DOCSLIB.ORG

THE MYSTERY of CONSCIOUSNESS Exploring the Question of Human Consciousness – P.15 President’S Message Promoting Excellence Now and in the Future

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
THE MYSTERY of CONSCIOUSNESS Exploring the Question of Human Consciousness – P.15 President’S Message Promoting Excellence Now and in the Future IN CONVERSATION FEATURE FEATURE ARTICLE Childhood well-being – p.11 Healthy oceans – p.23 The secret of our success –p.33 Circles in the sky – p.41 IDEAS TO CHANGE THE WORLD—SPRING 2016 THE MYSTERY OF CONSCIOUSNESS Exploring the question of human consciousness – p.15 President’s message Promoting excellence now and in the future The breadth and the depth of research being The Secret of Our Success, which suggests that it’s carried out by CIFAR fellows is truly impressive not our overall intelligence, but our ability to learn – from the action of tiny particles in fractions of from one another, that has led to human success. a second, to the behaviour of the universe over Finally, I want to point out the conversation billions of years. From the effects of stress on a among three of our fellows – Megan Gunnar, child, to the development of entire societies and Charles Nelson and Michael Kobor. They discuss the institutions that make them work. what research has taught us about the importance Fascinating as CIFAR research is, it’s not of early experience to the well-being of children, undertaken merely out of curiosity. When we’re what questions still need answered, and how our deciding on what programs to bring together, research findings can be translated into policy and we ask ourselves a few simple questions. Is the practice that actually help vulnerable children. question important? Can answering it make The conversation is especially interesting a real and enduring difference? Will CIFAR’s because the issues it raises will be addressed in involvement make a difference? November by the CIFAR Forum on the Well- Only when we can answer yes to all of these Being of the World’s Children in London, questions do we decide to put together a pro- England. In the forum, CIFAR will bring to- gram of research. It’s an approach that has led gether more than a hundred researchers, prac- to amazing successes. You’ll read about a few of titioners, organizations and other stakeholders them in this issue of Reach magazine, in which to discuss what research questions need to be we highlight some of our many pre-eminent re- answered to help us help children. It’s a massive searchers and the important work they are doing. effort by CIFAR to tap into the expertise of an en- In our cover feature, you’ll read about how tire community, and it’s one we think will play an researchers in our Azrieli Program in Brain, important role in setting new research directions. Mind & Consciousness are using the latest I’d also like to take the opportunity to men- tools of science and philosophy to tackle the tion that we are launching the CIFAR Azrieli puzzling questions raised by consciousness – Global Scholars program. This new program what is it, exactly? What is it good for? Where will provide young researchers with oppor- does it come from, and how do we recognize if tunities to develop the cross-disciplinary and someone or something has it? Those questions cross-sector knowledge, skills and perspec- are interesting in themselves, but they also have tives they need to become research leaders important implications for our understanding within academia and agents of change beyond of basic human psychology, cognitive function academia. The program is just launching, but and mental health. It’s exactly the sort of re- please go to cifar.ca to read about it and other search problem that CIFAR’s interdisciplinary developments at CIFAR. approach is intended to solve. I hope you enjoy this issue of Reach maga- You’ll also see how the fellows in our In- zine. It tells some of our stories, but there are tegrated Microbial Biodiversity program are many more than we can fit into its pages. I’d tackling fundamental questions about the in- encourage you to go to our new IdeasExchange credible diversity of microbial life in the oceans website, cifar.ca/ideasexchange, to keep up on that have major implications for the health of all of our news. • coral reefs, the oceans and our world’s climate. And you’ll read about Joe Henrich’s new book Alan Bernstein, President & CEO 1 CONTENTS 4 Advances News from our research networks. 11 Childhood well-being In advance of the CIFAR Forum on the Well-Being of the World’s Children, three Child & Brain Development fellows talk about what we know, and what we still have to learn, about early childhood and well-being. 15 15 The mystery of consciousness What is consciousness? It’s one of the most perplexing questions in philosophy and brain science. Fellows in CIFAR’s new Azrieli Program in Brain, Mind & Consciousness are using new scientific methods to get to the bottom of it. 23 Healthy oceans 23 New understanding of microbial life could help us heal coral reefs and even give insight into how oceans regulate the world’s climate. 33 The secret of our success Humans aren’t as intelligent as we think we are. Luckily, our knack for social learning lets us create a culture that’s smarter than any of us. 41 Circles in the sky An Escher drawing that mirrors the shape 33 of the universe. 43 IdeasExchange CIFAR’s new IdeasExchange platform connects researchers, change makers and innovators to drive change in society. 45 CIFAR’s donors 47 History note What an experiment filmed by the BBC taught us about identity, social 41 roles and the danger of tyranny. 2 Reach Magazine Spring 2016 —V olume 15, Issue 1 Managing Editor Creative Direction Kurt Kleiner Concrete [email protected] www.concrete.ca Reach Magazine, CIFAR BN / Registration N° 180 Dundas Street West, Suite 1400 11921 9251 RR0001 Toronto, ON M5G 1Z8 Produced by CIFAR Marketing & Communications About CIFAR CIFAR creates knowledge that is transforming our world. The Institute brings together out- standing researchers to work in global networks that address some of the most important ques- tions our world faces today. Our research is focused on improving human health, transforming technology, building strong societies and sustaining the Earth. Our networks help support the growth of research leaders and are catalysts for change in business, government and society. Established in 1982, CIFAR is a Canadian-based, global organization, comprised of nearly 350 fellows, scholars and advisors from more than 100 institutions in 16 countries. CIFAR is gener- ously supported by the governments of Canada, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, Canadian and international partners, as well as individuals, foundations and corporations. His Excellency The Right Honourable David Johnston (Honorary Patron) Governor General of Canada Ottawa ON Board of Directors Barbara Stymiest Lindsay Gordon (Chair, CIFAR) Chancellor Corporate Director University of British Columbia Toronto ON Vancouver BC Bruce H. Mitchell Anthony R.M. Graham (Vice-Chair, CIFAR) Vice Chairman President & CEO Wittington Investments Limited Permian Industries Limited Toronto ON Toronto ON Jacqueline Koerner Stephen J. Toope Founder and Past Chair (Vice-Chair, CIFAR) Ecotrust Canada Director, Munk School of Global Affairs Vancouver BC University of Toronto Toronto ON Stephen D. Lister Managing Partner Peter J. G. Bentley Imperial Capital Limited Director & Chair Emeritus Toronto ON Canfor Corporation Vancouver BC Patricia Meredith Clarkson Centre for Board Effectiveness Jean-Guy Desjardins University of Toronto Chairman, CEO Toronto ON Fiera Capital Corporation Montreal QC Gilles G. Ouellette Group Head, BMO Wealth Management Jim Dinning BMO Financial Group Chairman Toronto ON Western Financial Group High River AB Lawrence Pentland Corporate Director David A. Dodge Toronto ON Senior Advisor Bennett Jones LLP Hugo F. Sonnenschein Ottawa ON President Emeritus & Distinguished Service Professor Department of Economics University of Chicago Pierre Y. Ducros Chicago IL President P. Ducros & Associates Bill Young Montreal QC Founder and Managing Partner Monitor Clipper Partners Brenda Eaton Boston MA Corporate Director Victoria BC Alan Bernstein President & CEO Morten N. Friis CIFAR Non-Executive Director Toronto ON Cover illustration by Royal Bank of Scotland Adam Simpson. Toronto ON 3 Advances News highlights from our research networks ARTHUR McDONALD RECEIVES THE NOBEL PRIZE Arthur B. McDonald (Queen’s University), associate fellow in CIFAR’s Cosmology & Gravity program, received the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery that neutri- nos change identities, a finding which shows that these sub- atomic particles have mass. He Deep Genomics combines deep learning with genome science. Photo: Image courtesy of Science shares the prize with Takaaki Kajita of Japan. McDonald led a research seemed to be disappearing. group, including Senior Fellow McDonald’s group discovered CIFAR FELLOW LAUNCHES Mark Chen (Queen’s Univer- that SNO was in fact captur- DEEP GENOMICS sity), at the Sudbury Neutrino ing the neutrinos, but that Observatory (SNO), studying the missing ones had actual- Senior Fellow Brendan Frey neutrinos formed through nu- ly changed ‘identities’ during (University of Toronto) launch- clear reactions in the sun. As their trip from the sun – chang- ed a startup company, Deep these tiny particles travelled ing from one to another of Genomics, which will develop to Earth, two-thirds of them three different types of neutri- technology to predict how no. Not only did the discovery changes in our genome affect explain the missing neutrinos, human biology and health. it also implied that neutri- The company is using tech- nos actually have mass. This nology based on an artificial finding challenged the Stan- intelligence approach called dard Model of particle physics, deep learning, which CIFAR changing our understanding of fellows in the Learning in one of the most abundant par- Machines & Brains program ticles in the universe. have pioneered. Frey, who is McDonald has been in- appointed to this program and volved with CIFAR for 18 years, also to CIFAR’s program in previously as the Cosmology Genetic Networks, has com- & Gravity program’s advisory bined deep learning with new committee chair and as a mem- technologies for reading and Arthur B.