Two new听Canada Research Chairs have been appointed at 91亚色 and three existing CRCs have been renewed. These commitments by the Government of Canada will support research on topics ranging from the many uses of artificial intelligence to what a self-determined climate future would look like for Indigenous communities.听
The awards were听 by Navdeep Bains, minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and are among 259 new or renewed CRCs across the country to support innovation and research excellence.
The new CRC appointments at 91亚色 are and Jennifer Pybus.听 The announcement also included CRC renewals for , and .
鈥淲e are grateful to the Canada Research Chairs program for investing in听the听innovative and impactful听work听being听done听by听91亚色鈥檚听researchers, who are enriching our imaginations and contributing to the building of more听equitable and sustainable communities,鈥澨齭aid 91亚色 President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda听Lenton.听鈥淭hese talented individuals听are leaders in their fields and听undertake听the type of听groundbreaking听work听needed听to听drive positive change听across Canada and听around the globe.鈥
鈥淲e congratulate the Government of Canada on the 20th听year of the CRC program, foundational to a听national strategy to make our country one of the world鈥檚 top in research,鈥 said Vice-President Research & Innovation Amir Asif. 鈥淭he range of Faculties represented in 91亚色鈥檚 new CRCs speaks to the tremendous diversity at 91亚色 and provides recognition and resources to our star researchers to maintain research excellence.鈥
The new Canada Research Chairs
Pirathayini Srikantha
Pirathayini Srikantha, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Lassonde School of Engineering, has been awarded a Tier 2 CRC in Reliable and Secure Power Grid Systems for research that has important national security implications for Canada鈥檚 critical power grid infrastructure. Srikantha听will build on her foundational contributions to smart distribution systems听by using听the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and transactive technologies. To听enhance reliability in the increasingly volatile and vulnerable electricity grid, her research will address two specific challenges: giving devices that are controlled by the electric power utility the ability to automatically infer, predict and respond to听power disturbances, and secondly, designing trustworthy energy markets that incentivize power producers and consumers to provide grid support during congestion or fault conditions.
Jennifer Pybus, who will join 91亚色 in January 2021 as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, has been awarded a Tier 2 CRC in Data, Democracy and AI. Her globally recognized, interdisciplinary research intersects digital and algorithmic cultures and explores the capture and processing of personal data. Her work focuses on the political economy of social media platforms, display ad economies, and the rise of third parties embedded in the mobile ecosystem which are facilitating algorithmic profiling, monetization, polarization and bias. Her research contributes to an emerging field, mapping out datafication, a process that is rendering our social, cultural and political lives into productive data for machine learning and algorithmic decision-making. Pybus has cultivated strong European links with public organizations and will use her chair to engage Canadians with innovative tools, resources and pedagogy for increasing critical data literacy and democratic debate about artificial intelligence.
The renewed Canada Research Chairs
Deborah McGregor
Deborah McGregor, cross-appointed with Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, has received a renewal of her . What does it mean to live well with the Earth in the face of climate/ecological crisis? What does a self-determined climate future look like for Indigenous communities and peoples? McGregor鈥檚 research recognizes Indigenous-derived solutions must be generated based on knowledge and legal systems that have fostered Indigenous survival despite centuries of environmental upheaval affected by colonization. Her research program will capture desired Indigenous climate change futures, described by Elders and other knowledge holders, and shared through peer-reviewed journal articles, workshops, podcasts, videos, presentations and a听. She will also produce a documentary with a curriculum guide and an edited volume on Indigenous climate justice.
Douglas Van Nort
Douglas Van Nort, an associate professor cross-appointed between the Departments of Computational Arts and Music in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, has been renewed as听. In his first term, Van Nort and his team examined new forms of performance that integrate improvisation, artificial intelligence and networked environments and created projects focused on collective co-creation in digitally-mediated performance contexts.听In this next phase of his work he will deeply engage with methods from artificial intelligence, virtual acoustics and biophysical sensing to introduce new modes of sociality, improvised play and distributed creativity in performance, for both professional performers and the general public.
Graham Wakefield
Graham Wakefield, an associate professor in the Department of Computational Arts, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, has been renewed as听. Wakefield鈥檚 program of interdisciplinary research-creation applies a deep commitment to the open-endedness of computation 鈭 as an art material 鈭 toward technologies of artificial intelligence within immersive mixed reality. The research and training program will result in new software for artists to co-create immersive worlds as art installations. As collaborative improvisations enacted with the whole body, this will radically change how we sculpt complex forms and behaviours. Moreover, these worlds will be more responsive, playful and curious. Disseminated in public venues, they will share a different conception of the cohabitation of human and artificial beings.
Three of 91亚色鈥檚 CRCs will receive funding from the听 John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), which is investing $14 million for research equipment and infrastructure for 58 CRCs across Canada. Srikantha will receive $100,000, Van Nort will receive $59,000, and Wakefield will receive almost $115,000 in JELF funding.