Mon projet nordique/My Northern Project Competition winners 2026
On October 8, 2026, during the Arctic Circle Assembly, PhD and master students from Québec and UArctic universities had an opportunity to present their work through lightning talks.
Laura Njunnas, a PhD Student in Sámi language education, Université Paris-Saclay/Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, and her project "The effects of mother tongue teaching on the well-being of the Sámi people" won in the audience public voting.
The competition's jury has announced their winner: Chloé LeBlanc-Grant, a Master's Candidate in Biology, Université Laval, Canada, and her presentation "The Odyssey of Nanoplastics: From a Coffee Cup to Arctic Sea Stars".
Warm congratulations to the winners!
My Northern project aims to organize an international science popularization contest involving students from Quebec and the Nordics. The partners in this project are the Institut nordique du Québec and the University of the Arctic (UArctic).
This is the 10th time the two partners have organized a competition for doctoral and master students to reward them for their efforts in popularizing science. While promoting the transfer of knowledge and the popularization of science and offering an unprecedented academic experience to finalists, the competition aims to strengthen the ties between the Institut nordique du Québec and UArctic.
In 2026 the competition was very successful once again, and audience got to hear inspiring talks from the following students:
- Chloé LeBlanc-Grant, Master's Candidate in Biology, Université Laval, Canada: The Odyssey of Nanoplastics: From a Coffee Cup to Arctic Sea Stars
- Mariam Ubilava, PhD Student in Natural Resources & Sustainability, University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA: Opening the Arctic: Political Economy as the Main Driver of Maritime Shipping Expansion in a Warming North — Who Benefits and Who Bears the Costs?
- Emna Barki, Ph.D. Candidate in Law, Université Laval, Canada: From Fuel Oil to Sustainable District Heating: What Legal Challenges in Northern Quebec?
- Laura Njunnas, PhD Student in Sámi language education, Université Paris-Saclay/Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France: The effects of mother tongue teaching on the well-being of the Sámi people
- Elisée Toe, Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science, UQAC, Canada: Tracking the Invisible: Unmasking Intruders in the Far North
- Renald George Swamy, PhD Student in Wood and Bionanocomposites, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden: Utilizing Spent Mushroom Substrate as a Renewable Fiber Resource for Circular Bioeconomy Development in Northern Regions
- Bailey Levesque, Master's Candidate in Renewable Resources, McGill University, Canada: The Catch of the Day: Environmental Change and its Effects on Ringed Seal in the Canadian Arctic