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Report for the Academic Year 1995
    Institute /or ADVANCED STUDY REPORT FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 1994 - 95 PRINCETON NEW JERSEY Institute /or ADVANCED STUDY REPORT FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 1 994 - 95 OLDEN LANE PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 08540-0631 609-734-8000 609-924-8399 (Fax) Extract from the letter addressed by the Founders to the Institute's Trustees, dated June 6, 1930. Newark, New jersey. It is fundamental in our purpose, and our express desire, that in the appointments to the staff and faculty, as well as in the admission of workers and students, no account shall be taken, directly or indirectly, of race, religion, or sex. We feel strongly that the spirit characteristic of America at its noblest, above all the pursuit of higher learning, cannot admit of any conditions as to personnel other than those designed to promote the objects for which this institution is established, and particularly with no regard whatever to accidents of race, creed, or sex. TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 5 • FOUNDERS, TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS OF THE BOARD AND OF THE CORPORATION 8 • ADMINISTRATION 11 REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN 15 REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 23 • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 27 • REPORT OF THE SCHOOL OF HISTORICAL STUDIES ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES MEMBERS, VISITORS AND RESEARCH STAFF 36 • REPORT OF THE SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES MEMBERS AND VISITORS 42 • REPORT OF THE SCHOOL OF NATURAL SCIENCES ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES MEMBERS AND VISITORS 50 • REPORT OF THE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES MEMBERS, VISITORS AND RESEARCH STAFF 55 • REPORT OF THE INSTITUTE LIBRARIES 57 • RECORD OF INSTITUTE EVENTS IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 1994-95 85 • INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Institute for Advanced Study is an independent, nonprofit institution devoted to the encouragement of learning and scholarship.
    [Show full text]
  • Female Fellows of the Royal Society
    Female Fellows of the Royal Society Professor Jan Anderson FRS [1996] Professor Ruth Lynden-Bell FRS [2006] Professor Judith Armitage FRS [2013] Dr Mary Lyon FRS [1973] Professor Frances Ashcroft FMedSci FRS [1999] Professor Georgina Mace CBE FRS [2002] Professor Gillian Bates FMedSci FRS [2007] Professor Trudy Mackay FRS [2006] Professor Jean Beggs CBE FRS [1998] Professor Enid MacRobbie FRS [1991] Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell DBE FRS [2003] Dr Philippa Marrack FMedSci FRS [1997] Dame Valerie Beral DBE FMedSci FRS [2006] Professor Dusa McDuff FRS [1994] Dr Mariann Bienz FMedSci FRS [2003] Professor Angela McLean FRS [2009] Professor Elizabeth Blackburn AC FRS [1992] Professor Anne Mills FMedSci FRS [2013] Professor Andrea Brand FMedSci FRS [2010] Professor Brenda Milner CC FRS [1979] Professor Eleanor Burbidge FRS [1964] Dr Anne O'Garra FMedSci FRS [2008] Professor Eleanor Campbell FRS [2010] Dame Bridget Ogilvie AC DBE FMedSci FRS [2003] Professor Doreen Cantrell FMedSci FRS [2011] Baroness Onora O'Neill * CBE FBA FMedSci FRS [2007] Professor Lorna Casselton CBE FRS [1999] Dame Linda Partridge DBE FMedSci FRS [1996] Professor Deborah Charlesworth FRS [2005] Dr Barbara Pearse FRS [1988] Professor Jennifer Clack FRS [2009] Professor Fiona Powrie FRS [2011] Professor Nicola Clayton FRS [2010] Professor Susan Rees FRS [2002] Professor Suzanne Cory AC FRS [1992] Professor Daniela Rhodes FRS [2007] Dame Kay Davies DBE FMedSci FRS [2003] Professor Elizabeth Robertson FRS [2003] Professor Caroline Dean OBE FRS [2004] Dame Carol Robinson DBE FMedSci
    [Show full text]
  • Recycling' a Star (W/Animations) 21 May 2009
