Sponsor
CIFAR (Canadian Institute for Advanced Research)
Sponsor deadline:
Award Details
The CIFAR Global Scholars Program offers early-career researchers the opportunity to develop and lead high-risk, high-reward interdisciplinary research, expand their professional networks and receive focused leadership training in their pivotal first years as independent investigators.
CIFAR welcomes applications from candidates across the natural, biomedical, and social sciences, as well as the humanities. Successful applicants join one of CIFAR’s interdisciplinary research programs, collaborating with global research leaders to advance transformative knowledge and address some of the most important questions facing science and humanity.
Applicants may be based anywhere in the world, must hold a PhD (or equivalent) and have started their first full-time position at an institution of higher education
or research no earlier than July 1, 2021 and no later than December 31, 2025. (Special consideration may be given to applicants who have taken parental leave or faced exceptional circumstances.) Scholars must engage in research that complements the themes and goals of a recruiting CIFAR Research Program.
In 2025/2026, the following CIFAR research programs are accepting applications:
- Child & Brain Development
- CIFAR MacMillan Multiscale Human
- Future Flourishing
- Humanity’s Urban Future
- Learning in Machines & Brains
- Quantum Materials
A two-year term in a CIFAR research program, a global, interdisciplinary network of top-tier research leaders includes:
- $100,000 CAD in unrestricted research support.
- Opportunities to apply for CIFAR seed funds. These time-limited funds support high-risk, high-reward interdisciplinary collaborations with Fellows, Advisors and other Global Scholars.
- Membership in the extended community of CIFAR Global Scholars. This network of creative and like-minded peers across cohorts and diverse disciplines offers invaluable support and further opportunity for collaboration.
- Targeted training in essential areas of research leadership, including team leadership, trainee mentorship, science communication and science advocacy.