UCalgary Mitacs Globalink Research Award - Incoming

See: Mitacs page for students coming to Canada 

Students:

1)  Must be registered as full-time senior undergraduates, graduate students, or postdoctoral fellows at an eligible Canadian institution or eligible international institution and remain as such throughout their Globalink Research Award;
       o Postdoctoral fellows may apply if their date of graduation from a PhD program is no more than 5 years prior to the proposed start date of the research project and they have postdoctoral status at an eligible institution 

2)   This program is open to students through International Partners across 15 countries and regions including: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, European Union, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Ukraine and USA. Students through one of these International Partners must verify the specific eligibility under the “International partners information” tab.  Travel and research is also supported with academic institutions across a number of other countries and regions *eligible countries are subject to change.

3)  Cannot undertake a research project at an institution where they have previously completed a degree or in a country in which they hold citizenship;

4)  Must be the legal age of majority in Canada (18 years of age or older);

5)  Must meet travel requirements for their intended Canadian destination, including visa and/or immigration requirements and associated documentation; and

6)  Cannot have previously received a Globalink Research Award.

• Note: 25% of your 12-24 week long research project may be completed at your home institution.

7)  Cannot simultaneously hold a Globalink Research Award and another Mitacs award. Participants who hold another Mitacs award must complete it prior to receiving a Globalink Research Award. 

Host Supervising Professors:

• Must hold a faculty position at UCalgary; and
• Must be eligible to hold Tri-Agency funding and to supervise graduate students.

Home Supervising Professors:

•  Must hold a faculty position at an eligible institution; and
•  Must be eligible to supervise graduate students.

For more information please refer the the Mitacs GRA FAQ section.

• You will need to secure an academic supervisor at your home institution as well as one at the University of Calgary.

• Once you have confirmation of a research project from both your home and host university supervisors, please complete the application process in step 3.

• Please Note: The start date of your research period at the University of Calgary must normally be at the beginning of one of our academic terms. You may come for longer than one term, but the start date should be at the beginning of any one of the following terms:
  • Fall Semester: start in late August
  • Winter Semester: start in early January
  • Spring Semester: start in early May
  • Summer Semester: start in early July 

NEW: Mitacs has launched their Global Research Award Application Portal 

(The grace period to use the old forms is until November 30, 2023.)

Create your application 

• Log in to the portal.
• From the Dashboard, select ‘Create New Application’ and follow the prompts on screen. 
• Complete your participant profile by selecting ‘Edit’ from the Actions menu. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk (*). 
• Once your profile is complete, please add the other participants on the project by clicking the ‘Add Intern’, and/or ‘Add Canadian/International Academic Supervisor’ then complete all other required information.  
• In addition select "Additional Persons with Access to the Proposal" and input Mitacs GRA Global Learning, with the e-mail MitacsGRA@ucalgary.ca.
• The application will ask you to select your Mitacs Advisor, if you are not already working with one of UCalgary's Mitacs Advisors and are unsure of who to choose, please use this webform to confirm (scroll to the bottom of the page). Please provide any relevant information in the webform including your program, department/faculty, current degree level, expected graduation date, home/host supervisors, etc..
• Ensure you are inviting co-applicants with the correct email addresses. This will send an email to the other participants to confirm their participation in the project. As invited participants, these individuals can have access and contribute to the steps listed below. Ensure the Editor box is checked to grant your co-applicants full access to the proposal.

Research Proposal and Budget

• Proceed to the Proposal screen and follow the prompts. Please see the ‘How to write your research proposal’ section in the GRA program guide for more information on how to complete the research proposal section. 
• Proceed to the Internship Budget and Schedule screen and click ‘Add Internship’ and complete the required fields. Important: Please allocate all funds as stipends in the budget section.
• If creating an application for 2 internship units (24-48 weeks), remember to budget for 1 internship unit (12-24 weeks). The portal will double the amount automatically.   

Pre-departure Form

Each intern is required to download the form from the portal, complete, and submit it. The Pre-departure Form can be submitted at the time of the application submission or after the Outcome Letter is received (please ensure you keep a copy of the downloaded application to submit later if applicable). *Important: Mitacs cannot issue an Notice of Award Letter until the Pre-departure Form is submitted.

The Canadian supervisor or the individual who created the application are the only participants who are able to submit the application.

All participants will receive a confirmation email once the application is submitted.

Please submit your application, prior to your anticipated project start date, with consideration of a minimum 16 week processing time in addition to your visa processing timelines with Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada.Please note you will require a work permit.  The processing times for work permits are subject to change without notice, and are beyond our control.

