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.


Upcoming Event

Living in the Matrix: Recent Advances in Understanding Quantum Spacetime

Speaker: Clifford V. Johnson
Date: Thursday, April 18, 2024, 6:00 PM
Location: Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Fred Kavli Auditorium

KITP Public Lectures Archive

Event Informationsort descending
The Nature of Space
Speaker: Michael Atiyah
Date: 2005-10-26
The New Century of Exoplanets
Speaker: Adam Burrows
Date: 2010-04-07
The Physics of Flocking
Speaker: M. Cristina Marchetti
Date: 2014-05-14
The Physics of Star Trek
Speaker: Lawrence M. Krauss
Date: 2003-03-12
The Quantum Physics of Global Warming
Speaker: Brad Marston
Date: 2014-06-18
The Quark and the Jaguar: from Simplicity to Complexity
Speaker: Murray Gell-Mann
Date: 1997-05-04
The Radiant Universe: The Story of Electromagnetic Waves
Speaker: Ted Jacobson
Date: 2020-10-07
The Renaissance of Quantum Biology
Speaker: K. Birgitta Whaley
Date: 2020-06-18
The Search for Habitable Environments in the Solar System
Speaker: Dan McCleese
Date: 2005-07-13
The Search for Quantum Gravity
Speaker: Shiraz Minwalla
Date: 2023-02-15