Over the next three years, Professor Beaudry will serve on the governing council of the federal research funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary-based research and research training in the humanities and social sciences. SSHRC spends more than $350 million annually supporting more than 8,000 graduate students and nearly 14,000 researchers across Canada.

The appointment of Professor Beaudry to the governing council of the SSHRC was announced by the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science of Canada.

After earning a master’s and PhD in economics at University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, Catherine Beaudry began teaching at Polytechnique Montréal as an assistant professor in 2002. She was named associate professor in 2012, then full professor in the Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering in 2014.

Since 2014, Professor Beaudry has held the Canada Research Chair in Creation, Development and the Commercialization of Innovation, a Tier 1 Chair dedicated to the study of partnerships, networks and collaboration among academic researchers, businesses and government organizations. Focusing on the geographic, social, cognitive and organizational proximity of collaborations as well as on national and international innovation partnerships, Professor Beaudry and her team study the collaborative innovation process from the three interrelated angles of openness, proximity and the impact of research.

Professor Beaudry is also a member of Polytechnique Montréal’s Research Group on Globalization and Management of Technology (GMT), a member of IVADO (Institute for Data Valorization), co-founded by Polytechnique, Université de Montréal and HEC Montréal, a fellow of the Centre for Interuniversity Research and Analysis of Organizations (CIRANO) and a member of the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie (interuniversity centre for research on science and technology – CIRST).

“It’s an honour and a privilege to have the opportunity to serve on SSHRC’s council. I am pleased to be able to contribute to the advancement of social sciences and humanities in Canada,” says Professor Beaudry. “There’s a misconception that we only do engineering at Polytechnique Montréal, when in fact all aspects related to technology and innovation are part of the institution’s DNA. This includes science, technology and R&D management, marketing and technology entrepreneurship, as well as risk management, project management and the circular economy. These research topics are at the heart of the activities of the GMT and the Canada Research Chair that I hold.”

She adds: “When disruptive technologies upset the established order, both in companies and in society at large, the contribution of social sciences and humanities becomes essential to ensure the wide distribution and appropriate adoption of these innovations.”

Congratulations!

Catherine Beaudry, full professor in the Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Creation, Development and the Commercialization of Innovation.

To learn more

Expertise profile of professor Catherine Beaudry
Website of the Canada Research Chair in Creation, Development and the Commercialization of Innovation
Website of the Research Group on Globalization and Management of Technology
Website of the Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal (In French)
Website of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada