About Us

The outreach group in the Department of Physics at McGill University aims to communicate the excitement and fascination of physics to the public, students, and other interested groups in our community.

The McGill Physics Outreach team is comprised of a group of dedicated volunteers that strive to promote physics education and cultivate a passion for science in the community. Through public events such as our monthly public lectures and the annual Anna I. McPherson lecture, as well as our educational outreach, namely the Space Explorers program and Inquiry institute, we hope to make physics accessible and enjoyable to the public.

Note that many of our activites have moved online since March 2020. For up-to-date information on these programs, visit their respective pages!

For the physics-minded public…

Our monthly public lectures focus on cutting-edge physics, and are aimed at a general audience. We have world-class scientists speaking on everything, from the Big Bang and natural disasters, to 2D materials and life at the South Pole!

For students…

Are you an undergraduate or graduate student interested in volunteering with us? Please contact us at outreach@physics.mcgill.ca!

Are you thinking about studying physics at McGill? We host the department’s annual open house for anyone interested in visiting our labs or learning what it’s like to study physics in the department.

Last but not least, the annual McGill Physics Hackathon is another great platform for students interested in physics or programming—everyone is welcome with or without experience, and from all age groups.

For teachers…

We want to empower teachers to feel comfortable and happy teaching physics! To this end, we host the Space Explorers program, in which volunteers visit a classroom and perform hands-on, interactive physics experiments with students. Our annual collaboration with the Inquiry Institute focuses more directly on teachers, hoping to promote teaching techniques and methods conducive to science-learning.

Meet our team!


Nicholas Vieira
Physics Matters Coordinator

Alice Curtin
Space Explorers Coordinator

Simon Guichandut
Public Lecture Manager†

Lia Formenti
Public Lecture Manager

Kim Metera
Academic Associate

Adrian Liu
Physics Outreach Chair

Sarah Fairbrother
Webmaster

And of course, tons of passionate volunteers who make our programs possible!

†Also the AstroMcGill coordinator.