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Mitacs Accelerate

Sponsor/agency: Mitacs

Program: Mitacs Accelerate 

Description 

Mitacs Accelerate is a research-based internship that supports research collaborations between eligible Ontario higher education institutions and for-profit or not-for-profit organizations. The awards provide $15,000 of funding for each 4-to-6-month internship. Funded projects support interns to work collaboratively with their academic supervisors and partner organizations.  

Funding through the Mitacs Accelerate program can support partner organizations solve complex challenges, develop new ideas, optimize their budgets, grow their R & D and benefit from the expertise of skilled students, graduate students, recent grads and post-docs. Mitacs projects are also a great way to build research partnerships with industry leaders.  

Program Summary 

How it works: First, an intern, a supervising professor and a partner organization develop a research project. From there they submit a proposal with the support of a Mitacs representative and a Research Partnerships Officer through the Office of Research services at Ontario Tech. 

Deadlines: Applications are accepted throughout the year. Application reviews take approximately 6 to 8 weeks. 

Value: Mitacs funding is distributed by Internship Units (IUs) that are 4 or 6 months in length. 

For standard funding, each 4 or 6 month IU award is $15,000, of which $7,500 is contributed from the partner and $7,500 is contributed by Mitacs.  

For Postdoctoral research, each IU is worth $20,000 for 4-month internship, with $10,00 being contributed by the partner and Mitacs respectively. 

Duration: 

There are no limits on the number of internships that can be completed for students, as long as the interns have time in their schedule to accommodate the internship. Recent grads are limited to 3 internships (or 1 year) of funding and postdocs are limited to 9 internships (or 3 years) of funding.  

How to Apply:

  1. Notify your Research Partnerships Officer and the Mitacs Business Development Officer of your intent to apply. Please see below for Research Partnership Officer Faculty Portfolios to determine your primary Ontario Tech contact for Mitacs projects.   
  2. You can apply directly through the Mitacs Registration and Application Portal (RAP), available here. 
    1. Please note a proposal template will be provided to you through RAP. You can also find a template for review prior to submission under ‘How to Apply’ here.
  3. Submit application and Submit the Research Grants Authorization (RGA) Form signed by your Dean to the relevant Research Partnerships Officer. 

If the project is awarded, a Research Partnerships Officer can facilitate the development of a research agreement and provide any required support throughout the life of the project.

Contact: Mitacs applications are handled by our Research Partnerships Officers. 

Partnerships Officer contact information:

Mitacs program contact:

Laura Yu

Program information:

You can learn more about the Mitacs Accelerate program on the website.

Eligibility 

Applicant 

Academic supervisors must be a faculty member who is eligible to hold Tri-Agency funding. 

Partner Organization 

  • Partner organizations can be for-profit corporations (must receive more than 50% of their funds from non-government sources), eligible not-for-profit corporations, municipalities, or hospitals in Canada.
  • For-profit businesses and not-for-profit corporations operating outside of Canada are eligible as additional partners on projects with a Canadian partner organization.

Interns:

An intern can be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, international student with a student visa, or international postdoctoral fellow with a valid work permit. They can be registered students and postdoctoral fellows, recent graduates (at least two years from graduation at the start of their project) and visiting students and researchers. 

Please see full eligibility criteria here.

Resources