What's in it for me?
Participating in Science POP can be an amusing and formative experience. Scientific communication is not only a calling, it's a must-have tool that each researcher will inevitably need to call upon throughout their career, whether to apply for grants or to give interviews to the media. 

Taking on a Science POP challenge provides several advantages:

• Cash prizes: You will get the chance to win up to 500$ at the in-house competition and, if you are selected as the first-place winner of your challenge, up to 1000$ at the provincial grand final! 
• One-on-one coaching: First-place winners of each challenge at the in-house competition will have access to personalized coaching by experts in scientific communication, to help them prepare for the grand final.
• Internship in scientific communication: First-place and second-place winners of the provincial grand final will be offered the opportunity to do an internship in their chosen professional organization within our list of partners (ex: FRQ, Radio-Canada, Québec Science, Technosciences, Génome Québec, ACFAS, etc.). 
• Increased eligibility to scholarship programs: Community engagement and knowledge transfer feature in the list of evaluation criteria that provincial and federal funding agencies deem very important. Science POP is a unique opportunity to boost your resume!

How do I proceed?

1. Check out www.sciencepop.ca to read up on the competition rules (ex:eligibility criteria, embargo for finalists, etc.) and download the tools and documents prepared for candidates (ex: guidelines for each challenge, advice on how to get ready, graphic tools you'll need to use, etc.). 

An info session will be held on Wednesday, November 19 at noon, in room 1430, to answer any question you may have. 
Pizza will be served!

2. Choose one of the three Science POP challenges and fill out the registration form below. You will be asked to provide a title and a short description for your presentationtion; check out this summary sheet for advice on how to make them catchy! 

Feeling at a loss for inspiration or like you need to hone an idea? A title & summary writing session will be held Wednesday, December 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., in room 8805.
Munchies will be served!

3. The last step will be to start building your presentation! Have fun and use your imagination (while making sure to follow the guidelines of your chosen challenge)! 

We will organize private practice sessions in the Jacques-Genest Auditorium on the afternoons of January 27 and February 3, 2026, for candidates who want to get feedback on their slides or performance.

Sign up to take on a challenge
Deadline: January 12, 2026

The event is free and open to the public!
Anyone interested in discovering the world of health sciences and the research activities performed at the IRCM is welcome to attend, no prior scientific knowledge is needed to understand the topics that will be covered!

We invite everyone to join the audience on February 4 & 5, 2026, including administrative, technical and support staff from the IRCM, family members and friends of the competition candidates, strategic partners of the Institute, donators of our Foundation, and anyone else across the province (or the world)!

It will be the perfect occasion to shed some light on what scientists study in a lab, to grasp the benefits of research, and to discover the type of initiatives through which science can give back to society! 

Registration is mandatory.
You can either save a seat in the Jacques-Genest Auditorium or attend the competition remotely if you can't come in person!

Click on one of the buttons below to register:

Sign up to attend in person
Deadline: January 23, 2026

Sign up to attend on Zoom
Deadline: None

Note: The program will include presentations in French and in English; presentations will be simultaneously translated into subtitles (generated via artificial intelligence). 

We need your help!
 

Volunteer judges
The success of Science POP competitions relies on active participation of the non-scientific, general public in evaluating candidate performances. A jury composed of three (3) to five (5) members will be put together for each challenge. 

We are looking for bilingual volunteers working in a variety of professional fields and available to evaluate in person the presentations of their jury's assigned challenge. We will be there to guide you through the whole process and will provide you with standardized scoring rubrics to make things simple for you! 

Host
Do you love public events and scientific outreach? We are looking for a bubbly and bilingual person to emcee the in-house competition. The task involves explaining the three challenges to the audience, introducing the candidates, thanking the judges, etc. 
Note: we will take care of the opening and closing speeches, as well as the award ceremony.

Logistics
Holding a competition likes Science POP requires an entire village! We will need volunteers to welcome participants, liaise with the catering service, manage microphones during the questions period, take photos during the event, etc. 

Contact us at affaires.academiques@ircm.qc.ca!