Innovating Canada
Rachel Parker
CIFAR’s Head of Next-Generation Initiatives,
Azrieli Chair for Next Generation Initiatives
How CIFAR’s Global Scholars program gives early-career researchers the networks, mentorship and support to pursue bold ideas.
Funding can help launch a research project. But building an impactful research career takes more than just funding.
For the next generation of researchers, this is an especially uncertain time, as funding tightens, competition intensifies and academic systems often favour established paths, leaving less room for interdisciplinary, collaborative and bold research.
CIFAR’s Global Scholars program helps create that space at a pivotal point in emerging researchers’ careers.
The program brings exceptional early-career researchers into an international network of leading researchers for a two-year term. Scholars receive $100,000 CAD in unrestricted funding, mentorship from senior researchers and opportunities to develop interdisciplinary collaborations. They also participate in leadership development opportunities often lacking in academic settings, building skills in team leadership, mentorship, science communication and advocacy.
Across its first 10 cohorts, from 2016 to 2025, Global Scholars have gone on to make significant contributions as researchers, leaders and collaborators, carrying the connections and ideas developed through CIFAR into new fields, institutions and communities around the world. This growing legacy was made possible in part through the generous and visionary support of the Azrieli Foundation, the program’s Founding Partner.
Building a community for bold ideas
What distinguishes the program is how it combines resources, peer networks and intellectual freedom, encouraging scholars to follow their instincts, chart their own course and take a fresh look at important research questions.
“Early-career researchers are already bringing the curiosity and fresh thinking we need to see where research could take us next,” says Rachel Parker, CIFAR’s Head of Next-Generation Initiatives and Azrieli Chair for Next Generation Initiatives. “Our Next-Gen Initiatives are helping to catalyze their careers and ideas by bringing them together in order to challenge one another’s assumptions and open up possibilities in their work that would be difficult to reach alone.”
The same philosophy shapes initiatives such as the Jacobs Research Fellowship (JRF), which marked its 10th anniversary in 2026. Building on this milestone, the Jacobs Foundation and CIFAR have partnered to further expand the fellowship in alignment with CIFAR’s broader Next Generation Initiative goals. The Jacobs CIFAR Research Fellowship connects researchers working across child development and learning, helping them share methods, foster cross-disciplinary collaborations and build a lasting international community. By empowering early- and mid-career scholars to pursue high-impact research, the program ensures that cutting-edge science continues to transform how we support children’s learning and well-being worldwide. Applications will open this fall.
Together, these initiatives reflect CIFAR’s commitment to developing the next generation of research leaders and creating the conditions for them to advance knowledge, chart their own course and help shape the future of discovery.
Applications for the next Global Scholars cohort are now open. Early-career researchers from around the world are invited to learn more and apply.
