First Year Orientation

Welcome to the UofT Physics Student Union's orientation for incoming first year students!

Welcome to UofT Physics Student Union's (PhySU) orientation!

Throughout the week of September 4th 2023, we will be hosting a series of social and academic events aimed at getting you familiar with campus, the Physics Department and your peers!

Note that due to planning requirements, the following events will require reservations (fill out before September 2nd):

-MP Tours

-Campus Tours

-Board Game Cafe Visit

All other events will be run based on a first come, first serve basis (i.e. no sign up is required, but the event may have a maximum capacity).

You can see the schedule and sign up for events below.

Don't forget to follow us on our social media:

Instagram: @physu

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/195987639@N02/

Our Discord Server: http://discord.gg/DsKhEEWuc5

Our Website: physu.org

List of Events:

Keynote (Tuesday, September 5th; 12:00-13:00 | KP108)

We begin our orientation with a brief Keynote by the PhySU execs. We will introduce the Physics Student Union, what we do, the events we run throughout the year and how you can get involved! We will also give a brief outline of the orientation events and answer any questions you may have!

*MP Tour (Tuesday, September 5th; 15:00 - 17:00 | Start in McLennan Lobby)

The McLennan Physical Laboratories are the heart of our department. Even if you are not a physics student, you are likely to spend quite a bit of time in the building taking classes, attending tutorials, hanging out in the PhySU lounge and most importantly our social and academic events. This tour will get you acquainted with the key points of interests in the building (the Physics Library, various Lounges, Observatory telescopes, good study spots etc.), as well as give you a chance to engage with some of the department's professors and their research!

Board Game Night (Tuesday, September 5th; 18:00-21:00 | MP110 Graduate Lounge)

Join us for an evening of fun board games accompanied by snacks, marshmallows and hot chocolate. Come for an opportunity to get to know your peers, PhySU execs, other upper years, but most importantly, play and win in a variety of games!

*Campus Tour (Wednesday, September 6th; 15:00 - 17:00| Start outside of McLennan)

UofT is one of the most populous universities in North America, with over 60 thousand students on St.George campus alone. With this comes a very large area and of course many useful locations, that are not always known. For this reason, PhySU will be offering a two-part tour of UofT's campus. The first 30 minutes of the tour, will cover much of the south-west part of campus (engineering, math, cs, chemistry and physics buildings), after which we will return to McLennan. For the rest 1.5 hours, we will proceed to walk through the rest of campus. We will pass by all major libraries, tell you about the university's history and show you some scenic spots!

Note that you can attend either part of the tour (sign up below).

Trivia Night (Wednesday, September 6th; 18:00 - 21:00 | MP102)

Think you know it all about physics, UofT and their history? Or just looking to learn a few fun facts to impress your friends? Come down to MP102 for a game of Jeopardy (PhySU edition). Minds will be blown, questions will be posed and fun will be had. Note that at the beginning, participants will be split into teams, so bring along as many friends as you can!

Observation Night (Wednesday, September 6th; 21:00 | McLennan 15th floor)

In collaboration with the Astronomy Student Union (AU) and the Astronomy and Space Exploration Association (ASX), we will be hosting an observation night. We will go up to the observatory on the roof of McLennan, to look at the night sky via the university's large stationary and portable telescopes. You will also have a chance to see the Toronto's night skyline in all of its glory. Meet us in the Lobby of McLennan at 21:00!

Scavenger Hunt (Thursday, September 7th; 17:00 - 19:00 | MP110 Graduate Lounge)

PhySU in tandem with MathU present our first Scavenger Hunt. You will solve fun riddles, learn a little bit of math and with a little bit of luck win some prizes! The scavenger Hunt will help you learn more about the resources provided by the university's Math, Physics and CS departments, as well as let you discover more interesting locations on your own!

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Sale (Friday, September 8th; 13:00 -15:00 | Outside of McLennan)

For the second year in a row since the pandemic, we return with a traditional PhySU event. We will be freezing and selling ice cream using liquid nitrogen outside of McLennan. Low prices guaranteed!

*Board Game Cafe Visit (Friday, September 8th; 19:00 - 21:00 | TBA)

Join the PhySU execs on a visit to a Board Game Cafe downtown, not far from campus, for a fun night of socializing and games. You can leave with us from McLennan at 18:30, or join us there at 19:00. Note that you will have to pay an 8 -10 $ entry fee to be able to play games at the cafe.

Ed Witten Open Leg1 (Sunday, September 9th; 14:00 | Online)

A return of PhySU's annual rapid chess tournament (10 + 5 time control). This will be the first of 3 tournaments in the year, from which the top players will qualify to further compete for the title of PhySU chess champion!

Join our lichess club to participate:

Club Name: UofT PhySU

Passcode: physu

* - these events require a signup. All other events are walk in based.