Category Archives: Vancouver

Ars Scientia Essay Prize (contest): The Art-Science Connection

The contest is for undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the deadline is Wednesday, April 30, 2025 at 6 pm PT. I’ve got more about the contest from an April 23, 2025 Belkin Gallery (The Belkin) newsletter (received via email and it can be seen here for a limited time)

Ars Scientia Essay Prize: The Art-Science Connection

Deadline: Wednesday, April 30 at 6 pm

$1,000 Prize for the Winning Entry

Ars Scientia, UBC’s interdisciplinary initiative at the intersection of art and science, welcomes all UBC undergraduate students across campus to participate in our 2025 Essay Prize. This is an opportunity to explore the profound and often catalyzing connections between these two fields. If we take the long view, art and science have been considered pursuits comfortably woven together for most of human history. Somehow over the past two centuries we lost sight of that holistic worldview and these disciplines became seemingly incompatible. You are invited to write an essay considering how art and science are inextricably linked in fundamental and generative ways, addressing specific examples you have encountered – in a lab, an experiment; in an exhibition, an artwork; perhaps a thought experiment.

READ MORE…

From the Belkin Gallery’s Ars Scientia Essay Prize 2025 webpage,

….

Details & Submission

Eligibility: UBC undergraduate students

Prize: $1000 for the winning entry

Publication: The best essay will be published on the Ars Scientia website, featured in the Quantum Matter Institute’s newsletter, and shared through other relevant online platforms.

Length: 1000-word limit

Deadline: 6 PM PDT, Wednesday, 30 April, 2025

How to Submit: email your essay as a PDF attachment to: arsscientia@ubc.ca

As part of Ars Scientia’s mission to foster dialogue between artistic and scientific inquiry, this competition is an invitation for you to explore, challenge, and celebrate creative intersections of art and science. We look forward to your insights!

Good luck.

For anyone who’s curious about Ars Scientia, I have a lot more about this partnership between the University of British Columbia’s (UBC; Vancouver, Canada) Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (Blusson QMI), Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery (the Belkin), and its Department of Physics and Astronomy (UBC PHAS). Just search ‘Ars Scientia’ in this blog’s search engine.

Highlights from Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) April 2025 Metacreation Lab newsletter

There’s a local (Vancouver, Canada) event coming up, as well as, a call for papers, an opportunity to watch a workshop presented in Toronto, Montréal, and Berlin and more in these highlights from the April 2025 issue of the Metacreation Lab for Creative AI newsletter (received via email). The first items are being listed in date order.

Ars Electronica and Vancouver AI [artificial intelligence] Community Meetup

From the April 2025 Metacreation Lab newsletter,

Call for Papers – EXPANDED 2025 at Ars Electronica

The 13th edition of the EXPANDED Conference, focusing on animation and interactive art, will be held from September 3–5, 2025, at the Ars Electronica Center in Linz, Austria, as part of the Ars Electronica Festival.

Organized in cooperation with ACM [Association for Computing Machinery], the conference invites submissions in categories of Research Papers and Art Papers. Topics of interest include AI-generated images, generative art, virtual production, human-AI collaboration, XR, and more.

Submission deadline: April 27, 2025

More Information

Vancouver AI – April 30 [2025] at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre

Metacreation Lab has proudly supported the Vancouver AI Community Meetup since the beginning. This time, Mission #16 of BC’s vibrant AI community meetup series. This edition features a talk by Philippe Pasquier, exploring the latest in generative and creative AI systems.

Also on the lineup is a special performance by K-PHI-A, a live trio featuring Philippe, PhD student Keon Ju Maverick Lee, and VJ Amagi (Jun Yuri). Their piece, Revival, is an improvisational audiovisual performance where human musicians and AI agents co-create in real time. It blends percussion, electronics, and AI-driven visuals using Autolume and other systems developed at the Metacreation Lab.

Event info and tickets

Ars Electronica: what is it?

Ars Electronica started life as a festival in 1979 still being produced annually and is now a larger enterprise. From the Ars Electronica About webpage,.Note Links have been removed

Art, Technology, Society

We have been analyzing and commenting on the Digital Revolution since 1979. Since then, we have been developing projects, strategies and competencies for the Digital Transformation. Together with artists, scientists, technologists, designers, developers, entrepreneurs and activists from all over the world, we address the central questions of our future. The focus is on new technologies and how they change the way we live and work together.

A new festival. The first Ars Electronica begins on September 18, 1979. 20 artists and scientists from all over the world gather at this new “Festival for Art, Technology and Society” in Linz to discuss the Digital Revolution and its possible consequences. This Ars Electronica is small, but groundbreaking. The initiative for this came from Hannes Leopoldseder (AT), director of the Upper Austria regional studio of the Austrian Broadcasting Company (ORF), who is passionate about everything that has to do with the future. Together with the electronic musician Hubert Bognermayr (AT), the music producer Ulli A. Rützel (DE) and the cyberneticist and physicist Herbert W. Franke (AT), he lays the foundation stone for a festival that will become the world’s largest and most important of its kind.

Between art, technology and society. Over the past four decades, a number of pioneers have turned Ars Electronica into a creative ecosystem that now enjoys a worldwide reputation.
 
Since 1979 we celebrate once a year the Ars Electronica Festival. More than 1,000 artists, scientists, developers, designers, entrepreneurs and activists are coming to Linz, Austria, to address central questions of our future. For five days, everything revolves around groundbreaking ideas and grand visions, unusual prototypes and innovative collaborations, inspiring art and groundbreaking research, extraordinary performances and irritating interventions, touching sounds and rousing concerts.
 
Since 1987 we have been awarding the Prix Ars Electronica every year. With several competition categories, we search for groundbreaking projects that revolve around questions of our digital society and rehearse the innovative use of technologies, promising strategies of collaboration and new forms of artistic expression. The best submissions will receive a Golden Nica, considered by the global media art scene to be the most traditional and prestigious award ever.
 
Since 1996 we have been working at the Ars Electronica Center year after year with tens of thousands of kindergarten children, pupils, apprentices and students on questions concerning the ever-increasing digitalization of our world. The focus is on the potential of the next Game Changer: Artificial Intelligence.
 
Also since 1996 we operate the Ars Electronica Futurelab, whose international and interdisciplinary team of artists and scientists is researching the future. With interactive scenarios, we prepare central aspects of the Digital Revolution for the general public in order to initiate a democratic discourse.
 
1998 we initiated create your world. The year-round programme is developed together with young people and includes a competition for under 19 year olds, a festival of its own and a tour through the region. We see create your world as an invitation and challenge at the same time and want to encourage young people to leave the role as mere users of technology behind, to discover new possibilities of acting and designing and to implement their own ideas.
 
2004 we started Ars Electronica Export with a big exhibition in New York. Since then we have been to Abuja, Athens, Bangkok, Beijing, Berlin, Bilbao, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Doha, Florence, Kiev, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Moscow, Mumbai, Osaka, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Tunis, Venice and Zaragoza. Together with partners from art and culture, science and education, business and industry, we organize exhibitions and presentations, conferences and workshops, performances and interventions at all these locations.
 
Since 2013 our team at Ars Electronica Solutions has been developing market-ready products inspired by visions and prototypes from the artistic cosmos of Ars Electronica. We develop innovative, individual and interactive products and services for exhibitions, brands, trade fairs and events.
 
Since 2016 we are active all year round in Japan. Especially in Tokyo and Osaka we work together with leading Japanese universities, museums and companies, develop and present artistic projects, design workshop series and Open Labs and dedicate ourselves to the future of our digital society in conferences.
 
In order to actively shape the digital revolution, people are needed who have a feel for change and recognize connections, develop new strategies and set a course. This is precisely where the 2019 created Future Thinking School aims to support companies and institutions.
 
Whether at home in the living room or in the office, whether in the classroom or in the lecture hall, in the streetcar or subway, on the train – from everywhere Home Delivery accompanies our virtual visitors on an artistic-scientific journey into our future since 2020.
 
All our activities since September 18, 1979 have been documented in the form of texts, images and videos and stored in the Ars Electronica Archive. This archive provides us with a unique collection of descriptions and documentations of more than 75,000 projects from four decades of Ars Electronica.

