Tenured appointment at the rank of Full Professor, or Associate Professor with promotion to Full Professor within two years of starting the appointment
Date posted: 10 December 2025
Closing date for full consideration: 15 January 2026
About Bishop’s University
Bishop’s University is a historic, primarily undergraduate English-language university located in the city of Sherbrooke, Québec, on a 550-acre campus in the Eastern Townships. It offers students an intimate learning environment, with strong traditions of liberal education and close interaction between students and faculty.
Bishop’s University is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Abenaki people, who are members of the Wabanaki Confederacy.
The Department of Physics & Astronomy has long-standing strengths in astrophysics and relativity, including two current Canada Research Chairs, and identifies these areas as priorities in the University’s Strategic Research Plan. The Department offers a strong undergraduate program, as well as an MSc degree, with plans to launch a PhD program in Astrophysics. Faculty in the Department are involved in major international collaborations, including in the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav), the Vera Rubin Observatory, the Kepler telescope, the Pandora mission, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and the Cosmological Advanced Survey Telescope for Optical and UV Research (CASTOR).
Bishop’s University also has close ties to the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic (OMM) located in the nearby Mont-Mégantic International Dark Sky Reserve. Many instruments are designed and tested on the 1.6-metre telescope at OMM before being commissioned on major telescopes, such as the Gemini Planet Imager for the Gemini Observatories, the Fine Guidance Sensor and Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (FGS-NIRISS) on JWST, and the Near-Infrared Planet Searcher (NIRPS) for the 3.6 metre ESO telescope.
Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) Program
The Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) program is one of the Government of Canada’s most prestigious research chair programs. It supports universities in attracting and retaining world-renowned researchers by providing large, long-term awards to establish ambitious research programs and teams in areas of strategic importance for Canada’s future.
In the current competition, the CERC program offers the chairholder at Bishop’s $8 million ($1M annually) or $4 million ($0.5M annually) CAD over eight years, to support the chairholder’s research program, team, and associated infrastructure and partnership activities. Through a partnership between the CERC program and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the chairholder will be eligible to apply for additional funds for research infrastructure.
For full information on eligibility and program details, applicants should consult the Canada Excellence Research Chairs website: https://www.cerc.gc.ca/home-accueil-eng.aspx
Position description
Bishop’s University invites applications for a Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Astronomical Instrumentation. The successful candidate will be an internationally recognized leader in the conception, design, development, and deployment of cutting-edge astrophysical instrumentation, broadly defined.
Areas of focus may include, but are not limited to:
- Optical, UV, and infrared instrumentation (e.g., detectors, spectrographs, imagers, adaptive optics, astrophotonics)
- Radio and sub-millimetre instrumentation, including digital backends and large-N interferometric arrays
- High-energy and X-ray instrumentation
- Time-domain and multi-messenger astronomy instrumentation (including gravitational-wave and neutrino observatories)
- Space-based or sub-orbital platforms, cubesats, or balloon-borne experiments
Software infrastructure, instrument control, data acquisition, and real-time data processing systems (including applications of AI)
The specific research vision is intentionally broad: we seek a transformative instrumentation leader whose program will enable major advances in astrophysics and aligns with the objectives of the CERC program, including the generation of social and economic benefits for Canadians through innovation, training, partnerships, and knowledge mobilization. This CERC position aligns with federal Science, Technology, and Innovation Priorities, specifically “Technologically Advanced Canada”: https://www.cerc.gc.ca/program-programme/priority_areas-domaines_prioritaires-eng.aspx
The CERC chairholder will be expected to:
- Establish an ambitious, internationally visible research program in astrophysical instrumentation
- Build and lead a diverse research team of highly qualified personnel (HQP), including postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers
- Develop and sustain strong collaborations with Canadian and international observatories, space agencies, research institutes, and industry partners
- Contribute to undergraduate and graduate teaching in Physics & Astronomy, with a reduced teaching load appropriate for a CERC-level research appointment, in accordance with the faculty collective agreement and program guidelines
- Play a leading role in enhancing Bishop’s capacity in experimental and instrumental astrophysics, including mentoring of junior faculty and fostering cross-disciplinary collaborations (for example, with computer science, engineering partners, or data science groups)
- Demonstrate leadership in equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization, and accessibility in research, training, outreach, and team culture.
The position will be tenured at the rank of Associate Professor or Full Professor. Appointment at Bishop’s will be conditional upon the successful nomination of the selected candidate to the CERC program and the subsequent confirmation of the CERC award by the Tri-agency Institutional Program Secretariat.