    The cosmos is green: Researchers catch nature in the act of 'recycling' a star (w/Animations) 21 May 2009 survey has found many new pulsars, but this one is truly special -- it is a very freshly 'recycled' pulsar that is emerging straight from the recycling plant." said Archibald. The McGill researchers worked with Asst. Prof. Ingrid Stairs of UBC and Scott Ransom of NRAO as well as others from the collaboration to carry out more observations of this unusual pulsar. Pulsars are rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron stars, the remnants left after massive stars have exploded as supernovae. Pulsars emit lighthouse-like beams of radio waves that sweep around as the star rotates. Most rotate relatively Neutron star with accretion disk (left) drawing material slowly, ten times a second or less, and their from companion star (right). CREDIT: Bill Saxton, magnetic fields ordinarily slow them down even NRAO/AUI/NSF further over the course of millennia. Millisecond pulsars, however, rotate hundreds of times a second. (PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, researchers "We know normal pulsars typically pulsate in the have observed a singular cosmic act of rebirth: the radio spectrum for one million to ten million years, transformation of an ordinary, slow-rotating pulsar but eventually they slow down enough to die out," into a superfast millisecond pulsar with an almost explained Kaspi. "But a few of these old pulsars get infinitely extended lifespan. 'recycled' into millisecond pulsars. They end up spinning extremely fast, and then they can pulsate The discovery was made during a large radio sky forever.
    [Show full text]
  • ÉMILIE PARENT Email: [email protected] Ph.D
    ÉMILIE PARENT Email: [email protected] Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Physics, McGill University, 3600 rue University, Montreal QC, H3A 2T8, Canada EDUCATION . ​ Candidate for Ph.D., Physics, McGill University 2017 - present Supervisor: Prof. Victoria Kaspi Graduation expected by summer 2021 M.Sc., Physics, McGill University 2015 - 2017 Thesis: A Search for Long-Period Pulsars with a Fast-Folding Algorithm in the PALFA Survey Supervisor: Prof. Victoria Kaspi B.Sc. (Hons.) Physics, Bishop's University 2012 - 2015 Thesis: Light-Curves Calibration of Type Ia Supernovae Supervisor: Prof. Lorne Nelson Diplôme d'étude collégial en Sciences de la nature, Cégep de Sherbrooke 2009 - 2011 RESEARCH . ​ Interests: Pulsars and Fast Radio Bursts searching, software development & searching pipelines, pulsar timing and ​ population studies, formation and evolution of millisecond pulsars and binary systems PALFA Survey 2015 - present ● Lead and coordinate timing efforts (proposal writing, observation planning, data management, analyses, publication, etc.) ● Lead of searching pipeline operation and development ● Survey and timing-data quality monitoring, and related communications with Arecibo ● Act as liaison with the CHIME/Pulsar and CHIME/FRB teams for collaborative data sharing purposes ● Sensitivity analysis of the survey to long-period pulsars ● Timing analysis of regular pulsars and millisecond pulsars, and searching for high-energy pulsations Green Bank Northern Celestial Cap Pulsar Survey 2017 - present ​ ● Maintenance of the survey public
    [Show full text]
  • March 2019 Page 2
    Atlanta Geological Society Newsletter ODDS AND ENDS Dear AGS members, Greetings! I know you have heard me go on and March Meeting on about basic geological concepts; deep time, Join us Tuesday, March 26, 2019 at uniformitarianism, etc. Well, I have further proof that even more mundane events, like problems the Fernbank Museum of Natural drilling, are the same world‐wide and even History, 760 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta extending to other planets. We, the US Space GA. The social starts at 6:30 pm and program, currently have a probe exploring Mars, the meeting starts at approximately InSight. On board is the Heat Flow and Physical 7:00 p.m. Properties Package, HP3. This is designed to advance a temperature probe up to 5m into the This month out presentation is Martian soil and take temperature “Investigating Rare Biomineralization measurements in various modes. This probe is Structures in Trilobites” advanced with essential a hammer drill direct push rig with sensors. presented by Ms. Raya Greenberger. So, it is with no small amusement that I read that Please find more information about the the probe got to a depth of about 3m and could presentation and Ms. Greenberger’s not advance any further. There are consultations bio on the next page. going on about the operations, software glitches or maybe it just encountered a rock in the Please come out, enjoy a bite to subsurface. Who among us has not experience eat, the camaraderie, an interesting refusal on a DPT rig? It appears that not only presentation and perhaps some have the grander concepts of stratigraphy and discussion on the importance of sedimentology made the inter‐planetary jump to Mars but so have drilling problems.