The Conference

The conference (September 3 – 5, 2025) is held as part of the festival (September 3 – 7, 2025). The festival’s theme is PANIC yes/no. As for the conference, it does not seem to have a theme, from the Ars Electronica Expanded 2025 Conference on Animation and Interactive Art webpage, Note: A link has been removed,

The Expanded Conference (Expanded 2025) will take place from September 3rd to 5th as part of the Ars Electronica Festival 2025. This call for paper focuses on academic papers in the field of Expanded Animation and Interactive Art that explore and experiment with visual expression at the intersection of art, technology, and society. We will have two categories (Research Paper and Art Paper), where submissions will undergo a rigorous review process. All selected speakers will be given a free pass to the Ars Electronica Festival (September 3rd to 7th).

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • 3D Scanning
  • AI-generated Images
  • AI-based artworks
  • Artistic Computer Animation
  • Art & Science collaboration projects
  • Audio-visual Experiments
  • Data Journalism and Animated Documentary
  • Data Visualizations
  • Digital Media Art History
  • Digital, Hybrid, and Expanded Theater
  • Expanded Animation
  • Generative Art
  • Human-AI interaction and Human-AI collaboration
  • Hybrids between Animation and Game
  • Media Facades
  • Music Visualization
  • New approaches to artistic research and practice-based methodologies
  • Participatory art projects
  • Performance Projects
  • Playful Interactions and Experiences
  • Projection Mapping
  • Projects using NFT, Metaverse, Social Media
  • Reactive and Interactive audio/visual Work
  • Real-time CG
  • Scientific Visualizations
  • Site-specific Installations
  • Sound Art and Soundscapes
  • Tangible Interfaces and New Forms of Experiences
  • Transmedia Narratives
  • Virtual Humans and Environments
  • Virtual Production
  • VR, AR, MR, XR

Again, the submission date for your paper is April 27, 2025. Good luck!

Vancouver AI Community Meetup

Prepare yourself for some sticker shock. Tickets for the meetup are listed at $63.00. As noted earlier, there will be a “talk by Philippe Pasquier, exploring the latest in generative and creative AI systems.and a special performance by K-PHI-A, a live trio featuring Philippe, PhD student Keon Ju Maverick Lee, and VJ Amagi (Jun Yuri). Their piece, Revival, is an improvisational audiovisual performance where human musicians and AI agents co-create in real time.”

Here’s more about Vancouver AI meetups in a video, which appears to have been excerpted from the March 2025 meetup,

Here’s more about the event from its YouTube webpage,

We Don’t Do Panels. We Do Portals. Vancouver AI: March 2025 Recap

This wasn’t a meetup. It was a lightning strike. A 3-hour detonation of mind, matter, and machine where open-source fire met ancestral spirit, and the UFO building lit up like a neural rave.

—————-

⚡ What Went Down:

Damian George (Steloston) & his son Ethan kicked the night off with a warrior’s welcome—Indigenous songs from Tsleil-Waututh territory that cracked open the veil and set the frequency.

—————-

Cai & Charlie spun lo-fi beats with a side of C++ sorcery. DIY synths, live visuals, and analog rebellion powered by AI hacks and imagination. This is what machine-human symbiosis sounds like.

—————-

Michael Tippett dropped cinematic subversion with Mr. Canada, a gonzo AI-generated political series where satire meets social critique and deepfakes become truth bombs. (The king has a button that disables the F-35 fleet—yeah, that happened.)

—————-

Cian Whalley, Zen priest & CTO, took us beyond the binary—teaching us how emotion, code, and consciousness intersect like neural lace. Toyota factory metaphors and Digital Buddha hotlines included.

—————-

Philippe Pasquier, the SFU professor we don’t deserve, taught us how to train your own AI models on your art. No scraping, no stealing. Just artists owning their data and their destiny. Bonus: transparent LED cubes and a revival performance next month with AI-powered music agents. 🔮🎶

—————-

Michelle from Women X AI showed us what a real grassroots intelligence network looks like: 45+ women in tech meeting monthly, giving back to the DTES, and building equity into the foundation of AI.

—————-

Niels showed us what radical vulnerability looks like—raw stories of startup survival, burnout, almost crashing (literally), and choosing sustainable hustle over hypergrowth hype.

—————-

Loki Jorgensen repped the new Mind, AI, and Consciousness crew—channeling 2,000 years of philosophical grind into one big ontological jam session. Curious cats only.

—————-

Patrick Pennefather & Kevin the Pixel Wizard rolled out UBC’s AI video lab with student creators turning prompts into art and AI into cinema. Kevin’s mentorship = 🔥.

—————-

Brittany Smila, our resident poet laureate, slayed the crowd with a poem that read like a bootleg instruction manual for being human. Typos included. Plum cake recipes too.

—————-

Darby stepped up with real UX [user experience design] energy—running card sorts and mapping our collective brain to build a proper web infrastructure for the VAI [Vancouver artificial intelligence] hive mind. Web3 who?

—————-

Rival Technologies’ Julia & Dale announced our first-ever Data Storytelling Hackathon. $2,500 prize, survey data that slaps, and a chance to show how AI can amplify truth instead of burying it. (Brittany wrote the hot dog prompt, you’re welcome.)

—————-

Cloud Summit’s YK Sugi, Bibi Souza & Andre made waves repping an all-volunteer, all-heart community cloud event coming in hot during Web Summit week. Code meets care. Sponsors fund causes. Real ones only. Fergus dropped serious policy weight—WOSK Centre for Dialogue BC AI report now live. If you want a seat at the government table, this is your guy.

—————-

Kushal closed the night with a flamethrower. Called out UBC’s xenophobic DeepSeek ban. Defended open-source warriors from China and France (💥shoutout Mistral). No prisoners. No apologies. Just truth. –

—————

Khayyam Wakil wrapped it all up with the keynote of the night: a design rebel’s journey from Saskatoon boats to LA VR labs to immersive media Emmys. Lessons in surrender, reinvention, and the real art of quitting right. 🔥

—————-

📍Location: H.R. MacMillan Space Centre — Vancouver, BC (aka the UFO mothership)

🪐 Astronomers on deck. Observatories open till 11. Community stays weird till 10. 🎧 Full audio, speaker list & projects: vancouver.bc-ai.net

🎟️ Next portal opens May 28: lu.ma/VAI17 🖤❤️✊🔥🏴

We don’t do TED Talks. We host real-time cultural reckonings. This is AI for the people—and it’s only getting louder. Bring your edge. Bring your stickers. Bring your weird.

You can go here to get your ticket for the April 30, 2025 Vancouver AI Community Meetup and to find out about more about some of the AI events in Vancouver. You may want to check out the possibility of getting an annual pass or membership in the hope of making attendance more affordable.

Two papers and two workshop recordings from the Metacreation Lab

From the April 2025 Metacreation Lab newsletter,

Missed the Autolume Workshop? Watch It Online Now

After holding Autolume workshops in Toronto, Montreal, and Berlin, we brought the Autolume workshop online earlier in April, and the recordings are now available.

Whether you’re new to Autolume or want a refresher, this hands-on session walks you through training your own generative models, creating real-time visuals, and exploring interactive art, all without writing a single line of code.

Join our mailing list and hop into the Discord channel to stay in the loop and connect with others using Autolume.

Watch Workshop Recordings

Metacreation Lab at ISEA2025 in Seoul

The Metacreation Lab will be at ISEA 2025 with both a paper presentation and a live performance.

PhD student Arshia Sobhan, with Dr. Philippe Pasquier and Dr. Gabriela Aceves-Sepúlveda, will present “Broken Letters, Broken Narratives: A Case Study on Arabic Script in DALL-E 3”. This critical case study examines how text-to-image generative AI systems, such as DALL-E 3, misrepresent Arabic calligraphy, linking these failures to historical biases and Orientalist aesthetics.

The preprint is available here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.20459

In collaboration with sound artist Joshua Rodenberg, Arshia will also present “Reprising Elements,” an audiovisual performance combining Persian calligraphy, sound art, and generative AI powered by Autolume. This performance is an artistic endeavour that celebrates the fusion of time-honoured techniques with modern advancements.

Watch: https://youtu.be/ykNt7lNeL34?si=AIQUGKFDD0iVgt99

MIDI-GPT Paper Now Available in AAAI Proceedings

Our paper “MIDI-GPT: A Controllable Generative Model for Computer-Assisted Multitrack Music Composition” is now officially published in the proceedings of the 39th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence.

