An international study co-authored by McGill psychologist Caroline Palmer suggests our brains and bodies don’t just understand music, they physically resonate with it. These discoveries, based on findings in neuroscience, music, and psychology, support Neural Resonance Theory (NRT).
NRT maintains that rather than relying on learned expectations or prediction, musical experiences arise from the brain’s natural oscillations that sync with rhythm, melody and harmony. This resonance shapes our sense of timing, musical pleasure and the instinct to move with the beat.
Clockwise from top left: Robert Brandenberger (Physics), Christian Genest (Mathematics and Statistics), Joel Kamnitzer (Mathematics and Statistics), Bärbel Knäuper (Psychology), Milica Miočević (Psychology), Adrian Liu (Physics), Nagissa Mahmoudi (Earth and Planetary Sciences), and Galen Halverson (Earth and Planetary Sciences)
Eight Faculty of Science professors are among this year’s cohort of Distinguished James McGill Professors, James McGill Professors, and William Dawson Scholars.
McGill University researchers, in collaboration with Mexican scientists, have discovered two previously unknown species of crocodiles, one living on the island of Cozumel and the other on the atoll of Banco Chinchorro, both off the Yucatán Peninsula. The findings challenge long-held assumptions about the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and highlight the urgent need for conservation efforts, the researchers say.
Written by Ezrah Roy, edited by Adele Lopes
Meghomita Das, a recent PhD graduate of McGill’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, first discovered a passion for science communication in the wake of a natural disaster. When Das was a high school student in India, an earthquake in nearby Nepal impacted both countries.
Twenty-eight McGill researchers are among the winners of the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their contributions to the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
Sometimes referred to as the Oscars of Science, Breakthrough prizes are awarded annually by the foundation of the same name for achievements in life sciences, fundamental physics and mathematics.
The winners of the 2025 Fessenden Professorship Awards and Tomlinson Science Awards have been announced.
The Fessenden Professorship in Science and Innovation Award, named after Canadian electrical engineer Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, was established in 2007 to accelerate the validation and technology transfer of promising concepts in the early- or mid-stages of development and bring them closer to a commercial product and market.
Professor Courtney Paquette is the winner of the 2025 CAIMS/PIMS Early Career Award.
Congratulations to Professor David Stephens (Department of Mathematics and Statistics), former Vice Dean of the Faculty of Science, who has been named Academic Lead for Horizon McGill.
Congratulations to Jérôme Waldispühl and Attila Szantner (Computer Science), The Eclipse Task Force (Physics), and Andrew Gonzalez (Biology), who are among this year's winners of the President’s Prize for Public Engagement through Media!
In announcing the winners and runners-up, President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini noted that they were among a strong field of applicants spanning all 12 Faculties.
“This is further evidence that the sharing of knowledge and a love of learning are core McGill values,” he said.
Students from across the University gathered at the University Centre (SSMU) on March 25 to share their research, fieldwork, in-class assignments and passion projects in a supportive, non-competitive environment.
A new study led by McGill University researchers indicates that humpback whales in the southeastern Pacific combine real-time environmental cues with their memories of conditions in their Antarctic feeding grounds to determine when to embark on their annual 10,000-kilometre journey. With climate change accelerating, the researchers warn this strategy may become less effective amid shifting ocean conditions.
McGill University, DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS
PhD Oral Defence of Mr. Gavin Barill
DATE: Monday, April 15, 2025
TIME / PLACE: Pre-Defence - 1:15 p.m. (Burnside Hall, Room 1234) ; Defence - 1:30 p.m. (Burnside Hall, Room 1025)
TITLE: Establishing Limit Theorems using Finite Difference Schemes
CHAIR: Prof. Niky Kamran
SUPERVISOR: Prof. Jessica Lin
INTERNAL MEMBER: Prof. Louigi Addario-Berry
McGill University DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS
PhD Oral Defence of Ms. Wendy Wang
DATE: Monday, March 31, 2025
TIME / PLACE: Pre-Defence - 10:15 a.m. (Burnside Hall, Room 1234)
Defence - 10:30 a.m. (Burnside Hall, Room 1025)
TITLE: Applications and dynamics of delay differential equations with threshold state-dependent delay
CHAIR: Prof. Jérôme Vétois
By: Adele Lopes
"There's a power to witnessing and being able to recount something that has happened." - Laura Lopez Gonzalez
