Université Laval is inviting applications from leading researchers to be nominated for a prestigious Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC). The CERC program has been designed to attract outstanding scientists to Canada, and to provide them with exceptional resources to develop a high impact, transformative research program.

This CERC is in the domain of ecology and evolution of cold microbial ecosystems. Applicants should have an established record of performance with major impact in their field (depending on career stage), and be recognized internationally for their leadership. The targeted candidates must have expertise in either microbial diversity, biogeography, macroecology, ecophysiology or molecular evolution, and have an interest in applying their genomics expertise to cold microbial ecosystems. The CERC would be within the Department of Biology, in the Faculty of Sciences and Engineering, and based in the Integrated Systems Biology Institute (IBIS) at Université Laval, North America’s premier francophone university.

Applicants will be initially selected by the Departmental Nomination Committee and then via an internal selection process at Université Laval, prior to their application being refined and forwarded to the Canada Excellence Research Chair competition. For more information on the program and eligibility criteria, please visit the Canada Excellence Research Chair website.

The successful CERC will be appointed to a full professor position, with the following resources:

• $8 million over 8 years ($1 million/year) in funding from the CERC Program;
• an allocation of $800,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to equip the CERC laboratory (total $2M of equipment);
• Competitive and attractive start-up funds;
• Exceptional resources for conducting field and laboratory research on cold microbial ecosystems. These include access to the research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen, the extensive CEN Network of northern field stations, advanced platforms for molecular research, advanced microscopy, and computational biology (IBIS), and microbial culture facilities.

Qualifications

PhD or equivalent in basic sciences (biochemistry, bio-informatics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, microbiology, physics) or in the environmental sciences (ecology and evolution, limnology, oceanography, phycology, etc.), with expertise in genomic methods or analyses.

Job Description

The chairholder will be expected to develop an ambitious, collaborative research and graduate training program relevant to the theme of evolutionary macroecology of cold microbial ecosystems, based on in-depth knowledge of microbial diversity and expertise in genomics, biogeography, ecophysiology or molecular evolution.

Requirements

Applicants must meet the CERC eligibility requirements. They must be full professors or associate professors who are close to obtaining tenure. Applicants from outside academia must have the necessary qualifications to be nominated as full professors.

Application

The full application package must be sent to: André Zaccarin, dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Université Laval (Email: doyen@fsg.ulaval.ca) and include:

• Cover letter (2 pages) summarizing the applicant’s expertise, experience and interests relevant to the position;
• CV including academic qualifications, relevant research experience, the most significant contributions highlighted and explained, and explanation of any career interruptions, including their impacts on academic progress and research;
• An outline (3 to 5 pages) of an original research program on cold microbial ecosystems, highlighting the applicant’s expertise;
• A statement of commitment to equity diversity inclusion (EDI) principles (1 page maximum) for recruiting and managing a diverse research team;
• Names and addresses of two colleagues or referees willing to be contacted by the nomination committee;
• The UL self-identification form (in French only).

Questions related to EDI principles and the Université Laval EDI policies, contact: Patricia Neitthoffer, Equity Officer, EDI Office, Vice-rectorate for equity, diversity, inclusion, and human ressources. patricia.neitthoffer@edi.ulaval.ca

Questions related to the Application call process, contact: Stéphane Boudreau, Director, Département de biologie, directeur@bio.ulaval.ca