Rustum Choksi: Winner, Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching (Full Professor)

Students coming from high school often arrive with specific – and mistaken – expectations of the mathematics classroom. In Rustum Choksi’s courses he emphasizes a pedagogical paradigm shift, whereby mathematics is not about memorization nor symbolic manipulations and calculations but rather a beautiful and diverse discipline which is often a means to understanding our complex world.

Martin Grant earns Morty Yalovsky Lifetime Achievement Award

Early in his career in physics, Martin Grant thought he had it all figured out.

“When I started, I said to myself ‘well, this is good. Nobody’s going to tell me what to do,” said Grant, Emeritus James McGill Professor and former Dean of the Faculty of Science. “I’ve got the world’s greatest postdoc – me – and I’ll be able to do all the projects that I want to do pretty much by myself.”

The Hackathon returns to McGill campus

On November 3-5th, the McGill Physics Hackathon held its eighth annual event in person at the Rutherford Physics Building. The event attracted around 150 hackers, from CEGEP and undergraduate backgrounds, who joined forces to produce spectacular projects.

Congratulations to all those who participated!

Q&A with Jason Hessels, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Transient Astrophysics

In a ceremony today at Simon Fraser University, the Honourable Terry Beech, Minister of Citizens’ Services, announced that Professor Jason Hessels has been named the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Transient Astrophysics at McGill University.

McGill receives three Canada Excellence Research Chairs

The results of the 2022 Canada Excellence Research Chairs competition were announced this morning at Simon Fraser University by the Honourable Terry Beech, Minister of Citizens’ Services. The announcement was made on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and Ted Hewitt, President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and Chair of the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat Steering Committee.

Sixteen McGill researchers among the world’s most cited

Sixteen McGill researchers have been included on the Highly Cited Researchers™ (HCRs) list, as published by Clarivate. To be included in the prestigious list, researchers must rank in the top 1 per cent worldwide for their fields and publications in the Web of Science index.

McGill Physics Hackathon attracts students from high schools, CEGEPs, and universities

On November 3, the McGill Physics Hackathon kicked off its eighth annual event. Over the course of 24 hours, spread over three days, participants formed teams and took over the Rutherford Physics Building in a friendly computer programming competition. The goal? Use any programming language to demonstrate a concept or phenomenon in the physical sciences.

Lessons learned from the inaugural Inclusive Teaching Initiative

From December 2022 to May 2023, a group comprising seven Faculty of Science instructors from six different departments met monthly to discuss ways of making their courses more inclusive.

FSCI 198: Climate Crisis and Climate Actions featured in Le Devoir

A recent article in Le Devoir highlighted FSCI 198, a three-credit course for undergraduates focused on building skills for individual and collective actions to address climate change:

Devant les changements climatiques et leurs effets de plus en plus visibles, nombreux sont les jeunes paralysés par l’écoanxiété. À McGill, un cours veut susciter l’espoir et outiller les étudiants pour faire face aux changements climatiques.

Promoting student mental health through assessment practices, with Kira Smith

Reposted from the Teaching for Learning blog from McGill’s Teaching and Learning Services.

BY MARGO ECHENBERG