Killam Prizes

Eligibility

Dorothy Killam had a vision of building Canada’s future through advanced study. Through her will, she established a perpetual trust to realize her vision and fund generations of scholars in Canada.

The Killam Prizes are intended to honour distinguished Canadian scholars who have been engaged in research in universities, hospitals, research or scientific institutes, or other similar institutions.

Equity, diversity and inclusion are fundamental to achieving research excellence. The National Killam Program encourages nominations of candidates whose research has consequence and impact, setting precedents and yielding transformative results that serve to build Canada’s future through advanced study. Below are eligibility criteria to consider when submitting a nomination:

• Individual nominations may include nomination for multiple categories, but an individual may only be awarded the Killam Prize in 1 category.
• No individual may be awarded a Killam Prize more than once.
• Self-nominations are not permitted for the Killam Prize; only nominations by experts in their field.
• Killam Prizes are intended for active (not retired) Canadian scholars who have made a substantial and distinguished contribution, over a significant period, to scholarly research. A Killam Prize is not intended as an “end-of-service” reward, as a recognition for a single great accomplishment, or in expectation of future distinguished contributions. Only Canadian citizens or scholars working and living in Canada are eligible, and the prizes are awarded only to living candidates.
• Only Canadian citizens or scholars working and living in Canada are eligible, and the prizes are awarded only to living candidates.
• National Killam Program Office employees, members of the National Killam Program Advisory Board, or the Selection Committee may not be nominated during their term as members, and for 1 year following the end of their term.
• The nominator and the nominee consent to disclose any information that may constitute a significant departure from generally-recognized standards of public behaviour and which is seen to undermine the public reputation of the National Killam Program.
• A nominator may resubmit a nomination for a specific nominee as many times as desired. However, a new nomination package is required for any subsequent nomination.

Summary

Five Killam Prizes are awarded annually each valued at $100,000. Normally, 1 prize is awarded each year in each of the 5 disciplines:  social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, engineering, and health sciences.

The following points will figure prominently in the selection of the candidates considered for the Killam Prize:

• exceptional quality of the candidate’s research achievements
• evidence of the candidate’s outstanding commitment, creativity and efforts to share research knowledge beyond the academic community
• enduring contribution of the candidate’s ideas and research results to Canadian society, including the nation’s intellectual and/or cultural life
• scope of the candidate’s research contributions, taking into account the norms of the field of study
• international stature of the candidate, where appropriate

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Application deadlines

Program application deadline

Nominations must be submitted to the Council by an expert in the same field as the nominee.

A peer assessment committee will select the recipients from among all nominees.

Read the Killam Prizes Guidelines. See information on Killam Prizes previous Prize winners.

SUPPORT Review:

The SUPPORT: Research Awards committee is available to review and provide feedback to strengthen nominations for this Fellowship. This committee is comprised of distinguished University of Calgary faculty who have won major national awards and sat on national award selection committees.

SUPPORT Review deadline (optional): April 25, 2024

For information on submitting to SUPPORT see our webpage.