Adrien Cloutier

PhD Candidate in Political Science, Université Laval | Dissertation Defense 2026

Media Salience • Political Communication • Agile Methods • Computational Methods • Digital Tools

I develop Radar+, a computational infrastructure that measures the salience of public issues in Quebec, Canadian, and American media. My dissertation analyzes the media agenda in the digital age. In 2027, I will pursue a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA to study media polarization in the United States.

• Radar+
• EIOM
• Publications
• CV
• Contact

About

Adrien Cloutier is a PhD candidate in Political Science at Université Laval (defense scheduled for Fall 2026), where his research focuses on political communication, media agenda, media salience, polarization, and computational methods. Funded by the Fonds de recherche Société et culture (FRQSC), he develops Radar+, a computational infrastructure that automatically collects the homepages of ~20 Quebec, Canadian, and American media outlets every 10 minutes since 2019.

He is co-creator of the École interdisciplinaire outils & méthodes (EIOM), an annual summer school bringing together students, researchers, and professionals around research best practices. Former scientific coordinator of the Réseau francophone international en conseil scientifique (RFICS) (2022-2024), he led international research activities, organized a workshop in Dakar (July 2024), and structured partnerships connecting the academic world and public decision-makers in the Americas, Africa, and Europe.

Adrien is also a member of several research centers, including the Chair in Digital Social Science Leadership (CLESSN), the Public Policy Analysis Center (CAPP), the International Observatory on Societal Impacts of AI and Digital Technologies (OBVIA), the Research Group on Political Communication (GRCP), and the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship (CÉCD).

Passionate about teaching, he has been a lecturer at Université Laval since 2023, where he created and teaches the course "Digital Tools in Social Sciences" (POL-6078). He has also taught quantitative methodology in social sciences. His expertise lies at the intersection of research, teaching, and the development of computational infrastructures for social sciences.

In 2027, he will begin a postdoctoral project at UCLA under the supervision of Professor Stuart Soroka, entitled "Fox vs CNN: A Longitudinal Analysis of Media Salience and Polarization in the United States". This project will analyze the evolution of American media polarization between 2019 and 2027 using Radar+ data, develop a media divergence/convergence index, and produce public visualizations and scientific articles.

• Google Scholar
• GitHub
• LinkedIn

Radar+

Any press is good press.

Radar+ is a computational infrastructure developed entirely in R to measure the salience of public issues in Quebec, Canadian, and American media. The system automatically collects the homepages of ~20 media outlets every 10 minutes since 2019 and uses a local language model (LLM) to identify and classify media objects.

• Access Radar+

EIOM

École interdisciplinaire outils & méthodes de l'Université Laval

Annual summer school - Université Laval

EIOM is an interdisciplinary summer school I co-created and co-organize since 2019. It brings together students, researchers, and professionals each year around research best practices and contemporary digital tools.

• Visit EIOM Website

Publications

My research focuses on political communication, media agenda, polarization, and computational methods.

Teaching

Lecturer at Université Laval since 2023, I teach digital tools and quantitative methodology at the graduate level, as well as at the undergraduate level.

Talks & Workshops

I regularly give talks and workshops on research methods, digital tools, and academic innovation.

Talk Topics

• Contact Me

CAPP / CLESSN

Research centers at Université Laval

CAPP / CLESSN research team

Co-coordinator of the Public Policy Analysis Center (CAPP) since 2023.

Co-coordinator of the Chair in Digital Social Science Leadership (CLESSN) since 2022.

Key Projects:

• Structuring research activities and coordinating academic projects
• Developing digital infrastructures for social science research
• Data scientist for Datagotchi, an interactive tool based on illustrated questionnaires
• Data scientist for Projet Quorum, a public participation platform at the Musée de la civilisation

• Visit CAPP Website
• Visit CLESSN Website

RFICS

Réseau francophone international en conseil scientifique

RFICS international workshop - Dakar, July 2024

Scientific Coordinator of the Réseau francophone international en conseil scientifique (RFICS) from 2022 to 2024.

Key Projects:

• Led research activities and international governance
• Organized an international workshop in Dakar (July 2024) on parliamentary science advice
• Structured partnerships between academic and parliamentary institutions (Americas, Africa, Europe)

• Visit RFICS Website

Agile / Notion

Academic project management and digital tools

Agile Training and Certification

Trained and certified in Agile project management, Adrien Cloutier applies Scrum principles to conducting research and teaching projects. He led the Agile transformation in several academic organizations, including RFICS, CLESSN, and CAPP.

Notion Templates

Library of Notion templates for organizing research, teaching, and academic projects. Flexible, modular templates adapted to social science researchers' needs.

Certified Notion Essentials

• Access Notion Templates
• Request Support

Note: Some templates are publicly accessible, others are available upon request.

Curriculum vitae

My complete CV: education, publications, research and teaching experience, scholarships and awards.

Contact

Feel free to contact me with any questions about my research, teaching, or for collaboration opportunities.

Thank you to my partners!