MIDI-GPT leverages Transformer architecture to infill musical material at both track and bar levels, with controls for instrument type, style, note density, polyphony, and more. Our experiments show it generates original, stylistically coherent compositions while avoiding duplication from its training data. The system is already making waves through industry collaborations and artistic projects.

Read the paper

A quick note about ISEA 2025

I wrote about the upcoming symposium in my April 16, 2025 posting, “International Symposium on Electronic/Emerging Art 2025 (May 23 – 29, 2025) in Seoul, Korea.” If nothing else, you might want to check out the “ISEA theme, ‘동동 (憧憧, Dong-Dong): Creators’ Universe’, May 23 – 29, 2025 in Seoul” subsection. The theme intrigues me greatly.

ARPICO celebrates Italian Research in the World Day with April 9, 2025 event (Built to “Beat” – Lab-Grown Heart Cells Revolutionizing Cardiac Health!) in Vancouver, Canada

The Society of Italian Researchers & Professionals in Western Canada (ARPICO) sent (via a March 18, 2025 email) an announcement of an April 9, 2025 event,

Dear Friends of ARPICO,

A few weeks have passed since our last vibrant event Celebrating Women in STEM, and we’re excited to invite you to ARPICO’s next public event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, organized in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy in Vancouver. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about cutting-edge advancements that could ultimately transform the way we treat heart disease!

We are privileged to welcome Dr. Vincenzo Macrì, Senior Scientist and Team Lead at STEMCELL Technologies, as our guest speaker. Dr Macrì will present a talk titled Built to “Beat” – Lab-Grown Heart Cells Revolutionizing Cardiac Health! in which he will discuss the exciting potential of using lab-grown heart cells to improve heart disease research and treatment.

This event celebrates Italian Research in the World Day, established in 2018 to recognize the quality and expertise of Italian researchers abroad. It aims to promote actions and investments that support Italian researchers in pursuing their careers both at home and abroad, while making Italy an attractive destination for international researchers.

YOU ARE INVITED

  • Date: Wednesday, April 9th, 2025
  • Location: Museum of Vancouver, History Room, 1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver, BC
  • Check-in: 6:30 PM, to get your seat and have a cup of coffee
  • Lecture Start Time: 6:50 PM

You may visit this link (https://heartcells.eventbrite.ca) to view the event and Register for FREE Admission Tickets.

We look forward to seeing everyone there.

Evening Details

ADMISSION TICKETS ARE MANDATORY

Admission Tickets for this event are MANDATORY, but FREE; all wishing to attend are requested to obtain “free-admission” tickets on EventBrite. Click the “Reserve a Spot” button on the Eventbrite page. Tickets are necessary to help organizers plan for room capacity, fire regulations, and catering needs. Please be sure to supply the first name, surname and email of each person in your order.

  1. Admission Cost? – We don’t charge for admission to the event. A special thank you to the Consulate General of Italy in Vancouver for sponsoring this specific event and to the ARPICO members who generously cover the venue and equipment rentals, speaker travel, and thank-you costs for regular events throughout the year. Their support allows us to offer free admission to all attendees.
  2. Donations for ARPICO’s Scholarship Fund – Your donation helps ensure the continuation of our educational initiatives. If you enjoy attending ARPICO public lectures and appreciate the opportunity to engage with the speaker and fellow attendees, please consider donating to support our Scholarship Fund. Not ready? That’s alright. Decide after you have experienced the evening’s full offering. ARPICO is pleased to accept donations at the venue as well.

Further details are also available at arpico.ca, arpico facebook, and EventBrite.

Main Event Details

Built to “Beat” – Lab-Grown Heart Cells Revolutionizing Cardiac Health!

In this talk, Dr. Macrì will discuss the exciting potential of using lab-grown heart cells to improve heart disease research and treatment. These heart cells, called human adult pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs), are created by turning stem cells into heart muscle cells that behave similarly to real human heart cells especially in their ability to contract and respond to electrical signals. This makes them a powerful tool for studying how the heart works, understanding heart diseases, and testing new treatments. What’s even more exciting is that these lab-grown heart cells could be used in therapies to repair damaged heart tissue, offering hope for better treatments for cardiovascular diseases, which are the leading cause of death worldwide.

About Our Speaker

Dr. Vincenzo Macrì, PhD, is a Senior Scientist and Team Lead of the Myogenic R&D group at STEMCELL Technologies, where he oversees the development of advanced cell culture products to support cardiac and skeletal muscle research.

Dr. Macri earned his PhD in Physiology from the University of British Columbia and completed postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School.His research focuses on stem cell and cardiomyocyte biology, human genetics, cardiovascular disease, ion channels, and cellular electrophysiology. He has received prestigious research awards from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Heart Rhythm Society, and the Fund for Medical Discovery at MGH.

You can find the ARPICO website here.

Drat! ARPICO (Society of Italian Researchers and Professionals in Western Canada) Celebrates Women in STEM: Voices of Innovation on Wednesday, February 26, 2025

(Missed the boat on this one.) I received (via email) a January 18, 2025 notice about an upcoming Society of Italian Researchers and Professionals in Western Canada (ARPICO) event, Note 1: Tickets are free, Note 2: the Eventbrite registration page for the event includes a map showing where the venue is located,

ARPICO is excited to invite you to our first event of 2025, “ARPICO Celebrates Women in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics]: Voices of Innovation” which will be held on Wednesday, February 26th, 2025 at 7:00 PM at the Museum of Vancouver, History Room, 1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver, BC.

February 11th marks the celebration of Women and Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), established by the United Nations in 2015 to honor the achievements of women and girls in these fields.

Women’s access to STEM education and careers became a reality in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with milestones like, for example, Marie Curie breaking barriers in science and Ada Lovelace becoming the first computer programmer. While progress has been made, women are still underrepresented in STEM. Currently, In Canada, women represent approximately 23% of STEM professionals (about 28% in the United States).

At ARPICO, we are proud to celebrate the progress of women in STEM, acknowledging both their contributions and the challenges they continue to face by hosting a special event you won’t want to miss!

This event aims to inspire and empower the next generation of women, as well as people from all walks of life, to take their place at the forefront of innovation, ensuring STEM is an inclusive space for all. Through its initiatives, ARPICO aims to foster an environment where everyone can thrive, share their experiences, and inspire others.

ARPICO is therefore excited to host an event featuring five distinguished women in STEM. These panelists will engage in a dynamic discussion, sharing their journeys, successes, challenges, and sources of inspiration. The event will include a lively Q&A session, encouraging audience participation, reflection on the importance of supporting women in STEM and exploring how diverse talent strengthens STEM fields and society as a whole.

Whether you’re already involved in STEM, want to guide family and friends into these fields, or simply wish to be inspired by the panelists’ stories, this event will be informative, uplifting, and empowering. Reserve your spot!

To read more and to register for FREE admission, please visit EventBrite at https://womenstem.eventbrite.ca

Evening Program

  • 6:30 PM – Doors open for registration
  • 7:00 PM – Event begins. Welcome & Introductions by Nicola Fameli
  • 7:05 PM – Message from Italian Consul General Paolo Miraglia Del Giudice
  • 7:10 PM – ARPICO President’s Address & Moderated Panel Discussion
    • Presentation by Valentina Marchetti, President of ARPICO
    • Panel Discussion: “ARPICO Celebrates Women in STEM: Voices of Innovation”
  • 8:00 PM – Q & A Period
  • 8:15 PM – Refreshments, networking and socializing

We look forward to seeing everyone there.

RSVP: Tickets for this event are required, but FREE; all wishing to attend are requested to obtain “free-admission” tickets on EventBrite

Further details are also available at arpico.ca, arpico facebook, and EventBrite.

If participants wish to donate to ARPICO, this can be done within EventBrite or in person at the event; this would be greatly appreciated in order to help us continue our public lecture program and to build upon our scholarship fund.

Main Event Details

ARPICO Celebrates Women in STEM: Voices of Innovation

February 11th marks the celebration of Women and Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), established by the United Nations in 2015 to honor the achievements of women and girls in these fields.

Women’s access to STEM education and careers became a reality in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with milestones like, for example, Marie Curie breaking barriers in science and Ada Lovelace becoming the first computer programmer.

