Overview
- The government announced the first intake Thursday, committing C$504 million over eight years to fund 64 Eddie Goldenberg research chairs under the Global Impact+ initiative.
- Forty-eight of the 64 recruits are reported to be coming from U.S. institutions, including Harvard, MIT, Cornell and Berkeley, while 23 are Canadians returning home.
- Canadian universities across the country will host the chairs, with the University of British Columbia taking nine and the University of Toronto six among placements at 21 institutions.
- Several named recruits include astronomer Sara Seager, RNA biologist Phillip Zamore, protein design expert Brian Kuhlman and media scholar Ethan Zuckerman, who cited U.S. policy and academic freedom concerns as factors in their moves.
- The initial C$504 million is the first tranche of a wider C$1.7-billion drive to recruit more than 1,000 researchers, an effort that will reshape where long-term research is based and could influence Canada–U.S. research competition and relations.