Mitacs Elevate Program

Sponsor

Mitacs

Program

Elevate

For More Information

For complete program details and how to apply, please visit the Mitacs Elevate program webpage.

Description

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

• A one or 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 one or two-year fellowship, fellows divide their time between their partner organization's project and academic institution-based research with their academic supervisor.

The Elevate program offers:

1. An award valued at $60,000 per year with a minimum stipend of $55,000.

• Partner organization contributes $30,000 per year. 

2. An exclusive professional development curriculum.  

3. Proposal assistance, including application feedback, from a Mitacs Advisor.

4. Certificate of completion after receipt of their exit survey and final report submission.

Eligibility

Postdoctoral fellow eligibility:

• They are Canadian citizens, permanent residents or international applicants.
• They are based at an academic institution (including colleges or polytechnics) 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.
• ​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 two years (six internship units equivalent) of Mitacs Accelerate at postdoctoral level. This must be completed before the start of the Mitacs Elevate fellowship.
• Elevate alumni that have completed a 1- or 2-year Elevate project will be able to apply for another Elevate project. Postdocs can only be funded for a maximum of 3 years.
• Postdocs can complete nine internship units (typically 3 years) of Mitacs funding, including any combination of Elevate & Accelerate in any order (e.g. Accelerate after an Elevate; hold more than one Elevate). One year of Elevate counts as 3 internship units.
• 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.
• 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. 

Maximum Project Value

$60,000 per year.

Indirect Costs

0%

Project Duration

Elevate projects are one or two years in length.

Special Notes

Please note the following:

• Industry partner matching funds must be remitted to Mitacs directly. Funds that are already at the University cannot be used for matching purposes.
• No additional funding contribution is required from the academic supervisor or university. Fellowships will be awarded competitively.
• For applications that involve Indigenous partner organizations and/or an intern who is Indigenous, please review the Mitacs Indigenous Pathways cost-sharing opportunities and connect with Emily Gordon (egordon@mitacs.ca) for more information

How to Apply

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

1. Apply with the Mitacs' Online Application system.
2. Follow the Mitacs' guidelines when writing your proposal .
3. Submit your 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 finalized draft Elevate application (including signatures on the Memorandum), along with signed OR-5, to research.services@uoguelph.ca.

4. Submit your completed Elevate application to Mitacs.