UVic Physics and Astronomy

Congratulations to PhD candidate Olivia Masella on winning 2nd place in the Young Investigator Symposium at the 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP) in London, ON 🎉✨ Her presentation was titled "Novel Low-Cost Kilovoltage Adaptive Therapy Device: KOALA" 🐨⚡ Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gq6KYkMq #UVic #UniversityofVictoria #MedicalPhysics #COMP #KOALA

Join us in congratulating Akshara Viswanathan for being 1 of 3 winners in this year's Gruber Fellowship Awards 🎉👏 Akshara Viswanathan is an Indian astronomer who earned her PhD from the University of Groningen in 2024. In January 2025, she began a CITA National Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Victoria. Her research focuses on low-mass, low-metallicity stellar streams in the outer halo of the Milky Way—remnants of ancient accretion events—to shed light on the early formation of our galaxy. By integrating observational data from surveys such as Gaia and Euclid with cosmological simulations, her work aims to investigate the role of these stellar streams in galaxy formation, the properties of dark matter, and the chemical enrichment of the early universe. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/g9WVJSvR #UVic #UniversityofVictoria #UVicScience #Astronomy #GruberFellowship

Congratulations to our Medical Physics PhD student, Jade Fischer, who took home 3rd place at the 2025 Western Regional 3MT Competition! 🥉👏 Three minutes, one slide, and some seriously impactful research💡 Watch the 3-Minute Thesis here: https://lnkd.in/gyau6C5P #UVic #UniversityofVictoria #UVicScience #MedicalPhysics #3MT2025 #3MinuteThesis

Dual-robot radiotherapy system designed to reduce the cost of cancer treatment 🩻✨ Members of the Physics & Astronomy Department have developed a prototype dual-robot radiotherapy system aimed at making cancer treatment more accessible and affordable, particularly in low- and middle-income countries and remote rural areas. The system, known as KOALA (Kollaborative Orthogonal Articulated LinAc), utilizes two robotic arms to deliver radiation therapy from orthogonal angles, enhancing precision while reducing the need for costly infrastructure. Initial performance evaluations of the proof-of-concept device have yielded promising results, and the design team is now working on refining the system with the goal of clinical commercialization. Read the article: https://lnkd.in/gmCFxi7y #UVic #UniversityofVictoria #UvicScience #MedicalPhysics #MedicalInnovation #Radiotherapy #CancerResearch #SDG3 #KOALA

13,508 minds. One Breakthrough Prize. 🧠 Scientists from the University of Victoria are among thousands of global researchers honoured at the star-studded “Oscars of science” – the 2025 Breakthrough Prize awards. Presented by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Breakthrough Prize Foundation co-founder Yuri Milner, the Breakthrough Prize for Fundamental Physics was awarded to over 13,000 scientists for their work with the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN home of the world’s largest particle physics lab– the Large Hadron Collider. UVic has played a key role in ATLAS research since 1992, when UVic Physics and Astronomy professor Michel Lefebvre became a founding member of the collaboration. Today, UVic’s Robert McPherson serves as the principal investigator for Canada’s 200-member ATLAS team, helping lead cutting-edge research into the fundamental nature of the universe. 🔗 Learn more: https://ow.ly/pF6M50VxRh0 UVic Science | #BreakthroughPrize #CERN #Physics #ParticlePhysics

Researchers from the University of Victoria are part of the international ATLAS Collaboration at CERN that has been awarded the prestigious 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics 🎉 This recognition honors their groundbreaking work with the Large Hadron Collider, including major discoveries like the Higgs boson and contributions to understanding the fundamental forces of the universe. UVic has played a leading role in ATLAS since 1992, with significant contributions in detector technology, software development, and scientific leadership. With 30 researchers currently involved, UVic continues to shape the future of particle physics through innovation and upcoming upgrades for the next phase of the LHC. This is a major recognition of both past achievements and future leadership in one of the world’s most ambitious scientific endeavors. Congratulations to all the members whose hard work, curiosity, and dedication continue to push the boundaries of knowledge 👏 #2025BreakthroughPrize #UVic #UniversityofVictoria #UVicScience #CERN #ATLAS #Physics #LargeHadronCollider #ParticlePhysics

