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Partnerships

Perimeter Institute collaborates extensively on a range of research, training, and educational outreach operations, in addition to the ongoing, individual collaborations between Perimeter physicists and researchers from other international organizations. Below you’ll find a snapshot of organizations that Perimeter works with from Canada and around the world.

Organizations Perimeter works with

Perimeter Institute signs collaboration agreements with other world-class institutions in order to promote progress in research areas of common interest and build strong academic ties between institutions. Generally, these agreements encourage scientific exchange visits and collaboration between researchers at Perimeter and its partner institutes. Read on for the specifics of each agreement.

The Canadian Hydrogen Observatory and Radio-transient Detector (CHORD) is a next-generation radio telescope, proposed for construction over the next 3-5 years, which will leverage Canadian technology developments to yield breakthrough measurements of the cosmos. CHORD is a pan-Canadian project, to be constructed in British Columbia, designed to work with and build on the success of the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME). 

Perimeter Institute is a core member of the CHORD scientific collaboration, developing high performance computing designs, software, and scientific analysis tools for the eventual telescope data pipeline. 

PI Lead: Kendrick Smith

The Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics is a nationally supported research centre located at the University of Toronto that is devoted to studying the origin and evolution of the universe, and the many wonderful phenomena revealed by modern astronomy.

The purpose of this agreement is to encourage scientific exchange visits and collaborations between researchers at CITA and Perimeter in order to promote progress in all research areas of common interest and to build academic ties between the two institutions.

PI Lead: Neal Dalal

The Fields Institute is a centre for mathematical research activity, promoting collaboration between mathematicians and those applying mathematics in their work. The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is Africa’s first and largest network of centres of excellence for innovative post-graduate training in mathematical sciences. Mathematical physics is an area of increasing interest and research at Perimeter.

Recognizing these intersecting interests, the Fields Institute, AIMS, and Perimeter have partnered to provide one-year postdoctoral fellowships to African nationals who have recently earned PhDs in mathematics or theoretical physics. The fellowship allows the recipients to conduct research and collaborate with top scientists at both institutions, helping to jumpstart their research careers.

The Institute for Quantum Studies is a hub for research and public outreach in a variety of specialized areas of quantum mechanics, with particular emphasis on the foundations of quantum mechanics, and quantum information. 

This partnership is to foster joint research between Perimeter and IQS through visitor exchange and collaboration. This partnership agreement encourages scientific exchange visits between faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD students at both IQS and Perimeter, typically of two to four weeks.

PI Lead: Robert Spekkens

ICTP-SAIFR was founded in 2010 as a regional centre for theoretical physics in South America. Many of its active research areas overlap with Perimeter’s interests, including condensed matter, cosmology, mathematical physics, particle physics, and string theory.

ICTP-SAIFR boasts an active visitor program and plays host to seminars, mini-courses, schools, and workshops – much like Perimeter. This agreement encourages collaboration on the organization of schools and workshops in areas of common interest, as well as scientific exchange visits of two to four weeks between the faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and students of both institutes. 

PI Lead: Pedro Vieira

The International Centre for the Theory of Quantum Technologies (ICTQT) is a joint research unit of the University of Gdańsk and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IQOQI-Vienna). ICTQT is focused on research in the area of quantum foundations, quantum communication, and quantum information with the aim of developing quantum communication technologies and new computing techniques. The ICTQT is dedicated to scientific research in the area of quantum foundations, quantum communication, quantum information.

This partnership is to foster joint research, development, education and promotion of quantum physics and the development of quantum technologies by ICTQT and Perimeter Institute.

PI Lead: Robert Spekkens

  • IVADO (Institute for Data Valorisation), Montreal, Quebec

IVADO is a Canada-wide collaborative institute in the field of artificial intelligence, dedicated to transforming new scientific discoveries into concrete applications and benefits for all of society. IVADO generates, stimulates and supports initiatives in artificial intelligence (AI), by bringing together the research community, organizations and institutions.

Perimeter Institute and IVADO have defined general areas of cooperation and partnership around initiatives of joint interest in physics and AI. This partnership includes the co-organization of joint workshops, research collaborations, outreach initiatives, and visitor exchange.

The Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) is a research institute located near Tokyo, Japan, with research efforts focused on fundamental physics and mathematics. IPMU was launched in October 2007 as part of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, with the University of Tokyo as the host institution. As of April 2018, the institute has 100 full time researchers. Including affiliate members and students, it is an international research centre for some 300 researchers and many more visitors in physics, mathematics and astronomy.

