Humanity faces real and present problems. Our resources to address these problems are limited. It’s easy to think, then, that we should devote ourselves to our most promising solutions.
It’s easy, but it’s wrong.
The great paradox of scientific research is that pure exploration – research into deep questions motivated by pure curiosity, without concern for applications – is ultimately what transforms our lives in tangible, practical ways.
In this talk, I will speak not just as a physicist interested in puzzles of quantum entanglement and five-dimensional black holes, but also as someone who has spent the past 25 years helping to establish and grow an institute dedicated to fundamental research. I will make the case for blue-sky research and share my optimism about our collective future.

Bio
Robert Myers (PhD, Princeton University, 1986) is the BMO Financial Group Isaac
Newton Chair at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario,
Canada. He joined Perimeter as a founding faculty in 2001, was the Interim Director
from 2007 to 2008, served as Faculty Chair from 2011 to 2018, and as the Director in
2019 to 2024. Prior to coming to Perimeter, he was a Professor of Physics at McGill
University.
Myers has broad interests in theoretical physics, with contributions ranging from
quantum field theory to black holes and cosmology. Several of his discoveries, such as
the “Myers effect” and “linear dilaton cosmology” have been influential in seeding new
lines of research. His current research focuses on the interplay of quantum
entanglement and spacetime geometry, and on applying new perspectives and tools
from quantum information science to the study of quantum gravity.
Among his many honours, Myers has been awarded the Herzberg Medal by the
Canadian Association of Physicists (1999), the CAP-CRM Prize in Theoretical and
Mathematical Physics by the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) and the Centre
de Recherches Mathématiques (2005), the Vogt Medal by the CAP and TRIUMF
(2012), the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Waterloo (2018), and the
CAP Medal for Lifetime Achievements in Physics (2024). In 2006, he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and he was named a Fellow of the Canadian
Association of Physicists in 2024.

He has served on numerous advisory boards, including the Banff International
Research Station (2001-05), the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (2012-16), the
William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute (2015-20), and the Max Planck Institute for
Gravitational Physics (2018-present). He has also served on the editorial boards of
Annals of Physics (2002-12) and the Journal of High Energy Physics (2007-present).