At ARPICO, we are proud to celebrate the progress of women in STEM, acknowledging both their contributions and the challenges they continue to face, by hosting this special event featuring five distinguished women in STEM. These panelists will engage in a dynamic discussion, sharing their journeys, successes, challenges, and sources of inspiration.

Their messages hope to inspire and empower the next generation of women to take their place at the forefront of innovation, ensuring STEM is an inclusive space for all.

The event will include a lively Q&A session, encouraging audience participation, reflection on the importance of supporting women in STEM and exploring how diverse talent strengthens STEM fields and society as a whole.

Whether you’re already involved in STEM, want to guide family and friends into these fields, or simply wish to be inspired by the panelists’ stories, this event will be informative, uplifting, and empowering.

ATTRACTING & CELEBRATING THE BEST MINDS

It is essential for nations, universities, and employers to recruit and nurture top talent in STEM fields to ensure continued innovation and progress. However, women remain underrepresented in STEM careers, making up only 23% of STEM professionals in Canada and 28% in the United States.

Promoting gender equity in STEM is about more than fairness—it’s about unlocking a broader talent pool and fostering richer, more innovative solutions. Research shows that when women and men contribute equally, STEM outcomes are more effective and transformative. Empowering women in STEM benefits not only individuals but also entire industries and societies.

THE IMPORTANCE OF STEM FOR THE WORLD, NATIONS & INDIVIDUALS

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) drive the innovations that shape every aspect of modern life. Careers in STEM offer opportunities to collaborate internationally, solve global challenges like climate change and health crises, and make groundbreaking contributions to society.

Nations that invest in STEM not only foster critical research and innovation but also position themselves as global leaders, driving sustained economic growth and securing a competitive edge.

For individuals, STEM careers are highly sought after, often well-compensated, and provide unparalleled flexibility. Beyond technical expertise, STEM education cultivates critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills—qualities essential for navigating and excelling in today’s interdisciplinary and ever-evolving job market. With these skills, STEM professionals can pivot and thrive in diverse career paths, creating limitless opportunities for personal and professional growth.

About The Panelists and Moderators

Dr. Lori Brotto is a leading expert in women’s sexual health, serving as a Professor in UBC’s [University of British Columbia] Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and holding a Canada Research Chair. Her research focuses on developing accessible treatments for common sexual concerns in women, with a strong emphasis on equity and digital health technologies. As Executive Director of the Women’s Health Research Institute, she leads nearly 600 members in advancing women’s health research across BCDr. Brotto is a frequent media presence, appearing in documentaries like Netflix’s The Principles of Pleasure and CBC Gem’s The Big Sex Talk. She authored Better Sex Through Mindfulness (2018) and The Better Sex Through Mindfulness Workbook (2022), and her work earned her a UBC Public Education Through Media award in 2023. As a Registered Psychologist in BC, Dr. Brotto works directly with individuals to improve sexual well-being and encourages young women to pursue STEM careers. She engages with the public through social media, empowering women and advancing research in sexual health.

Dr. Cristina Conati is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. She received an M.Sc. in Computer Science at the University of Milan, as well as a Ph.D. in Intelligent Systems at the University of Pittsburgh. She has been a Faculty Member at UBC since November 1999. Cristina’s research is at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Human-Computer Interaction and Cognitive Science, focusing on Human-Centred AI with contributions in the areas of Intelligent Tutoring Systems, User Modeling, Affective Computing, Information Visualization, and Explainable AI. Cristina’s research has received 10 Best Paper Awards from a variety of venues and in 2022 she received a UBC Killam Research Price. She is a Fellow of AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence) and of AAIA (Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association). She is the co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of AI in Education. She served as President of AAAC (Association for the Advancement of Affective Computing), as well as Program or Conference Chair for several international conferences.

Dr. Jaraquemada, Lupe, is a Radiochemist at Alpha9 Oncology in Vancouver, where she develops new radiopharmaceuticals to enhance cancer diagnosis and treatment. She studied in Canada in 2015 during her PhD and later returned to UBC Chemistry for postdoctoral and research associate work with Dr. Chris Orvig. Before joining Alpha9, Lupe worked as a Staff Scientist at BC Cancer’s Molecular Oncology department under Dr. François Bénard. She holds a PhD in Chemical Sciences and Technologies from the University of Cagliari, Italy, and a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Extremadura, Spain. In her free time, Lupe enjoys skiing with family and friends, watching Whitecaps games, and cheering on her two boys at soccer matches at the Italian Cultural Centre.

Camilla Moioli is a Ph.D. candidate at UBC’s ERDE (Energy Resources, Development, and Environment) and Forest Action Labs, focusing on the intersection of land use policy, energy transitions, and climate justice. With a background in Economics and Social Sciences, she uses both micro and macroeconomic methods to explore sustainable development. Camilla has worked with grassroots organizations in Ecuador on local restoration policies and collaborated with research centers in Europe, including EIEE in Milan, IIASA in Vienna, and SDSN in Paris, to incorporate global perspectives. She also teaches Forest and Conservation Economics at UBC and contributes to courses in carbon and energy economics. Camilla holds a BSc in Business from the University of Milano-Bicocca and an MSc in Economics from the Catholic University of Milan.

Dr. Adele Ruosi‘s journey in physics began in Italy, where she earned her Ph.D. and delved into experimental superconductivity while teaching at the University of Naples. Her curiosity then led her to the US, where she conducted research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also taught physics at Temple University and served as the Scientific Administrator of an Energy Frontier Research Center. Since 2019, Adele has been a Science Education Specialist in Physics and Astronomy at the University of British Columbia. When she’s not advancing science education, Adele enjoys exploring the great outdoors of British Columbia

Desiree Fiaccabrino is a BSc Chemistry graduate with First Class Honours from King’s College London, is pursuing a PhD in Chemistry at UBC under Dr. Chris Orvig and Dr. Paul Schaffer at TRIUMF. Her research focuses on developing novel molecules to bind radioactive metals for cancer therapeutics and diagnostics. As President of UBC’s Chemistry Graduate Student Society, Desiree organized professional development initiatives, including career panels with industry and academic leaders. She has mentored undergraduate and MSc students in research and scientific communication. Desiree is passionate about creating tools to bridge scientific discovery with practical applications in nuclear medicine to improve patient care.

Dr. Valentina Marchetti is an expert in endothelial cell dysfunction and progenitor cells in cardiovascular diseases. After completing her PhD at the University of Rome, Italy, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at The Scripps Research Institute, focusing on stem cells for treating diabetic retinopathies and eye diseases. In 2013, she joined STEMCELL Technologies in Vancouver, where she led the endothelial and eye group and developed products for stem cell research. Currently an Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University, Valentina collaborates with the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. As President of ARPICO, she advances collaboration and public awareness of key research, while promoting Italian-Canadian scientific and cultural exchanges.

FAQ

  • Where can I contact the organizer with any questions?
  • info@arpico.ca
  • Can I update my registration information?
  • Yes. If you have any questions, contact us at info@arpico.ca
  • I am having trouble using EventBrite and cannot reserve my ticket(s). Can someone at ARPICO help me with my ticket reservation?
  • Of course, simply send your ticket request to us at info@arpico.ca so we can help you.

As always, the organizers have been thoughtful about including detailed information.

Saturday, March 1, 2025 is the 47th annual University of British Columbia (UBC) Physics Olympics (Vancouver, Canada)

This February 27, 2025 UBC media advisory arrived in my email (it can also be viewed online here), Note: There is no mention of the public being invited; so, you might want to file this information in the ‘interesting’ category,

More than 1,000 high school students and teachers from across B.C. will
meet at UBC on Saturday for the 47th annual UBC Physics Olympics, where
they will show off their physics expertise and experimental design
skills.

Teams of students will compete in six events that test hands-on skills and scientific concepts including:

  • Testing light boxes and solar-powered boats that the students have previously assembled
  • Mini golf and buoyancy labs
  • “Quizzics,” a quiz show
  • Fermi questions, inspired by the great 20th-century physicist Enrico Fermi, where students try to answer order-of-magnitude questions, such as “What is the total mass of the students competing in the Physics Olympics today?”

The Olympics aim to help students see how physics is exciting and
relevant to their daily lives and to provide an opportunity to work
together.

The UBC Physics Olympics is one of the largest and oldest high school
physics competitions in North America. The event is organized by
students and professors in the department of physics and astronomy and
department of curriculum and pedagogy. UBC undergraduate students, many
of them Physics Olympics alumni, volunteer their time.

