The 13th annual Canadian Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CCUW*iP) was held at UBC from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, welcoming students from universities across Canada.
For co-chair Airene Ahuja, a third-year student in combined honours physics and computer science, the value of the conference was in creating a space “where women and gender minorities, who have historically been excluded from physics” can be honoured and recognized. Having attended last year’s conference, she found the event “incredibly inspiring,” she said during an interview with The Ubyssey.
In that interview, co-chair Jenny Zhu, a fifth-year physics student, had been co-vice chair of the Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference (CUPC) 2024 and while planning that felt there was a lot of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) conversation that needed to happen in the department. Ahuja agreed with Zhu’s point, but said that she “[doesn’t] want that to be the focus” — instead, the team’s accomplishments should be highlighted.
Ahuja said the organizing team began preparing almost as soon as they returned to Vancouver from the 2025 conference. She emphasized the significance of bringing CCUW*iP to the West Coast, noting that the conference has typically taken place in Ontario or Quebec, with Calgary being the previous westernmost location.
Numerous workshops took place throughout the event, including a session on quantum computing (with Fiona Thompson from the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo) and panels on postgraduate pathways and scientific communication.
Attendees toured the TRIUMF building, where they saw Canada’s particle accelerator infrastructure up close, and visited the Quantum Matter Institute (QMI), learning about superconductivity and quantum materials research happening on campus. During tours of UBC’s CHIME, LIGO, and ATLAS lab groups, delegates were introduced to how the university’s numerous physics laboratories contribute to Canadian, but also international, large-scale experiments, research and discoveries. For example, in 2020, UBC CHIME researchers became the first to find a fast radio burst in the Milky Way.
Opening remarks took place in the Hebb Building. Francine Ford, executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicists, introduced the event and described the event as “a conference, not just for undergraduate women but for … all under-represented groups within physics and related majors,” who are “the future of physics.”
Before the lecture began for the day, experimental physicist Ashley Nicole Warner from D-Wave, a Burnaby-based quantum computing company, introduced attendees to the principles behind quantum annealing — a method used to solve optimization problems by finding low-energy states. Warner began by sharing her non-traditional journey into the field as a theatre major before completing a physics degree at the University of California, San Diego. Warner’s speech reaffirmed the conference’s dedication to amplifying diverse experiences in shaping the future of physics.
There were two lectures on the first day. The first, by Dr. Stephanie Simmons, focused on “reliable and scalable” quantum computing technologies, as well as her path through academia and industry. And the second, by Dr. Nancy Forde, centred on biophysics and probing nanoscale proteins using laser (optical) tweezers. Friday ended with a dinner banquet and a social event where delegates could unwind with some arts and crafts.
Zhu said affordability was a key motivation in how the conference was structured. “Conferences have always been so expensive, and as undergrads, if you don’t work with a professor on research, it’s almost impossible to get someone to cover the cost.” CCUW*iP 2026 cost its in-person attendees $60 and was able to cover accommodations for 90 of the 107 in-person delegates. This included meals and suites at Walter Gage Student Residence, where delegates stayed for the duration of the event. “This kind of accessible conference should be promoted more across … all fields, not [just] physics.” For reference, CUPC costs $150 per attendee in 2024.
Day two moved from the quantum realm into the galaxies. World-renowned Dr. Sabrina Pasterski, whose team at the Perimeter Institute investigates space-time, gravity and a “unified theory of the universe,” delivered a talk on celestial holography. UBC’s Dr. Allison Man presented on cosmic time, star formation and galaxy evolution and Dr. Gwen Grinyer from the University of Regina spoke about her research on rare isotopes and nuclear structures.
For many attendees, though, the most important part of Saturday was the student research session. More than 80 projects, with students sharing posters and short talks both in person and over Zoom. Students covered an impressively wide array of topics from astro- and particle physics, exploring “gravitational waves from neutron stars,” supernovas and fast radio bursts to medical physics, with projects on targeted therapies for cancer cells, fMRI signals from epilepsy patients and even mouse neurons. (This is by no means a comprehensive list.)
Kaylee Bains, vice-chair of external relations and a fourth-year physics student, said the conference’s community-building focus was especially meaningful for students who have felt out of place in physics spaces. After transferring over into the major from integrated sciences — which she said had more women in it — she “really struggled with feeling a sense of belonging within the [Physics program].” But attending CCUW*iP helped reframe her experience. “It was really eye-opening … to see that … you weren’t alone, that you had other people, and that there could be a community that comes together and creates this beautiful thing.”
Sunday — the last day — featured some more lectures, this time emphasizing physics’ extensive range of applications outside of traditional “pure theory.” UBC’s Dr. Lindsey Heagy spoke about geophysics, inverse modelling and machine learning. UVic’sDr. Magdalena Bazalova-Carter discussed medical physics research on X-ray imaging and radiation techniques for cancer detection and therapy. Lastly, UBC’s Dr. Ingrid Stairs spoke about pulsars and fast radio bursts.
This day also included an inspirational interactive session on impostor syndrome and equity, diversity and inclusion, titled “Thriving Beyond Resiliency,” featuring Stairs, Dr. Adele Ruosi (a science education specialist and the co-chair of the UBC physics department’s Equity & Inclusion Committee) and two physics graduate students.
Ruosi, in reference to the title of the event, spoke about how the language used to ‘praise’ minorities in difficult environments is often harmful. “Resiliency is a harmful word,” she said, “[it’s] an insidious way of placing the burden on individuals while normalizing spaces that are unwelcoming [to them].” She said women — as well as other minorities — may sometimes internalize this hostility as a personal failure of just not being “tough enough” to survive the hostile environment.
Ruosi suggested “persistence” as a better word. Whereas resilience is about “passive withstanding,” persistence is about being true to who you are and “doing things [actively] with intention.” And if that persistence requires constant resilience, “then something is [wrong] in the system,” not in the individual.
In their closing remarks, the co-chairs encouraged delegates to think about hosting next year’s CCUW*iP at their universities. Zhu said that through this conference, she hopes her team has started — or advanced — dialogue around EDI and “build[ing] a community where everyone feels they’re included at UBC.” She also hopes people who attended from other universities can “go home and start conversations too.”