    [Show full text]
  • Astrophysics in 2006 3
    ASTROPHYSICS IN 2006 Virginia Trimble1, Markus J. Aschwanden2, and Carl J. Hansen3 1 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-4575, Las Cumbres Observatory, Santa Barbara, CA: ([email protected]) 2 Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, Organization ADBS, Building 252, 3251 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, CA 94304: ([email protected]) 3 JILA, Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder CO 80309: ([email protected]) Received ... : accepted ... Abstract. The fastest pulsar and the slowest nova; the oldest galaxies and the youngest stars; the weirdest life forms and the commonest dwarfs; the highest energy particles and the lowest energy photons. These were some of the extremes of Astrophysics 2006. We attempt also to bring you updates on things of which there is currently only one (habitable planets, the Sun, and the universe) and others of which there are always many, like meteors and molecules, black holes and binaries. Keywords: cosmology: general, galaxies: general, ISM: general, stars: general, Sun: gen- eral, planets and satellites: general, astrobiology CONTENTS 1. Introduction 6 1.1 Up 6 1.2 Down 9 1.3 Around 10 2. Solar Physics 12 2.1 The solar interior 12 2.1.1 From neutrinos to neutralinos 12 2.1.2 Global helioseismology 12 2.1.3 Local helioseismology 12 2.1.4 Tachocline structure 13 arXiv:0705.1730v1 [astro-ph] 11 May 2007 2.1.5 Dynamo models 14 2.2 Photosphere 15 2.2.1 Solar radius and rotation 15 2.2.2 Distribution of magnetic fields 15 2.2.3 Magnetic flux emergence rate 15 2.2.4 Photospheric motion of magnetic fields 16 2.2.5 Faculae production 16 2.2.6 The photospheric boundary of magnetic fields 17 2.2.7 Flare prediction from photospheric fields 17 c 2008 Springer Science + Business Media.
    [Show full text]
  • Community Stats
    IDEAS DRIVING PROFOUND CHANGE IDEAS DRIVING PROFOUND CHANGE GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH GLOBAL COMMUNITIES ADDRESSING THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FACING SCIENCE AND HUMANITY 428 161 72 263 researchers* institutions 1611 437 Advisors Fellows publications influenced publications authored CIFAR'S by CIFAR activities** by two or more CIFAR 20TH NOBEL researchers*** CONNECTION of researchers report that participation in Manitoba-born James CIFAR activities has positively informed or Peebles, Albert Einstein 18 impacted their research (e.g. influence on Professor Emeritus of their research directions, new ideas, etc.) Science at Princeton 26 countries 93.1% University, was awarded CIFAR Azrieli the 2019 Nobel Prize in Global Scholars Physics “for contributions HIGH-IMPACT SCHOLARSHIP to our understanding of the evolution of the universe and Earth’s 256 fellows, advisors, CIFAR place in the cosmos.” He Azrieli Global Scholars, and was a founding member TOP Canada CIFAR AI Chairs (60%) of CIFAR’s Cosmology & 3,000+ contributed to the top 1% of Gravity program in 1985, 80 most-cited papers worldwide in which he remained researchers, policy-makers, and from 2013 to 2017.**** actively engaged for Canada CIFAR 1% more than 25 years. AI Chairs industry leaders came together for 94 meetings and events, totalling NOBEL PRIZES AWARDED A HUB FOR COLLABORATION TO CIFAR-AFFILIATED 116 days of meetings in 2019–2020. RESEARCHERS formal partnerships with governments, research organizations, industry, and foundations STAYING CONNECTED EXTRAORDINARY MINDS 60 20 program meetings and major awards received cross-programmatic by fellows, advisors, events in 2019–2020 CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars, and Canada * Includes researchers in all CIFAR programs, including Institutions, *** Self-reported number of publications co-authored with other CIFAR 34 105 Organizations & Growth, Successful Societies, and Genetic Networks, since researchers.
