The Carleton Advantage
World Class Research
Theoretical particle physics research includes work on electroweak models, quantum chromodynamics, string theory, and other extensions to the standard model of particle physics.
In Experimental particle physics, internationally recognized physicists from Carleton help direct the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, an extraordinary underground facility used to study neutrinos arriving from the sun. Carleton is the lead institution of the new underground facility SNOLAB, which will provide a low background environment for the next generation of neutrino and particle-astrophysics experiments.
Work is underway on the ATLAS detector at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research and the world's largest particle physics centre), near Geneva, for what will be the highest energy accelerator in the world. The university has unique expertise and facilities for making the complex detectors required to observe elementary particles.
Medical physics is the other main area of study at Carleton. Medical physicists aim to improve the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of disease using the tools of physics.
Current work at Carleton includes x-ray imaging, computer simulations for radiotherapy treatment planning, the use of ultrasound to produce local thermal therapy for cancer treatment, and the application of positron emitters to tumour tracking.
University faculty and students work closely with physicists at centres such as the Regional Cancer Centre, the National Research Council Canada, the Ottawa Hospital, and Health Canada.
The capital advantage
Carleton University's location in the nation's capital places you in the highest concentration of scientific and technical expertise in the country, providing unparalleled access to both personnel and resource material.
The National Research Council Canada, renowned for its exceptional research programs, and government organizations, such as Health Canada, the Communications Research Centre, and the Defence Research Establishment, are based in Ottawa.
A wealth of scientific talent, including many physicists, can be found working in the area with high tech industry leaders as well as in medical imaging and cancer treatment facilities.
“Upon entering the department, I was not only impressed with the resources made available to the students but with the responsibility placed upon them. Most impressive of all was the enthusiasm held by faculty, staff, and students, all sharing the common goal of improving our knowledge of physics in general. My choice to join the Carleton University Physics Department is validated by the opportunities given to me to perform research never done before in the modern physics community and by the opening of doors I never thought possible from one university.”
Chad Greene, fourth-year student, Honours Physics