About
Polygon started with an unlikely trio.
Yan Kestens, PhD, is a Full Professor of Social and Preventive Medicine at the Université de Montréal, Canada Research Chair in applied public health. Over a decade ago, frustrated by the absence of tools that could match the complexity of his research questions, he began building his own. When the prototype proved its worth, he did what good researchers do: he decided to share it with his community. And being a rigorous scientist, he knew exactly which competencies he was missing to pull it off.
Charlérik Lemieux brings the craft. A UX (User Experience) specialist and Grand Prix Typographie laureate, he is the reason nothing Polygon delivers looks or feels like a template. When a research environment needs to engage participants across languages, cultures and contexts, design is not decoration. Academic vision and participant reality are often two distinct worlds — Charlérik builds the bridge between them.
Patrick Matos connects the dots. From international integration at GE to leading the digital division of Canada's largest media group, he has spent his career building operational systems that actually get used. At Polygon, he ensures the science gets to the field — and the field gets back to the science.
Today, every Polygon project is run through a Service Design lens — mapping how a research project actually operates end-to-end, before a single tool is built or a single participant is recruited. Complex systems have blind spots. Workflows that look clean on paper break in the field. What emerges is more than an assembly of tools: it's a functional infrastructure that makes the research team's work manageable, keeps participants engaged, and holds when the complexity of real life pushes back.
Every consortium we join gets an infrastructure designed for their project — not templated from the last one.
Enough about us. Let's hear about you.
Destination: Innovative Research on Democracy and Governance
HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-01: Tackling gender-based violence against politically active women and LGBTIQ people HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-03: Government in transition – how governments change the way they work and prepare the civil service for the future HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-09: Lifelong learning of citizenship education and citizen participationHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-02: Women’s, LGBTIQ and minority rights in a context of autocracy, conflict and geopolitical shiftsHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-03: Student and family engagement for developing a culture of democratic/civic participationHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-04: Addressing the impact of artificial intelligence, cyberviolence, and deepfakes on equality, democracy and inclusive societiesHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-06: Identifying user-focused solutions to support news media freedom
Destination: Innovative Research on Social and Economic Transformations
HORIZON-CL2-2026-02-TRANSFO-01: Co-funded European Partnership for Social Transformations and ResilienceHORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-05: Long-term contribution of basic skills to productivity, innovation, competitiveness and economic growthHORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-06: Making Europe a global magnet for talent - Attracting and retaining students, researchers and high-skilled workers from outside the EUHORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-09: Rethinking long-term care policy in the face of EU demographic shiftsHORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-10: Fostering cooperation and integration between SSH and STEM research and innovation in the EU