Four UBC computer scientists have been appointed to chairs as part of an expansion of the Canada-CIFAR AI research program (see the UBC press release, on which this news item is based.)
The AI program, funded by the Federal government with $86.5 million over five years, provides researchers with long-term, dedicated funding to support their research programs and help them train the next generation of Canadian AI leaders.
"The Canada CIFAR AI Chairs Program is core to Canada’s ongoing leadership in machine learning research and training," says Dr. Elissa Strome, Executive Director of the CIFAR Pan-Canadian AI Strategy.
The Canada CIFAR AI Chairs Program is core to Canada’s ongoing leadership in machine learning research and training
"As the first country to develop a national AI strategy and the birthplace of deep learning, Canada is uniquely positioned to advance machine learning research and responsible AI."
The new UBC Science Canada CIFAR AI Chairs are:
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Kevin Leyton-Brown, Professor, Computer Science, University of British Columbia (Amii)
Mark Schmidt, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of British Columbia, CIFAR Senior Fellow, Learning in Machines & Brains (Amii)
Leonid Sigal, Associate Professor, Computer Science, University of British Columbia (Vector Institute)
Frank Wood, Associate Professor, Computer Science, University of British Columbia (Mila)
The four new UBC chairs join UBC statistician Sara Mostafavi, appointed to the program in 2018. Overall, CIFAR has awarded only eight chairs to researchers with primary academic appointments beyond Toronto, Montreal, or Edmonton (the sites of the three federally-funded AI institutes); along with SFU's Angel Chang, Vancouver is home to six of those eight.