National Killam Program

Dorothy Killam cared about the future. She had a vision of building Canada’s future through advanced study. Through her will, Dorothy Killam established a perpetual trust to realize that vision and to fund generations of scholars in Canada.

The National Killam Program is privately funded through the generous contribution of Dorothy J. Killam to build Canada’s future by encouraging advanced study. Since its inception, the Killam Trusts have provided more than $1 billion for higher education in Canada. There are more than 8,000 Killam laureates worldwide.

The National Killam Program consists of the Killam Prizes,  the Dorothy Killam Fellowships and the new Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowships. The Prizes are awarded to active Canadian scholars who have distinguished themselves through sustained research excellence. The Dorothy Killam Fellowships provide support to scholars of exceptional ability by granting them time to pursue research projects of broad significance and widespread interest. The new Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowship provide support to distinguished scholars, granting them time to pursue a novel project in collaboration with an NRC researcher, leveraging NRC facilities. Killam Laureates are inclusive collaborators, barrier breakers and researcher leaders.

The winners of the 2024 Killam Prizes  and the Dorothy Killam Fellowships were announced on March 19, 2024. The 2025 National Killam Program cycle, including the new fellowship program is now open.

The National Killam Program is seeking expert reviewers for the upcoming program cycle. Expert reviewers are essential to the process which relies on external reviewers with field-specific expertise. The National Killam Program is actively seeking francophone or bilingual reviewers to provide consistent, fair and high-quality reviews, based on their professional experience. If you’re interested in being a reviewer, register in the portal.