Pooneh Maghoul will serve as Chairholder and Scientific Director of the International Science Diplomacy Research Chair for Arctic and Space Cooperation (Photo : Caroline Perron)

Montreal, Thursday, November 20, 2025 - Polytechnique Montréal is proud to host Quebec’s first international research chair in science diplomacy, dedicated to the challenges of the Far North and outer space. It will be known as the International Science Diplomacy Research Chair for Arctic and Space Cooperation, and will address the environmental, technological and diplomatic challenges associated with responsible and sustainable occupation of extreme environments.

Pooneh Maghoul, a full professor in the Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal, will serve as Scientific Director and Senior Chairholder. She will be supported by her colleagues Thomas Stringer, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering, and Richard Boudreault, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering.

The Chair’s work will cover six main areas, ranging from the energy transition and afforestation to responsible resource extraction, the environmental protection and sustainability of Earth-space systems, responsible exploration, sustainable presence in space and the impact of melting permafrost on northern infrastructure. In addition to training a new generation of technodiplomats, the Chair will aim to build a scientific and diplomatic platform to facilitate dialogue between scientists, engineers, legal experts and policy-makers, and shed light on emerging legal, political and technological frameworks related to extreme environments.

Global Science Diplomacy Hub

Based at Polytechnique Montréal, the Chair is a unique transdisciplinary program dedicated to advancing scientific and technological collaboration in extreme and geopolitically sensitive environments. Professor Maghoul will be joined by three international co-chairholders: Paul Arthur Berkman, founder of the Science Diplomacy Center (U.S.), Philippe Achilleas, Professor of Public Law at Université Paris-Saclay (France), and Miriam Aczel, researcher at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH, Canada).

The Chair is one of seven initiatives receiving funding of $50,000 per year for five years from the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ). Polytechnique and several international partners also contribute to its funding.

Adopting a collaborative approach, the Chair will advise governments and Indigenous organizations and communities, helping them make decisions based on technical considerations, foreseeable risks, safety, social acceptability and cost, while taking into account the priorities, values and lifestyles of all stakeholders.

The Chair will also award scholarships, establish a summer school and set up a lab-to-policy program. An annual event will be held, rotating between Montreal, Boston and Paris.

To learn more about this initiative: https://www.polymtl.ca/science-diplomacy-chair/en/

Quotes

“The northern regions and outer space face many shared challenges, including sustainability, sovereignty and state jurisdiction, and international cooperation. By placing science at the service of peace and climate justice, we recognize the fragility of these environments and the need for development that respects both ecosystems and the peoples who inhabit them. Using a holistic approach, we aim to become a leading authority on sustainable development in the North and outer space.”

- Pooneh Maghoul, Chairholder and Scientific Director of the Global Science Diplomacy Hub for Arctic and Space Cooperation: Technodiplomacy for a Resilient Future in Extreme Environments

“Science diplomacy helps policy-makers make science-based technological choices. This is particularly important in fragile environments such as the Arctic, and environments subject to major changes such as outer space. The development of the Far North and the use of space must be undertaken cooperatively. The Chair will provide guidance to policy-makers at a time when more and more countries are eyeing these sites for obvious economic reasons, including critical minerals, and for defense purposes.
This program will help train a new generation of engineers and scientists, raise their awareness of sociopolitical, economic and environmental issues, and equip them to guide science-based policy decisions for the common good, with respect for communities.”

- François Bertrand, Director of Research and Innovation at Polytechnique Montréal
 

ABOUT POLYTECHNIQUE MONTRÉAL

Founded in 1873, Polytechnique Montréal is one of Canada’s largest engineering education and research institutions. It is located on the Université de Montréal campus, the largest French-language university campus in the Americas. Polytechnique offers about 120 programs taught by over 300 professors, and welcomes in excess of 10,000 students yearly. It has produced than 64,000 graduates.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES AND INTERVIEWS

Martin Primeau
Media Relations Officer - Science Outreach
Polytechnique Montréal
514 805-0797
martin.primeau@polymtl.ca