Candidate profile and qualifications
Consistent with recent CERC competitions at Canadian universities, we anticipate that the successful nominee will:
- Hold a PhD (or equivalent) in astronomy, physics, engineering, or a closely related discipline (required by Bishop’s University but not by the CERC program)
- Be currently at the rank of Full Professor, or Associate Professor who would be promotable to Full Professor within two years of starting the appointment, or have equivalent senior-level research experience in a non-academic setting
- Have an internationally recognized track record of excellence in astronomical instrumentation, including leadership roles in major projects or facilities (e.g., principal investigator, project scientist, instrument lead), and a strong record of peer-reviewed publications
- Demonstrate a sustained ability to attract significant external research funding and to build large, collaborative, multi-institution teams
- Show clear evidence of leadership in training and mentoring diverse groups of HQP, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows
- Demonstrate excellence in teaching and supervision at the undergraduate and/or graduate level
- Demonstrate a strong and sustained commitment to EDI, reconciliation, and inclusive excellence in research, training, and recruitment, consistent with CERC program expectations
Proficiency in English is required, as Bishop’s is an English-language institution. Familiarity with French, or a willingness to learn French to function effectively in the Québec context, is considered a strong asset.
CERC eligibility and selection
This program provides an excellent opportunity for international researchers, including Canadian expatriates wishing to relocate to Canada, to be a leader in our world-class research program in Astrophysics.
The successful candidate will work closely with Bishop’s University to develop a full CERC nomination, which will be submitted to the Government of Canada’s Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat in accordance with the competition timelines.
The CERC chairholder must normally take up the award within 12 months of formal acceptance of the CERC.
Equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility
Bishop’s University and the CERC program share a strong commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization, and accessibility. Bishop’s welcomes applications from all qualified individuals, and especially encourages applications from members of groups that are under-represented in research chairs and in astrophysics, including women, Indigenous peoples, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQIA+ persons. We are committed to fair and equitable assessment processes that take into account the impact of career interruptions (e.g., parental, medical, community or care work, pandemic or other global crises). Bishop’s implements an equal access employment program under Québec’s Act respecting equal access to employment in public bodies for women, visible and ethnic minorities, Indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities. Bishop’s will provide accommodations during the recruitment process upon request.
Applicants who wish to self-identify as members of equity-seeking or systemically marginalized groups are invited to do so in their application materials. Any such information will be used to support institutional EDI objectives and reporting obligations and will be treated in accordance with applicable privacy legislation and CERC requirements.
Application package
Application packages should include the following items combined into a single PDF file:
Cover letter: Clearly identify the position title “Canada Excellence Research Chair in Astronomical Instrumentation”. Summarize your fit to the position, your major research contributions, and your vision for your CERC instrumentation program at Bishop’s. Briefly describe any career interruptions or special circumstances that you would like the committee to consider.
Curriculum Vitae: Include education, positions held, major awards and distinctions, research funding history, significant instrumentation projects, publications, invited talks, supervision and mentorship, and evidence of leadership.
Research and Instrumentation Vision (3 to 5 pages): An outline of an 8-year research and instrumentation program that you would pursue as a CERC chairholder at Bishop’s. Describe how your program will:
- Transform its field scientifically
- Strengthen and complement existing research strengths at Bishop’s and in Canada
- Engage national and international partners (academic, governmental, industry, community)
- Generate societal and/or economic benefits for Canadians, in line with CERC program goals
- Training and EDI Strategy (max 1 page): Your philosophy and concrete plans for training a diverse cohort of HQP. Describe how you will embed EDI and reconciliation in recruitment, mentoring, team culture, and partnerships
Teaching and Mentoring Statement (max 2 pages): Your approach to teaching and supervising at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Provide examples of pedagogical innovation or mentoring practices, including for under-represented groups.
Names and contact information of 3 to 4 referees: Referees will be contacted only for candidates who are shortlisted; you may be asked later to arrange for letters that specifically address CERC criteria.
How to apply
Applications should be sent by email (single PDF attachment) to:
Valerio Faraoni
Interim Dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Email: vfaraoni@UBishops.ca
Please use the subject line: “Application – CERC in Astronomical Instrumentation – [Your Name]”
Review of applications will begin on 16 January 2026, and will continue until the position is filled. To receive full consideration, complete applications should be received by that date.
Salary and start-up arrangements will be commensurate with the CERC award level, the candidate’s experience, and the provisions of the collective agreement with the Association of Professors of Bishop’s University (APBU) union.
Candidates who anticipate needing accommodation during any stage of the recruitment process are invited to contact Jacques Geleyn at Bishop’s University Human Resources (humanresources@ubishops.ca) in confidence.