Prize Recipient

Damian Pope
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

"For developing outstanding educational resources that are distributed free to physics teachers in 130 countries, for fostering an international peer-to-peer teacher training network, and for delivering inclusive and inspiring educational programs to students around the world."

Dr. Damian Pope works on outreach at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He studied physics at the University of Queensland, Australia and obtained his PhD in 2002. His research was in the area of quantum information, studying innovative new technologies based on the laws of quantum physics. He also did research in quantum foundations, the study of what quantum physics ultimately means at a physical level. After his PhD, he continued research as postdoctoral researcher, also in Australia. In 2005, he left research to take up his current position in outreach and education at Perimeter Institute. This involves working on a wide range of projects, including creating educational videos, running interactive workshops for students and teachers, and giving talks to the general public. With decades of experience and expertise, his work has reached hundreds of thousands of students worldwide. He led, for example, the creation of ‘The Mystery of Dark Matter’, an educational video for high schools that has been viewed by over 100,000 students. He has a deep passion for communicating physics with the wider community and continues to work on a number of next generation interactive outreach projects.