INNOVATORS, SCHOLARS & EXPERTS
CIFAR is a global leader in the research community, bringing together top researchers across disciplines to advance our understanding of the most complex and far-reaching questions. Our researchers establish new fields of inquiry — reimagining our health, our understanding of the Universe, the prosperity of our societies, and how we interact with technology.
CIFAR Fellows, Advisors, Canada CIFAR AI Chairs, and CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars — including nearly 400 researchers from 142 institutions in 18 countries — are consistently recognized among the best globally — regularly securing major international research awards.
Major Awards: Breakthrough Prize, the Turing Award, the Körber European Science Prize, and 20 Nobel Laureates.
Members of the CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars’ program at their annual meeting. The program is one of many next generation initiatives at CIFAR.
CIFAR fosters an environment of collective intellectual meandering that leads to places where none of us expected to find ourselves.
– Amos Zehavi, Associate Program Director in CIFAR’s Innovation, Equity & the Future of Prosperity program 
CIFAR’s offices are located in the MaRS building.
CIFAR is unique in bringing together top scientists in a multidisciplinary context in which there is time for deep discussions on challenging questions. This is the way to make significant scientific advances.
40 YEARS OF DISCOVERY
From the social determinants of health and the microbiome’s effect on our brain to quantum computing and artificial intelligence, CIFAR accelerates discovery and yields breakthroughs across borders and academic disciplines. Ever on the cutting edge, CIFAR spurred the AI revolution, and we now lead the world’s first national AI strategy: the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy.
We connect researchers with global thought leaders to catalyze new social, economic, and technical innovations that drive advances in science, innovation, and public policy.
Boundaries, Membership & Belonging Co-Director, Irene Bloemraad shares her research at the 2019 Global Call Gala
TIME-TESTED MODEL FOR IMPACT
CIFAR provides researchers an unparalleled environment of trust, transparency, and knowledge-sharing to pursue the most important questions facing science and humanity. We host experts in industry, civil society, health care, and government with global research leaders for in-depth conversations that bring research into the real world.
Early-career researchers are the future of science. Through the CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars program, CIFAR engages and mentors aspiring leaders through deep collaborations with other brilliant researchers around the globe.
Philanthropic support from foundations, corporations, and individuals sparks and fuels investments from federal and provincial governments and international partner organizations to make this important work possible.
CIFAR encourages big-picture thinking between and across disciplines and applies knowledge gained in practical ways that can change the world. It’s boundless.
– Jacqueline Koerner, Donor and Vice-Chair of CIFAR’s Board of Directors
