Killam Program
The Canada Council for the Arts awards Killam Research Fellowships to support outstanding scholars (normally full professors at Canadian universities and research institutes) to carry out their ground-breaking projects in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences and engineering, as well as studies linking any of these disciplines. The fellowships are awarded to individuals, but the funds are paid to and administered by the Canadian university or research institute that employs them.
A fellowship provides two years to pursue groundbreaking research.
It is valued at
$70,000 per year
Natural Sciences
McMaster University
“There have been no new antibiotics discovered in more than 30 years and the effectiveness of existing drugs is in steep decline due to drug-resistant infections. My research group is investigating uncharted biology in bacteria, aiming to provide fresh directions for new antibacterial therapies.”
Natural Sciences
University of Waterloo
“My project seeks to explain how a small number of very large firms came to command a high degree of market power in the food system. The research will also evaluate what the rise of these agrifood megacompanies means for global food security and sustainability.”
Social Sciences
McGill University
“My project is concerned with the well-being of children and families affected by war, with a particular focus on children born of wartime rape. The research will help to develop effective policies and programs to assist war-affected children and families in Canada and abroad.”
Humanities/Social Sciences
University of Toronto
“My project is aimed at improving the practice of critical social science. Everyone may be a critic, but not everyone is equally good at the task. I intend to study what we have learned, over the past century, about how to make social criticism effective at achieving social change.”
Engineering/Health Sciences
University of Toronto
“My research is in the area of organ-on-a-chip engineering. It is my mission to transform the discovery of new drugs, the study of human heart disease and the treatment of individuals with heritable arrhythmias during the term of this Killam Fellowship through the development of patient-specific heart tissues.”
Engineering/Natural Sciences
McGill University
“My project aims to understand the impacts of plastic pollution in harsh environments typical of Northern climates. We will focus our attention on the invisible fraction of plastic particles—nanoplastics—that may pose a greater risk to environmental and human health because of their small size.”
We are committed to equity in all our activities, including the administration of our prizes and awards.
The Killam Fellowship gave me the unique opportunity to focus on a type of research that required deep commitment and devotion, which would have been impossible with the multi-tasking of a regular academic life. I am grateful to the Canada Council for supporting, through me, research with Indigenous language partners.
Marie-Odile Junker
(2010 Killam Research Fellowship)
