2007 & Beyond – Building on Success

In May 2007, Perimeter senior scientist and founding member, Prof. Rob Myers provided scientific direction after founding Director Howard Burton left the Institute to pursue other interests. A global search for a permanent Director to lead the next phase of the Institute’s development led to the selection of Prof. Neil Turok, a renowned physicist from Cambridge University, who arrived at PI in October 2008 (please see the People – Scientific Leadership section of this booklet for more information).
Soon after becoming Director of PI, Prof. Turok unveiled an ambitious vision to dramatically increase the possibility of major research breakthroughs.  In doing so, he set out a number of important measures that included:

• Expanding the Institute’s number of research areas
• Recruiting a critical mass of the world’s leading theoretical physicists
• Becoming a second “research home” for outstanding senior scientists based at other institutions
• Generating a through-flow of the most promising, future research talent 
• Supporting Canadian research activity as the focal point for foundational physics research
• Serving as an international hub and supporting the growth of a network of theoretical physics centres around the world 
• Hosting timely, focused conferences, workshops, seminars and courses 
• Accelerating the impact of outreach activities across Canada, particularly among youth  
• Creating the ultimate environment and infrastructure to support excellence in theoretical physics research

In pursuing these measures, Dr. Turok constructed detailed plans and then took quick, concrete actions. His first steps forward in this next phase of Perimeter Institute’s development have included:

• Expansion of the Institute’s fields of focus to include particle physics, cosmology, condensed matter and complex systems, in order to incorporate insights from the full spectrum of physics into its research.
• Successful recruitment of new Faculty, Associate Faculty, Postdoctoral Fellows and PhD Students.
• Creation of the Distinguished Research Chair program wherein eminent international scientists make Perimeter their ‘second research home’ and come for extended regular research visits to collaborate with researchers and provide mentorship to our students.
• Launch of Perimeter Scholars International (PSI), an innovative Masters-level program that prepares leading students from around the world for a career in cutting edge research.
• Development of the “Go” program, to fully engage PI’s theoretical physics community with experimental and observational centers around the world including the Large Hadron Collider; the Planck satellite; VISTA, VLT, the SKA and other observatories; SNOlab and other astroparticle facilities; and LIGO, LISA and other gravitational wave detectors.
• Calibrating conference, workshop, seminar and course activity on timely and promising areas of research likely to yield significant outcomes.
• Increasing the Institute’s role as Canada's focal point for foundational physics research by expanding the number of PI Affiliates and further developing partnerships with theoretical and experimental research centres across Canada.
• Establishment of collaboration agreements and joint-activity partnerships with leading centres throughout the world, such as Cambridge, and developing similar agreements with CERN, Princeton, Stanford and the new Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) in Japan.
• Providing expertise to assist in the emergence of innovative centers of excellence that can promote high level math and physics across the developing world.
• Efficiently scaling up outreach programming aimed at teachers and youth while reaching out to the general public in more innovative and accessible ways.
•  Embarking upon an ambitious facility expansion in conjunction with public and private partners.

This integrated program of initiatives has been conceived to build and enhance PI's research environment and community, in order to optimize the chances of achieving scientific breakthroughs, while providing outstanding training opportunities to students.

In looking back these past two years, it is clear that Perimeter Institute’s momentum not only continues, but is accelerating, and that the Institute will be poised for even greater success following completion of the planned expansion. As announced in June of 2009, PI is adding an additional 55,000 square feet of research and training space to its facility. Designed by the Governor General Award winning firm Teeple Architects, the expansion will allow the Institute to become a world-leading centre and global hub for physics research in the pursuit of major scientific breakthroughs. The Institute is building upon success through the strong leadership of Dr. Turok who, in tandem with the passionate support of leading philanthropists and the Governments of Ontario and Canada, will ensure that Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics continues to be an innovative and successful example of private-public partnership in science research and education.