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A total of $14,3 million invested in cutting-edge infrastructure and research at INRS 

March 13, 2024 | Julie Robert

Update : March 13, 2024

The Government of Canada has provided funding to more than twenty professors in key fields of science, engineering, and humanities.

The Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) is pleased to announce that several faculty members and students have achieved excellent results in the recent public announcement of funding competitions held by the Canadian funding agencies.

The Government of Canada has announced a series of investments of more than $1.7 billion in cutting-edge research in health, environment, economic development, and many other fields.  

These results were unveiled today by Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Transport and Québec Lieutenant, at the Université de Montréal. He was speaking on behalf of Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and Mark Holland, Minister of Health.

Luc-Alain Giraldeau

“Investing in research excellence means providing solutions to major societal challenges in Québec and elsewhere. The success of our researchers, confirmed by the new investments announced today by the Government of Canada, reinforces the relevance of the INRS’s unique model. These funds will enable us to pursue our research and training activities in strategic areas for the advancement of society.”

Luc-Alain Giraldeau, Chief Executive Officer, INRS

A total of $14,3 million was received by the INRS as part of this announcement from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Canadian Institutes of Research (CIHR), and the Canada Research Chairs.

“On behalf of the INRS community, I would like to extend my congratulations to all our recipients. It is a great source of pride to see such investment in our talents, in the next generation of researchers, and in the infrastructure of our institution. This will undoubtedly advance discoveries and innovations for a sustainable future, across Canada.”

Isabelle Delisle, Interim Scientific Director, INRS

Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)

Professor Valérie Langlois, along with professors Roberto Morandotti and Tiago Falk, are the co-recipients of the CFI’s Innovation Fund 2023. Thanks to this funding, two new research infrastructures will be created at INRS, enabling the research community to tackle the crucial issues affecting our planet and to pursue ambitious ideas that drive innovation.

Valérie Langlois, a researcher at INRS Eau Terre Environnement Research Centre, will be leading the MIXTUROMICS Centre of Excellence. This will be the first centre in Québec and the only one in the world to integrate leading-edge infrastructure and expertise to target the detection, becoming, effects on environmental health, and modelling of the contamination of urban, agricultural, and northern environmental blends in a single programme.

This centre, comprising four platforms, will aim to study chemical contaminants in water, soil, air, and food in greater depth, both in the field and in the laboratory.  

MIXTUROMICS is receiving $3.9 million in funding (including $1,960,000 allocated to INRS) and will be led jointly by INRS, McGill University, and the Université de Montréal.

The QUALITY (Quantum and Artificial Intelligence Light Infrastructure for Tomorrow sustainable sYstems) research program, led by Professors Roberto Morandotti and Tiago Falk from the INRS Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre, will contribute to the next generation of the Internet. It will focus on the development of technologies linked to telecommunications networks, particularly involving the transmission of multisensory data, such as vibrations, smells, and touch – commonly known as the Internet of the Senses (IoS) and the Tactile Internet (TI).  

This $5.1 million project (including $2,740,319 allocated to INRS) will be conducted in collaboration with teams from McGill University, the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), and the University of Toronto.

Canada Research Chairs (CRC)

Professor Sandra Breux has been awarded $1,4 million for a SSHRC Canada Research Chair in Municipal Elections (Tier 1). This Chair will focus on municipal democracy in an urban context, with a particular emphasis on electoral participation, the electoral offer and issues specific to this level of government.

Professor Marie-Elise Parent receives $1.4 million for a CIHR Canada Research Chair in Cancer Environmental Epidemiology (Tier 1). This innovative research programme will provide unprecedented data on the role of the environment in the development of cancer, particularly prostate cancer, and will enable the definition of preventive strategies against the disease.

Professor Jinyang Liang has been awarded $600,000 for a NSERC Canada Research Chair in Ultrafast Computational Imaging (Tier 2). He will develop a series of new ultrafast computational imaging systems that will enable researchers to see how light interacts with different materials in a single instant, with concrete applications.  

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

Professor Marie-Ève Drouin-Gagné receives a $68,193 Savoir Development grant for her project entitled Éducation par le territoire et cartographie narrative: Comprendre la ville de Val-d’Or comme territoire autochtone pour refadrer les relations entre autochtonie et urbanité. A collaboration with Professor Stephane Guimont-Marceau (INRS) and Benoit Ethier (UQAT).

Professor Xavier St-Denis receives a $74,945 Savoir Development grant for his project entitled Employee commitment in an era of job insecurity: A mixed-methods approach. A collaboration with Professor Nicole Denier (U of Alberta) and Matissa Hollister (McGill University).

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

NSERC is awarding $5.2 million (through Alliance Grants) to 14 faculty members to advance their research while supporting creativity and innovation that are at the heart of research breakthroughs.

Professor Jean-François Blais is receiving $225,000 for his project Procédé complet de valorisation des piles usagées et des déchets électroniques.  

Professor Fabio Boschini is receiving $240,000 for his project Demonstration of Floquet engineering in quantum materials via time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. He is also receiving $25,000 for his project Study of the role of antiferromagnetic fluctuations in the fermiology of hole-doped cuprates via advanced time-resolved spectroscopies.  

Professor Philippe Constant is receiving $200,000 for his project Atteinte de la cible zéro enfouissement par une plateforme de valorisation des résidus séricoles. He is also receiving $25,000 for his project Implication of the hydrogen recycling capacity of rhizobia inoculants on the drought stress resistance of legume crops.  

