Acting on climate change: Solutions from scholars
Professor Catherine Potvin, a Canada Research Chair in Climate Change Mitigation and Tropical Forests, has convened colleagues from 30 Canadian universities to join her in a collective initiative called Sustainable Canada Dialogues. The resulting group, that mobilizes over 60 researchers from every province, has built a consensus around a plan of sustainability solutions to help Canada successfully achieve transition to a low-carbon society.
Mathematica software now free for students too
Mathematica, from Wolfram Research, is a powerful computational software used for mathematical modeling and data visualization. McGill IT Services has been providing Mathematica to faculty and staff, and in computer labs across the University for the past few years. Now it is also available to students via the McGill Software site (www.mcgill.ca/software).
MS Office 365 ProPlus now available for faculty, staff, and students
McGill faculty and staff members now have FREE access to Office 365 ProPlus on personal devices, including computers (PCs and Macs), tablets (iPad and Windows), and smartphones (iPhone, Android, and Windows). This includes the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Office apps. For faculty and staff, this service replaces the Office portion of the Microsoft Work at Home program.
Prof. Charles Gale, Humboldt Research Award
Congratulations to Dr. Charles Gale, James McGill Professor in the Department of Physics, for winning a Humboldt Research Award!
Prof. Victoria Kaspi, Fellow of the American Physical Society
Congratulations to Professor Victoria Kaspi in the Department of Physics! She has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society for advancing our understanding of the astrophysics of neutron stars by elucidating the relationship between anomalous X-ray pulsars, soft gamma-ray repeaters, and magnetars.
TV Broadcasts: Trottier Symposium and Mini-Science
Got an itch for knowledge? The Canal Savoir network will be broadcasting features from several McGill outreach and public lecture series, including the 2014 Lorne Trottier Public Science Symposium: Are we alone?
Congratulations to alumnus John O'Keefe, our newest Nobel laureate!
The Faculty of Science extends congratulations to alumnus John O'Keefe who was named co-winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for his contribution to the discovery of cells that constitute the brain’s ‘inner GPS,’ which makes it possible to orient ourselves in space. Dr. O’Keefe worked under the supervision of Professor Ron Melzack (Department of Psychology) and received his PhD from McGill in 1967. Read more:
McGill grad John O’Keefe wins Nobel Prize in medicine (McGill news release) Nobel winner has very fond memories of McGill (McGill Reporter article)
Free Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus software for students
Starting today, August 19, McGill students have free access to the latest version of Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Office apps. You may download and install it on up to five compatible personal devices, including PCs, Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Android smartphones and tablets.
Heartbleed: reset your McGill Password
All of McGill’s central IT systems have been evaluated for vulnerability to Heartbleed and updates were applied where needed. If you are a McGill staff member, you are required to change your password. For others, we strongly encourage you to change your McGill Password without delay.
To reset your McGill Password: Faculty, staff, & students: log into Minerva, and go to the Personal Menu > Password for McGill Username. Affiliates: go to Reggie and click on Change Account Information, then select McGill Password. Notes:Prof. Matt Dobbs, inaugural Dunlap Award from the Canadian Astronomical Society
Congratulations to Prof. Matt Dobbs in the Department of Physics for winning the inaugural Dunlap Award from the Canadian Astronomical Society. He received this award in recognition of his international leadership on the design and implementation of systems using Superconducting Transition-Edge Sensor bolometers. The prize citation states in part:
Grinding chemistry, greening chemistry
What if you could re-engineer chemical processes so that instead of using toxic solvents or expensive catalysts, you could incite molecules to bind simply by grinding them together? McGill Chemistry Professor Tomislav Friscic is a leader in the field of mechanochemistry. Read more about his work in "Grinding chemistry" from the Chemical Institute of Canada.
Prof. Bruce A. Reed, Humboldt Research Award
Congratulations to Prof. Bruce A. Reed, FRSC, Canada Research Chair in Graph Theory in the School of Computer Science for receiving a prestigious Humboldt Research Award. This award recognizes researchers at the peak of their careers whose fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline, and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future.
Prof. Isztar Zawadzki, Luis Federico Leloir Award for International Cooperation in Science, Technology, and Innovation
Congratulations to Dr. Isztar Zawadzki, FRSC, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences for receiving a 2013 Luis Federico Leloir Award from the Argentinian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Productive Innovation. This award recognizes non-Argentinian scientists who have contributed significantly to scientific, technological, and innovation cooperation with Argentina.
Prof. Fred Genesee, CPA Gold Medal Award
Congratulations to Prof. Fred Genesee (Department of Psychology) for winning the 2014 Gold Medal Award from the Canadian Psychological Association.
Prof. Ehab Abouheif and Prof. Aashish Clerk, NSERC E.W.R Steacie Memorial Fellowships; Michael Lifshitz, NSERC André Hamer Postgraduate Prize
Three McGill researchers among the recipients of NSERC national prizesTwo McGill researchers—Prof. Ehab Abouheif, of the Department of Biology, and Prof. Aashish Clerk, Department of Physics—have been named as 2014 recipients of E.W.R Steacie Memorial Fellowships, awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC). In addition, doctoral candidate Michael Lifshitz, working in the cognitive neuroscience lab of Prof. Amir Raz, has won NSERC’s 2013 André Hamer Postgraduate Prize.