Research Chairs
Research Chairs are the lifeblood of the Faculty of Science's robust research program. Research Chairs and Professorships allow us to recruit and retain some of the world's most accomplished and promising minds. These positions allow us to recognize outstanding researchers who are acknowledged by their peers as current or emerging world leaders in their fields.
Canada Research Chairs
The Faculty of Science holds 22 of the 116 Canada Research Chairs allocated to the University of Alberta.
Established by the Government of Canada, the Canada Research Chairs program enables Canadian Universities and their affiliated research institutes and hospitals to achieve the highest levels of research excellence and to become world-class centres of research.
The program aims to attract and retain excellent researchers in Canadian Universities, to strengthen the training of highly qualified personnel through research, to improve the capacity of universities to generate and apply new knowledge and to optimize the use of research resources through strategic institutional planning and collaboration.
There are two types of Canada Research Chair: Tier 1 Chairs are for seven years and are targeted at outstanding researchers who are acknowledged by their peers as world leaders in their fields; Tier 2 Chairs are for five years and are targeted at exceptional emerging researchers who are acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their fields. Both types of chair may be renewed at the discretion of the Faculty and the University; Tier 2 Chairs may be renewed only once.
Tier 1
Dec 2009 - Nov 2023
Oct 2015 - Sept 2029
Apr 2012 - Mar 2026
April 2023 - March 2030
April 2020 - Mar 2027
October 2024 - September 2031
April 2023 - March 2030
April 2023 - March 2030
Jul 2011 - Apr 2025
Tier 2
October 2024 - September 2029
Oct 2022 - Sept 2027
Apr 2014 - Mar 2024
Aquatic Global Change Ecology and Conservation
Oct 2019 - Sept 2024
Oct 2022 - Sept 2027
April 2023 - September 2028
Statistical Learning
Feb 2020 - Mar 2025
Apr 2014 - Sept 2024
Oct 2018 - Sept 2023
Jul 2014 - Jun 2024
Oct 2017 - Sept 2027
Magnetic Resonance of Advanced Materials
Sept 2020 - Aug 2025
Oct 2017 - Sept 2027
Oct 2018 - Sept 2023
Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory
Sept 2020 - Aug 2025
April 2023 - March 2028
Oct 2018 - Sept 2023
Partner/Donor Supported Chairs and Professorships
Supporting a research position creates impact in both research and in teaching.
July 2012 - Dec 2021
Other Chairs and Professorships
March 1, 2014 - Present
July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2022
Canada Excellence Research Chairs
Graham Pearson, CERC Laureate
Chair in Arctic Resources - Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
2010 - 2017
Lara Mahal
Chair in Glycomics - Department of Chemistry
July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2026
CERC Award website
Shinichi Nakagawa
Chair in Open Science and Synthesis in Ecology and Evolution - Department of Biological Sciences
July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2032
CERC Award website