    [Show full text]
  • Jessica Ryan Lu
    Jessica Ryan Lu Contact Institute for Astronomy Voice: (808)-956-8573 Information University of Hawaii Fax: (808) 956-5908 2680 Woodlawn Dr. Email: [email protected] Honolulu, HI 96822 WWW: www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~jlu Research Star and cluster formation, initial mass function, galactic centers, stellar dynamics, adaptive Interests optics, astrometry, astrometric microlensing. Education University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D., Astrophysics 2008 • Adviser: Prof. Andrea Ghez • Thesis: Origins of Young Stars in the Central Parsec of the Milky Way University of California, Los Angeles, M.S., Astrophysics 2005 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, S.B., Physics 2000 • Adviser: Prof. Victoria Kaspi • Thesis: Monitoring Anomalous X-ray Pulsars with RXTE Research Assistant Professor Summer 2016 Appointments University of California, Berkeley Assistant Astronomer current - 7/2016 Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow, IfA Hawaii 2011-2013 Millikan Postdoctoral Fellow in Obs. Astronomy, Caltech 2008-2011 Graduate Researcher, UCLA 2003-2005 NSF Graduate Research Fellow, UCLA 2005-2008 Undergraduate Researcher, MIT 1997-2000 Research Project Scientist, 'imaka Ground Layer Adaptive Optics Demonstrator 2013-present Activities Member, Galactic Center Group @ UCLA 2003-present Project Manager, UCLA/Keck AO Optimization 2014-present Honors and 2014 Kavli Fellow Awards 2011 NSF Astronomy Postdoctoral Fellowship (IfA, UH Manoa) 2008 Caltech Millikan Postdoctoral Fellowship in Observational
    [Show full text]
  • Powering Discovery
    Powering Discovery The Expert Panel on International Practices for Funding Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Powering Discovery The Expert Panel on International Practices for Funding Natural Sciences and Engineering Research The Council 0f Canadian Academies 180 Elgin Street, Suite 1401, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K2P 2K3 The project that is the subject of this report was undertaken with the approval of the Board of Directors of the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA). Board members are drawn from the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS), as well as from the general public. The members of the expert panel responsible for the report were selected by the CCA for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance. This report was prepared in response to a request from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Any opinions, findings, or conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors, The Expert Panel on International Practices for Funding Natural Sciences and Engineering Research, and do not necessarily represent the views of their organizations of affiliation or employment, or the sponsoring organization, NSERC. Library and Archives Canada ISBN: 978-1-926522-91-3 (book) 978-1-926522-90-6 (electronic book) This report should be cited as: Council of Canadian Academies, 2021. Powering Discovery, Ottawa (ON). The Expert Panel on International Practices for Funding Natural Sciences and Engineering Research, Council of Canadian Academies. Disclaimer The internet data and information referenced in this report were correct, to the best of the CCA’s knowledge, at the time of publication.
    [Show full text]
  • Mcgill Space Institute
    Institut Spatial de McGill McGill Space Institute Annual Report 2016-2017 • 1 Contents 3 About the McGill Space Outreach and Inreach Institute 18 Education and 4 Research Areas Public Outreach 20 Solar Eclipse Watch Research Updates MTL 2017 22 AstroNights 7 A Hot, Black Planet 24 Astronomy on Tap 8 Merging Neutron Stars in X-rays and 25 MSI in the News Gravitational Waves 26 MSI Fellowships 10 First Light for 28 MSI Seminars the CHIME telescope 29 A Week at the MSI 12 South Pole Telescope 3rd Generation Receiver 30 Planet Lunch 13 A possible dark origin 30 Black Hole Lunch of Matter 31 MSI Lunch Talks 14 The first host galaxy for a Fast Radio Burst About the MSI 16 Muon Hunters: A Citizen Science Project 31 Awards 32 2016-2017 MSI Members 33 2016-2017 MSI Board 33 New Faculty 2018-19 34 Visitors 2016-2017 34 Former MSI members 35 MSI by the Numbers 36 Facilities used by MSI members 37 MSI Faculty Collaborations 40 2016-2017 MSI Publications 2 • About the McGill Space Institute Mission The McGill Space Institute advances the frontiers of space-related science by fos- tering world-class research, training, and community engagement. Vision By 2022, MSI will be a world-renowned leader in space science research. This position will be built around the following components: • Providing an intellectual home for faculty, research staff, and students engaged in space-related research at McGill, regardless of their home department; • Supporting the development of technology and instru- mentation for space-related research; • Fostering cross-fertilization, interdisciplinary interactions and collaborations among Institute members in Insti- tute-relevant research areas; • Sharing with students, educators, and the public an un- derstanding of and an appreciation for the goals, tech- niques and results of the Institute's research.
