Nominations & Process

On this page:

Nominations
Awards Timeline & Internal Process
President's Advisory Committee
Resources

For the most current information, visit the SFU Award Opportunities Database.

Nominations

Institutional Strategic Awards (ISA) coordinates the internal selection of nominees, institutional endorsements, and/or external expert reviews of draft nomination packages through Universities Canada's Global Excellence Initiative. To promote equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), departments and faculties should ensure that all eligible candidates are considered and given the opportunity to self-identify (please see the Canada Research Chairs' EDI practices). To recommend a candidate to the President's Advisory Committee on Awards, Honours and Prizes, please submit a candidate suggestion form by the internal deadline. Suggestions received after the internal deadline will still be considered, but we cannot guarantee in which competition year a candidate will be reviewed or nominated. For more information, please contact awards@sfu.ca.

Additional research award opportunities in your topic of interest may be found in the Funding & Awards Opportunities database and the Global Excellence Initiative (GEI) awards directory.

All Disciplines

Science, Applied Sciences and Engineering

Health Sciences

Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities

Awards Timeline & Internal Process

Internal deadline (limited submission and institutional nominations):

• Ideally four to six months in advance of agency deadline, depending on award
• Candidates will be reviewed at next scheduled Awards Advisory Committee meeting
  • Typically held in March, July, and December
• ISA will facilitate and submit nominations for candidates recommended to advance to institutional nomination

Nomination preparation period:

• Ideally three months leading up to agency deadline, depending on award
• This may include sending out draft nomination materials for external review through Universities Canada's Global Excellence Initiative

President's Advisory Committee

Committee Membership as of September 2025:

Chair: Valorie Crooks, Associate Vice-President, Research 

Majid Bahrami, FCAE, CRC, FASME; Professor, Mechatronics Systems Engineering, Faculty of Applied Sciences
Isabelle Cote, FRSC; Distinguished SFU Professor, Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science
Kora DeBeck, RSC College, CIHR Applied Public Health Chair, Dorothy Killam Fellow; Distinguished SFU Professor, Public Policy, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Robert Hogg, FCAHS, FRSC, OC, King Charles III Coronation Medal; Distinguished SFU Professor, Associate Dean, Research, Faculty of Health Sciences
Marianne Ignace, FRSC, SSHRC Impact Partnership Award, Governor General's Innovation Award; Distinguished SFU Professor, Linguistics and Indigenous Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Laura Marks, FRSC, Guggenheim Fellow; Grant Strate University Professor, Contemporary Arts, Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology
Bojan Mohar, FRSC, RSC Synge Award, FAMS, FSIAM; Distinguished SFU Professor, Mathematics, Faculty of Science
Bohdan Nosyk, RSC College, St. Paul's Hospital CANFAR Chair, MSFHR Scholar Award; Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences
Betty Schellenberg, FRSC; Distinguished SFU Professor, English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Nathalie Sinclair, RSC College, PIR Ambassador Award; Distinguished SFU Professor,  Faculty of Education

Secretary: Melanie Monk, Associate Director, Researcher Excellence and Recognition

Resources

Global Excellence Initiative

The national Global Excellence Initiative aims to boost Canada’s research profile on the global stage through nominating more scholars and scientists for major awards. Universities Canada offers support by:

• Offering two up-to-date inventories of prestigious national and international research awards;
  • Canadian inventory
  • International inventory
• Supporting organizations in building compelling dossiers on their candidates during the application process for research awards;
• Coordinating external reviews of candidates’ nomination dossiers; and
• Proposing a path to success for researchers.

Institutional Strategic Awards serves as SFU's primary liaison with Universities Canada's Global Excellence Initiative program officer.