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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Aaron Courville
Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Université de Montréal
Adrian M. Owen
Program Co-Director
Koerner Fellow
Alán Aspuru-Guzik
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Lebovic Fellow
Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence
Aldo Geuna
Fellow
University of Torino
Alona Fyshe
Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
University of Alberta
Ami Citri
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Anna Goldenberg
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Lebovic Fellow
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Arturo Casadevall
Advisory Committee Chair
Ayelet Shachar
Advisor
Barbara Sherwood Lollar
Program Co-Director
Ben Lanyon
Fellow
Bernhard Schölkopf
Fellow
Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Blake Richards
Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Mila
Brian Dias
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2017-2019
Bruce Klein
Fellow
Candice Odgers
Program Co-Director
Catherine L. Drennan
Fellow
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Charles M. Boone
Program Co-Director
Fellow
Genetic Networks
Chris Ballentine
Fellow
Christopher J. Chang
Fellow
Christopher K. I. Williams
Advisor
Curtis P. Berlinguette
Program Co-Director
Dan Breznitz
Program Co-Director
Daniela Kaufer
Associate Fellow
Daron Acemoglu
Fellow
David Denning
Advisor
David Forrest Clayton
Associate Fellow
David S. Blehert
Fellow
U.S. Geological Survey
David Stuart
Advisory Committee Chair
Support Us
CIFAR is a registered charitable organization supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec as well as foundations, individuals, corporations, and international partner organizations.