megram is well in hand with support to the CAP Board and the Executive Director being provided by Alicia Forgie, with fiduciary responsibility being managed by Ryan Parachoniak, the Director of Financial Services, and with member support continuing to be provided by Paola Biramvu. As Megram will now become the first point of contact for the CAP, our mailing address and phone number are being transitioned to the Megram system. Full information will be available at www.cap.ca/about-us/contact.

The CAP Board extends its thanks and appreciation to our regular part-time Communications Assistant, Brooklyn Patrick, who will be moving on to new and exciting opportunities at the end of this year.

We look forward to this partnership for years to come. To learn more about Megram visit their website at www.megram.com.

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2021 CAP Congress

The 2021 CAP Congress was run as an online virtual event, hosted by Underline.  With 1,037 registered participants, it boasted the highest number of delegates for a non-joint CAP Congress!  Many presentations were pre-recorded and were discussed in a live session (flipped hybrid mode).  There were also sessions where delegates gave their full presentations live.  There were eight symposia, including one which celebrated Jim Peebles’ Nobel prize in cosmology.  The Herzberg Public Lecture was given by Frank Wilczek, Nobel laureate for his work on QCD.  We thank our members and other delegates for their participation which ensured that this Congress was, overall, a great success!

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2022 CAP Congress – June 6-10, McMaster University

Work on the 2022 CAP Congress is underway. Bookmark https://cap.ca/congress/2022 and keep abreast of plans as they unfold.

At this time, we are making plans for an in-person conference to be held from June 6-10 at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.  A final decision on whether we need to transition to a virtual meeting will be made by the end of January.  At the end of January, we plan to post the registration fees and issue the call for abstracts, with abstracts accepted from February 1-28, 2022.

The current schedule for our 2022 Congress is available now; you will see that it has been restructured with additional parallel sessions and increased time to network following the decision to move division and other business meetings to online events following Congress.  If covid guidelines allow, the Congress will include our traditional Welcome Reception BBQ, the post Herzberg public lecture reception, and a 2020/2021 Medallist and 2022 Fellows Recognition Dinner.

Nobel Laureate Donna Strickland, University of Waterloo, will, at long last, be giving her CAP Herzberg Memorial Public Lecture on Monday, June 6.

We currently have five of our six plenary speakers confirmed, including:

Chris Polly, Fermilab  (PPD)
Arthi Jayaraman, University of Delaware (DCMMP)
Shohini Ghose, Wilfrid Laurier University, NSERC Women in Science Chair for Ontario (CAP)
Jane Heffernan, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University (DPMB)
Patrick Hayden, Stanford University (DTP)

There are eight symposia being planned for Tuesday.  They include an exciting lineup of invited and contributed talks.  Abstracts can be submitted for these symposia by selecting the symposium track when you submit your abstract (opening February 1, 2022).  Delegates who wish to attend only the Symposia Day will be able to do so.  At this time we anticipate that the registration fee for non-student CAP member delegates and invited speakers will be no more than $175 for the day.  Here is the list of the planned symposia:

