Meet a Scientist
What makes a scientist tick? How did they get started? What advice do they offer today’s students?
Find out by viewing these short video interviews with leading researchers from around the world. They explain their interest in science, from young school-age days to the present, and share insights with those who may want to pursue their own life in science. In addition to hearing personal comments, you can link to some related PI Public Lectures and also read about associated research areas at PI.
Prof. Alessandra Buonanno
University of Maryland
Research Area: Cosmology
Research Interests: Cosmology of the early universe; theory and detection of gravitational waves, e.g. from the violent last stages of inspiral as two orbiting black holes coalesce. Using cutting edge quantum physics in designing practical, ultra sensitive gravitational wave detectors.
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Perimeter Institute
Research Area: Cosmology, Quantum Gravity
Research Interests: Cosmology and cosmological implications of quantum gravity. Observable effects in cosmology help to identify the limits of general relativity, which could potentially be surpassed by modified theories of gravity and/or quantum gravity.
Dr. Jean-Luc Lehners
Princeton University
Research Area: Cosmology, Superstring Theory
Research Interests: What, exactly, happened around the time of the Big Bang? Exploring new models inspired by superstring theory and supergravity, e.g. ones in which we live on “branes” that collide with a “big bang”. Satellite experiments to test such models.
Prof. Neal Weiner
New York University
Research Area: Particle Physics, Cosmology
Research Interests: Physics beyond the standard model: theories of elementary particles with extra space dimensions (large, small, warped and flat); supersymmetry; grand unification; dark matter; inflation and dark energy; as well as relationships between the different subjects.
Dr. Olivier Doré
CITA University of Toronto
Research Area: Cosmology
Research Interests: The origin and evolution of the largest observable structures in the universe (much larger than entire galaxies); understanding why the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Observational techniques: cosmic microwave background, gravitational lensing and gravity waves.
Prof. Neta A. Bahcall
Princeton University
Research Area: Cosmology
Research Interests: Observational cosmology, with particular focus on the formation and evolution of large scale structures in our universe like clusters of galaxies as large as 500 million light years. “Weighing” the universe, and mapping out the mysterious dark matter it contains.
Prof. Alexander Vilenkin
Tufts University
Research Area: Cosmology
Research Interests: Theoretical models for cosmology – from standard to exotic (e.g. cosmic strings and monopoles). “Quantum creation” of multiple universes out of nothing; eternal inflation and the anthropic selection of a world that would ultimately become hospitable to life.
Prof. Andreas Albrecht
UC Davis
Research Area: Cosmology
Research Interests: Implications of high-energy elementary particle physics for physics of the early universe and its evolution (Big Bang, creation of matter, formation of galaxies, etc). And vice-versa: implications of observable cosmological data for fundamental physics.
Dr. Bernd Schroers
Heriot-Watt University
Research Area: Quantum Gravity
Research Interests: Mathematical aspects of modern theories of elementary particles and gravitation. Replacing the notion of particles with fundamental abstract fields (magnetic monopoles, vortices and Skyrmions) in an attempt to approach a formulation for quantum gravity.
Prof. Chris Fuchs
Perimeter Institute
Research Area: Quantum Foundations, Quantum Information
Research Interests: Applications of quantum theory to cryptography and computation; understanding in more concrete, physical terms what quantum theory is telling us about the nature of reality. Applications of information theory to better understand the quantum “wave function”.
Prof. Daniel Gottesman
Perimeter Institute
Research Area: Quantum Information
Public Lectures: Quantum Cryptography: A Tale of Secrets Hidden and Revealed Through the Laws of Physics
Research Interests: Applications of the quantum nature of our universe to potential new technologies like quantum cryptography and quantum computation. In particular, theoretical developments such as fault-tolerant quantum codes and protocols for quantum error correction.
Dr. Ghazal Geshnizjani
Perimeter Institute
Research Area: Cosmology
Research Interests: String- and M-theory inspired scenarios for the cosmology of the early universe. Replacing the unphysical Big Bang-like beginning of our universe with bouncing scenarios of accelerated expansion followed by familiar evolution.
Prof. Herman Verlinde
Princeton University
Research Area: Superstring Theory
Research Interests: Many aspects of string theory, ranging from its mathematical structure and various formulations, to possible implications for black holes and cosmology. Using string phenomenology to connect theory with reality, i.e. string mathematics with elementary particle physics.
Prof. Lucien Hardy
Perimeter Institute
Research Area: Quantum Foundations
Research Interests: Applying the lessons learned in quantum information theory to gain a better understanding of quantum mechanics itself. Is quantum theory simply a new type of probability theory? Exploring new directions towards combining quantum theory with gravity.
Dr. Mark Wyman
Perimeter Institute
Research Area: Cosmology
Research Interests: Various models for cosmology and their observable predictions. Studies include models of inflating universes; computer simulations of structure formation using modified laws of gravity; and possible imprints of superstrings on the cosmic microwave background.
Prof. Robert Brandenberger
McGill University
Research Area: Cosmology
Research Interests: Cosmology as a natural meeting ground for fundamental theory (e.g. superstring theory or quantum gravity) and observations. Exploring how seeds laid down in the very early universe developed into the large scale structure we observe in the universe today.
