Fellows & Advisors
ROLES
CIFAR fellows, scholars, and advisors advance knowledge across disciplines.
Researchers are invited to participate in CIFAR programs for their excellence in research and communication, as well as for how their expertise fits into the goals of a program.
Advisor
Preeminent scholars in their field are selected for their professional reputation and their capacity to provide guidance and advice to CIFAR and their research programs. Each program has approximately 6-8 advisors working as a committee.
Fellow
An outstanding researcher who is internationally recognized for conducting innovative studies that lead to high-impact advances in their fields. A fellow joins a program at the invitation of the program co-directors and advisors to provide research expertise to the program’s themes and goals. They receive annual unrestricted research support.
Associate Fellow
Outstanding, internationally recognized researchers who join a program at the invitation of the program co-directors and advisors to provide research expertise to the program’s themes and goals.
Program Director
A fellow who has a strong vision for the program and the ability to motivate and lead a multidisciplinary group of scholars to make progress toward the program’s transformative knowledge creation may be invited to serve as a program co-director.
Co-directors have demonstrated intellectual leadership and a willingness and openness to extend dialogue across traditional disciplinary boundaries. In some instances, a program may choose to appoint an associate director as a leadership opportunity for emerging scholars.
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar
Outstanding early-career researchers, recognized as rising stars in their field for their potential as future research leaders. Representing a wide range of disciplines and countries, they are selected to participate for two years in one of CIFAR’s research programs and receive unrestricted research support.
Pieter Abbeel
Advisor
Yasmeen Abu-Laban
Fellow
Dorit Aharonov
Advisor
Ashok Ajoy
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Zakaria Al Balushi
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Yacine Ali-Haïmoud
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Chibueze Amanchukwu
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Katherine R. Amato
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Jan Amend
Advisory Committee Chair
James Analytis
Fellow
Daniel Ansari
Fellow
Iair Arcavi
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
N. Peter Armitage
Fellow
Fraser Armstrong
Advisor
Alán Aspuru-Guzik
Program Co-Director
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Lebovic Fellow
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Vector Institute
Meghan Azad
Fellow
David Bacon
Associate Fellow
Leon Balents
Program Co-Director
Chris Ballentine
Fellow
Keith Banting
Advisor
Nir Bar-Gill
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Stefan Bauer
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022
Tim Bayne
Fellow
Kwabena Bediako
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022
Marc G. Bellemare
Associate Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
McGill University
Mila
Daniel Belsky
Fellow
Yoshua Bengio
Program Co-Director
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Yochai Benkler
Fellow
Suzanne Berger
Advisor
Curtis P. Berlinguette
Program Co-Director
Sahba Nomvula Besharati
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023
Staci Bilbo
Fellow
Lars Bildsten
Associate Fellow
Elisabeth Binder
Advisory Committee Chair
Alexandre Blais
Fellow
Roger Blandford
Advisor
Martin Blaser
Advisory Committee Co-Chair
David S. Blehert
Fellow
U.S. Geological Survey
Irene Bloemraad
Program Co-Director
J. Richard Bond
Fellow
Support Us
CIFAR is a registered charitable organization supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta and Quebec, as well as foundations, individuals, corporations and Canadian and international partner organizations.