Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) Competition 2022

Globally, and locally, we are witnessing societies shaped by increasing human entanglements and social polarization.  Pluralism in the city, what might be called pluralism from below, recognizes the need for an active engagement that creates a society of shared values, and peace and prosperity from a diversity of civilizations, cultures, peoples, groups, and entities. It addresses the wicked social challenges associated with super-diversity and hyper-diversity of our time: social disconnection, division, distrust, dehumanization, religious intolerance and political strife. Pluralism is inextricably concerned with depolarisation.  It is fundamentally concerned with how to make diversity work so that we can live well together. It requires actively cultivating an understanding of different perspectives and facilitating how this multiplicity shapes social transformation for the better. Pluralism is what can emerge from relationship building and intercultural engagement, bridging divides, social healing, collaborative problem solving, and interfaith engagement. This context calls for a paradigm shift, for bold solutions, culture change, shifting values, norms, skills, behaviours, how we see ourselves and others, and how we see ourselves in relation to diverse others. The University of Calgary has been laying the groundwork toward a Pluralism Strategy for many years and is currently seeking to recruit a global leader in Epistemic Pluralism and Ecologies of Knowledges. 

The knowledge domain has become a site of struggle and increasing demands for epistemic pluralism. At the centre of the struggles are calls for institutional transformation, recognition of diverse ways of knowing and redefinition of social relations. There is a resurgent and insurgent epistemological decolonization targeting intersectional inequalities concerning race, class, gender and other vectors of social exclusion; advocating the reclaiming of worldviews and epistemologies that have been pushed to the margins of modern societies; cultivation of new consciousness predicated on decoloniality and humanity in all of its diversity.

• The chair will focus on questions of epistemological decolonization, epistemic pluralism and a future underpinned by ecologies of knowledges. These issues have implications for structural, institutional, relational and personal aspects of societal change necessary for the 21^st century.  
• The chair will develop a research program to examine the structural, epistemological, relational, and personal dimensions of the social that are shaping the ways in which scholars engage with diverse communities and their knowledges, and worldviews and cosmologies.
• The research program will enable community participation in research and epistemic initiatives and the co-production of relevant knowledge.

Globally, and locally, we are witnessing societies shaped by increasing human entanglements and social polarization.  Pluralism in the city, what might be called pluralism from below, recognizes the need for an active engagement that creates a society of shared values, and peace and prosperity from a diversity of civilizations, cultures, peoples, groups, and entities. It addresses the wicked social challenges associated with super-diversity and hyper-diversity of our time: social disconnection, division, distrust, dehumanization, religious intolerance and political strife. Pluralism is inextricably concerned with depolarisation.  It is fundamentally concerned with how to make diversity work so that we can live well together. It requires actively cultivating an understanding of different perspectives and facilitating how this multiplicity shapes social transformation for the better. Pluralism is what can emerge from relationship building and intercultural engagement, bridging divides, social healing, collaborative problem solving, and interfaith engagement. This context calls for a paradigm shift, for bold solutions, culture change, shifting values, norms, skills, behaviours, how we see ourselves and others, and how we see ourselves in relation to diverse others. The University of Calgary has been laying the groundwork toward a Pluralism Strategy for many years and is currently seeking to recruit a global leader in Transdisciplinarity, Cognitive Justice and Education. 

• The chair will advance the intersection of transdisciplinarity, cognitive justice and education. It will develop a policy-relevant research agenda to foster transformation in the higher education sector, with the aim of creating a more inclusive education and societies that can confront the challenges of polarization facing human societies.
• The chair will advance transdisciplinarity, cognitive justice and education as an integral methodology for a reformulated epistemology that is necessary to support emerging local, national and global policy frameworks, and advance and protect plural knowledges and intellectual property rights.
• It will develop and advance terms and conditions for plural knowledges, and the integration of different forms of knowledge in higher education.
• It will foster transdisciplinary scholarship for systems transformation including in education, law, economics and science.

Addiction is a mental illness that knows no socio-economic, geographic, cultural, gender, or age boundaries. Morbidity and mortality associated with addiction have emerged as a public health crisis in Canada. Individuals who are subjected to stressors such as pain and/or inflammation, trauma, poverty, homelessness, adverse childhood experiences, mental illness, and loneliness are more likely to develop addiction. Additionally, the changes in brain circuits or behavior that occur following stress may favour compulsive substance use. Stress also plays a key role during drug withdrawal and life stressors are a key driver for resumption of drug use (relapse). Although there has been widespread interest in understanding how stress increases the likelihood of addiction and contributes to relapse, the underlying neurobiology remains unknown. Reducing the adverse impact of addiction must consider how environmental stressors and other socioeconomic determinants of health affect drug and alcohol consumption, and devise strategies to reduce the impact of these risk factors. The University of Calgary has developed a strong base in stress research and supports a rapidly growing addiction research group. The chair in the Intersection of Stress and Addiction will catalyze this expertise to address the burden of drug and alcohol addiction in Canada.

Mountain and cold regions systems, along with their associated watersheds, inhabitants, and diverse ecosystems, have been identified among the most vulnerable global biogeographic regions impacted by climate change. Considered as critical bellwethers of climate change, these regions are experiencing disproportionate warming at twice the global average. The successful CERC candidate will lead the integration of hydrologic, meteorological and hydro-ecological research activities within next-generation numerical environmental prediction systems. The research will use an integrated, risk-based solutions framework to facilitate sound water resource and ecosystem management within a One Health approach (https://research.ucalgary.ca/one-health).  Advancing solutions to water-related UN Sustainable Development Goals requires transdisciplinary research programs that consider social, political and community partnerships. The CERC program is expected to develop novel climate adaptation strategies/mitigation approaches and implementation models that involves the co-development and implementation of ethical-based approaches, including the braiding of both western and Indigenous knowledge-based systems. Validation should be achieved through community-led efforts co-developed with Indigenous knowledge holders to derive solutions optimized for local, regional and global settings.

Quantum Science and Technology (QST) is an interdisciplinary field entering a period of explosive growth both in terms of academic research and as a technology sector of its own with the potential to disrupt and transform whole sections of the world economy in the coming decades. The University of Calgary (UCalgary) has been engaged in quantum research for over 20 years and is home to the Institute for Quantum Science and Technology (IQST), comprising 17 research groups with strengths across the spectrum of quantum research. At this time, the University of Calgary is seeking applications from global leaders working on quantum interfaces, which will align well with current research activities in quantum optics, quantum sensing, quantum communication, and quantum computing.

All communities need access to safe, clean, and reliable energy. Hydrogen is one option, but its execution remains a major uncertainty. The proposed CERC program in Hydrogen – Safe Acceptable and Fair Energy (H2-SAFE) will create and/or enable safe paths to clean, economic hydrogen-based energy. In collaboration with an inclusive and dynamic ecosystem of researchers, the CERC will research and develop solutions for safe practical application and acceleration of clean hydrogen in communities. To ensure transdisciplinary approaches are integral to the research program, the Chairholder will be cross-appointed between a non-STEM department and the Schulich School of Engineering. Expected research topics will include: 1) safe engagement to accelerate hydrogen solutions; ii) safe materials (storage, transport); iii) safe hydrogen generation (to the environment, sustainable and beneficial); iv) actions to accelerate acceptable deployment; v) outreach to engage communities. In collaboration with academic, industry and community partners, the CERC program will be focused on both social and technical solutions for accelerated adoption of hydrogen generation and end use.