Horizon Networks
Led by early-to-mid career researchers, CIFAR Horizon Networks aim to provide an opportunity for new, interdisciplinary and international research networks to collaborate over a 3-year term. Horizon Networks will lay the groundwork for defining new fields of inquiry while establishing network members as emerging thought leaders.
Horizon Networks:
- 3-year networks, meet twice per year in-person; CIFAR handles all meeting logistics, financial and administrative support.
- Receive collaborative research funding over three years to pursue activities across the network.
- Funding is distributed by CIFAR to team members, but allocation and management of the funds is by the Horizon Network leads.
- Annual professional development for all network members.
Eligibility
Co-led by proven leaders from CIFAR’s hallmark early-career leadership programs, each Horizon Network will include up to 8 additional early- to mid-career faculty, most of whom have not had formal involvement in a CIFAR program. Network co-leaders will draw on researchers from a diversity of institutions.
Current Opportunity
The current call for Horizon Networks must fit within one of the following streams:
- Stream 1: Belonging with Nature, Technology and People in Early Childhood
- Supported by the Bezos Family Foundation
- Call details
- Stream 2: Adolescence - Belonging, Identity and Civic Engagement in a Changing World
- Supported by the Bezos Family Foundation
- Call details
- Stream 3: Education and Learning variability between ages 2-12
- Supported by the Jacobs CIFAR Research Fellowship program, this stream must be co-led by Jacobs CIFAR Research fellows (or Jacobs Research Fellow alumni)
- Call details
Review Process
Applications will be reviewed by CIFAR staff for eligibility before moving to a reciprocal peer review process. Proposed Horizon Network leads will act as reviewers and be assigned a reasonable maximum number of applications to review and evaluate. Final decisions will be made by CIFAR and funding partners, where appropriate.
By submitting a proposal, Horizon Network leads agree to review proposals and have their proposal reviewed by peers, which includes scoring applications along a rubric reflective of the selection criteria.
Key Dates
- May 6, 2026: Applications open
- June 17, 2026, 12 PM ET: Applications due
- July 15, 2026: Reviews due
- Summer 2026: Decisions communicated