The NSERC/CAP Review of Physics

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, in consultation with the Canadian Association of Physicists, has begun a wide-ranging review of physics research in Canada. The goals of this review were defined in a message sent out to members of CAP in March 1996.

The review is being performed by a Main Committee and four Research Subcommittees. The subcommittees are organised to review and report on the four following areas:

  • Condensed Matter
  • General/Atmospheric/Space Physics and General Relativity
  • Subatomic Physics
  • Highly Qualified Personnel/Economic Aspects

    • The memberships of the Main Committee and Research Subcommittees were decided in consultation with the CAP and NSERC.

    The Stages of the Review

    The first steps in this review took place at the 1996 CAP Congress at the University of Ottawa, where Town Hall meetings were held separately for the three broad physics categories listed above. At this time, the subcommittees agreed that a survey would be performed to solicit the views of the members in the Canadian physics community on the current status of their field and on their views of its future. The results of this survey will be one of the inputs into the reports written by the subcommittees.

    If you would like an electronic version of this survey, please

  • click here for a latex version
  • click here for a postscript version

    • The next step in the review requires the various subcommittees to prepare draft reports that are circulated to the community for comment, following which the subcommittees will produce final versions of their reports. These reports are then provided to a set of international reviewers, who prepare an independent assessment of the quality of the research effort described in the subcommittee reports.

    These assessor reports, along with the subcommittee reports, are then compiled by the Main Committee. The Main Committee also prepares an an Executive Summary and a list of recommendations arising from this review. This process is expected to be completed by summer 1997.

    Current Status

    The Condensed Matter, Subatomic Physics and General/Space/Atmospheric Physics and General Relativity Research Subcommittees have completed their reports and provided them to the external assessors. Copies of these reports are available (see below). The Main Committee has held several meetings, with the most recent meeting held immediately after the 1997 CAP Congress in Calgary.

    See below for further details on each research subcommittee's report.

    Studies on Highly Qualified Personnel and Economic Impact

    The final version of the study on Highly Qualified Personnel is now available. You have the choice of a Word 97 version, an HTML version or a Postscript version of this document. Comments on this report should be directed to
  • Professor Bev Robertson
  • Department of Physics
  • University of Regina
  • Regina, SK S4S 0A2

    • A draft of the Economic Impact Study is also available. Comments should be directed to

  • Dr. Paul Vincett
  • FairCopy Services Inc.
  • 232 Guelph St.
  • Georgetown, ON L7G 4B1

    • Subatomic Physics

    The Subatomic Physics Research Subcommittee has completed its report. A draft of the survey results for subatomic physics will be made available shortly. The subcommittee's report has been made available to the Assessors, who will prepare their review of the programme.

    A complete postscript version of this report (including all figures) can be obtained by clicking here. A version of the report without some of the larger figures can be obtained by downloading the light version. It can also be obtained via anonymous ftp from hep.physics.utoronto.ca (look in the subdirectory pub/sap_report for the postscript file "sap_report.ps" or "sap_report_no_figures.ps"). A paper copy can be obtained by sending your request to

  • Professor Pekka Sinervo
  • Department of Physics
  • University of Toronto
  • 60 St. George St.
  • Toronto, ON M5S 1A7

    • However, we strongly encourage you to avoid regular mail and upload the document electronically.

    Comments can be directed to any or all of the committee members, either by electronic mail (the preferrred method) or by regular post to the above address.

    General/Space/Atmospheric Physics

    The final report of the General/Space/Atmospheric SubCommittee on the Review of Canadian Academic Physics is now ready for community comment.

    A postscript version of this report can be obtained by clicking here. It can also be obtained via anonymous ftp from the site hep.physics.utoronto.ca (look in the subdirectory pub/general_report for the postscript file "genphys.ps").

    A paper copy of the report or the LaTeX file can be obtained by sending a request to Gordon Drake at A36@server.uwindsor.ca, or by writing to

  • Professor Gordon Drake
  • Department of Physics
  • University of Windsor
  • Windsor, ON N9B 3P4

    • Please provide any comments directly to the Chair of the SubCommittee (Gordon Drake) by electronic mail or in writing. The report has now been provided to the international assessors.

    Condensed Matter Physics

    The final report of the Condensed Matter Physics Research SubCommittee of the Review of Canadian Academic Physics is now available.

    The report is available as a postscript document, as a Microsoft WORD document and as an Adobe Acrobat file. These can also be obtained via anonymous ftp from the site hep.physics.utoronto.ca (look in the subdirectory pub/cmp_report for the postscript file cmprev.ps, WORD file cmprev.doc or the Adobe Acrobat file cmprev.pdf).

    A paper copy of the report can be obtained by sending a request to Mike Thewalt, or by writing to

  • Professor Mike Thewalt
  • Department of Physics
  • Simon Fraser University
  • Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6

    • Please provide any comments directly to the Chair of the SubCommittee (Mike Thewalt) by electronic mail or in writing. This report has been provided to the international assessors.

    Subatomic Physics Chairs Report for 1997

    The Subatomic Physics NSERC Grant Selection Committee has released the Chair's report for the 1997 competition. Click here here to obtain a postscript file of this document.

    Any questions, comments or bug reports regarding this page can be sent to pekka@physics.utoronto.ca.

    Last updated 7 Jun 1997