RESEARCH AREAS

A protectionist agenda is jeopardizing global free trade and undermining Canada’s autonomy. The country’s manufacturing sector and various supply chains, in particular, are tightly integrated with those of other countries. To help enhance Canada’s resilience, durability, environmental stewardship and national security, Polytechnique Montréal is seeking exceptional candidates whose work targets development and adoption of technologies critical to the strengthening of Canada’s sovereignty and autonomy.
The proposed research program must address one of the three themes below, which are particularly enabling for the country, given its extensive territory and Nordic climate. Polytechnique expects the research work to be carried out in co-construction with the communities established in the territory, while respecting the values and needs of these communities, and to generate both short- and long-term strategic benefits for Canada in areas linked to at least one of the themes. The advances achieved may also be transferable to Arctic and space-based contexts. This proposal is in keeping with Polytechnique’s 2024–2028 Strategic Plan as well as the federal government’s science, technology and innovation priorities.

Polytechnique Montréal will constitute a “strategic cluster” of research chairs, including this CERC, aimed at contributing to Canada’s prosperity, autonomy, security and resource development. The cluster will encompass the three themes:

• Living on lands
• Health, including in remote and isolated areas;
• Food, water and air supply;
• Housing and infrastructure resilience in extreme environments;
• Energy supply, storage and management (e.g., nuclear, solar).
• Watching over lands
• Advanced materials and sensing, including land- and satellite-based remote sensing;
• Communication technologies, including satellite-based;
• Artificial intelligence and cybersecurity;
• Stealth sea and air mobility.
• Developing lands
• Transport in extreme environments, including robotics and self-driving vehicles;
• Mining exploration and operation, critical minerals, geomechanics, geophysics, geometallurgy;
• In situ resource utilization;
• Waste minimization, including reduction at source and circularity.

The chosen candidate will be given the opportunity to name the Chair according to the nature of their activities.

The CERC held by the chosen candidate will be part of a dynamic environment comprising, among others:

• IVADO (research, training and knowledge mobilization consortium in artificial intelligence);
• Trottier Energy Institute (IET);
• Multidisciplinary Institute for Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience (IMC2);
• Institute for Disruptive Innovations (catalyst for innovation in the high-technology field);
• TransMedTech Institute (transdisciplinary institute for development of novel medical technologies for the healthcare system);
• Astrolith (transdisciplinary research unit for space resource and infrastructure engineering);
• Centre d’études interuniversitaire des structures sous charges extrêmes (CEISCE, strategic research cluster dedicated to safety of civil engineering structures);
• Northern Engineering Centre (CINEP);
• Clean Technology Innovation Centre (CITP);
• Centre for Characterization and Microscopy of Materials ((CM)2);
• Poly-Grames Research Centre (centre of excellence in radio frequency, microwave, millimetre-wave and microwave photonics science and engineering);
• Centre for Applied Research on High-Performance Polymers and Composites à (CREPEC);
• Research, Development and Validation Centre for Water Treatment Technologies and Processes (CREDEAU);
• Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT);
• Thin-Film Physics and Technology Research Group (GCM);
• RAMP-UP biomanufacturing initiative.

CERC PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Candidates must:

• Be full professors or associate professors expected to be promoted to full professor within one or two years of the nomination;
• Possess the qualifications necessary to be appointed at these levels if they come from outside the academic sector;
• If they are from an Indigenous community (First Nations, Inuit or Métis), have a record of achievement at the community, regional, national or international level.

INSTITUTION’S COMMITMENT TO EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

In accordance with its recruitment policies, and in particular its “Equal Access and Employment Equity Program,” Polytechnique Montréal is committed to fostering excellence in research and research training and to guaranteeing equal opportunities for all candidates.
Further to its commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, Polytechnique Montréal encourages The university encourages applications for this CERC from persons who belong to under-represented or equity-seeking groups, including Indigenous Peoples, women, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, and persons who identify as sexually or gender-diverse.
Polytechnique Montréal also recognizes that career slowdowns or interruptions are part of the trajectory of many people in the research ecosystem. Where appropriate, candidates may explain any leave or special circumstances (e.g., maternity leave, parental leave, caregiving for family members, community responsibilities, situations of disability, health problems or prolonged disability immigration procedures, or repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic) that have had an impact on their performance or career trajectory so that they can be fairly considered in the evaluation process. Candidates are under no obligation to provide details about their personal life or other information that they consider confidential.
As a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), Polytechnique is committed to adopting exemplary practices to ensure fair, transparent and thorough evaluation of the merit and excellence of researchers’ scientific work, based on the quality, importance or impact of their contributions as a whole.

The successful candidate will carry out the responsibilities of this position with dynamism and creativity. Among other duties, they will:

• Exercise leadership in the targeted areas, establishing and maintaining collaborations with other research groups at Polytechnique and at other institutions;
• Carry out innovative, high-quality research projects in their field of expertise;
• Obtain complementary external funding to support research and innovation in their field and to train highly qualified personnel;
• Supervise undergraduate and graduate students, providing coaching and training for their research projects;
• Publish the scientific results of their research;
• Commit to integrating equity, diversity and inclusion into their team and their research design, once awarded the CERC;
• Actively contribute to the teaching and research activities of the department to which they are assigned;
• Contribute to enhancing Polytechnique Montréal’s visibility and influence in Québec and internationally.