Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)

The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) is a global research organization founded in 1982 that funds multidisciplinary programs and leads the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy.

The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) is a Canadian-based global research organization that supports collaborative, multidisciplinary research across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Founded in 1982, CIFAR brings together researchers from around the world to address complex questions that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries. The organization is supported by individuals, foundations, corporations, and funding from the Government of Canada and the provinces of Alberta and Quebec.

CIFAR is particularly known for its role in advancing Artificial intelligence research. In 2004, Geoffrey Hinton began leading CIFAR's Neural Computation & Adaptive Perception program, which included Yoshua Bengio and Yann LeCun. This program helped catalyze the modern Deep learning revolution, and in 2018 the three researchers received the ACM A.M. Turing Award for their breakthroughs in neural networks. In 2017, CIFAR was tasked by the Government of Canada to develop and lead the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, a landmark initiative that has shaped AI research and talent development across the country.

Operations

CIFAR staff supports more than 400 researchers from 21 countries and more than 140 institutions. Approximately half of the researchers are based in Canada and half are located abroad. The President and CEO is directly responsible to the Chair and the Board of Directors, who oversee funding allocation and approval of research programs. In November 2022, Stephen Toope became president and CEO. Irfhan Rawji serves as chair of the Board of Directors, with Jacqueline Koerner and Anne McLellan as co-vice chairs.

CIFAR receives funding from a blend of governments, partnerships with research organizations and universities, private sector contributions from corporations, foundations, and individuals, and investment income. The annual budget in 2018 was $30 million. In 2017, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada invested $35 million over five years and announced that CIFAR would administer a $125 million Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy. In 2022, CIFAR announced the second phase of the strategy, with up to $208 million in federal support over ten years.

Research Programs

As of 2023, CIFAR supports research in 15 major multidisciplinary areas. These include Bio-inspired Solar Energy (established 2014), Boundaries, Membership & Belonging (2019), Brain, Mind & Consciousness (2014), Child & Brain Development (2003), Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration (2019), Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities (2019), Future Flourishing (2023), Gravity & the Extreme Universe (1986), Humanity's Urban Future (2023), Humans & the Microbiome (2014), Innovation, Equity & the Future of Prosperity (2019), Learning in Machines & Brains (2004), The Multiscale Human (2023), Quantum Information Science (2002), and Quantum Materials (1987).

CIFAR has also hosted numerous past programs, including Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (1983-1995), Population Health (1983-2003), Evolutionary Biology (1986-2007), Economic Growth and Policy (1991-2002), Nanoelectronics (1999-2013), and Successful Societies (2002-2019), among others. These programs have contributed to fields as diverse as Machine learning, quantum computing, and social policy.

History

20th Century

CIFAR was founded in 1982. The original idea for an institute for advanced studies came from John Leyerle, a professor of English and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto, who began rallying support for the concept in 1978. The centre was intended to "foster basic, conceptual research of high quality at an advanced level across the full spectrum of knowledge in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and life sciences." Fraser Mustard, a medical doctor and researcher in early childhood development, was appointed founding president in January 1982. The first 25 years of CIFAR's history are covered in the book A Generation of Excellence by Craig Brown.

In 1994, CIFAR fellows published several influential papers, including "Why are some people healthy and others not," which argued that policies driven by population health could address health disparities. They identified ten determinants of health, listing socio-economic status as the most influential. The government adopted the term "population health" and renamed a branch of the Public Health Agency of Canada to "Population and Public Health."

21st Century

In 2004, Geoffrey Hinton began leading CIFAR's Neural Computation & Adaptive Perception program. Its members included Yoshua Bengio and Yann LeCun, along with neuroscientists, computer scientists, biologists, electrical engineers, physicists, and psychologists. Together, they confirmed the power of neural networks by creating computing systems that mimicked human intelligence. Today, the three are widely acknowledged as pioneers of deep learning. In 2019, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) named them recipients of the 2018 ACM A.M. Turing Award for conceptual and engineering breakthroughs that made deep neural networks a critical component of computing.

In April 2012, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network published the first World Happiness Report, co-authored by CIFAR Senior Fellow John F. Helliwell, along with Lord Richard Layard and Professor Jeffrey Sachs. In 2017, CIFAR was selected to lead the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, which has supported the creation of AI institutes in Edmonton, Montreal, and Toronto, and has helped position Canada as a global leader in AI research.

Notable People

CIFAR has been led by a series of notable presidents: Fraser Mustard (1982-1996), J. Stefan Dupré (1996-2000), Chaviva Hošek (2001-2012), Alan Bernstein (2012-2022), and Stephen Toope (2022-present). Since its inception, 23 Nobel laureates have been associated with CIFAR, including Geoffrey Hinton, Daniel Kahneman, and Art McDonald. The organization's interdisciplinary approach has attracted leading scholars from around the world, fostering collaborations that have had a lasting impact on fields ranging from AI to quantum materials.