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Ten years ago, Faculty of Arts and Science Professor Dr. Arthur McDonald won the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass. This work redefined the basic laws of particle physics and confirmed the detailed understanding of how the sun burns.

Last week, more than 200 people gathered at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts to celebrate that momentous occasion and celebrate the announcement of a $45.5 million investment for the .  

“This is a very special event in the life of the university,” said Nancy Ross, Vice-Principal Research, Queen’s University. “Today we are here to honour two significant milestones in the history of Queen’s University and Canadian Science – the 10-year anniversary of Dr. Arthur B. McDonald receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics and the recognition of a major investment of $45.5 million to the McDonald Institute.”

The program started with a performance of Oscillations by Professor Emeritus John Burge (DAN School of Drama and Music). He was asked to write the piece by then Provost Alan Harrison after learning Dr. McDonald had won the Nobel.

“I can tell you that I’ve had many phone calls sitting in my office over 38 years and that was one of the most unexpected. That phone call, though, is an indication of what makes Queen’s special. The connection of all the departments and the sciences and the arts and the community that exists here makes this university quite extraordinary.”

Alejandro Adem, President, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), also attended the event and talked about the funding and the vision of NSERC to make Canada a country of discoverers and innovators.

“The McDonald Institute is one of the ���˴�Ƭ contributors to that goal. However, its impact goes back much further than that to the 1980s when Dr. McDonald and his colleagues transformed their vision of a massive underground neutrino detector into reality and propelled Canada to the forefront of astrophysics research worldwide. Today we celebrate a collaboration that is once again pushing Canada’s astrophysics community to new frontiers.”

After hearing from Queen’s University Principal Patrick Deane, who also offered his congratulations, Tony Noble, Scientific Director of the McDonald Institute took to the stage to talk about the research work being done at the Institute and what the new funding means.

“This funding is really going to inject a lot of life into the country in terms of what we can accomplish with the McDonald Institute,” Dr. Noble says.

Dr. McDonald then spoke about his research and talked about Dr. Noble and how he’s the “heart and soul” of the McDonald Institute. “All of what has been done so far and will be done in the future is due to Tony. I represent them as the Nobel Laureate, but Tony is the person who created it. It’s been my pleasure to work with Tony for many years.”

After Dr. McDonald finished speaking on his research and explaining the science behind winning the Nobel, undergraduate student Julia Brachman (Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) and PhD student Zoe Brisson-Tsavoussis (Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) spoke about their work and what the Department of Physics means to them.

“I first learned about neutrinos when Dr. McDonald visited my high school to share his research and a glimpse into the world of astroparticle physics,” Julia says. “This meaningful outreach experience started me on the path I’m on today. I chose to study at Queen’s because of the inspiring and groundbreaking research in the field of neutrinos.”

“I’m a PhD student here at Queen’s and I consider myself extraordinarily fortunate to have ended up here,” Zoe says. “I did my undergraduate in pure physics and had no inkling that I was going to go into astrophysics.” She explains she attended a McDonald Institute-led initiative, the Canadian astroparticle physics summer school and fell in love with neutrinos over the course of the week but also fell in love with the sense of community she felt at Queen’s.

“There is a sense of community you don’t often see in the sciences because they are typically very competitive. I love coming to work every day which is wild. I love being a part of cultivating and warm and inviting community.”