Welcome to the Thirty Seventh Annual Symposium on Chemical Physics at the University of Waterloo.

INVITED SPEAKERS (2023)

  • Pierre-Nicholas Roy Photo

    The Robert J. Le Roy Lecturer Robert J. Le Roy Photo Robert J. Le Roy (1943-2018)
    Robert J. LeRoy, one of Canada’s foremost theoretical chemists, followed his father into academia and became a learned giant within a highly specialized field. His work focused on the behaviour of molecules and atoms, particularly the forces occurring among them. When asked to explain the complexities of his profession to laypeople he was known to say: “I study the sex life of molecules.”
    Mischievously good humoured, the University of Waterloo professor inspired and mentored thousands of young scientists. His work on predictive computer modelling resulted in many honours and awards including the Rutherford Memorial Medal in Chemistry by the Royal Society of Canada (1984) and the J. Heyrovsky Honorary Medal for Merit in the Chemical Sciences by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (1995). He always said, “Don’t choose something because it’s easy – choose it because it’s challenging and worthwhile.”
    In his 40s, Mr. LeRoy was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a relatively rare cancer in someone so young. When chemotherapy caused his hair to fall out, he decided to adopt a new look – shaving his head and piercing his ear. University of Waterloo colleagues and students got together to present him with an earring made out of a bolt. He wore it with pride.
    Bob was a truly inspiring person and scientist. To celebrate his life and accomplishments, and to honour his memory, we established the "Robert J. Le Roy Lectureship" for the Symposium on Chemical Physics.
    Pierre-Nicholas Roy
    Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Canada

  • Piotr Piecuch Photo

    In memory of Josef Paldus Josef Paldus Photo Josef Paldus (1935-2023)
    This presentation will be dedicated to the memory of Prof. Josef Paldus, who passed away on January 15, 2023. Prof. Paldus joined the Department of Applied Mathematics at the University of Waterloo in 1968 and was a highly regarded participant in our symposium for many years. Known as a pioneer in Coupled Cluster theory and its generalizations to multi-reference problems and excited states, Joe made seminal contributions to the Unitary Group approach to spin-adaptation, a method now used in many program packages. Prof. Piotr Piecuch, who was a research associate with Prof. Paldus and remained a close friend over the years, will give a presentation commemorating the life and work of Prof. Joe Paldus.
    Piotr Piecuch
    Department of Chemistry,
    Michigan State University, USA

  • Leanne D. Chen Photo

    Leanne D. Chen
    Department of Chemistry, University of Guelph, Canada

  • Gonzalo Cosa Photo

    Brian Clowers
    Department of Chemistry, Washington State University, USA

  • Daniel Kuroda Photo

    Daniel Kuroda
    Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, USA

Detailed information about symposium agenda can be found here.

INFORMATION

As usual, contributed papers will be a key component of the program. A limited number of them can be presented orally, although most will be part of a poster session, to be held in a relaxed atmosphere with appropriate refreshments available. We very much hope to have a substantial degree of participation by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Please circulate this notice and the conference URL to any colleagues or students who you think might be interested in attending.

All regular conference sessions (including the poster session) will be held in or adjacent to Room 1015 of the EIT building (EIT on the UWaterloo campus map, just south of the Davis Center where sessions had been held in earlier years), while the dinner again will be at Federation Hall (look for FED building on UWaterloo campus map). For the sessions, on-campus parking is available in lots HV and H (which are near SCH), B, N and M (which are closer to EIT); to reveal parking locations on UWaterloo interactive campus map: click on the search field, select Points of Interest tab, expand Parking section and click on the Visitor Parking. All of these lots are coin operated or pay-and-display. See the following link for details regarding parking costs: parking details. A schematic map of the Kitchener-Waterloo area showing how to reach the University of Waterloo may be readily printed from the above link.

Organizing Community


P.-N. Roy Photo

Theoretical Chemistry,
Department of Chemistry,
University of Waterloo


Nooijen Marcel Photo

Theoretical Chemistry,
Department of Chemistry,
University of Waterloo


Sciaini German Photo

Physical Chemistry,
Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo


Scott Hopkins Photo

Physical / Theoretical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo


Tong Leung Photo

Physical Chemistry,
Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo


Anna Klinkova Photo

Nanoscience and Catalysis,
Department of Chemistry,
University of Waterloo


Terry B. McMahon Photo

Physical Chemistry,
Department of Chemistry,
University of Waterloo


David Cory Photo

Quantum Information Processing,
Department of Chemistry,
University of Waterloo


David Cory Photo

Quantum Materials,
Department of Chemistry,
University of Waterloo


Rodney Smith Photo

Inorganic Chemistry,
Department of Chemistry,
University of Waterloo


Pavle Radovanovic Photo

Nanotechnology,
Department of Chemistry,
University of Waterloo


Subha Kalyaanamoorthy Photo

Bioinformatics,
Department of Chemistry,
University of Waterloo