Professor Tiago Falk receives $100,000 for his project Detection and prediction of cybersickness in virtual and mixed reality environments using wearables.  

Professor Monique Lacroix receives $1.3 million for her project Flexible packaging with barrier properties from biomass extraction.  

Professor François Légaré is receiving $758,760 for his project Advancing high-power continuous wave (CW), quasi-CW and ultrafast fibre-based laser systems. He is also receiving $550,656 for his project Advanced mid-infrared ultrafast laser technologies and their applications.  

Professor Mohamed Mohamedi receives $265,648 for his project Development of advanced all-solid-state zinc air battery.

Professor Pierre Francus receives $484,669 for his project Mesures des variations de la densité du bois et des sols organiques dans l’estimation du carbone séquestré dans l’écosystème forestier canadien.  

Professor Emanuele Orgiu receives $296,000 for his project Innovative Stable Free Radical-Substituted Conjugated Electronic Polymers.  

Professor Isabelle Plante receives $25,000 for her project Développement d’un modèle bicouche de l’épithélium mammaire : un nouvel outil pour les études de risques toxicologiques dans l’ère de Tox21.  

Professor Kenneth Beyerlein receives $25,000 for his project Studying graphene oxide photoreduction with dynamic transmission electron microscopy.  

Professor Sharif Sadaf is receiving $360,000 for his project NSF-NSERC: Building a two-qubit controlled phase gate using laterally coupled semiconductor quantum dots. He is also receiving $25,000 for his project Development of full-color III-nitride laser diodes.  

Professor Ana Tavares receives $240,000 for her project Valorization of niobium and tantalum for the production of low carbon intensity fuels: water electrolysis and CO2 conversion into value added products.

Professor Etienne Yergeau receives $60,000 for his project Improving early plant growth in sweet corn by engineering the soil microbiome.

Discover their areas of expertise

The next generation of researchers receives $851 000 in funding

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Imtiaz Alamgir will receive a Postdoctoral Fellowship of $45,000 over 2 years, under the supervision of Professor Roberto Morandotti.

Marie-Pier Brochu is the recipient of a $35,000 Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral Award over 3 years, under the supervision of Professor Valérie Langlois. Her work focuses on biodiversity monitoring using environmental DNA.

Fiona Chapman is the recipient of a Canada Graduate Scholarships – Doctoral Award of $35,000 over 3 years, under the supervision of Professor Jasmin Raymond. Her project is entitled Evaluation of geothermal resources in strike-slip fault zones: Duke River Area, southwestern Yukon, Canada.

Natalie Herkendaal receives a Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s in the amount of $17,500 (plus an additional $6,000) under the supervision of Professor Lionel Roué.

Ahmad Kezzo receives a Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s in the amount of $17,500 under the supervision of Professor Salim Timo Islam.

Sydney Lepard receives a Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s in the amount of $17,500 under the supervision of Professor Roberto Morandotti.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

Madeleine Lépine receives $35,000 (Doctoral award: Canada Graduate Scholarships) for her project Development and validation of innovative cellular models to predict breast cancer risks associated with endocrine disruptors such as PBDEs and their successors, under the supervision of Professor Isabelle Plante.

Kouessi Dagbo receives $17,500 (Master’s Scholarship: Canada Graduate Scholarships) for his project Automatisation de l’identification du serovar des Leptospires pathogènes via la génomique, under the supervision of Professor Frédéric Veyrier.  

Guillaume Lopez receives $17,500 (Master’s Scholarship: Canada Graduate Scholarships) for his project Effet d’une exposition chronique aux nanoplastiques sur l’immunité adaptative de la souris, under the supervision of Professor Alain Lamarre

Sahra Rahmouni receives $17,500 (Master’s Scholarship: Canada Graduate Scholarships) for her project Effet des rayons irradiants sur les pathogènes présents dans les aliments, under the supervision of Professor Monique Lacroix. 

2023-24 SSHRC Fellowships and Scholarships  

Prisca Benoit receives a $80,000 Graduate Doctoral Award for her project, under the supervision of Professor Maude Pugliese.

Lydia Risi receives a $80,000 post-graduate doctoral scholarship for her project Changer les regards sur la sexualité au Nunavik : vers une approche centrée sur le plaisir, under the supervision of Professor Magalie Quintal-Marineau.  

Sugirthini Selliah receives $80,000 postgraduate doctoral scholarship for her project Comprendre les interactions entre la diversité́ biologique et culturelle dans un écosystème urbain: une perspective de recherche ethnobotanique urbaine critique, under the supervision of Professor Nathan McClintock.  

Melissa Ziani receives a $60,000 postgraduate doctoral scholarship for her project Jeunes universitaires à l’ère de l’urgence climatique : éducation relative à l’environnement et rapports au travail, under the supervision of Professor María Eugenia Longo.  

Nicole Antunes Rezende receives a $17,500 Graduate-Master’s Scholarship, under the supervision of Professor Xavier St-Denis.

Vincent Arsenault and Dominic Nadeau each receive a $17,500 Graduate-Master’s Scholarship, under the supervision of Professor David Myles.

Jacob Deschamps receives a $17,500 Graduate-Master’s Scholarship, under the supervision of Professor Magalie Quintal-Marineau.

Camille Roy-Liard receives a $17,500 Graduate-Master’s Scholarship under the supervision of Professor Nick Revington.

Joel Wheeler-Noiseux receives a $17,500 Graduate-Master’s Scholarship under the supervision of Professor Marie-Soleil Cloutier.