UVic Astronomy PhD Candidate, Dori Blakely, was recently interviewed on CBC Radio's 'Quirks & Quarks' segment 👏 Title: "Watching planets form in a baby solar system" Listen to the podcast here: https://lnkd.in/gqDcACN8 #UVic #UniversityofVictoria #Astronomy #UVicAstro #CBCRadio #CBCNews

Congratulations to Jess Speedie, who was announced today as one of the 8 outstanding post-doctoral scientists to be honoured the '51 Pegasi b Fellow Award' for 2025 🎉👏 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/g92c23qY MIT's Press Release: https://lnkd.in/gXq9Bm_b #51PegasibFellows #UVic #UniversityofVictoria #MIT #Astronomy #ALMA

Congratulations to Dr. William Thompson '23, of ARC and NRC-Herzberg, who was named as the recipient of the 2025 CASCA Plaskett Medal and the NRC Herzberg Plaskett Fellowship for Most Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in Astronomy or Astrophysics 🎉 "Dr. Thompson’s thesis, defended at the University of Victoria in 2023 under the direction of Profs. Falk Herwig and Christian Marois, is entitled, “Lights in Motion: Observing Nearby Planets with Imaging, Wavefront Sensing, Orbital Detection, and Spectroscopy”. The title hints at the breadth of the research described within Dr. Thompson’s thesis work, including developing new computational methods to analyze angular differential imaging observations and employing these methods to discover a new candidate exoplanet around HR 8799; developing the first multi-technique exoplanet finding code that can incorporate radial velocity, astrometry and high-contrast imaging data; carrying out both simulation and laboratory tests of two new techniques for exoplanet imaging; and more. The thesis external examiner notes that, “it is the combination of innovative thinking, rigorous simulation and laboratory testbed results which make the work so impressive.” The software developed as part of Dr. Thompson’s thesis research is publicly available and is already being used by other exoplanet researchers, and his instrumentation development work provides first steps toward possible hardware contributions to the Habitable Worlds Observatory.  CASCA is delighted to recognize Dr. Thompson for these outstanding contributions." #UVic #UVicScience #CASCA #ARC #NRCHerzberg #Astronomy

Congratulations to Dr. Alan McConnachie, of ARC and NRC-Herzberg, who was named as the recipient of the 2025 CASCA Peter G. Martin award for their Mid-Career Achievement 🎉 "Dr. McConnachie obtained his PhD from Cambridge University in 2005 and is now a Principal Research Officer at the National Research Council—Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Centre, Victoria, BC.  Dr. McConnachie is a leader in near-field cosmology, especially renowned for his studies of dwarf galaxies in the Local Group, crucial laboratories for understanding structure formation and chemical enrichment. His leadership of the PAndAS wide-field survey of M31’s halo has dramatically increased our understanding of galaxy halos, especially the streams left by shattered galaxies in these halos. He also led Canadian involvement in the CFHT-Unions survey, which has now enabled Canadian participation in Euclid. Dr. McConnachie is equally known for his leadership in designing, advocating for, and building instruments and telescopes.  He has been a key leader (including Project Scientist) assembling the science case and partnership for turning CFHT into a wide-field spectroscopic facility, the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer. He led the commissioning of the GHOST spectroscope on Gemini, led an upgrade of filters for the CFHT, and is now leading scientific development of an imager for the GIRMOS spectroscope on Gemini. Finally, he has assumed an increasing role in scientific leadership within the NRC, where he was Science Advisor to the NRC-Herzberg Instrumentation Group, and is now Acting Director of Astronomy Technology. CASCA is delighted to recognize Dr. McConnachie for his contributions to astronomical research." #UVic #UVicScience #CASCA #ARC #NRCHerzberg #Astronomy