  • Advances in Biological and Medical Physics Symposium, organized by the Division of Physics in Medicine and Biology (DPMP) — Exciting new developments in biophysics, medical physics, biophotonics and other areas will be highlighted.  Topics will include novel instrumentation, new discoveries, and advances in modelling, including applications of AI.   Input on which new advances you would like to see highlighted can be sent to Cornelia Hoehr at choehr@triumf.ca.
  • Plasma Physics Symposium, organized by the Division of Plasma Physics (DPP) – Delegates wanting to hear about the recent advances in plasma physics research should plan to attend. Various topics will be covered including, among other things, plasma modelling, thermal plasmas, and non-thermal plasmas.
  • New Directions in Accelerator-Based Experiments, organized by the Division of Particle Physics (PPD) — This symposium will provide an overview and discussion about current and proposed accelerator-based experiments being planned within the Canadian particle physics community.
  • Hot Topics from Theory Made Accessible, organized by the Division of Theoretical Physics (DTP) — Come and learn about a broad range of “hot topic” theoretical physics from a group of about a dozen invited experts.  These talks will be targeted for an audience of physicists from all subfields to make this science update accessible to all.
  • Private Sector Physicists, organized by the Division of Applied Physics and Instrumentation (DAPI), in partnership with the CAP’s Director of Private Sector Activities and the Director of Professional Affairs – Young physicists, or those interested in a possible career change, are encouraged to attend this interactive symposium which will provide insights into the careers of physicists working outside academia and offer insights and advice into the possible pathways and training needed to transition your physics training into an engaging and rewarding career outside of academia.
  • Physics at the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), organized by the Division of Nuclear Physics (DNP) — In the next decade a major new accelerator complex, the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), will be built in the US. At the EIC, polarized electrons will collide with polarized protons, polarized light ions, and heavy nuclei at high luminosities to answer questions of fundamental importance in nuclear and particle physics today. Building on decades-long involvement at particle collider facilities worldwide, Canadian subatomic physicists are participating intensively in the realization of this new facility.
  • Fluctuations and Disorder in Condensed Matter, organized by the Division of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (DCMMP) — Some of the most challenging problems in condensed matter physics are those where fluctuations and disorder are essential features, and often frustration and a complicated energy landscape are present. This Symposium will bring together researchers across condensed matter physics to present and discuss recent advances in selected areas related to this theme.
  • Precision Techniques in Spectroscopy, organized by the Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics Canada (DAMOPC) – Measurement and precision are the cornerstone of physics as a quantitative, exact science. It manifests itself in the international system of units and their realization. The division of atomic- molecular- and optical- physics seeks to highlight current developments, applications, and state-of-the-art techniques applied in spectroscopy. Ideas for a symposium talk/subject can be sent directly to Jens Lassen at lassen@triumf.ca.

Physics Students are invited to participate in the CAP Best Student Presentation Competition (oral or poster) being held as part of the 2022 Congress.  Anyone interested in participating needs to tag their abstract for either the oral or poster competition as they submit it to the appropriate division track (abstracts will be accepted starting Feb.1 until Feb.28).

If accepted for oral competition, you will be given an opportunity to make your presentation (12 min + 3 min questions) during a relevant division technical session.  If selected as a finalist, you will be asked to give your presentation a second time as part of the Thursday afternoon Best Student Oral Competition Finals session.  If accepted for poster competition, your poster will be judged by a group of Division representatives and, if selected as a finalist for the CAP overall competition, you will be visited by a group of judges during the poster session.  All finalists in the oral and poster competition will receive recognition, with the top three in each category receiving a cash award and being invited to submit an extended abstract for publication in the CAP’s journal, Physics in Canada where it will become part of the online PiC-PaC archive.

Plan to attend and reconnect with your colleagues!!  We look forward to seeing everyone in Hamilton in June.

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2022 CAP Lecture Tour

Plans for the 2022 CAP Lecture Tour are well in hand.  We were pleased to see a diverse group of volunteer speakers and host institutions from across Canada.  Based on the input from students across the country, selections have now been made.  The Regional Coordinators will shortly be reaching out to the selected speakers and host institutions to finalize the tour schedule which will be posted on the Lecture Tour website once confirmed, which we expect to be no later than January 10th.  We remain hopeful that the speaker will be able to give their talk, in person, at the host institution, with the talk being livestreamed to the rest of Canada.

Look for a News Flash in mid-January announcing the lecture series details or visit our 2022 Lecture Tour website.

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Physics in Canada Update

In June 2021, the special theme issue on the “The History of TRIUMF’s Future” prepared by Guest Editor, Marcello Pavan of TRIUMF, was released as part of TRIUMF’s sponsor booth at the 2021 virtual CAP Congress.  It was subsequently posted onto the CAP’s Physics in Canada website – https://pic-pac.cap.ca, followed by the release, in October, of the theme issue on “Physics vs. Pseudoscience and Fake News” prepared by Guest Editor, Gary Slater of the University of Ottawa.

The special issue on “Inclusion for Excellence; the Physics Community in Canada” is in the final stages of preparation, with the final modifications submitted to our typesetters for processing.  With the holiday break fast approaching, it is uncertain whether we will have this issue available by year end; however, we should be in a position to post this issue, along with the post-2021 Congress issue, by mid-January – a great start to the new year.

Watch for our e-mail notifications as each issue is posted to our PiC-PaC website.

We are pleased to note that we are now in a position to proceed with the printing and distribution of the 2019 post-congress and TRIUMF theme issues — the final two print-version issues – which were delayed due to the covid shutdown and resultant financial impact.  As all members have had online access to each of these issues through https://pic-pac.cap.ca, we anticipate that not every member will want to receive a print copy.  Thus, we are inviting all members to indicate whether or not they would like a hard copy of each of the two issues by filling out this form before 23h59 EST on January 15, 2022.

