CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars Program
TOMORROW’S RESEARCH LEADERS, PUSHING BOUNDARIES TODAY
Accelerate your career. Transform your research.
Collaborate across disciplines with leading global researchers. Expand your network and pursue cutting-edge ideas with unrestricted research support. Join our international community of brilliant people advancing transformative knowledge and solving humanity’s biggest problems.
Applications for the CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars program are accepted once annually.
The next call for applications will open on September 3, 2025 for the following participating research programs:
- Child & Brain Development
- CIFAR MacMillan Multiscale Human
- Future Flourishing
- Humanity's Urban Future
- Learning in Machines & Brains
- Quantum Materials
Stay tuned for updated application materials and links at the time of launch.
Contact us for more information.
The CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars program develops highly talented junior faculty into influential research leaders who shape the direction of boundary-pushing research. It has three core components:
Fostering Interdisciplinary Research Excellence
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars join a CIFAR research program for two years, participating as equals within a small international network of some of the world’s leading researchers, who together are collaborating across disciplines in pursuit of a fundamental research question. Meeting twice yearly in locations around the world, Fellows, Advisors and Scholars in each program share work-in-progress, exchange perspectives across fields, and develop collaborative projects that spark new insights, transform research directions and open up new fields of inquiry.
Developing and Broadening Networks
The program expands Global Scholars’ horizons and potential for impact by broadening and deepening their networks with like-minded researchers for collaboration, support and mentorship.
An Annual Meeting brings CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars from all research programs together for leadership training, networking and community-building. It reserves significant unstructured time to brainstorm creative, cross-programmatic collaborations and develop proposals for seed funding.
CIFAR also facilitates opportunities for Global Scholars to engage with leaders in government, industry, business and civil society to both inform and disseminate their work.
Strengthening Leadership Skills
Even the most accomplished early-career researchers typically enter their roles as principal investigators with little formal leadership training. The program provides training in focused areas of research leadership, including science communication, team leadership, trainee mentorship, science advocacy and more.
CIFAR also supports and facilitates opportunities for CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars to put their leadership skills into action.
Program Details
Here is what you need to know to apply:
Eligibility
There are no geographical restrictions on who may apply.
To be eligible, you must hold a PhD (or equivalent) and be employed in a full-time position at an institution of higher education or research, with responsibilities that include leading independent research as a principal investigator and supervising/teaching trainees toward the attainment of a degree. Typically, you are a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the North American system, or, in other academic systems around the world, an equivalent position that is designed to lead to a permanent (tenured-equivalent) faculty position.
You must have started your first such position (post-PhD) no earlier than July 1, 2020 and no later than July 1, 2024. Special consideration may be given to those who have taken parental leave or have exceptional circumstances.
Your position must be secure for the duration of the CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar active term from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2027.
NOTE: Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible to apply to this program.
Your research interests should complement the themes and goals of a recruiting CIFAR research program.
See the detailed program overview for full eligibility requirements.
What you will receive as a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar
A two-year term of interdisciplinary collaboration and mentorship in a CIFAR research program, among a global network of leading researchers
$100,000 CAD in unrestricted research support
Opportunities to apply for time-limited seed funding to support new interdisciplinary collaborations
Membership in the extended community of CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars across research programs — creative and like-minded peers from diverse disciplines
Training in focused areas of research leadership, and opportunities to put leadership into action
Statement on equity, diversity & inclusion
CIFAR is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion. We recognize that bringing together individuals from multiple backgrounds, perspectives and experiences is integral to advancing excellence and increasing the impact of our organization. Ensuring that every person feels valued and welcome is vital to achieving our mission, and embodies our values of diversity, creativity, excellence, risk-taking, respect and collaboration. CIFAR strives to foster the active participation and inclusion of all, including those from underrepresented groups in research, such as but not limited to women, members of racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, members of sexual and gender minority groups — across geographic borders, disciplines, and career stage. In the pursuit of excellence, CIFAR embraces diverse ideas and perspectives, and proactively seeks to increase equity, diversity and inclusion within our community. CIFAR aims to create a culture that embodies these principles of equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our work. For more information, see CIFAR’s Action Plan on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.
Programs accepting applications
In 2024/2025, the CIFAR research programs accepting applications are:
Boundaries, Membership & Belonging
Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities
Innovation, Equity & the Future of Prosperity
key dates
October 8, 2024
Call for applications opens.
November 20, 2024
Application deadline
11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time (UTC -8)
By January 24, 2025
Shortlisted finalists are notified and invited to attend a virtual interview. All other applicants will be notified after the finalists have confirmed their attendance.
March 19-20, 2025
The Selection Committee interviews the shortlisted finalists via Zoom. Interviews are generally scheduled between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
By early April 2025
Finalists are notified of the competition results.
May/June 2025
CIFAR publicly announces the 2025 CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars.
June 11-13, 2025 in Halifax,
Nova Scotia, Canada
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars annual meeting.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
The CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars program allows you to take your work to challenging new places.
Time and again, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars use words like transformative and profound in describing the program’s impact on their research and career.
CIFAR is unique, in that they do not focus on supporting one of your research projects, but on supporting you as an individual. Through my CIFAR experience, I have grown professionally along dimensions that I would not have even considered before. CIFAR meetings bring together inspiring collections of attendees and speakers from very diverse fields. They encourage you to ask deeper questions, start ambitious projects, and focus on making an impact on society.
Participation in CIFAR has opened my eyes to the potential for my research and expertise to have a much larger impact than I could have envisioned, inspired by collaborative thinking and engagement with problem-solvers from different knowledge backgrounds.
The CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars program has allowed me to connect and stay connected with a world of intellectually ambitious researchers. CIFAR’s institutional and intellectual support has already left a major mark on my career, and I have enjoyed tremendously the connections formed through CIFAR program meetings and the CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars Annual Meeting.
As someone just starting my academic career, CIFAR has helped me shape the way I do research. CIFAR has given me the tools, the network, and the means to transcend boundaries that divide fields, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work together with like-minded folks to tackle the key questions humanity is currently facing.
The CIFAR experience has been enriching on multiple dimensions. It has encouraged me to think across borders of discipline, program meetings have been incredibly helpful in presenting work in progress, and the generous mentorship of the leadership is truly a gift. The most notable part of CIFAR has been the opportunity to venture out of my own research field and develop curiosity with an incredible group of scholars. I am grateful for this opportunity to better understand the world.
Participating in my CIFAR program has profoundly influenced both my thinking and work. The sense of confidence instilled by my involvement with CIFAR has emboldened me to venture into unconventional and bold research avenues, fueled solely by curiosity — the essence of scientific inquiry. Being a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar has not only expanded my intellectual horizons but also inspired me to pursue scientific endeavours with newfound courage and conviction.
CIFAR has been world-expanding in innumerable ways. I know of no other space where scholars across disciplines and the world can join and think together through some of humanity’s most pressing questions. The creativity that blooms from these meetings has changed the way I think about everything from how I approach research design to how I teach and mentor my students.
This program is generously supported by the Azrieli Foundation.