For more than 50 years, INRS has demonstrated its value as a catalyst for research and innovation in sectors of major strategic importance for the economic, social, and cultural development of Quebec.

Emerging areas where INRS takes a leading role

  • Soil and water purification
  • Industrial waste recovery
  • Relations with Indigenous peoples
  • Energy and new materials
  • Light-matter interactions
  • The unique combination of the ultrafast and the infinitely small
  • Sustainable development

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Progress, here and now. Through research. 

Here are a few of INRS’s development priorities:

NATURAL RESOURCES, ECOSYSTEMS AND CLIMATE:

  • Improving municipal water quality through the creation of a research chair specializing in water management
  • Develop nature-based solutions to coastal erosion
  • Carbon sequestration and sustainable use of greenhouse gases

GLOBAL HEALTH AND BIOTECHNOLOGIES:

  • Monitor emerging contagious diseases and find therapeutic solutions
  • Paving the way for integrated, sustainable water management with world-class expertise
  • Detect illegal substances in sports competitions with the only laboratory in Canada accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency

ENERGY TRANSITION, NANOTECHNOLOGIES, PHOTONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS:

  • Improving cybersecurity and biomedicine through quantum photonics, a strategic field for Québec
  • Developing lasers for healthcare imaging capable of detecting and treating early cancers
  • Combining traditional and artificial intelligence to observe the environment
  • Pushing the limits of major scientific facilities, such as Canada's most powerful laser and the world's fastest camera

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS:

  • Using community greenhouses to promote food security in disadvantaged neighborhoods
  • Modeling the links between climate change and public health in Quebec
  • Improving pedestrian and cyclist safety in urban areas
  • Integrating aboriginal realities into urban environments and developing innovative industrial practices in rural areas