The Université de Montréal (UdeM) has announced a C$159 million ($127 million) gift from the Fondation Courtois in support of research in the natural sciences.

The largest gift ever made for the natural sciences in Canada will fund the Institut Courtois, a center focused open, ambitious research at the intersection of new materials, quantum physics, and artificial intelligence (AI). The center was developed by an interdisciplinary team with the shared goal of leveraging recent advances in AI and robotics to accelerate the discovery, development, and characterization of new materials, such as greener batteries, improving the functionality of 3D-printed objects, and alternatives to the mining of polluting minerals. Once the project has obtained all necessary government approvals, the institute will house new laboratories in the Science Complex of UdeM’s MIL campus.

“This funding confirms Université de Montréal's place among the country's leading research universities and makes Canada a player to be reckoned with in the natural sciences on the international stage,” said UdeM rector Daniel Jutras. “Advanced materials research is crucial to the green innovation strategy we as a society need in order to face the challenges of our time. We now have the means to make a major contribution to finding the solutions of the future through scientific advances made here in Montreal.”

“By investing in basic research and supporting the next generation of scientists, we are meeting the innate drive to explore new frontiers that elevates all of humanity,” said Jacques Courtois, president of Fondation Courtois. “We are also responding to more immediate concerns such as the need to ensure our technological sovereignty. It is the societies that have produced the most basic science that have generated the greatest economic prosperity.”

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