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Waterloo, Canada, Sept. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) has selected six emerging scholars from across Canada for a new research and mentorship program bringing multidisciplinary perspectives to critical policy questions surrounding quantum technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and national security.
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The scholars make up the inaugural cohort of The Quantum Nexus Emerging Scholars Program, a competitive program funded through the Department of National Defence’s Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security (MINDS) Targeted Engagement Grant program, examining the nexus of quantum technologies, intellectual property (IP) and national security. The program is part of CIGI’s Responsible Technology program and attracted a strong field of applicants from universities across the country.
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“The questions that quantum technologies raise for Canada sit where science, law, security and industrial policy meet, and they will be settled by whoever thinks about them most carefully. These six scholars were selected for intellectual range and independence of judgment. I look forward to mentoring them as they help Canada and its allies work out how to protect what is strategically sensitive in the least restrictive way, while keeping science open and the democratic industrial commons strong,” said Mauritz Kop, CIGI Senior Fellow and Principal Investigator of the project.
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Running from September to December 2026, the program gives students and early-career researchers an opportunity to contribute directly to policy research on emerging technologies with significant implications for Canada. With backgrounds spanning international affairs, global security, medicine, computer science and emergency management, the cohort reflects the range of expertise needed to understand how advances in quantum technologies and AI could affect Canada’s security, innovation ecosystem and broader society.
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As quantum technologies advance and increasingly converge with AI, policy makers face complex questions about how to support scientific discovery and innovation while protecting sensitive technologies, intellectual assets, critical infrastructure and national security interests.
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Throughout the four-month program, each scholar will receive one-on-one mentorship from CIGI Senior Fellow and Principal Investigator Mauritz Kop, founder of Stanford RQT (Responsible Quantum Technology), participate in the international expert workshop and closed-door roundtable with researchers and practitioners on October 21, 2026, and attend a masterclass on emerging technology governance and publication development on November 4, 2026. Each scholar will author an analytical note on an assigned subtopic, to be published in an Emerging Scholars annex to the project’s final CIGI report. The workshop’s opening expert panel, The Quantum Nexus: A Framework for Canadian Strategic Advantage in a Contested Domain, is open to the public.
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The 2026 emerging scholars: