Position Information

Position Title

Canada Impact+ Research Chair

Posting Number

F764P

Type of position

Tenure Stream

Department/Unit

VPRI Office

Location

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

About the opportunity

About the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs opportunity

Dalhousie University invites applications from exceptional, internationally based researchers for the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs program. This national initiative is designed to recruit world-leading scholars whose work addresses critical global and national challenges and who are poised to build transformational research programs in Canada. Dalhousie can nominate Impact+ Research Chairs across the Government of Canada’s strategic priority areas, as part of one of the most significant research recruitment opportunities in the university’s history.

Impact+ Research Chairs receive long-term funding of either $8 million or $4 million over eight years, with the possibility of a four-year extension at 50 percent of the original value based on demonstrated research impact and sustained partnerships. Globally pre-eminent researchers may be identified as Distinguished Chairs and receive up to $1.5 annually, in exceptional cases. Institutions may also request up to $6 million per chair in research infrastructure funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

The Impact+ Research Chairs submission process requires application to Dalhousie University (see details below) by April 19, 2026.

Impact+ Strategic Priorities

Canada Impact+ Research Chairs are awarded in areas identified by the Government of Canada as critical to global and national challenges. These priorities closely parallel Dalhousie’s own research priorities and strengths and are reflected in the university’s Strategic Research Clusters. Applications must demonstrate how the proposed program will advance one or more of the following strategic priority areas:

• Advanced digital technologies (including Artificial Intelligence, quantum and cybersecurity);
• Clean technology and resource value chains;
• Defence and dual-use technologies;
• Democratic and community resilience;
• Environment, climate resilience and the Arctic;
• Food and water security;
• Health and biotechnology; and
• Manufacturing and advanced materials.

Chairholders are expected to build meaningful partnerships across sectors and Indigenous communities, and to ensure that research outcomes translate into practice, policy or commercialization pathways with measurable societal and economic benefit.

Qualifications and Eligibility

The Canada Impact+ Research Chairs opportunity is designed for internationally renowned researchers who are ready to establish a major research program in Canada. To be eligible, candidates must:

• Have a strong recent record of research achievements and a demonstrated interest in contributing to Canada’s research and innovation landscape.
• Be internationally based at the time of the first intake deadline (working and residing outside Canada).
• Hold the rank of full professor or associate professor
• If from outside the academic sector candidate must have equivalent qualifications for appointment at that level.

Successful applicants will be appointed to an appropriate academic department/school/faculty at Dalhousie University.

Why Dalhousie

Dalhousie is the only East Coast member of Canada’s U15, the country’s leading group of research-intensive universities. With more than 250 million dollars in annual research funding, we are Atlantic Canada’s engine of discovery and innovation. Anchored in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with additional agricultural and medical campuses and academic and clinical programs across the province and beyond, we drive positive change in the communities we serve locally, nationally, and around the world.

Our faculty work within a highly collaborative research community supported by major infrastructure, including Canada’s largest aquatic research facility and advanced platforms accelerating discoveries in health and the physical sciences. Researchers contribute to and benefit from a growing network of centres, institutes, and hubs driving discovery and industry partnership in areas like battery innovation and clean technologies, carbon capture and storage, additive manufacturing, AI and semiconductors, vaccine and immunotherapy development, genomics, cancer treatment, and much more.

We lead Canadian universities with an extensive ecosystem built to support research commercialization. Our researchers own and control their intellectual property. And, from idea to impact, we support researchers at every stage, whether developing and protecting IP, launching a startup, partnering with industry, or advancing social innovation.

Explore more on via our Canada Impact+ Research Chairs website.

How to Apply

To apply, applicants are asked to provide the following three documents:

1. A cover letter that identifies:

• Alignment with one or more of the strategic priority areas (listed above)
• The applicant’s start-up funding, infrastructure and space, and research team requirements
• The applicant’s interest in coming to Dalhousie, including any relevant connections to the university or the region

1. A full curriculum vitae (please include details of research and teaching, scholarly record, funding, collaborations/partnerships with industry government, not-for-profit, and/or community, and leadership experience.