Submission 

• Optional Pre-submission Review: applicants may request their Mitacs Advisor to do a pre-submission review of their application, to obtain feedback and flag any application errors.  This step is a completely Optional and additional time (3 -5 business days) should be factored into the application timelines.
• Sign-off 
  • Click ‘Review Application’ to download PDF and ensure all information is correct and then click ‘Sign Off Request’
  • Each applicant will have to login to the portal and sign-off on the application
  • Once sign-off is completed by all participants, the application is ready for Institutions Sign-Off.
  • Download your application by clicking ‘Create ORS Approval Document’ and e-mail to MitacsGRA@ucalgary.ca, copying your UCalgary's Mitacs Advisor (who was added at the beginning of the application).
• Submit
  • Upload the signed ORS signature page once signatures have been received.
  • All participants will receive a confirmation email once the application is submitted.
  • The Canadian supervisor or the individual who created the application are the only participants who are able to submit the application.

International Pre-departure Form

Each intern is required to download the form from the portal, complete, and submit it via e-mail for sign-off to MitacsGRA@ucalgary.ca The International Pre-departure Form can be submitted at the time of the application submission or after the Outcome Letter is received (please ensure you keep a copy of the downloaded application to submit later if applicable). *Important: Mitacs cannot issue an Notice of Award Letter until the Pre-departure Form is submitted.

Please submit your application, prior to your anticipated project start date, with consideration of a minimum 16 week processing time in addition to your visa processing timelines with Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada.Please note you will require a work permit.  The processing times for work permits are subject to change without notice, and are beyond our control.

Post-submission

Mitacs will contact participants about their proposal outcomes by issuing an Outcome Letter. Proposals will be adjudicated based on the following criteria:

•  Expected benefit to the intern’s academic studies and research career
•  Benefit to society, industry and Canada
•  Quality of the research proposal
•  Level of supervision and mentorship committed by the host supervisor

Mitacs will invite you to complete a self-identification data collection form by email. Collection of this data is a mandatory requirement for our funders, which helps to secure continuous funding for our programs.

The intern provides the completed Mitacs International Pre-Departure form (which can be downloaded from the application portal) to Mitacs (if not provided at submission). Mitacs cannot issue a Notice of Award Letter highlighting the funding details without reception of the International Pre-departure form.

1)  Complete and submit a Visiting Student Researcher application: Undergraduate or Graduate

• • Note that incoming Mitacs students should apply as Visiting Student Researchers even if our institutions have an exchange agreement.
  • For more information, please see Visiting Student Researchers.
  • Note that as a Visiting Student Researcher, you will be charged a small fee that includes a Transit Pass and access to Campus Recreation facilities.

2)  Obtain any required visas and permits. 

You will be required to apply for a work permit. Please send the following documents to UCalgary Immigration Services at hrimmigration@ucalgary.ca once you have all of them. 

Immigration Services cannot proceed with your work permit application process until you provide the following documents:

• Letter from UCalgary confirming your registration under the Visiting Student Researcher program (VSR letter)
• Mitacs Notice of Award letter. Immigration Services cannot proceed with your immigration paperwork until you send them a copy of the actual Notice of Award (please refer to the attached template)
• Copy of your passport. Please note that your passport must be valid for the whole duration of your visit to Canada. If this is not the case, please apply to extend your passport.

Please do not contact Immigration Services regarding the VSR admission letter or Mitacs Notice of Award letter, as they are not responsible for issuing them.

3)  Obtain appropriate health insurance

4)  Arrange for housing. Please see the International Student Services website for details.

5)  Upon arrival, you will need to do the following in order to receive your funding:

• • Obtain a Social Insurance Number
  • Open a Canadian bank account
  • Update your banking information in your online University of Calgary student centre (MyUofC)

Funding:

• Mitacs issues the Notice of Award Letter after the participant has provided their International Pre-Departure form and confirmed their project dates. Students cannot travel until Mitacs has issued both an Outcome and Notice of Award Letter. Projects must begin within one year of the Outcome Letter being issued.
• Mitacs funds will be sent to the University of Calgary and administered by the appropriate office responsible for managing undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral fellows’ funds at the university.
• Your funding will be issued as a direct deposit to your Canadian bank account. This means that you will not receive your funds until you have arrived in Canada and opened your bank account, which can take approximately 1 month. Please be prepared with sufficient funds to cover your first month in Calgary.
• Funding is based on a project duration of 12 weeks, though project durations of up to 24 weeks are acceptable. Applicants are encouraged to seek support from other funding sources for longer durations, and use prudence when allocating funds to travel and accommodations.

Following completion of your research placement, please submit the following to Mitacs. This must be completed within one month of the conclusion of your project.

1)  A final report that summarizes the project.
           o The participant is responsible for drafting the final report and securing approval and signatures from the participating supervisors.
2)  Exit survey from the participant.
3)  Exit survey from the home academic supervisor.
4)  Exit survey from the host academic supervisor.