UCalgary Mitacs Globalink Research Award - Outgoing

See: Mitacs page for Canadian students going abroad

Students:

1) Must be registered as full-time senior undergraduates, graduate students, or postdoctoral fellows at the University of Calgary and remain as such throughout their Globalink Research Award;

• 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
• Undergraduate students must be returning to the University of Calgary for at least one semester of an undergraduate or graduate program following their research placement 
• For undergraduate students only: Must have completed their 2nd year of studies (20 courses / 60 units) prior to departure. 

2) Cannot undertake a research project at an institution where they have previously completed a degree and/or been employed;

3) Cannot undertake a research project in a country where they hold citizenship (unless they are a permanent resident or citizen of Canada);

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

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

• Access to the program is currently limited to these eligible countries *eligible countries are subject to change

6) 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.

7) Cannot have previously held a Globalink Research Award or a Mitacs-JSPS Summer Program award.

Note: 25% of your 12-24 week long research project may be completed at UCalgary. A minimum of 75% must be completed at the host institution (for example, for a 12-week project, students can spend a maximum of 3 weeks at UCalgary and must spend a minimum of 9 weeks at the host institution).

Home Supervising Professors:

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

Host Supervising Professors:

•  Must be recognized faculty members at their institutions; 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 the University of Calgary as well as one at your host university. 

• Ensure your host supervisor is in one of the Mitacs GRA eligible destinations. See the Globalink Research Award "About" page for a complete list of eligible destinations. If you wish to inquire about approval for a destination not on the list, please contact the Mitacs coordinator at UCalgary International.

• Note: You must also check the University of Calgary Country Risk Ratings to determine whether you are permitted under University policy to travel to your desired destination.

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

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 into 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’ 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.   

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 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 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 International Pre-departure Form is submitted.

Processing Timelines

Please submit your application, prior to your anticipated project start date, with consideration of a minimum 16 week processing timeline in addition to the visa processing times by the local immigration authorities for your country of destination.

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 International Pre-departure form to Mitacs (if not provided at submission). Mitacs cannot issue a Notice of Award Letter highlighting the funding details until completion of the International Pre-departure form.

1. Complete the pre-departure requirements.
2. Complete any required registration at UCalgary
3. Obtain any required visas and permits
4. Obtain appropriate health insurance
5. Ensure that your banking information in the MyUofC Portal is up to day in order to receive the funding by direct deposit
6. Arrange for housing

Funding:

• Mitacs will issue the 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 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.
• Funds will be issued by direct deposit to your bank account. Please ensure that your banking information is up-to-date by going to your MyUofC portal and clicking on "submit banking information" in the Finances section.
• 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.