Environment

Perimeter offers a broad range of opportunities for PSI students collaborate within the scientific community and beyond through social activities, outreach initiatives, and cultural events.

Activities and Excursions

Researchers, students, friends, and families enjoy a variety of organized events. These include:

  • the open-mic Musical Pub Nights in Perimeter’s Black Hole Bistro
  • homecoming BBQs
  • picnics along Silver Lake in the adjacent park
  • canoe trips
  • winter holiday dinners
  • Halloween activities
  • Ramadan, Rosh Hashanah, Chinese New Year celebrations, and many other yearly events.  

The Institute’s physical fitness area provides a wide variety of gym equipment and activities from squash to yoga. And further afield, Perimeter organizes summer day-tripping excursions to canoe the Grand River, and winter treks to ski and snowshoe at the Blue Mountain Resort. Other activities include ice hockey at the nearby indoor rink.  

Many enjoy running and participating in marathons in Waterloo, Toronto, and Ottawa. The Institute also helps foster participation by interested individuals and small groups in a variety of sporting activities throughout the region via soccer leagues, tennis clubs, rock climbing associations, swim clubs, and a variety of organizations.

With two universities, a college, think tanks, the high-tech sector, and many business start-ups in the area, there is also opportunity to visit other centres, enjoy stimulating talks, and make new friends who value science from new and interesting points of view.  

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Perimeter Outreach Opportunities

Contributing to Perimeter's dynamic environment is a commitment to year-round Educational Outreach opportunities for students, teachers and members of the general public. The programming involves events held at Perimeter, across Canada, and around the world.  These include student science camps, teacher training workshops, special festivals for the public, and more.

Programs include the monthly Perimeter Public Lecture Series that fills the Institute with hundreds of science enthusiasts, and attracts another 5,000 people online per live event. The focus of each talk varies, and often includes presentations by preeminent scientists who are visiting Perimeter. Past guest speakers include Edward Witten, Leonard Susskind, Sara Seager, Steven Weinberg, Gabriela Gonzalez, Sir Roger Penrose, Julie Payette, Paul Steinhardt, Fay Dowker, Juan Maldacena and many others. 

On some occasions, PSI students take part in public events – such as this discussion and audience Q&A on the future of physics. There is also opportunity to take part in online "Chat Zones" during live events and interact with science enthusiasts all around the world. In addition, Perimeter Institute's Communications & Media and Publications teams provide media-skills-building opportunities and science writing insights to help you share your work and talk to journalists. 

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Cultural Events

Complementing the onsite activity is "Event Horizons," a unique mix of concerts by renowned artists, Bistro events with culinary surprises, and special talks by architects, authors, and others.   

Many of the performances capitalize upon the intimacy of Perimeter's main theatre, which is acoustically optimized for string music, and the casual atmosphere of the Black Hole Bistro, where you can mix and mingle with artists following each presentation. 

Internationally acclaimed past and upcoming performers at PI include Brian Eno, Emanuel Ax, Emerson String Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Joshua Bell, Gabriela Montero, Laurie Anderson, and Yo-Yo Ma among many others.

Perimeter researchers and students have formed rock bands, chamber ensembles, an orchestra and other musical groups, and more are always welcome!

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