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eNewsletter of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Special edition

Of the many special events and investments launched to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada’s Confederation, few will have more enduring impacts than the Canada 150 Research Chairs (C150) Program. The C150 program, administered by SSHRC on behalf of Canada’s three federal research funding agencies, has amplified Canada's reputation as a global centre for science, research and innovation, inviting research leaders and scholars from around the world to enrich Canada’s research ecosystem with their bold and brilliant ideas. For the past seven years, some of the world’s top-tier scholars and researchers have put the $117.6 million earmarked for the program to work to enrich the lives and livelihoods of Canadians.

Ted Hewitt

President, SSHRC

and Chair, Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat Steering Committee

117

million dollars

invested

20

active world-class researchers

16

Canadian

institutions

| Distribution of chairholders by agency

Canadian Institutes of

Health Research (CIHR): 17% 

Natural Sciences and Engineering

Research Council (NSERC): 58%

Social Sciences and Humanities

Research Council (SSHRC): 25%

| Recruitment of highly qualified personnel

123

personnel recruited

to Canada from

international institutions

| Distribution of research team members

253

undergraduate

students

565

graduate

students

273

postdoctoral

fellows

From therapy robots to a one-of-a-kind research lab

Margo Seltzer, Canada 150 Research Chair in Computer Systems, and Kerstin Dautenhahn, Canada 150 Research Chair in Intelligent Robotics, aren’t just putting down roots as new Canadian citizens. They’re doing it while working to bridge the gap between cutting-edge robotics and real human needs. The Canada 150 Research Chairs’ research includes helping people overcome language and speech disabilities and making robots more socially intelligent. 

Kerstin Dautenhahn

Canada 150 Research Chair in Intelligent Robotics

University of Waterloo

Margo Seltzer

Canada 150 Research Chair in Computer Systems

The University of British Columbia 

Remembering Ian Manners

When world-renowned chemist Ian Manners became Canada 150 Research Chair in Materials Science at the University of Victoria in 2018, it started a chain reaction that led to the publication of some 800 scientific papers, 12 patents, and four books, in addition to inspiring countless students and colleagues with his knowledge, passion and positivity.

“Ian was prolific,” says Etienne LaPierre, who joined the Manners Group as a postdoctoral fellow. “When you have the creativity and the drive and the gumption to do these impressive things, it sets a new standard. I think that’s going to last at UVic.”

Ian Manners

Canada 150 Research Chair in Materials Science

University of Victoria

Canada 150 Research Chairs Program brings cutting-edge research talent home 

Having built impressive research resumés spanning Europe and the United States, Jennifer Welsh, Canada 150 Research Chair in Global Governance and Security at McGill University, and Azim Shariff, C150 in Moral Psychology at The University of British Columbia, have since made a profound impact in Canada. Welsh established McGill’s new Max Bell School of Public Policy, while Shariff establishing the Centre for Applied Moral Psychology.

Azim Shariff

Canada 150 Research Chair in Moral Psychology

The University of British Columbia

Jennifer M. Welsh

Canada 150 Research Chair in Global Governance and Security

McGill University

Canada is leading the way in gender and sexuality research

Three Canada 150 Research Chairs are combining their expertise in the scientific, political and social implications of sex and gender to create safer, more inclusive ways to conceptualize, measure and explore people’s experience of gender and sexuality. Sari van Anders, Judith Mank and Shireen Hassim are taking a holistic approach, examining the impact actions and stimuli have on gender development, and the many, many ways to be male or female, both in humans and in broader nature. 

Sari van Anders

Canada 150 Research Chair in Social Neuroendocrinology, Sexuality and Gender/Sex

Queen’s University

Judith Mank

Canada 150 Research Chair in Evolutionary Genomics

The University of British Columbia

Shireen Hassim

Canada 150 Research Chair in Gender and African Politics

Carleton University

Curiosity drives C150 breakthroughs for human health

Understanding health at either end of the human life cycle has revealed exciting new breakthroughs thanks to two Canada 150 Research Chairs. Miguel Ramalho-Santos, Canada 150 Research Chair in Developmental Epigenetics at the University of Toronto is using stem cell research to uncover the effects external stimuli have on foetal development. Equally groundbreaking is the work of Donna Rose Addis, Canada 150 Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory and Aging at the University of Toronto. Addis is using state of the art imaging technologies to unlock the secrets of the brain, and ways to enhance memory in later life.

Miguel Ramalho-Santos

Canada 150 Research Chair in Developmental Epigenetics

University of Toronto

Donna Rose Addis

Canada 150 Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory and Aging

University of Toronto

Interested in learning  more?

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