Canada Research Chair Awards

Tier 1 Chairs

Tier 1 Canada Research Chairs are intended for outstanding researchers with international impact. Successful candidates must meet the requirements for the position of Tier 1 Chair as defined by the CRC program:

• be full professors or associate professors who are expected to be promoted to the full professor level within one or two years of the nomination (or possess the necessary qualifications to be appointed at these levels if they come from outside the academic sector);
• be outstanding researchers acknowledged by their peers as world leaders in their field;
• have superior records of attracting and supervising graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (taking into account different practices in the relevant field or discipline) and, as chairholders, be expected to attract, develop and retain excellent trainees, students and future researchers; and
• be proposing an original, innovative research program of the highest quality that will further Queen’s University’s Strategic Research Plan.

Tier 2 Chairs

Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs are intended for emerging researchers with international impact. Successful candidates must meet the requirements for the position of Tier 2 Chair as defined by the CRC program:

• be emerging scholars—they should, at a minimum, be assistant or associate professors, or possess the necessary qualifications to be appointed to these levels;
• be exceptional emerging researchers acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead and to achieve international recognition in their field in the next five to ten years;
• be within 10 years from the obtention of their highest degree at the time of nomination unless a Tier 2 Justification is provided (see below);
• have the potential to attract, develop, and retain excellent trainees, students, and future researchers; and
• be proposing an original, innovative research program of high quality that will further Queen’s University’s Strategic Research Plan.

Tier 2 Justification

Queen’s may nominate a professor or a researcher who is more than 10 years from their highest degree at the time of nomination and has experienced legitimate career interruptions (e.g., maternity or parental leave, extended sick leave, clinical training, family care, mandatory military service, non-research-related positions).

Research interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., closures) are recognized as, and may be counted as, an eligible delay (credited at twice the amount of time) beginning March 1, 2020.
In such cases, Queen’s must submit to TIPS a formal justification explaining why the nominee is still considered to be an emerging scholar.

Internal and external Nomination Calls are posted on the Vice Principal (Research) Portfolio Canada Research Chair Recruitment and Retention web page. For external competitions, academic units must employ a variety of strategies to ensure a diverse applicant pool, including posting to job boards and list serves of academic organizations of equity seeking groups, and national job boards that proactively distribute employment postings to underrepresented demographics across Canada.

Successful applicants will be contacted by an Institutional Programs Research Projects Advisor who will assist in the external nomination process.

Annual report

Chairholders are required to complete an electronic annual report in the CRC Chairholder Portal covering the period from April 1 to March 31, unless they have been in the position for fewer than 12 months, their mandate is being renewed or they were on leave (e.g., maternity leave, parental leave, extended illness or need for the care and nurturing of immediate family members).

Queen’s must submit the chairholders’ annual reports by June 30 each year.

Leaves

Chairholders are eligible for sabbatical leave, vacation time, long-term disability, maternity or parental leave, compassionate leave, and other types of leaves, in accordance with Queen’s University policies.
While a period of leave may not exceed one year, a chairholder may take more than one leave period during the tenure of his/her award, as long as there is a minimum of two academic terms between each.

Queen’s must give TIPS prior notice of any leaves taken by its chairholders, preferably in the June 30 annual report preceding the actual leaves.

Eligibility

To be renewed, a chairholder must currently be a full-time faculty member at Queen’s.
Once a chairholder has held the position for two terms, he or she cannot be nominated as a new chairholder in the same tier, either at the same or another institution, regardless of the number of years completed in the second term.

TIPS does not allow for the resubmission of unsuccessful renewal applications.

Advance a Tier 2 Chairholder to a Tier 1 Chair

After an open and transparent recruitment process, Queen’s can advance a current Tier 2 chairholder to a Tier 1 Chair during the term of the Chair. Queen’s must use the same nomination process as for new nominees. The advancement nomination must be submitted by a nomination deadline early enough to ensure that the funding decision on the advancement nomination may be made prior to the end of the term of the Tier 2 Chair.

In order to advance a Tier 2 chairholder to a Tier 1 Chair, the Chair must be continuing at the same institution. If the Tier 1 Chair will be held at a different institution, the advancement nomination will be considered a new Tier 1 nomination.

If a nomination for advancement is not successful, it is possible to submit either a Tier 2 renewal nomination for the chairholder (if applicable) or to resubmit an advancement nomination (in cases where the term of the Tier 2 Chair has not yet ended).

Application Process

If eligible for renewal, Chairholders are contacted by an Institutional Programs Research Projects Advisor (RPA) at least one year prior to the end of their CRC term. RPAs assist Chairholders in the submission of a renewal application to TIPS.