Skip to content
CIFAR header logo
fr
menu_mobile_logo_alt
  • Our Impact
    • Why CIFAR?
    • Impact Clusters
    • News
    • CIFAR Strategy
    • Nurturing a Resilient Earth
    • AI Impact
    • Donor Impact
    • CIFAR 40
  • Events
    • Public Events
    • Invitation-only Meetings
  • Programs
    • Research Programs
    • Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
    • Next Generation Initiatives
  • People
    • Fellows & Advisors
    • CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars
    • Canada CIFAR AI Chairs
    • AI Strategy Leadership
    • Solution Network Members
    • Leadership
    • Staff Directory
  • Support Us
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Awards
    • Partnerships
    • Publications & Reports
    • Careers
    • Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
    • Statement on Institutional Neutrality
    • Research Security
  • fr
  • Home
  • Bio

Follow Us

prof-pascal-poupart2

Pascal Poupart

Appointment

Canada CIFAR AI Chair

Pan-Canadian AI Strategy

Connect

University of Waterloo

Google Scholar

About

Appointed Canada CIFAR AI Chair – 2018

Pascal Poupart is a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute, and a professor in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. 

Poupart’s research focuses on machine learning and decision-theoretic planning with application to natural language processing, sports analytics, telecommunication networks and assistive technologies. He is most well-known for his contributions to algorithms for decision processes and their applications in real-world problems, including helping people with dementia in activities of daily living and automated dialog systems. Poupart is also leading research on chatbots, video analysis of hockey games and data driven management of telecommunication networks.

Awards

  • David R. Cheriton Faculty Fellowship, 2015-2018
  • Best Student Paper Award Runner-Up, SAT-2017
  • Best Main Track Solver and Best Application Solver, SAT-2016 Competition
  • Best Paper Award Runner-Up, UAI-2008
  • Ontario Early Researcher Award, 2008-2013

Relevant Publications

  • Hoey, J., Poupart, P., von Bertoldi, A., Craig, T., Boutilier, C., & Mihailidis, A. (2010). Automated handwashing assistance for persons with dementia using video and a partially observable Markov decision process. Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 114(5), 503-519.

  • Poupart, P., Vlassis, N., Hoey, J., & Regan, K. (2006). An analytic solution to discrete Bayesian reinforcement learning. In Proceedings of the 23rd international conference on Machine learning (pp. 697-704).

  • Porta, J. M., Vlassis, N., Spaan, M. T., & Poupart, P. (2006). Point-based value iteration for continuous POMDPs.

  • Poupart, P. (2005). Exploiting structure to efficiently solve large scale partially observable Markov decision processes (pp. 3239-3239). Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto.

  • Poupart, P., & Boutilier, C. (2003). Bounded finite state controllers. Advances in neural information processing systems, 16, 823-830.

Institution

University of Waterloo

Vector Institute

Department

Cheriton School of Computer Science

Education

  • PhD (Computer Science), University of Toronto
  • MSc (Computer Science), University of British Columbia
  • BSc (Mathematics and Computer Science), McGill University

Country

Canada

Support Us

The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) is a globally influential research organization proudly based in Canada. We mobilize the world’s most brilliant people across disciplines and at all career stages to advance transformative knowledge and solve humanity’s biggest problems, together. We are supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta and Québec, as well as Canadian and international foundations, individuals, corporations and partner organizations.

Donate Now
CIFAR footer logo

MaRS Centre, West Tower
661 University Ave., Suite 505
Toronto, ON M5G 1M1 Canada

Contact Us
Media
Careers
Accessibility Policies
Supporters
Financial Reports
Subscribe

  • © Copyright 2025 CIFAR. All Rights Reserved.
  • Charitable Registration Number: 11921 9251 RR0001
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap

Subscribe

Stay up to date on news & ideas from CIFAR.

Fields marked with an * are required

Je préfère m’inscrire en français (cliquez ici).


Subscribe to our CIFAR newsletters: *

You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time. View our privacy policy.


As a subscriber you will also receive a digital copy of REACH, our annual magazine which highlights our researchers and their breakthroughs with long-form features, interviews and illustrations.


Please provide additional information if you would like to receive a print edition of REACH.


This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to collect information about how you interact with our website and allow us to remember you. We use this information in order to improve and customize your browsing experience and for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media. To find out more about the cookies we use, see our Privacy Policy.
Accept Learn more

Notifications