INTRODUCTION
Funding is available to support Visiting Professors in information science and engineering at Alberta universities for periods from six months to two years.
Visiting Professor grants fund world-class researchers working in target areas of computing science, computer engineering, mathematics, physics or other areas related to information and communications technology.
iCORE also has available complementary recruiting grants, called ISPR (Informatics Strategy, Planning and Recruitment) grants, which may be used to explore potential candidates for any of iCORE's Chair and Professor grant programs.
Excellence, innovation and global collaboration are particularly dependent on vibrant interaction between researchers coming from different research cultures and residing in different countries. Such collaborations are critical in fast moving and highly competitive areas such as informatics.
PROGRAM DETAILS
The iCORE Visiting Professor program is designed to promote research innovation and global collaboration by bringing leading researchers to Alberta. In addition to the goal of fostering collaboration, key objectives of this program are to:
- Strengthen target areas of expertise in university information science and engineering research;
- Explore and assess new emerging research areas;
- Increase awareness of Alberta as a strong, well-funded and innovative research environment;
- Enable exploration of Alberta by top researchers prior to their making a long-term commitment.
iCORE Visiting Professors are internationally recognized in one of the target areas of research supported by iCORE. They are typically in the top five percent of their fields with outstanding research records.
Successful candidates may come from academia, governmental or corporate research institutions or industry.
Awards are in the range of $50,000 to $250,000, and may be used to host a world-class Visiting Professor at an Alberta university. Visiting Professor grants may be used to complement other programs, such as existing Chairs or Institutes, from either provincial or federal bodies.
Proposals are accepted at any time and are reviewed monthly by an Internal Review Committee, a process that may take up to two months.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
Applications will be evaluated according to similar criteria as for the Chair and Professorship Establishment (CPE) program, including:
Excellence of the candidate: the international stature, research competence, leadership ability, research track record and experience of the proposed candidate(s);
Potential for recruiting other high-quality researchers: the strength of the proposal to bring other researchers and collaborators to Alberta;
Quality of the proposal: the scientific merit, originality, technical feasibility and industrial relevance of the proposed research;
Incremental benefits to the university: the extent to which the proposal has university and departmental support, and will enhance the university's research capacity, training, and industrial interactions;
Training of highly qualified personnel: the opportunities for recruiting and training graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research assistants and other personnel in iCORE's target research areas;
Actual and potential funding sources: the extent to which the proposal identifies and leverages other sources of funding;
Alignment with iCORE goals: the extent to which the candidate's track record and proposal are consistent with iCORE's target research areas, and contribute to the development of research clusters.
REVIEW PROCEDURES
The review and decision will be made by the iCORE Internal Review Committee. This committee meets monthly and may deliver a final decision within two months.
APPLICATION PROCEDURES
The university department or group of researchers that will host the Visiting Professor must initiate the application.
The application should include:
- a complete curriculum vita of the candidate;
- main objectives of the candidate's visit;
- identification of collaboration mechanisms between the department/groups of researchers and proposed candidate;
- budget;
- curriculum vitae of the researcher(s) initiating the process.
Proposals must be endorsed by a university and be submitted electronically in PDF or Word format to proposals[at]icore.ca.
Endorsement by a university must be indicated through signed letters of support from the Faculty Dean and Chair/Head of the department. As well, a copy of the proposal and all related documents must be filed with the Research Services Office of the supporting university.
For more information, visit www.icore.ca, call 403-210-5335 or send email to info[at]icore.ca.