Pedro Vieira
Physicist
Born in Portugal.
Lived in France and Germany.
Based in Waterloo, Ontario.
As Portuguese scientists, we have great conditions to be successful, because we have a very good educational foundation. Because moving within Europe is a trivial fact for us, and in the world, not trivial but fairly easy… [A]t the beginning of our research career we can easily move to other places and have success abroad – Pedro Vieira.
Pedro Vieira was born into a family of math teachers in northern Portugal, where a high school sparked his interest in physics. After completing his education in Porto and Paris, Pedro became one of the youngest hires in the world-leading Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, in 2009. His contributions to quantum field and string theories have made him a major reference in this science, as reflected in the multiple international awards he has received.
Biography
Pedro Vieira was born in 1982 into a family of math teachers, including his parents, uncle, and grandmother. He was drawn to physics in high school, compelled by an influential teacher and a desire to find his own career path. Pedro pursued his interest at the University of Porto, where he completed an undergraduate degree, followed by a Master’s and Ph.D. at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France. Pedro started a post-doctoral fellowship in Berlin, Germany, but was soon recruited by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, where he continues his research and teaches since 2009 He was the youngest hire in the institute, one of the world’s leading centres in theoretical physics. Since 2017, he has combined his position as the Clay Riddell Paul Dirac Chair in Theoretical Physics at the Perimeter Institute with another faculty position at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics – South American Institute for Fundamental Research in São Paulo, Brazil. Pedro is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo.
Pedro’s work has focused on quantum field and string theories, to which he has made major contributions. The most significant being the exact solution for the spectrum of a four-dimensional quantum field theory, finite coupling proposal for polygonal Wilson loops, and three point functions in N=4 Super Yang-Mills. His work has garnered him multiple awards, including the an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship (2015), the European Physical Society’s prestigious Gribov Medal (2015) awarded to young physicists, the Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize in Physics (2018), and the Breakthrough Prize Foundations’s New Horizons in Physics Prize (2020).
Hora dos Portugueses