Event: 47th annual UBC Physics Olympics

Date/Time: Saturday, March 1, [2025] labs from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., awards from
4:30 p.m.

You can find the UBC Physics Olympics website here. This site is a little confusing. Ignore the “Teacher’s Workshop” section as it lists something from November 2024. There is a March 1, 2025 workshop for teachers listed in the sidebar with a working link to all of the 2025 UBC Physics events including: “AI-Powered K-12 Physics Education” is your workshop this year! Check it out: https://physoly.phas.ubc.ca/schedule/.”

There will also be an international event held later this year, from the online media advisory here

Looking for something else?

*Looking for information about the International Physics Olympiad? The International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) is the World Championship Physics Competition for High School students and is held annually in different countries. For the official IPhO website, please see here. Our National student team to represent Canada for 2025 will be selected from top placements in the annual Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) High School Prize Exam. For more information, please see the Canadian Physics Olympiad program page here.

Btw, the 55th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO 2025) is being held in Paris, France from July 17 – 25, 2025.

Lastly, I see that TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator centre located on the UBC Vancouver campus, has a redesigned website.

“XR Fall” an artist-in-residence programme 29 octobre au 28 novembre 2024 à Vancouver, sur le campus d’Emily Carr University of Art + Design (Vancouver, Canada)

Not sure how I stumbled across this XR (extended reality) artist-in-residence programme but it’s been in place since 2022 (albeit with some changes). Here’s the announcement for the 2024 artist-in-residence, from the August 14, 2024 Consulate of France in Vancouver press release,

French artist Pierre Friquet, also known as, PYARé, is the latest laureate of the “XR Fall” residency dedicated to XR/AR/VR [extended reality/augmented reality/virtual reality], its third edition. He will be in Vancouver from October 29 to November 28, 2024.

This residency is a collaboration between the Consulate General of France in Vancouver, the Alliance française of Vancouver, the cultural institution of the City of “Paris Forum des Images”, Emily Carr University of Art and Design and the Institut français.

A hybrid creator based in Paris, Pierre Friquet has been designing immersive experiences (VR, dome films, AR, video mapping,) such as Spaced Out, Jet Lag, Vibrations and Patterns since 2010. His intent is to make people reconnect with their body and sense of self through art and technology.

These experiments have won awards at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, the Kaléidoscope festival and the Filmgate festival. His latest VR project, SPACE OUT, an immersive diving mask, was selected for the Sundance New Frontier 2020 festival and featured in the cultural programme of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Founder of the NiGHT collective, his projects include aquatic virtual reality.

In Vancouver, he will be working around the character of Captain Nemo, the famous warrior scientist in Jules Verne’s novel “20,000 leagues under the sea”.

The residency’s objective is to create an immersive experience allowing users to embody Captain Nemo in a VR adventure, piloting a gondola or riding a whale using intuitive VR controls. His work will focus on the symbiosis between technology and nature, marine conservation and post-colonial adventure.
Project by PYARé & INVR.

Find out more about his artistic vision and creations on his website.

JPEG

You have to have been resident in France for at least five years and speak English to be eligible.

Preparing for the 2025 calls for applications?

There are, in fact, three programmes: two in Vancouver,(1) the XR/AR/VR [extended reality/augmented reality/virtual reality artist-in-residence and (2) Arts & Sciences Quantum Studio artist-in-residence and there’s another ‘quantum programme’ in Paris, also called the Arts & Sciences Quantum Studio artist-in-residence.

The 2025 calls haven’t been announced yet but I do have the 2024 calls for applications and they should give you some idea of what questions you’ll need to answer and what materials you’ll need to prepare. These calls are in French.

Résidence « XR Fall» à Vancouver
29 octobre au 28 novembre 2024

From the France Canada Culture.org ‘Résidence ‘XR Fall à Vancouver/XR Fall Residency’ webpage,

1- À propos de la résidence XR Fall

1.1 – Introduction

Initiée par l’ambassade de France au Canada / consulat général de Vancouver dans le cadre de leur programme « Résidences Ouest-Ouest », en partenariat avec le Forum des Images (Paris), Emily Carr University of Art + Design (Vancouver), l’Alliance française Vancouver, et avec le soutien de l’Institut français, la troisième édition de la résidence d’écriture et de recherche “XR Fall” à Vancouver se déroulera du 29 octobre au 28 novembre 2024 à Vancouver, en Colombie-Britannique, Canada.

Ouverte à l’ensemble des réalités immersives, cette résidence doit permettre à un·e créateur·rice français·e de s’immerger au sein de l’écosystème local vancouvérois afin d’enrichir son projet d’écriture-recherche et d’étoffer son réseau professionnel. Elle sera également l’occasion de renforcer les liens et de créer de nouvelles synergies entre la France et l’Ouest canadien dans le domaine des innovations numériques. Cette résidence se tiendra à Vancouver du mardi 29 octobre au jeudi 28 novembre 2024.

Pendant la Résidence d’écriture-recherche, le·a créateur·rice sélectionné·e se consacrera au développement de son projet immersif pour lequel iel est invité·e à travailler en coopération avec des professionnel·les vancouvérois.es, ainsi qu’avec des équipes techniques et des sociétés de production locales. Le programme a également pour but d’aider le·a créateur·rice sélectionné·e à renforcer son réseau et ses compétences.

1.2 – Déroulé de la résidence

Du 29 octobre au 28 novembre 2024 à Vancouver, sur le campus d’Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

1.3 – Objectifs

  • Impulser ou consolider un projet d’écriture-recherche.
  • Favoriser la découverte de l’écosystème numérique de l’Ouest canadien, ainsi que des collaborations structurantes.
  • Une attention privilégiée sera portée aux projets ancrés dans le contexte local.

À l’issue de la résidence, l’artiste devra proposer un compte-rendu de son expérience, de son travail et de l’évolution du projet durant cette période.

1.4 – Avantages

Ce programme garantit, notamment, à la lauréate / au lauréat :

  • Un vol A/R France – Vancouver
  • Quatre semaines d’hébergement à Vancouver
  • Un espace de travail au Basically Good Media Lab
  • Une bourse de résidence à hauteur de 2.000 € (correspondant aux per-diem et à la participation à trois demi-journées de conférences/classes de maître
    durant la résidence)
  • Mise en réseau et relations avec l’écosystème local
  • Participation à des événements en Colombie-Britannique

Autres contreparties (conditions à définir ensemble) :

  • présentation du projet dans le cadre de NewImages Festival 2025
  • accréditation pour les Journées pro de NewImages Festival 2025
  • Présenter le fruit de son travail en résidence (prototype, work-in-progress) dans le cadre de V-Unframed 2025 (Vancouver)

1.5 – Équipement et accompagnement

Au sein d’Emily Carr University of Art + Design, ce programme garantit, notamment, à la lauréate / au lauréat :

  • L’accès au Basically Good Media Lab en tant qu’espace de travail sur une base régulière. Il s’agit d’un espace collaboratif et partagé avec des chercheurs des premier et deuxième cycles et des assistants de recherche.
  • L’accès à un ordinateur de pointe : un Dell Precision 3660 ; 32 Go de RAM ; i9-12900K (16 cœurs) ; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080.
  • Appui technique : support technique ponctuel pour aider l’artiste à réaliser son projet.
  • Mentorat d’Emily Carr University of Art + Design pour fournir un retour sur le projet et les approches de l’artiste, aider à faciliter l’utilisation des ressources et fournir des opportunités potentielles de mise en réseau avec la communauté.
  • L’accès à d’autres installations sur le campus, en fonction de leur disponibilité, y compris l’Integrated Motion Studio pour une utilisation en tant qu’atelier ou espace boîte noire. Le Basically Good Media Lab dispose de casques de réalité augmentée et virtuelle, avec des caméras 360 grand public et prosumers.

L’artiste sera également accompagné durant la résidence par les équipes de l’ambassade de France au Canada présentes à Vancouver et par celles de l’Alliance française Vancouver.

2- Conditions d’éligibilité

2.1 – Profil des candidat.e.s

Ce programme est ouvert à tout·e artiste, créateur.rice ou porteur.euse d’un projet XR en écriture-recherche.

