Talks given in preceeding years
Recent and upcoming talks in 2024
22 Jan
24 Jan
26 Jan
29 Jan
31 Jan
1 Feb
02 Feb
06 Feb
07 Feb
08 Feb
09 Feb
22 Feb
27 Feb
5 Mar
13 Mar
14 Mar
Ecole Polytechnique, Montréal
Birmingham University, UK
Institute of Physics, Dublin, Ireland
Dublin Institute for Advance Studies, Ireland
Sheffield University, UK
Lancaster University, UK
Lancaster University, UK
Liverpool University, UK
Manchester University, UK
Leeds University, UK
Manchester University, UK
d-Fine, Germany
Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, Karlsruhe
Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, Freiburg
Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, Gießen
Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, Greifswald
Qu'est-ce qui cloche avec moi?
The tragic destiny of Mileva Marić Einstein
What's wrong with me?
The tragic destiny of Mileva Marić Einstein
What's wrong with me?
The tragic destiny of Mileva Marić Einstein
What's wrong with me?
The tragic destiny of Mileva Marić Einstein
What's wrong with me?
The tragic destiny of Mileva Marić Einstein
The tragic destiny of Mileva Marić Einstein
What's wrong with me?
The tragic destiny of Mileva Marić Einstein
What's wrong with me?
The tragic destiny of Mileva Marić Einstein
The tragic destiny of Mileva Marić Einstein
Science communicator
© Cœur des Sciences, UQÀM
Dynamic, passionnate and easy to follow is how people describe me as a public speaker. Since 2013, I have given over one hundred general audience talks in Canada, the United States, in eight countries around Europe, in Tunisia and South Africa as well as onboard two Scientific American cruises.
The following presentations all last around an hour but can be adapted in duration and content to suit the needs of any audience. These presentations can be given in French or English.
If you are interested by one of these talks or any related topics, do not hesitate to contact me. Two presentations have been recorded (see the links below) and will give you an idea of my lecturing style.
Topics for colloquia and general audiences
The tragic destiny of Mileva Marić Einstein.
What were Albert Einstein's first wife’s contributions to his extraordinary productivity in the first years of his career? A first biography of Mileva Marić Einstein was published in Serbian in 1969 but remained largely unknown despite being translated first in German, then in French in the 1990’s. The publication of Mileva and Albert’s love letters in 1987 revealed how they lived together while two recent publications shed more light on Mileva Marić’s life and work. I will review this evidence in its social and historical context to give a better idea of her contributions. In this presentation, I avoid all type of speculation and do not attack Albert Einstein personally, but rather strictly stick to facts. The audience will be able to appreciate why such a talented physicist has been so unkindly treated by history.
(recording from Indiana University Colloquium talk, 30 Nov 2022)
What's wrong with me?
Why are sexism, homophobia and racism still so prevalent in physics? I start from my personal experience to demonstrate that in fact the personal is political. CERN, the largest physics laboratory in the world, welcomes scientists from 112 nationalities but still about 80% of them are white and 80% are male. I examine why people from so many various groups have been historically excluded from physics and suggest a series of easily applicable measures that could greatly improve diversity in physics. These measures would benefit all scientists, regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation, physical ability or religion. It has been established that diversity benefits science by increasing the creativity potential, a key ingredient in scientific research.
(recording from Indiana University Diversity Talk, 1 Dec 2022)
(recording from the Berlin-Uppsala Summer School July 2019 (longer version))
Particle physics made easy: from past successes to remaining challenges.
A decade ago, CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, announced the discovery of the Higgs boson. I'll explain in simple terms how this discovery completed the current theoretical model that describes the basic constituents of matter. This model now perfectly describes "visible matter", ie everything we see here on Earth as well as in stars and galaxies. But it fails to describe “dark matter”, a mysterious form of matter five times more abundant than regular matter but still totally unknown. Physicists are currently searching for new particles and a more comprehensive theory that would go beyond the current model to explain what dark matter might be. I will also discuss the huge impact basic research on particle physics has had on our lives.
(recording from the Royal Institution in London on Sept. 26, 2022)
Improbable feats and useless discoveries
Who decided what to build and who designed, tested and operated the large detectors used at CERN at the Large Hadron Collider? Nobody and everybody. The large scientific collaborations of thousands of physicists coming from several dozen different countries are resposible for these detectors and all decisions are taken by consensus. Nobody gives or follows orders. Everyone chooses freely how they can contribute to make the experiment a success, just like in a large picnic. Scientific curiosity provides the essential motivation that drives everyone. All that just to discover particles such like the Higgs boson that will most likely never find a practical application. So why is fundamental reseach so important? And why can humanity not afford to go without investing in research?
(recording from Perimeter Institute Public Lectures Series, 8 Nov 2017)
The dark side of the Universe.
Since the discovery of the Higgs boson, particle physics now has a complete theory to describe the material world that surrounds us: everything on Earth and in all stars and galaxies. But all this visible matter only accounts for 5 % of the content of the Universe. The rest is called dark matter and dark energy but it remains completely mysterious. This is the biggest challenge in particle physics today. I will first review the evidence for the existence of dark matter coming from astronomy and cosmology, then describe the various ongoing experiments that try to detect it on Earth, deep at the bottom of mines as well as on-board the International Space Station. This will be an opportunity to explore how two infinities meet when particle physics attempt to provide answers on the dark side of the Universe.
Gigantic tools to explore the smallest particles
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, is 27 km long and has four huge detectors weighing up to 14 000 tons. Why is everything so big? And how do the physicists proceed to design such instruments? More than 3000 researchers for each experiment had to establish the characteristics of these detectors without knowing in advance the exact properties of the sought after new particles. How was this accomplished, given that these 3000 researchers act as they please and that nobody tells them what they have to do? And what do we expect to discover in the future?
Testimonies
I have rarely seen or heard a speaker as charismatic, lively and engaging. One thing is clear: Pauline Gagnon is made of highly energetic particles. I can attest to her talent as a science communicator. I regularly give trainings on this topic and her conference is a model (rythm, art of bringing complexity by level and to retain only the essential, use of analogies and metaphores, quality of the illustrations and animations, humor). In short, the whole work!
Sophie Malavoy, coordinator of the conference series " Cœur des Sciences", Université du Québec à Montréal
Madame Pauline Gagnon is an excellent science communicator. Her fields of expertise are of great interest for general audiences and she knows how to make them accessible, using concrete and entertaining examples.
Jean-Michel Gastonguay, Physics and astronomy professor at Centre d'études collégiales en Charlevoix and responsible for the Astronomical Observatory in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada.