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CAP Medals, Awards, Scholarships, Exams, and Fellows Program

Medals, High School Teacher Awards, Scholarships, and Fellows Program

In 2021 the CAP awarded our suite of medals, scholarships, and HS Teacher Awards.  We also were able to successful run the University Prize exam but were unable to offer the High School Prize Exam.  On Dec. 17th and 20th, each of our research and teaching medal recipients gave the plenary talk they would have given at Congress.  The talks were recorded and will be posted to our YouTube channel (linked from our medals day schedule) as soon as they are available.

In early 2022, the CAP will be undertaking a complete EDI review of our award nomination and selection guidelines and procedures in advance of the call for 2022 medal, award, and scholarship candidates. We will also be including our new Fellows Program in the review in preparation for our launch of this new program, currently planned to take place during Congress 2022 at McMaster Univ.  When the call for nominations is launched in 2022, we hope that our membership will help us by putting forward nominations that reflect the diverse excellence of our physics community.

2022 University Prize Exam

The 2022 exam will be held as a virtual competition on 2022 March 8th.   Details will be circulated once available.

2022 High School Prize Exam

At this time, we anticipate that the 2022 High School prize exam will be offered in early April. Once a final decision has been made, details will be posted on the High School/Cegep Prize Exam webpage.

2022 Professional Practice Examination –

The CAP will be, once again, offering the Professional Practice Examination for physics students (fourth year undergraduate or graduate), as well as anyone holding a physics degree who wants to obtain the certification but does not yet have the seven years of physics-related experience required to qualify for an exemption from the exam.  We are currently hoping to offer the exam during the week of January24th; however, if the exam cannot be held using the traditional in-person process at that time, the exam will be rescheduled to a later date, giving a minimum notification of four weeks.

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Volunteers invited for key positions on the CAP Board, the CAP Foundation Board, and Committees

Are you interested in having a more active voice in the affairs of the CAP? We are looking for members at all stages of their career to help provide direction and oversight of the CAP as we continue to roll out our strategic plan and member service initiatives!  There are five positions opening up on the CAP Board of Directors starting June 2022 and we are looking for members who are interested in helping to advance the educational outreach activities by joining the CAP Foundation Board of Directors.

The deadline for nominations to any of the CAP Board positions is January 31, 2022 (nomination forms are available here).  Members who are interested in being considered for the CAP Foundation Board or in participating in any of the CAP committees are invited to submit their expression of interest to programs@cap.ca.

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The CAP Foundation works for the promotion of physics

There is still time to make a year-end tax deductible donation to support our education activities through the CAP Foundation

The CAP Foundation supports a wide range of activities to encourage excellent young physics students across the country including, the annual CAP Lecture Tour, the High School Prize Exam, the University Prize Exam, the Allan Carswell Physics Educator Scholarship, the Stoicheff Graduate Scholarship, the Svensson Graduate Scholarship, the Canada-Wide Science Fair, and student conferences (CUPC, CAM, CCUWiP, WiPC).

Many of these programs are funded solely through the generous donations of members, family, friends, and colleagues.  Any level of support is appreciated and helpful!  If you prefer, you can arrange to make monthly donations through our Canada Helps account.

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Are you a Physics Student Interested in Science Policy?

Attend the Science Policy 101 Panel
Thursday January 13 at 15h00

What is science policy and how does it interact with the frontiers of physics research? What can you do at the undergraduate or graduate level in order to start contributing to the conversation? Our three panelists will talk about their experiences in science policy, how their backgrounds in physics and chemistry have helped or motivated them in their current careers, and give some tips on how to become involved.

The CAP Student Advisory Council is hosting a science policy 101 panel Thursday, January 13th at 15h00 EST.  Click here for speaker information.  The (free) registration link can be found here.

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Upcoming Dates to Note

Week of January 24 – the CAP Professional Practice Exam will be offered at universities across Canada

February 1 – April 1, 2022 – the CAP Lecture Tour talks will be held

March 8, 2022 – the 2022 University Prize Exam will be held as an online exam

June 6-10, 2022 – CAP Congress McMaster University, Hamilton, ON

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As we move into 2022, we hope that you are all in good health and encourage you all to stay safe. These continuing COVID times are difficult, especially for those living alone and our student population, so please look out for and support each other as we continue to move the fields of physics forward. We look forward to another year of serving the physics community.