  • Âgé.e d’au moins 18 ans
  • Résidant en France depuis au moins 5 ans
  • Parlant anglais
  • Professionnel.le confirmé.e, justifiant de premières expériences dans le domaine des réalités immersive

2.2 – Projets acceptés

Ce programme est ouvert aux réalités immersives dans toute leur diversité (réalité virtuelle 360° ou interactive, augmentée, mixte, installation incluant des technologies immersives, en lien avec la création sonore ou la technologie 4D, etc.).

Les projets devront être reliés à au moins l’un des grands thèmes suivants :

  • Durabilité environnementale
  • Justice écologique et action climatique
  • Justice sociale, santé et bien-être de la communauté
  • Recherches portant sur le territoire et les lieux

3- Processus d’inscription

3.1 – À propos de l’appel à candidatures

L’inscription du projet :

  • Doit être faite en anglais
  • Doit être faite en ligne à https://zhx2xeql.paperform.com jusqu’au dimanche 30 juin 2024 (23:59, GMT)
  • Doit être envoyée en un seul PDF
  • Est gratuite pour l’ensemble des postulant·es

À noter également :

  • Les inscriptions incomplètes ne seront pas prises en considération
  • Il n’y a pas de temps limite imparti pour compléter (https://zhx2xeql.paperform.co/)
  • Vos informations sont automatiquement sauvegardées en local ; vous pouvez donc fermer et/ou revenir ultérieurement au formulaire depuis le même
    appareil et le même navigateur (hors fenêtres de navigation privée)

Nous vous conseillons vivement de ne pas attendre les derniers jours de l’appel à candidatures pour soumettre votre projet, afin d’éviter tout problème technique.

En inscrivant un projet, vous reconnaissez détenir les droits afférents à celui-ci ou être habilité·e par tou·te·s les autres ayants droit. Le Forum des images, l’ambassade de France au Canada / consulat général de Vancouver, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, l’Alliance française Vancouver et l’Institut français ne peuvent en aucun cas être tenus pour responsables en cas de réclamation, conflit ou poursuite en lien avec l’inscription du projet.

3.2 – Informations requises

Avant votre inscription, nous vous invitons à prendre connaissance des informations et pièces demandées dans le dossier de présentation devant être joint à votre inscription (dans le même ordre que ci-dessous) :

  • Formulaire d’application-Résidence XR 2024 (en anglais uniquement) : https://zhx2xeql.paperform.co/
  • Une copie de la carte d’identité ou du passeport
  • Une biographie et un CV
  • Un portfolio des précédents projets
  • Une lettre de motivation
  • Une note d’intention développée du projet
  • Le plan de travail envisagé pour la résidence (prévisionnel)
  • Des visuels du projet (le cas échéant)
  • Une lettre de recommandation et/ou une lettre d’une institution culturelle française accompagnant le projet en vue d’une future exposition ou production de l’œuvre (facultative)

That’s the gist of it, you can find all of it on the ‘Résidence « XR Fall» à Vancouver/XR Fall Residency’ webpage.

Résidence Arts & Sciences « Quantum Studio » à Paris 9 au 30 septembre 2024

From the France Canada Culture.org résidence arts-sciences “Quantum Studio” à Paris webpage,

1- À propos de la résidence arts-sciences

1.1 – Introduction

L’ambassade de France au Canada, en partenariat avec le Quantum Information Center Sorbonne (Sorbonne Université), le CENTQUATRE-PARIS (Paris) et le programme des résidences internationales Ville de Paris aux Récollets, lance le volet français de la résidence arts-sciences “Quantum Studio”. Cette résidence d’artiste aura lieu du 9 au 30 septembre 2024 à Paris, France. Elle s’adresse à un ou une artiste canadien.ne résidant en Colombie-Britannique explorant les croisements entre arts et sciences.

Ouverte à l’ensemble des pratiques artistiques, la résidence cherche à construire des échanges entre arts et sciences quantiques (physique quantique, informatique quantique, physique de l’infiniment petit, sciences des matériaux, physique fondamentale).

Le Quantum Information Center Sorbonne (Sorbonne Université) et le CENTQUATRE-PARIS offriront à l’artiste sélectionné.e un espace de réflexion dans lequel artistes et chercheurs pourront se réunir, échanger sur leurs pratiques, apprendre les uns des autres et réfléchir ensemble à un projet créatif à la croisée des arts et des sciences. En amont de la résidence à Paris, plusieurs rencontres en ligne seront organisées, afin d’établir et d’entretenir un premier contact entre l’artiste lauréat.e au Canada et l’équipe hôte (institutions et scientifiques) de Paris.

1.2 – Déroulé de la résidence

Du 9 au 30 septembre 2024 à Paris (hébergement au couvent des Récollets).

1.3 – Objectifs

  • Impulser ou consolider un projet créatif.
  • Le ou la lauréat.e a une obligation de restitution de recherche ou de rendu artistique (projet écrit, esquisses et croquis, œuvre, etc.) pendant leur séjour.
  • Partager son travail lors de séminaires arts et sciences co-organisés avec le Quantum Information Center Sorbonne et le CENTQUATRE-PARIS.
  • Favoriser la découverte de l’écosystème scientifique et artistique parisien, ainsi que des collaborations structurantes. Une attention privilégiée sera portée aux projets ancrés dans le contexte local.

1.4 – Avantages

Ce programme garantit, notamment, à la lauréate ou au lauréat :

  • 3 semaines de résidence à Paris.
  • Un hébergement au sein du Couvent des Récollets (Ville de Paris), un bureau de travail au Quantum Information Center Sorbonne et un bureau de production au CENTQUATRE-PARIS.
  • Prise en charge complète (vols Vancouver-Paris, logement).
  • Un cachet de résidence à hauteur de 1.635 € (correspondant aux per-diem et à la participation à trois demi-journées de conférences/classes de maître durant la résidence).
  • Mise en réseau et relations avec l’écosystème local.
  • Participation, durant la résidence, à des rencontres avec les équipes de la 104factory, à des ouvertures de résidences au CENTQUATRE-PARIS et à des événements se déroulant au CENTQUATRE-PARIS.
  • Possibilité de participation, en post-résidence, à des événements en lien avec Némo-Biennale internationale des arts numériques de la Région Île-de-France, produite par le CENTQUATRE-PARIS.

2- Conditions d’éligibilité

2.1 – Profil des candidat.e.s

  • Artiste porteuse ou porteur d’un projet artistique en écriture ou en développement,
  • Âgé.e d’au moins 18 ans,
  • De nationalité canadienne ou titulaire d’une carte de résident permanent au Canada
  • Résidant en Colombie-Britannique,
  • Justifiant idéalement de premières expériences de création mêlant arts et sciences (les candidatures d’artistes ayant déjà travaillé ou travaillant en lien avec les sciences physiques seront appréciées).

2.2 – Projets acceptés

Ce programme est ouvert aux pratiques artistiques dans toute leur diversité (écriture, arts visuels et plastiques, arts numériques, design, danse, performance, réalités immersives, création sonore, etc.).

3- Processus d’inscription

3.1 – À propos de l’appel à candidatures

Le dépôt de candidature :

  • Doit être fait en français ou en anglais,
  • En un seul PDF,
  • Doit être envoyé par courriel à SCACVAN@GMAIL.COM
  • Jusqu’au 21 avril 2024 (23:59, heure de Vancouver).

3.2 – Informations requises

Pour candidater, nous vous invitons à envoyer les documents suivants :

  • Le formulaire de candidature 2024,
  • Une copie de la carte d’identité ou du passeport,
  • Une biographie et un CV,
  • Un portfolio des précédents projets (avec liens vidéo, le cas échéant)
  • Une lettre de motivation,
  • Un synopsis précis du projet,
  • Le plan de travail envisagé pour la résidence (prévisionnel),
  • Des visuels du projet (le cas échéant),
  • Une lettre de recommandation (facultative),
  • Une lettre d’une institution culturelle canadienne accompagnant le projet en vue d’une future exposition ou production de l’œuvre (facultative).

You can find all of it on the résidence arts-sciences “Quantum Studio” à Paris webpage.

I have more information about the Quantum Studio artist-in-residence in Vancouver programme in an October 7, 2024 posting, scroll down t the ‘Quantum Studio’ subhead.

