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 Information
Realizing Feynman’s Dream of a Quantum Simulator
Speaker: Immanuel Bloch
Date: 2016-09-28
Do I have to draw you a diagram? A tale of quantum gravity
Speaker: Zvi Bern
Date: 2016-04-20
The Biological Future of Theoretical Physics
Speaker: Curt G. Callan
Date: 2016-02-10
Weight, Weight... Do Tell Me!: QCD and the Origin of Mass
Speaker: Andreas Kronfeld
Date: 2015-09-23
Starquakes and Exoplanets in the Milky Way
Speaker: Conny Aerts
Date: 2015-09-18
How Cells Package and Traffic Proteins for Export
Speaker: Randy Schekman
Date: 2015-08-19
Space-Time Versus the Quantum
Speaker: Joseph Polchinski
Date: 2014-12-04
From zero to c in 60 minutes: ...A crash course in Einstein's relativity
Speaker: R. Shankar
Date: 2014-11-18
The Quantum Physics of Global Warming
Speaker: Brad Marston
Date: 2014-06-18
The Physics of Flocking
Speaker: M. Cristina Marchetti
Date: 2014-05-14