The Associate Member Program at Perimeter Institute (PI) is specifically designed to enable the Institute to partner with similarly focused research universities throughout Canada to jointly recruit international-calibre scientists to their faculties with an associated residence commitment at Perimeter. This program is not a structured interaction between institutions independent of candidates, but rather an individual arrangement between two organizations that have jointly expressed a strong desire to recruit a particular researcher. As such, it is strictly necessary to ensure that any candidate for an Associate Membership be both highly desired by and strongly fit the culture of both Perimeter Institute and the home university. From Perimeter’s perspective, the Associate Membership presents an opportunity for the Institute to broaden its research orientation by including eminent scientists who might lie slightly outside some of its core research areas, as well as providing an explicit mechanism to involve eminent researchers active in a core research area of the Institute for whom a long-term position is not presently available.

PI will pay the successful candidate a direct salary stipend, pro-rated at our salary scales for the individual, in proportion to time spent at the Institute. This stipend is exclusive of benefits and pension contributions, which are assumed to be met by the host university.

As the joint positions involve separate endorsement by both PI and the home university, the sooner Institute staff become involved in the recruitment process, the likelier the possibility that a successful fit will be found among prospective candidates. Typically, one PI researcher will be involved in the search process from an initial stage. All Associates must interview at PI and all potential Associates must go through our full recruitment process, including endorsement by the PI Research Staff and Executive Director, appraisal by our Scientific Advisory Committee and approval by the Board of Directors.

All positions must be openly advertised by the home university, with a specific mention of the possibility of an Associate Membership with Perimeter Institute. In keeping with PI’s founding mandate, all Associate Member positions are potentially renewable contract positions of 3-5 years. Lastly, there is an understanding that the teaching/administrative load the candidate holds at the home university is not sufficiently onerous to impede his/her ability to devote full time and attention to research activities when resident at PI. Our present policy is to have an upper limit of 3 Associate members per university.