For Trent undergraduate student Madison Tindall, her 2020 placement was a reminder of why she’s studying physics.

“For the most part, in later-year classes, you're doing a lot of math,” she says. “So, it was good to use some of the math skills I've learned in an actual hands-on application.”

Ms. Tindall’s summer work placement took place at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario.

Ms. Tindall, a fourth-year Chemical Physics student and the co-president of Trent Undergraduate Physics Society, was drawn immediately to the prestigious Perimeter Institute. She learned a lot and found learning to code in Python particularly valuable. “I also learned a lot about gravitational waves, how they're produced, and what types of things produce them.”

Research on theoretical cosmology

She worked with the Institute’s Dr. Ghazal Geshnizjani, a University of Waterloo associate professor who studies various aspects of theoretical cosmology. Ms. Tindall had the opportunity to learn different mathematics and coding while conducting background research to help Dr. Geshnizjani.

She and a few other interns also tried to replicate the results of a paper on gravitational wave detectors that was doing something similar to what they wanted to accomplish.

Expanding horizons and humanizing physics

Even though Ms. Tindall completed the internship remotely, she had the opportunity to meet scientists, supervisors, and organizers from all over the world. The work placement in a real-world setting also helped Ms. Tindall realize several things:

For one, she discovered her interests lie in other areas of physics. She hopes to go on to conduct space research that determines the atmospheric makeup of exoplanets.

For another, working with experts and professionals from around the world also helped her to realize that at times even they struggle with difficult questions and problems.

“It can feel like your professors and supervisors are on a different level than you are as a student,” she says. “But sometimes even they don’t know how to do what they want to do. I think it was good to learn that they’re human too.”

Learn more about Chemical Physics and experiential learning opportunities at Trent.