CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars Program
TOMORROW’S RESEARCH LEADERS, PUSHING BOUNDARIES TODAY
Accelerate your career. Transform your research. Expand your impact.
The CIFAR Global Scholars Program offers early-career researchers the opportunity to develop and lead high-risk, high-reward interdisciplinary research, expand their professional networks and receive focused leadership training in their pivotal first years as independent investigators. These experiences accelerate the rise of research leaders who are positioned to drive new discoveries and open new fields of inquiry.
CIFAR welcomes applications from candidates across the natural, biomedical, and social sciences, as well as the humanities. Successful applicants join one of CIFAR’s interdisciplinary research programs, collaborating with global research leaders to advance transformative knowledge and address some of the most important questions facing science and humanity.
Applications for the 2026-2028 cohort of CIFAR Global Scholars are open until November 5, 2025 (12 PM Eastern Standard Time).
Fostering Novel Interdisciplinary Research
Global Scholars become integral members of a CIFAR research program for two years, joining a small international network of leading global researchers.
As equal participants, Scholars engage in interdisciplinary collaborations tackling research questions of global importance.
At two meetings per year, held around the world, Scholars, Fellows and Advisors share work-in-progress, exchange ideas across disciplines, and develop innovative projects that inspire new insights, transform research directions, and open new fields of inquiry.
Developing and Broadening Networks
The program expands Scholars’ potential for impact by broadening and deepening their networks. Through meaningful connections with peers and senior researchers, Scholars become part of a supportive research community with access to opportunities for collaboration and mentorship.
The Global Scholars Annual Meeting brings together Scholars from across research programs for leadership development, networking, and community-building. The retreat includes dedicated time to explore research ideas, spark interdisciplinary connections, and develop creative collaborative proposals for seed funding.
CIFAR also creates opportunities for Scholars to engage with leaders in government, industry, business, and civil society. These interactions have the potential to inform Scholars’ research and amplify the reach of their work.
Strengthening Leadership Skills
Even the most accomplished early-career researchers typically step into their principal investigator roles with little formal leadership training. The program bridges this gap with targeted training in essential areas of research leadership, including:
- Team leadership
- Trainee mentorship
- Science communication
- Science advocacy
CIFAR also provides opportunities for Global Scholars to put their leadership skills into action, such as:
- Organizing a Winter or Summer School
- Co-planning CIFAR symposia such as Radical Interdisciplinarity or the Women in Research Leadership Development Symposium
- Delivering public talks
- Publishing op-eds
Program Details
Here is what you need to know to apply:
Eligibility
CIFAR welcomes applicants from all countries and is committed to building a diverse, international community of scholars.
To be considered for the CIFAR Global Scholars program, you must:
Hold a PhD (or equivalent).
Hold a full-time position at an institution of higher education or research. Your role must include responsibility for leading independent research as a principal investigator and supervising or teaching trainees toward their attainment of a degree. This position must be secure throughout the full term from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2028. Typically, an eligible applicant is a tenure-track Assistant Professor (in the North American context), or holds an equivalent position designed to lead to a permanent faculty appointment (in academic systems outside of North America). Examples of eligible positions around the world are listed in the Detailed Program Overview.
Have started your first position, as described above, post-PhD, no earlier than July 1, 2021 and no later than December 31, 2025. Special consideration may be given to applicants who have taken parental leave or faced exceptional circumstances.
Engage in research that complements the themes and goals of a recruiting CIFAR research program. See the section below on Programs Accepting Applications.
Be available for a virtual interview on March 24-26, 2026.
Hold a valid passport, and if applicable, be able to obtain travel visas to attend CIFAR meetings globally, approximately two to three times per year.
Be fluent in spoken and written English.
Note: Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible to apply.
If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact us at global.scholars@cifar.ca.
What you receive as a CIFAR Global Scholar
A two-year opportunity to collaborate and receive mentorship within a close-knit, interdisciplinary network of leading global researchers in a CIFAR research program.
$100,000 CAD in unrestricted research support. These flexible funds can be used for research expenses, teaching release, student or postdoc support, conference travel, and more. They are not tied to a specific project or proposal.
Opportunities to apply for CIFAR seed funds. These time-limited funds support high-risk, high-reward interdisciplinary collaborations with Fellows, Advisors and other Global Scholars.
Membership in the extended community of CIFAR Global Scholars. This network of creative and like-minded peers across cohorts and diverse disciplines offers invaluable support and further opportunity for collaboration.
Targeted training in essential areas of research leadership, including team leadership, trainee mentorship, science communication and science advocacy.
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 2025/2026, the following CIFAR research programs are accepting applications:
- Child & Brain Development
- CIFAR MacMillan Multiscale Human
- Future Flourishing
- Humanity’s Urban Future
- Learning in Machines & Brains
- Quantum Materials
CIFAR programs are interdisciplinary, with an objective to spark new ideas, collaborations and knowledge advances. We welcome applications that offer new perspectives or approaches that could enrich and diversify a program’s scope.
To learn more about each program’s focus areas and participating researchers, please review the descriptions provided on the program web pages linked above.
Key Dates
September 3, 2025: Call for applications opens.
November 5, 2025: Application deadline, 12 PM Eastern Standard Time (UTC -5).
By mid-February 2026: Shortlisted candidates receive an interview invitation. All other applicants will be notified once these finalists have accepted their invitation.
March 24-26, 2026: The Selection Committee conducts virtual interviews with the shortlisted candidates.
By early April 2026: Shortlisted candidates are informed of the competition results.
May/June 2026: CIFAR publicly announces the 2026-2028 cohort of CIFAR Global Scholars.
June 9-11, 2026 in Alton, Ontario: CIFAR Global Scholars annual meeting.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
The CIFAR Global Scholars program helps you take your work to challenging new places.
Time and again, CIFAR Global Scholars use words like transformative and profound to describe the program’s impact on their research and career.
My involvement in CIFAR has made an immense impact on my science and career. Conversations with others in the CBD program and Global Scholars program have added both breadth and depth to my work and thinking. Without the flexible funds available to Scholars, it would be impossible to pursue new, potentially high-risk collaborations during the pivotal pre-tenure years. I will also continue to benefit from the professional development that I received as a Scholar for years to come. I am truly grateful for this opportunity.
My time as a CIFAR Global Scholar has been life-changing. Every CIFAR event – from Global Scholars meetings to BMC program meetings to professional development trainings – has been deeply stimulating and fulfilling, invariably furnishing new ideas and new collaborations. I’ve learned to be a better science communicator, better mentor, and better manager of my own time and productivity.
CIFAR represents a rare space of intellectual generosity and ambition. It’s helped me connect with a global group of peers and mentors, and reflect more deeply on what inclusive science could mean. This sense of community is incredibly motivating.
I’ve found myself consistently challenged and inspired by the conversations, provocations, and solidarities that this community nurtures.
My participation as a Global Scholar has profoundly shaped my work over the past year, pushing my research in directions I had not previously dared to explore. CIFAR has provided me with a unique intellectual space where interdisciplinary conversations flourish, and as a result, my scientific inquiries have expanded beyond the boundaries of my discipline.
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 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.
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.