Women in Pharma, a November 5, 2024 Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST) online event

An October 17, 2024 Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST) announcement (received via email) has news of a free November 5 (Tuesday), 2024 event,

Women in Pharma
November 5 | 2-3pm PST | 5-6pm EST | Online

Curious about a career in the pharmaceutical industry? Don’t miss our upcoming Women in Pharma event, where you’ll hear firsthand from four accomplished women at Sanofi. Gain unique insights into the evolving world of pharma, explore diverse career opportunities and learn what it takes to thrive in this dynamic field. Sign up now and take your first step toward an inspiring career!

The registration page offers more detail about the free event,

Women in Pharma: Insights from Sanofi Professionals

Curious about what a career in the pharmaceutical industry is like? Join us for our Women in Pharma event. You’ll gain valuable insights into the world of pharma from four accomplished women at Sanofi.

This event is your chance to explore diverse career paths, hear about real-life experiences and understand the evolving landscape of the pharmaceutical industry. Our speakers will share their journeys, highlight the skills needed to excel and discuss the challenges and triumphs they’ve encountered along the way.

With topics ranging from innovation in healthcare to navigating career growth and fostering diversity in the workplace, this event offers practical advice and inspiration for anyone looking to make an impact. in the field of pharmaceutics.

Speakers

Yasmin Zaimi

Yasmin is the Head of Digital Strategic Programs at Sanofi as part of the Global Digital Strategy & Operations team. Since joining Sanofi 2.5 years ago, she supported driving the standup of the new Digital and AI team in Toronto, from being in the first 5 people hired to now a team of over 140 individuals in Downtown Toronto. In her former role as the AI Strategy Director, she led our global Responsible AI efforts through RAISE, co-delivered the establishment of a major Research AI initiative in Biologics, and drove the “I in AI” global communications and upskilling campaign this past year. Her focus has now shifted to driving efficiencies across the Digital organization, and scaling the capability to establish large-scale strategic programs at speed.

Yasmin’s passion for equitable access to healthcare and biotechnology innovation is what drove her to join Sanofi after her previous career in Data Strategy Management Consulting at PwC.

Marwa Al-Haji

Marwa is the Head of Engineering Project Management at Sanofi. She is passionate about the work she does by ensuring the successful delivery of capital projects on our Toronto site. She has an educational background in Chemical Engineering at TMU. She enjoys supporting our Early Careers campus events and has continued to be present in many campus engagements across the Greater Toronto Area and earlier this year she also joined Sanofi to attend the Women in Engineering networking night at McMaster. What keeps Marwa at Sanofi is the growth opportunities and culture.

Yuti Patel

Yuti is a Market Access Lead in our Specialty Care global business unit at Sanofi. She has been with Sanofi a little over 1.5 years. She graduated from University of Waterloo with an undergrad in Biochemistry and has completed her master’s at University of Toronto in the MBiotech program. She enjoys having the ability to improve sustainable access to innovative medicines through her work as a Market Access Lead. In addition to her work, she has also been involved in academic collaborations geared towards understanding precision medicine and currently pursuing a doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences.

Veronika Bumbulovic

Veronika is a fourth-year Honours Microbiology and Immunology student, minoring in Nutritional Sciences. She is currently completing a year-long Co-op in the R&D Analytical Sciences department at Sanofi as a Molecular Biology Co-op student. In addition to her role, she leads the Co-op Lunch n’ Learn initiative. In her free time, she enjoys reading and watching a wide variety of stories in different mediums.

You can find out more about the French multinational company, Sanofi, in its Wikipedia entry

Happy networking!

Quantum Studio artist-in-residence Caroline Delétoille gives an artist talk on 16 Oct 2024 at 3 pm at the University of BC (Vancouver, Canada)

The University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery (The Belkin) sent an October 4, 2024 series of announcements (received via email). Here are two of the announcements, Note 1: You can see all of the announcements on The Belkin events webpage, Note 2: The art/science event is second, Note 3: Links have been removed

Conversation with Weiyi Chang and Lisa Myers

Tuesday, October 8 at 12:30 pm (online)

Please join us for an online conversation between guest curator Weiyi Chang and Lisa Myers, an artist and curator based in Toronto and Port Severn and a member of Beausoleil First Nation. Myers has worked with anthocyanin pigment from blueberries in printmaking and in her stop-motion animation. Her participatory performances involve sharing berries and other food items in social gatherings, reflecting on the value found in place and displacement; straining and absorbing. Recently, her artistic practice has expanded into audio and augmented reality projects that draw attention to the histories of the land, dislocation and gentrification. Through close attention to Myers’s practice, this conversation will allow us to reflect on themes and concerns articulated in An Opulence of Squander, currently on view at the Belkin.

Artist Talk with Caroline Delétoille

Wednesday, October 16 at 3 pm

As part of Quantum Studio, artist-in-residence Caroline Delétoille will discuss her collaborative partnerships with scientists and engineers while embedded at UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute. Delétoille will address her studio and research practices and share some initial insights about “Quantum Sensation,” a project initiated in 2023 in close collaboration with a physicist and philosopher and the focus of her residency at UBC. This talk is part of Ars Scientia, a larger research initiative which seeks to foster knowledge exchange across the arts, sciences and pedagogies.

More about …

The conversation between Weiyi Chang and Lisa Myers is one of a series known as “Of Other Earths.” Here’s more about the series and the upcoming October 8, 2024 event, from The Belkin’s Conversation Series: Of Other Earths webpage,

Join us for Of Other Earths, a series recuperating forgotten, suppressed and abandoned histories to reconsider capitalist and colonial relationships to the planet and its inhabitants. Multiplying and compounding environmental harms are radically destabilizing earthly habitats, calling into question the viability of existing productivist paradigms that require continuous resource extraction and consumption.

This online conversation series hosted by curator Weiyi Chang foregrounds practitioners who aim to decentre and unsettle the logic of perpetual growth by examining alternative approaches to human-planetary relations. In each session she will engage an artist or scholar about their work in the context of one of the provocations running through the exhibition An Opulence of Squander. These dialogues will offer a generative way to think about how we engage, care for, and conserve past works of art and artists and the ecological lessons that experience might hold.

An Opulence of Squander draws primarily from the Belkin’s collection and focuses on works that critique the imperative for growth at all costs, growth that has contributed to our collective ecological and social conundrum. The works resist the growth imperative and reflect on the dual exploitation of labour and nature.

Register for the Zoom link

This talk will be recorded and made available online.

Then, there’s the art/science talk with Caroline Delétoille, from The Belkin’s Artist Talk: Caroline Delétoille webpage,

Join us at the Belkin for an artist talk by Quantum Studio artist-in-residence Caroline Delétoille, who will discuss her collaborative partnerships with scientists and engineers while embedded at UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute. Delétoille will address her studio and research practices and share some initial insights about “Quantum Sensation,” a project initiated in 2023 in close collaboration with a physicist and philosopher and the focus of her residency at UBC.

Everyone is welcome and admission is free.

Caroline Delétoille’s month-long artist residency is a collaboration between the Consulate General of France in Vancouver and UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery through Quantum Studio, which is part of a larger program of residencies sponsored by the Embassy of France in Western Canada.

This talk is part of Ars Scientia, a larger research initiative which seeks to foster knowledge exchange across the arts, sciences and pedagogies. Since launching in 2021, we have developed a wide variety of programs, including pairing artists and scientists in residencies to explore the potential for academic art-science collaborations. Artists provide new ways of imagining research and knowledge exchange as a dimensional counterpart to the research carried out at Blusson QMI. Through the development of conversation programs and panel series in tandem with the creation of an ongoing artist residency, Ars Scientia addresses questions of pedagogical outcomes, interdisciplinary research and the emergent interstices of art and science.

Caroline Delétoille

Artist

Caroline Delétoille is a Paris-based visual artist with a previous academic foray into mathematics. Her work interrogates questions concerned with memory, the ordinary and dreams. Though her practice is focused largely on painting and photography, her writing is central to the search for pictoriality and narration. Delétoille’s work has been exhibited in France and Spain. She is currently developing an exhibition with Musée Maison Poincaré in collaboration with the Kastler Brassel Laboratory and Quantum Studio.

