Welcome to Physics & Astronomy
The Physics & Astronomy Department, situated at the heart of North America’s Quantum Valley, Canada’s technology hub, is located an hour south-west of Toronto. Waterloo is like no other place in the world to study physics. Come to Waterloo to study quantum information, holographic landscapes, and supermassive black holes. Create exotic materials, study laser optics, and build bio-sensors. The Physics & Astronomy department is your link to the Institute of Quantum Computing and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Join our community. Study with some of the best physicists in the world.
Be inspired. Inspire us.
Come to Waterloo!
Brian McNamara, Chair
The Physics & Astronomy department encourages an inclusive, tolerant, respectful, and diverse, intellectual environment
News
- Oct. 2, 2018Donna Strickland wins Nobel Prize in Physics
Donna Strickland, a University of Waterloo professor who helped revolutionize laser physics, has been named a winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics.
Strickland, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, shares half the $1.4 million prize with French laser physicist Gérard Mourou. The other half was awarded to U.S. physicist Arthur Ashkin.
- Sep. 13, 2018Waterloo welcomes five Vanier scholars in Physics and Astronomy
A Physics graduate student exploring quantum optics is one of five Vanier Scholars starting their graduate careers in the University of Waterloo’s Department of Physics and Astronomy this fall.
- June 8, 2018The role of frequency-shifting in quantum scalability
Physicists at IQC have developed new methods for preventing leakage errors due to cavity modes, an important obstacle in building a scalable quantum computer.
Events
- Oct. 24, 2018Star Formation in Cluster Galaxies since z~1
Astronomy Lunch Series
Howard Yee
Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics
University of Toronto - Oct. 25, 2018The Architecture of Exoplanetary Systems
Colloquium Series
Josh Winn
Professor, Department of Astrophysical Sciences
Princeton University - Oct. 27, 2018Science Open House 2018
Join us on October 27th for an extravaganza of hands-on science discovery for school-age kids.
From 10am to 4pm on Saturday we'll fill the Science Teaching Complex (STC) and EIT with opportunities for kids to explore science! This is a free event.
Meet our people
Adrian Lupascu
Dr. Lupascu is an experimental physicist interested in the quantum dynamics of various types of physical systems and the application of quantum effects to build new types of detectors and quantum information processors. His Superconducting Quantum Device lab focuses on experimental research with superconducting devices, ranging from quantum bits for quantum information experiments, to superconducting resonators for loss characterization, among other projects.
