Our colleagues Renée Michaud, General Manager, and Éliane Picard-Deland, International Affairs Coordinator, were accompanied by Director, Development and Partnerships of IID-Université Laval, Lynda Robitaille, during a trip to France. This visit to the Sorbonne Center for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) and Sorbonne Université last June enabled us to consolidate our collaboration and the development of joint projects, including the organization of a second summer school on artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainable food.

The next Summer School will be held from August 24 to August 30, 2025, on SCAI’s premises in Paris, and will involve between 30 and 40 student participants including students, researchers, professionals and partners. More details to come!

This summer school project follows on from several joint activities carried out by INAF and its entity the Centre NUTRISS, SCAI and IID-Université Laval since 2022, including a first Summer School in AI and nutrition-health in August 2023, a session on AI and healthy food at BENEFIQ2023 and a common participation in the Semaine NumériQc as well as in a Student Symposium at INAF in April 2024.

These activities have created a dynamic community of Quebec and French scientists working in the fields of nutrition, sustainable food and the data valorization and application of AI. The quality of these joint activities, the participants and the structuring effect of this partnership were recognized as part of the Year of Innovation 2023.

This mission in June 2024, supported by the Commission permanente de coopération franco-québécoise (CPCFQ), was also an opportunity to meet fellow research colleagues from Hôpital Saint-Antoine – Sorbonne Université. This collaboration is part of a larger strategic partnership between Université Laval and Sorbonne Université.