MITACS Accelerate
  

What is MITACS Accelerate?

A unique cost-shared internship program managed by MITACS Inc, a national research network, which connects companies, governments and community organizations with the vast research expertise in Canada’s universities, from applied sciences, engineering,social sciences, business, arts, life sciences and much more.

 

How MITACS Accelerate works:

The conduit between the partner organization — a company, government department/agency or not-for-profi t — and the university is a graduate student or post-doctoral fellow. Armed with the very latest tools, techniques and innovations, the intern brings a new perspective and the latest knowledge to a research challenge faced by the partner. Internship projects can be undertaken in a wide range of areas including manufacturing, technical innovation, business processes, IT, social sciences, design and many more.

The details:

An intern spends approximately half of their time over a four-month period on site with the partner, gaining a better understanding of the research issue in question. The balance of the intern’s time is spent at the university, further advancing the research under the guidance of a faculty supervisor. Internships can be combined into larger, 8 or 12-month projects. For a four-month internship, the organization contributes $7,500 which is equally matched by MITACS through the support of federal and provincial funding partners.

Benefits for companies and other partners:

  • Tap into expertise from across the university spectrum from engineering, biology and math to psychology, history, chemistry and business and all points in between
  • Projects are focused on company priorities
  • Reduces company R&D costs while stimulating internal research programs
  • Connects your organization with potential future employees
  • MITACS business development team will help to identify the appropriate academic expertise
  • Projects may be eligible for federal research tax credits
  • Ideal way to develop valuable relationships with Canadian researchers
  • All financial issues are handled by the university and MITACS; the intern does not become a company employee
  • Most projects are reviewed within 6 weeks

Benefits for university faculty

  • Fosters the development of new or fledgling emerging relationships with companies
  • Opportunity to gain insight into the strategic market drivers faced by industry and government
  • Provides your graduate students with a unique training opportunity and increased funding
  • Applications – which are accepted at any time - are short with a quick turn-around time

Click here for more information on the MITACS Accelerate internship program