Fast Radio Burst Conference hosted at McGill for the first time

When astrophysicists Amanda Cook and Alice Curtin were attending the Fast Radio Burst (FRB) Conference in Thailand last year, an idea was already forming between them—why not organize the next conference at McGill themselves?  

The FRB conference, first held in 2017, is well-attended each year by scientists from all around the world. Its purpose: to bring researchers together to discuss the latest findings on fast radio bursts, extremely powerful milli-second duration radio flashes from galaxies beyond our own. As the cause of these bursts remains largely unknown, scientists gather annually to share new discoveries and reflect on the field’s progress. 

"It's a community staple," Cook said. "Researchers will save their biggest results to share at this conference." 

An opportunity to uplift other scientists 

FRB 2025, held from July 7th to July 11th, was organized by co-chairs Alice Curtin, a final year PhD Candidate at the Trottier Space Institute, and Amanda Cook, a Banting postdoctoral fellow at McGill and the University of Amsterdam. As early career scientists, it was important for them to ensure others in their community could also get involved and contribute to a major event in their field. 

"Almost our entire local organizing committee, as well as our scientific organizing committee were either graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, or early career faculty,” Curtin said.  

Advancements in the field and the conference 

For their edition of the conference, it was also an opportunity for Curtin and Cook to make the changes they wanted to see. Many of these improvements focused on accessibility, such as making the conference fully hybrid, having an introductory “Overview” day to introduce major topics of the field, and uploading the talks on YouTube in real-time. 

“We hope that these recordings serve as a time-capsule of how the field of Fast Radio Bursts will change, and we hope organizers will keep these initiatives in future conferences.” Curtin said. 

McGill plays a major role in the field of FRBs 

Thanks to the groundbreaking work done at the Trottier Space Institute (TSI) and research groups led by PIs Vicky Kaspi, Jason Hessels, Matt Dobbs, and others, McGill remains a world leader in the field of FRBs.  

It was also here at McGill where researchers helped make one of the biggest discoveries in the field. Ten years ago, the first repeating FRB was detected. Named FRB 20121102A, this finding allowed scientists to better characterize these radio waves and rule out many leading theories on the origins of FRBs. To celebrate its tenth anniversary, FRB2025 hosted Laura Spitler, Paul Scholz, Shami Chatterjee, and Jason Hessels as honored guests to speak on the finding. 

"The discovery of FRB repetition was one of the most exciting and intense periods of my career,” said Paul Scholz, who’s now a professor at York University. “It was rewarding to come together with my colleagues a decade later to reflect on our experience and share it with the community.”