Prof. Sumit R. Das
University of Kentucky
Research Area: Superstring Theory
Research Interests: Mathematical methods in superstring theory with applications to black hole physics (e.g. Hawking radiation) and models of the fundamental forces of nature.
Prof. Artur Ekert
University of Cambridge and National University of Singapore
Research Area: Quantum Information
Public Lecture: Quanta, Ciphers and Computers
Research Interests: Exploring the wonders of the quantum world, especially information processing in quantum systems, including quantum cryptography (guaranteeing perfectly secure communication) and quantum computing (solving certain problems dramatically faster).
Prof. Edward (Rocky) Kolb
University of Chicago
Research Area: Cosmology
Public Lecture: The Quantum and the Cosmos
Research Interests: Cosmology, in particular applying the physics of elementary particles to the extremely hot and violent conditions of the early universe, and exploring deep questions about the big bang, the fate of our universe, and the hope for intelligent life (here or elsewhere).
Prof. Lisa Randall
Harvard University
Research Areas: Particle Physics, Cosmology, Superstring Theory
Research Interests: Particle physics, cosmology, and the study of a wide variety of theoretical models – most notably ones involving extra dimensions of space. Randall works on several of the competing models of string theory in the quest to explain the fabric of the universe.
Sir Anthony Leggett (Nobel Laureate)
University of Illinois, Institute for Quantum Computing at University of Waterloo
Research Area: Quantum Foundations
Public Lecture: The Physics of Information
Research Interests: Condensed matter systems at ultra low-temperature that show purely quantum phenomena – even on big scales (superfluidity, superconductivity, Bose-Einstein condensates); measurements in the quantum world; probing the foundations of quantum theory.
Sir Roger Penrose
University of Oxford
Research Area: Quantum Gravity
Public Lecture: Before the Big Bang
Research Interests: Many aspects of geometry, black holes, novel views on the evolution of the universe (was there something before the Big Bang?), the interplay and unification of general relativity and quantum physics, and science of consciousness.
Prof. Paul Steinhardt
Princeton University
Research Area: Cosmology
Public Lecture: Impossible Crystals
Research Interests: Big Bang cosmology, inflationary growth of the universe, seeds for the formation of galaxies and large-scale structure, dark energy and dark matter, and also “quasicrystals” - a new phase of solid matter with impossible symmetries.
Prof. Frank Wilczek (Nobel Laureate)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Area: Particle Physics
Public Lectures: Anticipating A New Golden Age, The Origin of Mass and the Feebleness of Gravity
Research Interests: Fundamental interactions between elementary particles, using deep ideas involving mathematical symmetry for restoring unity to the fundamental laws of nature (strong and weak nuclear forces, electromagnetism and gravity).
Prof. Edward Witten
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Research Area: Superstring Theory
Public Lecture: The Quest for Supersymmetry
Research Interests: String theory, the high energy frontier of elementary particle physics, grand unifications into a single framework, mathematical beauty and supersymmetries, and uncovering the quantum structures of space and time.
Prof. Jenann Ismael
University of Sydney
Research Area: Quantum Foundations
Research Interests: The nature of time, probability and quantum mechanics, philosophy of physics and metaphysics, especially issues involving the role of mathematical tools like symmetry in physics, and applying this formal apparatus to the philosophy of mind.
Prof. Anton Zeilinger
University of Vienna
Research Area: Quantum Information
Public Lecture: From Einstein to Quantum Information
Research Interests: Conceptual and experimental foundations of quantum mechanics (matter waves, teleportation, and spooky action at a distance), quantum behaviour of larger objects and perhaps life itself, and using the power of the quantum to process and transmit information.
Prof. John Norton
University of Pittsburgh
Research Area: Quantum Gravity
Research Interests: Philosophy of physics, puzzles about the content and status of foundational principles – the logic of physicists’ basic assumptions, especially with regards to space and time, and the history of science, e.g. exactly how Einstein made his discoveries.
Prof. Gerard Milburn
University of Queensland
Research Area: Quantum Information
Research Interests: Achievable experimental systems in quantum and atomic optics, the effects of measurement and control on quantum systems, quantum technologies for processing information and quantum computation.
Prof. Bill Unruh
University of British Columbia
Research Area: Quantum Gravity
Research Interests: Quantum gravity, quantum processes in the early universe, evaporation of black holes, limits on the measurements made by real detectors (coupled to the environment), and with regards to mathematical problems, studying techniques rather than finding solutions.
Prof. Roderich Tumulka
Rutgers University
Research Area: Quantum Foundations
Research Interests: Removing the mystery from quantum mechanics, the Bohmian perspective – a way of describing the motion of quantum particles, and applying this to spacetime singularities (where gravity becomes infinite) like those inside a black hole.
Prof. Julian Barbour
College Farm and Oxford University
Research Area: Quantum Gravity
Research Interests: Foundations of physics, philosophical understanding of general relativity, change as the fundamental essence of time (the behaviour of clocks emerges from timeless laws in a timeless world), and implications of these ideas for describing a quantum universe.
