Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Funding - Fall 2021 Call for Proposals + Thematic Call

Sponsor

Mitacs

Program

Elevate

For More Information

Mitacs Elevate Fall 2021 Call for Proposals

Mitacs Frequently Asked Questions

Description

Mitacs Elevate is a postdoctoral fellowship with an exclusive professional development curriculum component. Fellows address complex challenges through:

• A two-year research project with a partner organization in need of high-level expertise
• A professional development curriculum that prepares Elevate fellows for success as leaders in research and industry

Fellows progress through the program in a cohort, giving them cross-disciplinary networking and peer-learning opportunities they might not have otherwise in their careers.

Over the two-year fellowship, fellows divide their time between their partner organization's project and academic institution-based research with their academic supervisor. Project are co-funded through Mitacs and the partner organization. Enhanced leveraging may be available for your partner organization. Contact Mitacs for more information.

New for the Fall 2021 call! Eligible applicants are welcome to apply for the Elevate thematic funding opportunity:

• Elevate fellows receive $70,000 minimum annual stipend/salary for projects addressing at least one of the key priority sectors of artificial intelligence, biomanufacturing, clean tech, or quantum science
• An exclusive professional development curriculum valued at $4,000 per year 
• Proposal assistance, including application feedback, from Mitacs representatives 
• Certificate of completion after receipt of their exit survey and final report submission 

Eligibility

 Postdoctoral Fellows

• They are Canadian citizens, permanent residents or international applicants
• They are based at an academic institution located in Canada for the duration of the fellowship
• Their date of graduation from a PhD program is less than five years to proposed start date of the Elevate project, unless:
  • Fellows who have had a break in their career due to military service, illness, or family leave may be considered exceptions and must be approved in advance of application
  • If this situation applies to you or you have any questions, please contact Mitacs at elevate(at)mitacs.ca
• They have fulfilled all PhD degree requirements (e.g., successful defence, final deposit, and sign-off of the dissertation), meet the postdoctoral fellow eligibility criteria at their home academic institution, hold a postdoctoral fellow status for the entire duration of their Mitacs Elevate fellowship
• They can commit to the two-year Mitacs Elevate fellowship, including the exclusive professional development curriculum. Replacement or substitute fellows are not allowed
• Fellows who have held a Mitacs Accelerate award as a Master's or PhD student are eligible as long as they have not completed more than one year (three internship units equivalent) of Mitacs Accelerate at postdoctoral level. This must be completed before the start of the Mitacs Elevate fellowship
• Fellows cannot apply to multiple Mitacs programs for the same period of time.

Fellows are ineligible if they have: 

• Been employed for more than six months in an R&D position outside the academic institution after receipt of their doctoral degree
• Received an offer of employment from the proposed partner organization except an offer of this fellowship or short-term employment of up to six months while awaiting a decision on the Mitacs Elevate fellowship
• Completed more than one year (three internship units equivalent) of Mitacs Accelerate at the postdoctoral level before the start of the Elevate fellowship; and
• Previously held a Mitacs Elevate award. Fellows who have completed Mitacs Elevate are also ineligible for Mitacs Accelerate
• If the application is not recommended for an award, fellows may not be eligible to apply again if they have accumulated more than six months of industrial or partner organization work. It is recommended that fellows accept a temporary contract only if necessary and that the period is kept as short as possible. 

Partner Organizations

• They are Canadian or a Canadian location of a foreign-owned organization
• They are end users of the research
• They have an office or site where the fellow undertakes at least 50% of the fellowship interacting with the partner 
• They are for-profit corporations and crown corporations receiving no more than 50% of their revenues from government sources
• They are eligible not-for-profit (NFP) corporations such as industry associations, charitable organizations, and economic development organizations.
  • All research projects in collaboration with an NFP corporations must demonstrate an economic or productivity orientation such as creating new jobs, reducing costs of goods or services, or increasing productivity in a process or industry. 
• They are a hospital or municipality in Canada.
  • All research projects in collaboration with a hospital, or municipality must demonstrate an economic or productivity orientation such as creating new jobs, reducing costs of goods or services, or increasing productivity in a process or industry.

Maximum Project Value

As in prior years, postdoctoral fellows can apply for two years of funding valued at $60,000/year. And this year, sector-specific experts in artificial intelligence, cleantech, quantum science, and biomanufacturing are eligible for funding of $80,000/year.

Elevate fellows receive:

• A $55,000 minimum annual stipend/salary + up to $5,000 in project expenses
• An exclusive professional development curriculum valued at $4,000 per year
• Proposal assistance, including application feedback, from Mitacs representatives
• Certificate of completion after receipt of their exit survey and final report submission

Indirect Costs

0%

Project Duration

Elevate projects are two years in length

Special Notes

Mitacs recognizes that due to the pandemic and the uncertainties it’s created, you may be operating with limited ability to plan future research projects. If you feel that you cannot submit an Elevate proposal at this time due to the pandemic, please reach out to Mitacs at elevate@mitacs.ca.

Please also note that industry/partner matching funds must be remitted to Mitacs directly. Funds that are already at the University cannot be used for matching purposes.

COVID-19
Please note that research activities carried out in the context of COVID-19 need to adhere to the University of Guelph COVID-19 research principles, policies, guidelines and processes as they may be updated from time to time and communicated on the Office of Research web-page.

How to Apply

1.  Connect with Emily Gordon, University of Guelph's Mitacs Business Development Representative

1. Apply with Mitacs' Online Application system
2. Follow Mitacs' guidelines when writing your proposal 
3. Submit proposal for pre-review to egordo05@uoguelph.ca

2. Upload the following additional documents to your Elevate application: 

1. Postdoctoral fellow’s CV
2. Proposed academic supervisor’s CV
3. Three recommendation letters with letterhead and signature required. Please refer to the Recommendation Letter Guidelines.
   1. One (1) recommendation letter from the proposed academic supervisor
   2. One (1) recommendation letter from a former supervisor or person familiar with the fellow’s research expertise
   3. One (1) recommendation letter from an eligible partner organization including financial contribution in dollar amount
4. Any supplementary documents as applicable

3. Submit your completed Elevate application to Mitacs by January 19, 2022, by 8pm EST

4. Approved projects must begin before September 7, 2022