High School Visits
Physics Day by Let's Talk Science
The 2026 edition of the Let's Talk Science Physics Day with the Department of Physics was held on February 18, this year in collaboration with Lakehead University! This event is an annual Let's Talk Science event at the University of Toronto, targeting grades 9-10 but welcoming all grades in high school. The focus of this year's event was quantum physics, as chosen by the planning committee, consisting of content experts Kiera Pond Grehan (doctoral student), Simon Cao (undergraduate student), and Dr. Jason Harlow, and led by Let's Talk Science coordinator Sandhya Mylabathula. If you are interested in helping out with this event, or other STEAM activities, please contact Sandhya at s.mylabathula@mail.utoronto.ca.
School Visits
On October 30, 2025, students in grade 11 and 12 from Garth Webb Secondary School visited the Department of Physics for first year lab demonstrations by Professor Ania Harlick.
On October 31, 2025, students from Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute visited the Department of Physics for a workshop offered by Professor Miriam Diamond.
On October 31, 2025, students from North Toronto Collegiate Institute visited the Department of Physics for workshops offered by Professor Brian Wilson and Professor Jason Harlow.
On December 15, 2025, students from Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute visited the Department of Physics for a workshop offered by Professor Brian Wilson.
On November 4, 2025, students from Ascension of Our Lord Secondary School visited the Department of Physics for a workshop offered by Professor Matthew Robbins.
On December 9, 2025 Professor Matthew Robbins offered another workshop to students in grade 4 at the department.
Pursue STEM
If you come to the Physics Department on what you expect to be a quiet Saturday afternoon, you will often be surprised by the many excited students in our undergraduate wing and the crowd of parents in MP125 Physics lounge. Pursue STEM, the Physics-Department-led program for high-achieving Black students launched its 6th year on February 5 with record attendance of almost a hundred students along with many, many parents. From February to June, students have hands-on workshops led by faculty and students from Astronomy, Cell & Systems Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Physics, Earth Sciences, Environment, Mathematics, Statistics, and Victoria College. The program is part of the Lifelong Leadership Institute’s Leadership By Design Program for students of Black, Caribbean, and African heritage.
The year started with Prof. Kaley Walker’s Physics team again helping Grade 10 students learn about Atmospheric Physics and build their own spectrometers, while Prof. Emanuel Istrate from Victoria College had record Grade 11/12 attendance for a brand-new workshop on Scientific Creativity. A follow-up workshop will soon have students demonstrating their ingenuity and inventiveness with Lego blocks, and many students have already demonstrated their scientific creativity at the Canadian Black Scientists Network Ontario Youth Science Fair, where most contestants are Pursue STEM participants.
With many workshops still to come, students have already become familiar with both old and new technologies. Prof. Cory Lewis from the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology helped students create cuneiform tablets and write with quill pens. The Computer Science workshop with Prof. David Lindell and his team provided students with hands-on experience with computer vision and artificial intelligence. Another workshop had the halls filled with students trying to figure out how to make a piece of paper fall the fastest and slowest.
The program is not just for students. Many of their parents attend sessions with the workshop presenters where they learn not just about what their students have done that day but also have lively discussions about scientific careers, research, and social impacts.
All this would not be possible without the great Pursue STEM graduate student team of Coordinator Jennifer Akaade and Facilitators Cecil Chikezie, Maryama Mohamed, Zahin Mustari, Samuel Nyandwi, and Olga Pimbi. Pursue STEM is financially supported by the departments as well as the Dunlap Institute, the Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, with past support and future commitments from the Provost's Access Programs University Fund and the Faculty of Arts and Science.
By Prof. David Bailey
