"Canada Impact+ Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence"

Full Time, Tenured
Position #: 37369 and 37370
Posting Start Date: January 20, 2026
Posting End Date: February 23, 2026. Posting may remain open beyond the date of Feb 23, 2026, until filled.
Expected start date of appointment: Within 12 months of the award date (September 2026).

The Department of Computer Science in the Faculty of Science at the University of Manitoba invites applications for a Canada Impact+ Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence. A Canada Impact+ Research Chair is one of the most prestigious international awards globally, providing Chairholders and their research teams with an award of up to $8 million over eight years ($1 million per year). In addition, there is potential for a four-year extension at 50% of the initial award value per year. This extension will be determined by an external review in Year 7 of the award.

Successful nominees will be expected to start their position at the University of Manitoba within 12 months of accepting the award. The successful candidate will be appointed to a full-time tenured position at the rank of Full Professor, or at the rank of Associate Professor with an opportunity to apply for promotion to Full Professor within two years of starting their appointment. Salary and tenure status will be based on the candidate’s qualifications and experience, in accordance with the University of Manitoba Faculty Association collective agreement. The position will be provided with a start-up package and opportunities to compete for additional equipment funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

The Canada Impact+ Research Chair Program
The Canada Impact+ Research Chairs (Impact+) program is a new initiative funded by the Government of Canada to attract world-leading researchers to Canadian universities whose work addresses critical national and global challenges. Impact+ chairholders must advance ambitious and transformative projects in one or more of Canada’s strategic priority areas, build and maintain exceptional research teams, and collaborate with partners across sectors and borders. Canada’s strategic priority areas are: Advanced digital technologies (including artificial intelligence, quantum and cybersecurity); Health, including biotechnology; Clean technology and resource value chains; Environment, climate resilience and the Arctic; Food and water security; Democratic and community resilience; Manufacturing and advanced materials; and Defence and dual-use technologies. Impact+ chairholders are expected to drive the translation of discoveries into applications, commercialization and social and economic benefits for Canada and the world, while also developing the next generation of highly qualified personnel. Please consult the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs website for full program information, including further details on eligibility criteria and application requirements.

Applicants must have a recent track record of research accomplishments and significant interest in making new contributions to Canada. Only candidates who are internationally based (both working and residing outside of Canada) at the time of the first intake application deadline (March 24, 2026) are eligible to apply.

The focus of this position is Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, specifically systems and methods that are designed, evaluated, and deployed with a focus on human values, needs, behaviours, and social contexts. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: explainability, accountability, trust, and transparency; health, education, and civic engagement; embodied, robotic, and social intelligence; human-robot interaction, human-AI collaboration, and decision support systems; AI for science and scientific discovery. While this is a research-intensive position, the successful candidate will also contribute to educating undergraduate and graduate students through teaching and mentorship in the Department of Computer Science, and participate in academic service activities to the Department, Faculty, or University. Teaching experience in Machine Learning, Language Models, Digital Systems, and related areas is an asset.

The successful applicant will have access to core resources within the faculty, including Grex, the University of Manitoba high-performance computing system, as well as collaboration opportunities with research institutes including the Institute for Global Public Health and the Manitoba Institute for Materials. Within the department, the successful applicant will have the opportunity to collaborate with established research clusters including the CORE AI group; the GADA lab, HCI and HRI, Digital Agriculture, Security, Software Engineering, and others. Interdisciplinary collaborators across Engineering, Medicine, Law, Ethics, and Arts provide the potential for broad-reaching investigations.

The appointment is dependent on a successful Canada Impact+ Research Chair Award, and the two-stage process of this appointment is:

1. Applicants must apply to this University of Manitoba advertisement for review and endorsement, and
2. The successful candidate will then prepare the required nomination package, with the support of the Office of the Vice President (Research & International) at the University of Manitoba. Completed nomination packages will be submitted to the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS) as part of the national Impact+ Program’s application process. An academic appointment at UM is dependent on a successful review by the multidisciplinary selection committee and approval by the TIPS Steering Committee.

The Application Process
Applicants must apply to this University of Manitoba advertisement through the UM Careers portal for review and endorsement and clearly state the application position number in the cover letter. Applicants should upload their cover letter separately, their curriculum vitae separately, and then combine their research plan, teaching statement, personal statement and a list of three referees into a single PDF file and upload it under ‘Additional Documentation’ when applying in UM Careers. If you experience any difficulties accessing UM Careers, please contact Kellee Strom Kellee.Strom@umanitoba.ca, for assistance. Further details on the application materials are:

• a concise cover letter describing suitability for the position
• a curriculum vitae (including examples of significant research contributions)
• a research plan (3 page maximum) outlining an independent, innovative research program, and its potential to attract funding and contribute to student training
• a teaching statement (1/2 page) that documents the applicant's experience in and/or approach to training and mentoring diverse students and the candidate's teaching philosophy
• a personal statement reflecting on the applicant's positionality, demonstrated commitment, and approach to issues pertaining to anti-racism and social justice (including principles of equity, access, and participation) in the following areas: teaching, research, and service
• the names and contact information of three referees

A review of applications will begin Feb 24 2026, and will continue until the position is filled. Application materials, including letters of reference, will be handled in accordance with the protection of privacy provision of The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Manitoba). Please note that curriculum vitae may be provided to participating members of the search process.