Canada Research Chair position in Animal Behavioural Neuroscience and the Brain-Heart Axis (uOttawa)

Position Information:

Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Animal Behavioural Neuroscience and the Brain-Heart Axis

The Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Ottawa and the affiliated Brain-Heart Interconnectome (BHI) invite applications for a Canada Research Chair Tier 2 position in Animal Behavioural Neuroscience and the Brain-Heart Axis, to investigate the role of the brain-heart axis in neurodegeneration, cognitive impairment, or mental illness. 
The candidate must have a world-class research program and an ambitious research agenda. The holder of the Chair will implement a creative and independent research program that is based on external research funding and will be actively involved with graduate student training and education. The Chair will be appointed to the School of Psychology, and will be expected to teach at both undergraduate and graduate levels and supervise undergraduate and graduate students in this unit.
The preferred candidate will use animal behaviour neuroscience models to investigate mechanistic interactions between the brain and heart. Areas of focus may include, but not limited to, animal models of ischemia; neuroinflammation; transgenic neurodegenerative models; psychophysiology and stress reactivity; as well as in-vivo neuroimaging.
The candidate will also be a member of the Brain-Heart Interconnectome (BHI). The BHI is a ground-breaking interdisciplinary research program designed to accelerate prevention, detection, treatment, and care of health conditions linked to the brain and the heart through research co-produced with patients and other knowledge users.
The Faculty of Social Sciences includes nine departments, schools and institutes, which offer undergraduate, Master’s and doctoral programs in both English and French. With its 10,000 students and 260 full-time professors, the Faculty plays a central role at the heart of the University of Ottawa. It supports cutting-edge research and graduate training. The School of Psychology promotes research and training excellence. Our professors lead major laboratories, research centres, and institutes. The School of Psychology offers a strong undergraduate program and two outstanding doctoral programs: Experimental Psychology and Clinical Psychology. All programs are offered in French and/or English. Finally, the School is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion. We recognize that systemic barriers have prevented many qualified people of colour, LGBTQ2S+ individuals, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups from fully participating in academia, and we seek to increase diversity within the School of Psychology to better represent the Ottawa region and Canada. 
Located on the unceded territory of the Anishinaabe-Algonquin people, in the heart of the nation`s capital and in close proximity to multiple national agencies, the University of Ottawa is one of Canada's top ten research-intensive universities. It is recognised as the first and largest bilingual university in North America and offers strong connections to organisational, government and policy interest holders. 
 

Tier 2 Chairs, tenable for five years and renewable once, are for exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their field. The Chair comes with a generous funding package and partial teaching release. Candidates should, at a minimum, be assistant or associate professors, or possess the necessary qualifications to be appointed to these levels. Candidates who are more than 10 years from their highest degree must contact the University of Ottawa directly for questions related to their potential eligibility for a Tier 2 Chair. The institution may nominate a professor or a researcher who is more than 10 years from their highest degree at the time of nomination and has experienced legitimate career interruptions (see acceptable justifications). In such cases, the institution must submit to the Secretariat a formal justification (using the Tier 2 Justification Screening Form), explaining why the nominee is still considered to be an emerging scholar. The University recognizes the legitimate impact that leaves (e.g., parental leave, leave due to illness) can have on a candidate’s record of research achievement and that these leaves will be taken into careful consideration during the assessment process. New CRC nominees are also eligible for infrastructure support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to help acquire state-of-the-art equipment essential to their work.  
 

Selective hiring: The University of Ottawa is committed to ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion in the scholarly and leadership environments of our students, staff, and faculty members. In accordance with the University’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Plan, priority will be given to members of the four designated groups including: Indigenous peoples; racialized individuals; persons with disabilities; women and gender equity-seeking groups as defined in the CRC Program method for establishing equity targets and the Employment Equity Act. Candidates from these groups who wish to be considered for this position must complete the confidential self-identification form during the application process online. The objective of this measure is to increase the representation of the four designated groups in the allocation of Canada Research Chair positions. Internal candidates are not eligible.

Skills requirements:  

• Education : Ph.D. in psychology and/or neuroscience. 
• Required Qualifications: Superior research achievements in the CRC’s identified area(s) and proof of potential to develop national and international collaborations, a solid record with respect to teaching and training of students at the undergraduate and/or graduate level, and the ability to obtain external research funds. Excellent communication skills in either English or French. Active knowledge of the other official language in Canada is a requirement for tenure.  English-French bilingualism is an asset. 
   

Rank and salary: Regular tenure-track academic appointment in the Faculty of Social Sciences. The Assistant Professor salary scale starts at $99,377, and the Associate Professor salary scale starts at $109,776 based on the May 1, 2025 Collective Agreement). Salaries are competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Benefits package: The University of Ottawa provides a complete benefits package which includes long term disability insurance, basic group life insurance, health insurance, University of Ottawa pension plan and optional life insurance, as well as reimbursement of eligible relocation expenses.
 

Location of work: School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5

Application Package:

• A cover letter;
• An up-to-date curriculum vitae (Please include any personal circumstances and/or career interruptions such as parental or sick leaves that may have impacted your research trajectory. These will be taken into consideration in the selection process.);
• A research plan (2 to 3 pages);
• A statement of relevance to the BHI and commitment to a research co-production approach in collaboration with community, patients, health professionals, policy makers and other knowledge users (1page);
• A statement of teaching interests (1 to 2 pages); 
• A statement on equity, diversity, and inclusion philosophy and concrete practices (1 page);
• The names of three people whom may be contacted by the University for letters of reference which will follow the Canada Research Chairs guidelines (i.e. Tier 2: one arm’s length and two who are not affiliated to the University of Ottawa unless they are the candidate’s PhD or postdoctoral supervisor ); and
• Self-identification: Complete the confidential Employment equity questionnaire on the web portal during the application process. The Canada Research Chairs Program requires institutions to collect self-identification data from all applicants, following the program’s best practices.

Deadline:  April 11, 2025

More information regarding Academic Careers can be found online. Apply online through the University of Ottawa Careers portal.
The selection process will begin immediately after the closing date and will continue until the position is filled. Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. 

Please address your cover letter to the following person:
Dr. Julie-St-Pierre, Interim Vice-President, Research and Innovation
University of Ottawa
550 Cumberland St., room 246
Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 CANADA
For questions, please email: rccacrcp@uottawa.ca