2. A Research Statement, submitted as a single PDF, including the following:

• A five page (maximum) research statement that includes:
  • An overview of the applicant’s research proposal, including knowledge mobilization and innovation activities
  • How the proposed research embeds equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA) considerations at each stage of the research process
  • Potential to collaborate with other researchers at Dalhousie, Nova Scotia and/or Atlantic Canada, and Canada
  • Social and economic benefits for Canada that will result from the research program, including potential industry, government, not-for-profit, and/or community partnerships
  • Contribution and fit to the research ecosystem in Canada and internationally
• A one-page (maximum) statement that describes the applicant’s past experience with attracting and mentoring a diverse group of students, trainees and research personnel, and establishing an equitable and inclusive research environment.
• One page (maximum), if applicable: demonstrate how the proposed research program will value Indigenous ways of knowing, how it will extend research knowledge in the field that is significant for Indigenous Peoples and communities and contribute to decolonization.

Application materials must be submitted via PeopleAdmin by April 19, 2026. Any general inquiries regarding this posting may be directed to reschairs@dal.ca.

Championing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA) is integral to Dalhousie’s vision, mission, actions, and culture, and influences how we interact with one another on a daily basis. Our work in this area requires both acknowledging historical injustice and addressing ongoing systemic inequalities within our campus community and beyond.

Dalhousie University commits to achieving inclusive excellence through continually championing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. The university encourages applications from Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (especially Mi’kmaq), persons of Black/African descent (especially African Nova Scotians), and members of other racialized groups, persons with disabilities, women, persons identifying as members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and all candidates who would contribute to the diversity of our community. In accordance with our Employment Equity Policy, preference will be given in hiring processes to candidates who self-identify as members of one or more of the equity-deserving groups listed above. For more information, including details related to our Employment Equity Policy and Plan and definitions of equity-deserving groups please visit www.dal.ca/hiringfordiversity.

Dalhousie recognizes that career paths can be diverse and that career interruptions may occur. Applicants are encouraged to include, in their cover letter or CV, an explanation of the impact that any career interruptions may have had on their record of research achievement. This may include impacts related to life circumstances, for example, illness, disability, family and community responsibilities (e.g., maternity leave, parental leave, leaves due to illness, leaves due to caring for family members, slowdowns due to chronic illness or disability, or COVID-19 impacts).

If you require any support for the purpose of accommodation, such as technical aids or alternative arrangements, please let us know of these needs and how we can be of assistance. Dalhousie University is committed to ensuring all candidates have full, fair, and equitable participation in the hiring process. Our complete Accommodation Policy can be viewedhere. To request accommodation at any stage in the hiring process, please contact Kaitlyn Farrell at Kaitlyn.farrell@dal.ca.

Dalhousie University operates in the unceded territories of the Mi’kmaw, Wolastoqey, and Peskotomuhkati Peoples. These sovereign nations hold inherent rights as the original peoples of these lands, and we each carry collective obligations under the Peace and Friendship Treaties. Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes and affirms Aboriginal and Treaty rights in Canada.

We recognize that African Nova Scotians are a distinct people whose histories, legacies and contributions have enriched that part of Mi’kma’ki known as Nova Scotia for over 400 years.

Candidates who are internationally based (both working and residing outside of Canada) at the time of the intake’s application deadline are eligible to apply. The position is subject to the availability of funding and to final approval by Dalhousie University and the Tri-Agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS). The Canada Impact+ Research Chair is tenable for eight years, with a possible four-year extension at 50% of the initial award value per year. Interested applicants are invited to review the program details: https://www.canada.ca/en/impact-plus-chairs.html.

Candidates may also be considered as a nominee for a Canada Research Chair (CRC) position or other available opportunities at Dalhousie. The CRC program was established by the Canadian Federal Government with the purpose of attracting outstanding researchers to the Canadian university system. Please contact reschairs@dal.ca and see the CRC website for more information on eligibility. Information about the CRC program at Dalhousie is available here.

Posting Detail Information

Open Date

03/19/2026

Close Date

04/19/2026

Open Until Filled

No

Quick Link for Direct Access to Posting

https://dal.peopleadmin.ca/postings/20532