UCalgary Research Excellence Chairs

Round 2 now open

Round 2: UCalgary Research Excellence Chairs program

UCalgary is excited to launch Round 2 of our prestigious internal chairs program, designed to recognize our scholars with highly distinguished accomplishments and research leadership, and who display exceptional promise in their research and creative work. The UCalgary Research Excellence program builds capacity and provides leadership for strategic and transdisciplinary research initiatives.

The UCalgary Research Excellence Chairs share many of the features of the federal Canada Research Chairs program. Faculty members who hold internal or external named awards, such as endowed chairs and professorships, Canada Research Chairs, or major salary awards from external agencies are not eligible to be nominated for a UCalgary Research Excellence Chair. A faculty member who holds a UCalgary Research Excellence Chair must relinquish it if they receive such an award.

Program lead:
Dr. Katrina Milaney
Associate Vice-President (Research)

Contact:
Scholars should contact their Dean’s office with specific inquiries, as the VPR Awards team will only be able to respond to general questions.

Value

Research allowance:

$20,000 or $30,000 per year

Annual supplement:

$5,000 per year

Term

5 years

Non-renewable

Nomination Deadline

Tuesday May 21, 2024

12:00 p.m. MT

UCalgary Research Excellence Chairs who are appointed within 10 years of PhD taking into account any leaves of absence (as outlined in the Canada Research Chairs Program) will receive $20,000 in annual research allowance during the term of the Chair.
UCalgary Research Excellence Chairs who are appointed more than 10 years post-PhD will receive $30,000 in annual research allowance.
All chairs will receive a $5,000 annual supplement in the form of a research prize. Chairs may opt to shift $5,000 of research allowance to the prize, increasing it to $10,000 annually.
Chairs will have a substantial portion of their workload allocated to research-related activities. In most cases, nominees brought forward by Faculties will already have such time allocation. In exceptional cases where reduced teaching is needed for workload adjustment, host Faculties may request support to offset the cost of sessional teaching replacement.

Nomination process

The nomination process is to be strategically led by Faculty Deans, in partnership with the Provost and Vice-President Academic (VPA) and Vice-President Research (VPR).

Nominations should include:

Nominee’s CV and a short, non-technical max 2-page description of the nominee's research contributions and impact
Research Proposal – A 3-page proposal outlining the priorities, objectives, approach, and expected outcomes for the research activities proposed for the tenure of the Research Excellence Chair. This will include clearly stating how the activities will build capacity in transdisciplinary scholarship and/or other strategic initiatives at the University of Calgary.
Statement on EDIA – A 1-page statement from the nominee outlining their commitment to excellence in research and research training through advancement of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility.
Statement from Faculty Dean - should describe 1) the Faculty’s assessment of the nominee’s research program and record of (and potential for) research leadership, and 2) how the faculty member will be supported for successful engagement in transdisciplinary and other strategic initiatives. This will include description of the faculty member’s workload, and whether it needs to be adjusted for the term of the Chair so that there is substantial time dedicated to scholarship and creative activity.
Letter of appraisal – from an external expert providing a written evaluation of the quality, feasibility, and likely impact of the proposed research and of the capability of the nominee to achieve the stated goals of that research. The external expert shall have an arm’s length perspective, per the conflict of interest guidelines of the Canada Research Chairs program.

The University of Calgary is committed to promoting equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and indigenous engagement with the Research Excellence Chairs program, and will follow relevant practices outlined in the EDI in Research and Teaching Awards Pilot Plan.

Please compile each nomination package into a single PDF.

Nominations must be submitted by Faculty Deans at 12:00 pm MT (noon) on May 21, 2024 to vprawards@ucalgary.ca.

Evaluation

Nominations will be assessed by a selection committee advisory to the Program Lead and against the criteria used to consider Canada Research Chair nominations at the Tier 1 and Tier 2 levels.

Subsequently the VPR and Provost will meet with the Program Lead and will make the final allocation decisions based on external appraisals and selection committee recommendations.

Scoring:

60%: Quality of the nominee and the proposed research program

Assessment takes into account career stage and discipline, and the degree to which the nominee
- is an outstanding and innovative world-class researcher;
- is recognized internationally, nationally, or regionally; and
- is proposing an original, innovative research program.
40%: Research environment, supports, and alignment with strategic priorities
- Quality of the institutional and Faculty-level environment;
- Faculty support;
- Alignment with UCalgary and Faculty strategies; and
- Potential of nominee to build capacity and provide leadership.

Additional information

Nominations must be submitted by a Faculty Dean; self- or peer-nominations are not eligible.
Notice of award expected in July 2024.
Program may repeat in ~18-24 months.