Cyril Garneau graduated in applied physics at Université Laval. He then pursued his master degree in civil engineering, still at Université Laval in the field of numerical methods applied to the resolution of systems of ordinary differential equations. He obtained its PhD from Université Paul Sabatier (Toulouse, France) in the modelling of trace elements in surface waters.

Cyril worked on different research themes, from the physic-chemical modelling of processes such as settling and chemical precipitation to advanced numerical methods (optimization or symbolic manipulations).