Public Lectures

Physics for the Inquiring Mind

Public LecturesKITP Public Lectures connect you with people and research that is transforming our understanding of the universe. This popular series of 3-4 public lectures each year takes advantage of the presence of the many distinguished scientists who visit KITP to collaborate on the most fascinating and challenging questions in their fields. 

Speakers have included, among others, Conny Aerts, Peter Galison, Asimina Arvanitaki, Murray Gell-Mann, John Grunsfeld, Stephen Hawking, Robert Kirshner, Nathan Lewis, and M. Cristina Marchetti. Talks have ranged from how stars ring, projects at the large hadron collider (LHC), how the brain works, challenges for global energy, the potential in the human genome, and black holes.

Friends of KITP receive priority seat reservations, and an informal reception follows each lecture.


KITP Public Lectures Archive

Event Informationsort descending
A Hubble Space Telescope Picture Gallery
Speaker: Sandra M. Faber
Date: 1996-11-20
A New Form Of Matter: Bose-Einstein Condensation and the Atom Laser
Speaker: Wolfgang Ketterle
Date: 1998-04-01
Albert Einstein the Peacenik
Speaker: Larry Badash
Date: 2005-04-27
Artificial intelligence: success, limits, myths and threats
Speaker: Marc Mezard
Date: 2019-01-30
Beyond Chaos: The Continuing Enigma of Turbulence
Speaker: Nigel Goldenfeld
Date: 2017-02-01
Black Holes and Gravitational Waves -- Was Einstein Right?
Speaker: Saul Teukolsky
Date: 2017-05-15
Bringing Order to Chaotic Hearts
Speaker: Alain S. Karma
Date: 2006-07-26
Building Things With Atoms: A Report From The Small Frontier
Speaker: Don Eigler
Date: 2001-12-12
Can Evolution Be Understood Quantitatively?
Speaker: Daniel S. Fisher
Date: 2013-01-30
Challenges for Global Energy
Speaker: Nathan S. Lewis
Date: 2007-12-04