    [Show full text]
  • Energetic Phenomena in Isolated Neutron Stars, Pulsar Wind Nebulae & Supernova Remnants
    The Fast and the Furious: Energetic Phenomena in Isolated Neutron Stars, Pulsar Wind Nebulae & Supernova Remnants 22−24 May 2013 European Space Astronomy Centre Villafranca del Castillo Madrid, Spain A conference organised by the European Space Agency XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre ABSTRACT BOOK Oral Communications and Posters Edited by Andy Pollock with the help of Cristina Hernandez and Jan-Uwe Ness Organising Committees Scientific Organising Committee Sandro Mereghetti (Chair) INAF, IASF-Milano, Italy Werner Becker MPE, Garching, Germany Andrei Bykov Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia Wim Hermsen SRON, Utrecht, The Netherlands Victoria Kaspi McGill University, Montreal, Canada Demosthenes Kazanas NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt MD, USA Chryssa Kouveliotou NASA/MSFC, Huntsville AL, USA Dong Lai Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA Kazuo Makishima University of Tokyo, Japan Sergey Popov Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow, Russia Norbert Schartel (co-Chair) XMM-Newton SOC, Madrid, Spain Patrick Slane CfA, Cambridge MA, USA Luigi Stella INAF, Rome, Italy Diego Torres IEEC-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain Anna Watts University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Martin C. Weisskopf NASA/MSFC, Huntsville AL, USA Silvia Zane MSSL-UCL, Dorking, Surrey, UK Local Organising Committee (XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre) Jan-Uwe Ness (Chair) Michelle Arpizou Matthias Ehle Carlos Gabriel Aitor Ibarra Andy Pollock Richard Saxton Martin Stuhlinger Contents 1 Invited Speakers 3 Review of the theory of PWNe Niccol`oBucciantini . 4 Multi-wavelength Observations of Known, and Searches for New, Gamma-ray Binaries Robin Corbet, Chi Cheung, Malcolm Coe, Joel Coley, Davide Donato, Philip Ed- wards, Vanessa McBride, M. Virginia McSwain, Jamie Stevens . 4 TeV emitting PWNe: abundant and diverse high energy engines of all ages Arache Djannati-Atai .
    [Show full text]
  • Report for the Academic Year 2017–2018
    Institute for Advanced Study Re port for 2 0 1 7–2 0 INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY 1 8 EINSTEIN DRIVE PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 08540 Report for the Academic Year (609) 734-8000 www.ias.edu 2017–2018 Cover: SHATEMA THREADCRAFT, Ralph E. and Doris M. Hansmann Member in the School of Social Science (right), gives a talk moderated by DIDIER FASSIN (left), James D. Wolfensohn Professor, on spectacular black death at Ideas 2017–18. Opposite: Fuld Hall COVER PHOTO: DAN KOMODA Table of Contents DAN KOMODA DAN Reports of the Chair and the Director 4 The Institute for Advanced Study 6 School of Historical Studies 8 School of Mathematics 20 School of Natural Sciences 30 School of Social Science 40 Special Programs and Outreach 48 Record of Events 57 80 Acknowledgments 88 Founders, Trustees, and Officers of the Board and of the Corporation 89 Administration 90 Present and Past Directors and Faculty 91 Independent Auditors’ Report THOMAS CLARKE REPORT OF THE CHAIR The Institute for Advanced Study’s independence and excellence led by Sanjeev Arora, Visiting Professor in the School require the dedication of many benefactors, and in 2017–18, of Mathematics. we celebrated the retirements of our venerable Vice Chairs The Board was delighted to welcome new Trustees Mark Shelby White and Jim Simons, whose extraordinary service has Heising, Founder and Managing Director of the San Francisco enhanced the Institute beyond measure. I am immensely grateful investment firm Medley Partners, and Dutch astronomer and and feel exceptionally privileged to have worked with both chemist Ewine Fleur van Dishoeck, Professor of Molecular Shelby and Jim in shaping and guiding the Institute into the Astrophysics at the University of Leiden.
    [Show full text]