In French,

L’annonces 27/06/2024 du Consulat général de France à Vancouver,

Programme de résidence Arts & Sciences « Quantum Studio »

Caroline Delétoille est la nouvelle lauréate du programme de résidence Arts & Sciences « Quantum Studio », un programme créée par nos services avec nos partenaires de l’institut canadien Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute et la galerie d’art vancouvéroise Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery de l’Université de Colombie-Britannique. Caroline Delétoille succède à Javiera Tejerina. L’artiste viendra à Vancouver du 14 octobre au 12 novembre, sur le campus de l’université.

La résidence, ouverte à l’ensemble des pratiques artistiques, a pour but de rendre plus accessible le travail des chercheurs en sciences quantiques (physique quantique, informatique quantique, physique de l’infiniment petit, sciences des matériaux, physique fondamentale) par le biais de l’art ; les échanges entre scientifiques et artistes sont au coeur de cette résidence.

Nos partenaires offriront à l’artiste un espace de réflexion dans lequel elle pourra se réunir avec les chercheurs, échanger sur leurs pratiques, apprendre de leurs travaux respectifs réfléchir ensemble à un projet créatif, à la croisée des arts et des sciences.

Le travail final de l’artiste sera donc un rendu, une mise en avant du travail des chercheurs. En fin de résidence, des séminaires et évènements publics co-organisés avec l’institut et la galerie sont prévus.

Caroline Delétoille

Biographie de l’artiste :

Mon travail est une recherche constante du souvenir, une documentation de l’ordinaire. En 2019, j’apprends par un coup de téléphone que la maison de famille a été vidée la veille et son contenu jeté. De là s’amorce chez moi une interrogation sur les souvenirs, leur développement et leur importance, dans une exploration plastique des traces de la mémoire.

Qu’elle soit vraie ou fausse, l’histoire se raconte. Partant d’images d’archives, les photographies sont les pièces à convictions d’une enquête à mener. Mes peintures font un pas de côté avec la réalité, l’espace pictural devient un terrain de jeu. Les teintes sont franches, vives, dans une atmosphère saturée de verts et de jaunes. La couleur arrive sur le regardeur, je veux qu’elle l’enveloppe, lui tombe dessus. Des plans superposés en aplats structurent la composition et viennent déjouer les lignes de fuite. La perspective contribue ainsi à nous déséquilibrer, elle attire dans un décor ornemental sans profondeur de champ. Les motifs envahissent l’espace, les objets sortent de la toile, les ombres peuvent prendre des formes étranges, presque oniriques. À mesure que les repères rationnels sont perturbés, l’imagination s’active.

Mes peintures parlent d’une mémoire collective et individuelle à partir de scènes intimes et familières telles que le quotidien de l’enfance, mon propre vécu et des photos de famille. J’aime expérimenter la matière à travers les techniques (huile, sérigraphie, monotype, acrylique, pastels…), dans l’esprit des courants des arts décoratifs.

The English language version posted by the Consulate is a rough summary and not a translation of their French language notice but both versions have the same embedded images.

Quantum Studio

I did a little digging to find out more about this Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (Blusson QMI) and Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery (the Belkin), both at UBC, in partnership with The Embassy of France in Canada and their art/sci residency, known as the Quantum Studio.

The best I could track down is in UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (Blusson QMI) July 31, 2023 news release about Javiera Tejerina-Risso, the 2023 Quantum Studio artist-in-residence,

UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (Blusson QMI) and Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery (the Belkin), in partnership with The Embassy of France in Canada, are delighted to announce Javiera Tejerina-Risso as the artist-in-residence for the Quantum Studio Art & Science Residency taking place in November 2023 at UBC Vancouver.

Javiera is a multidisciplinary French-Chilean artist from Marseille, France. Having worked in art and science for more than 15 years, she has developed a collaborative approach in her creative practice enabling her to work with researchers and include their vocabulary, concepts and areas of study in her creative work.

The Quantum Studio residency aims to build exchanges between art and quantum science immersed at the renowned UBC campus and in the rich local artistic ecosystem. The artist receives a €2,000 grant and paid accommodation during the residency.

Blusson QMI and the Belkin will provide the selected artist with a space in which the artist and researchers will be able to connect, discuss their projects, and learn from one another to create a project at the junction between art and science. 

The scientific topics to be explored during this residency include:

  • Fundamental concepts: quantum mechanics, light-
  • Matter and materials: low-dimensional materials, organic and optoelectronic materials, superconductors, atomic structures (2D, 3D)
  • Experimental techniques: spectroscopies, atomic imaging microscopy, x-ray scattering
  • Experimental conditions: ultra-low temperatures, ultra-high vacuum, ultra-fast dynamics

The Residency is part of a larger program of residencies initiated by the Embassy of France in West Canada. Other laureates will also be present in Vancouver in the fall of 2023 as part of the curatorial residency of the Embassy’s XR Fall program [extended reality], which focuses on immersive artistic creations. [emphasis mine]

Blusson QMI and the Belkin are the founding members of Ars Scientia, an interdisciplinary program aimed at creating synergies between scientists and artists in BC. At the intersection of arts and science, Ars (skill, technique, craft) Scientia (knowledge, experience, application) presents an opportunity to foster new modes of knowledge exchange intended to invigorate art, science, and pedagogy in search of profound exchange and collaborative research outcomes.

Learn more about Ars Scientia here.

The highlighted paragraph is as much as I can find for now. Btw, I will be posting about the XR Fall programme soon.

One more point of interest

This isn’t information about a 2025 residency but you may find the details from the 2024 call useful for early preparation of your application. From an April 16, 2024 University of British Columbia’s news release,

In 2023, the French Embassy in Canada, in partnership with the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (QMI) and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at the University of British Columbia (UBC), launched the Arts-Sciences Residency Program “Quantum Studio” in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

In 2024, a new edition of this artist residency will take place from October 14 to November 12 at UBC Blusson QMI in Vancouver. The program accepts applications from French artists exploring the intersections between the arts and sciences. Applications are now open and will close on May 26, 2024, at 11:59pm Paris time [May 26, 2024, at 2:59pm (PT)].

Open to all artistic practices, the residency seeks to build exchanges between the arts and the quantum sciences (quantum physics, quantum computing, physics of the infinitely small, materials science, fundamental physics).

The Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery will provide the selected artist with a space in which artists and researchers can meet, discuss their practices, learn from each other and reflect together on a creative project at the crossroads of the arts and sciences.

Prior to the residency in Vancouver, several online meetings will be organized to establish and maintain initial contact between the winning artist in France and the host team (institutions and scientists) in Vancouver.

About the residency

Objectives

  • Foster or consolidate a creative project.
  • Share their work at arts and science seminars co-organized with the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.
  • Encourage discovery of Western Canada’s scientific and artistic ecosystem, as well as forming collaborations.

Advantages

  • 4 weeks of residence in Vancouver
  • Accommodation on the UBC campus and a working office at the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute
  • Round-trip airfare from France to Vancouver
  • A €2,000 residency grant (corresponding to per diem and participation in three half-day lectures/master classes during the residency)
  • Networking and connections with the local ecosystem
  • Participation in events in British Columbia during the residency.

Eligibility

  • Artist carrying an artistic project in writing or development
  • At least 18 years old
  • Resident in France for at least 5 years
  • Speaking English
  • Ideally, justifying first experiences of creation mixing arts and sciences (applications from artists who have already worked or are working in connection with physical sciences will be appreciated).
  • This program is open to artistic practices in all their diversity (writing, visual and plastic arts, digital arts, design, dance, performance, immersive realities, sound creation, etc.).

Application Process and Required Documents

The application submission:

To apply, please submit the following documents to the French Consulate as stated above:

  • Application form: ENG_Application-Form-Art and science residency-2023
  • A copy of your ID card or passport
  • A biography and a CV
  • A portfolio of previous projects (with video links, if applicable)
  • A letter of motivation
  • A precise synopsis of the project
  • A projected work plan for the residency (forecast)
  • Visuals of the project (if applicable)
  • A letter of recommendation (optional)
  • A letter from a French cultural institution accompanying the project for a future exhibition or production of the work (facultative).

Timeline

  • April 15, 2024: Opening of the call for applications
  • May 26, 2024 (11h59pm, Paris time): Deadline for applications
  • Week of June 3, 2024: Interviews with the preselected candidates
  • Week of June 10, 2024: Notification of the results

Contact

For inquiries regarding the application process, please contact the French Consulate here: culture@consulfrance-vancouver.org

For more information on the selection process and commitments, please see here.

There you have it.