The official launch of the UNESCO Chair MATECSS was held on April 10, 2014, at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth hotel in downtown Montréal, Canada. Over 100 attendees were at the event, which included addresses from the President of INRS, Professor Daniel Coderre, by the Vice-President for Research, Professor Yves Begin and by the Chairholder of the MATECSS Chair, Professor Federico Rosei. The event also included a plenary address by Nobel Laureate Professor John Polanyi, who spoke about “How Discoveries Are Made and Why It Matters”.
Following these speeches, representatives from MATECSS partner institutions signed protocols defining their participation in the Chair.