This partnership agreement encourages scientific exchange visits between faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD students at both Kavli IPMU and Perimeter, typically of two to four weeks.

PI Lead: Neal Dalal

The Astroparticle and Cosmology Laboratory at Paris City University gathers researchers working in different areas including Cosmology, Gravitation, Particle Physics, and High Energy Astrophysics. The Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics was established by the University of Edinburgh to seek answers to fundamental questions about the universe by creating opportunities for researchers and students from around the world to come together to formulate new theoretical concepts in topics across theoretical physics such as cosmology, astroparticle physics, and computational physics.

This partnership establishes an annual jointly sponsored conference alternating in location between the three partner institutes on topics related to cosmology and astroparticle physics. The annual conference will be advertised to members of all institutes and will include participants from the international physics community.

PI Lead: Niayesh Afshordi

Radboud University, Institute for Mathematical Physics, Astrophysics, and Particle Physics is a research institute located in Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. Areas of common interest between physicists at Radboud and Perimeter include, among others, astrophysics, particle physics, mathematical physics, and quantum gravity.

This partnership agreement encourages scientific exchange visits between faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD students at both Radboud and Perimeter, typically of two to four weeks. 

PI Lead: Bianca Dittrich

SISSA is a scientific centre of excellence in Italy, focusing on physics, mathematics, and neuroscience. Areas of common interest between physicists at SISSA and Perimeter include, among others, astrophysics and cosmology, condensed matter, and theoretical particle physics.

This partnership agreement encourages scientific exchange visits between faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD students at both SISSA and Perimeter, typically of two to four weeks. In addition, reflecting their mutual belief in the importance of sharing the fascination of basic scientific research with the general public, the agreement encourages collaboration on their institutional outreach programs. 

PI Lead: Bianca Dittrich

UCB and Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics share an interest in collaborating on the Mid-Scale Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). The DESI scientific collaboration is a large consortium among three-dozen research institutions. The DESI Project includes the design and fabrication of a new wide-field multi-object spectrograph with the capability to perform a precision Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) survey. The DESI Experiment will operate the new instrument on the Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak in Arizona to provide Stage IV dark energy measurements as defined by the Dark Energy Task Force in 2006. The DESI Experiment is expected to have enormous scientific impact, with publications addressing Dark Energy and many other topics.

PI Lead: Dustin Lang

Phasecraft is developing the fundamental quantum theory and software that will enable quantum computers to: investigate novel quantum materials, simulate chemical reactions, and solve hard constraint satisfaction problems.

The UCL Institute of Quantum Science and Technology investigates fascinating mechanisms at the foundations of quantum mechanics to develop powerful new technologies.

The purpose of this partnership is to develop robust implementations of quantum algorithms that can run successfully on today's error-prone quantum processors. In addition, this partnership will increase collaboration between PI and the nascent quantum computing industries in the UK and Canada.

 

Perimeter Institute also maintains Transport Agreements with partner universities in the region to promote collaboration and knowledge exchange through shuttle services available multiple days per week between Waterloo and nearby areas. Perimeter currently has shuttle agreements with the following Ontario universities:

Additional collaborations we currently have are: 

Perimeter Institute signs partnership agreements with industry partners in order to promote progress in research areas of common interest and build strong ties to the innovation ecosystem. Generally, these agreements encourage collaboration, colocation, and knowledge exchange. Currently, Perimeter holds partnerships with the following industry partners:

Perimeter works with nearby universities to make joint hires through its Associate Faculty program, enabling the Institute to recruit top scientific talent to Canada and to spread the benefit among multiple institutions. Learn more about the Associate Faculty program at Perimeter Institute.

Perimeter partners with local universities to deliver Perimeter Scholars International (PSI), a one-year master’s program. Perimeter Institute identifies and recruits top physics students from around the world, who are admitted by the University of Waterloo. Researchers from other partners, such as McMaster University and the University of Guelph, assist as lecturers and supervisors. Perimeter provides all the courses, and the students attend lectures and study in the Institute. Upon successful completion of the coursework, students receive an MSc degree from the University of Waterloo. For more information, check out our PSI program. 

Through the Institute’s Affiliate member program, select faculty from Canadian universities are invited to make regular visits, work with Perimeter’s resident scientists, and attend research events. Affiliates help build regional and national research links between Perimeter and Canadian universities. Learn more about the Affiliate member program.

Perimeter Institute's research, training, and outreach activities are funded through an innovative public and private partnership – uniting governments, individuals, corporations, and foundations in a shared enterprise to help advance scientific breakthroughs, nurture scientific talent, and share scientific discovery with the broader public. Learn more about these partners on our funding page.