Jean-Marc Lauzon Grants

We are pleased to announce today the creation of the Jean-Marc Lauzon Grants at IREx. Each year, the Jean-Marc Lauzon Excellence Grant and the Jean-Marc Lauzon Perseverance Grant will be awarded to two students beginning a master’s program at Université de Montréal, within IREx.

Jean-Marc Lauzon, courtesy photo.

These grants are made possible through the generous donation of Jean-Marc Lauzon, a trained hydrogeologist. Mr. Lauzon has been active in hydrogeology (the study of groundwater) and environmental sciences since the late 1980s. In 1996, he co-founded the engineering firm TechnoRem Inc. Throughout his career, he has been involved in scientific research in various earth science sectors.

Since childhood, he has been fascinated by mathematics, physics, the origins of the Universe and Earth, the evolution of life, and astronomy, which he considers the most beautiful of sciences. He has always dreamed of integrating astronomy into his work activities. He often gazes at the sky with his wife and three children, imagining visiting a random planetary system and observing life on its planets.

“I cannot join a physics program and restart my life as an astrophysicist at IREx, but I am seizing this unique opportunity to join your pioneering group in the search for extraterrestrial life in space, to try to make sense of what I observe every night, as well as to ask myself what makes the Universe, so vast, exist (I’m so curious!),” he explains.

Through these new grants, Mr. Lauzon will be able to share his passion for astrophysics, cosmology, and earth sciences with professors, researchers, and physics students of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets.

Open Competition – Lauzon Grants 2025

Eligibility Requirements – for both grants

• Be newly enrolled full-time (or considered full-time) in a Master’s program at the Department of Physics at the Université de Montréal for the winter, summer, or fall semester of 2025.
• Study in the field of exoplanets, stellar astrophysics, or any related area, including astronomical instrumentation.
• Be supervised by an IREx faculty member (Björn Benneke, René Doyon, David Lafrenière, Patrick Dufour, Jonathan Gagné) or any other Université de Montréal professor with a project aligned with IREx research themes.

Jean-Marc Lauzon Excellence Grant

From September 1, 2025, to August 31, 2026.

• Amount: $5,000
• Selection Criteria: Academic excellence
• How to apply: Please send your undergraduate transcript to irex@astro.umontreal.ca by August 15, 2025. The transcript must include your cumulative GPA.

Results will be communicated in September 2025.

Jean-Marc Lauzon Perseverance Grant (as part of the Perseverance Scholarship Competition organized by Student Life Services)

From September 1, 2025, to August 31, 2026.

• Amount: $5,000
• Selection Criteria:
  • Have encountered or currently face significant challenges that have compromised or are compromising your academic studies.
  • Demonstrate exceptional perseverance.
  • Have not received the Jean-Marc Lauzon Excellence Grant.
  • Financial need is not a criterion for evaluation.
• How to apply: Please visit the Concours de bourses de persévérance des Services à la vie étudiante de l’Université de Montréal website and apply before the deadline in the fall of 2025.

Results will be communicated in February 2026.

For any questions, please contact marie-eve.naud@umontreal.ca.