Connecting Industry with University Expertise

Christopher Bowman, Ph. D.Director, Business DevelopmentPrairies

Who is Mitacs?

• A private, not-for-profit organization • Financed by the federal and provincial governments,

as well as Canadian universities and private enterprise• Support research and development in all academic

disciplines across the country

• To encourage and support research collaborations between industrial and academic partners– Connect industry with top university researchers to

advance:• Industry innovation• Research excellence• Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) training and

recruitment

Mitacs Mandate

www.mitacs.ca

• Each program tackles a specific requirement in the Canadian research talent supply chain.

www.mitacs.ca

The Mitacs approach…

Attract Train Retain Deploy

Mitacs Programs

• Globalink – International undergraduate student research projects at Canadian

universities

• Accelerate – Grad student and post-doc internships to support research and

development projects

• STEP – Business and professional skills training for grad students and post-docs

• Conference Services

Attract Train Retain Deploy

• Goal: Attract top international students to Canadian universities– Globalink 1: Recruit international undergraduate students for

summer internships;– Globalink 2: Retain these candidates through fellowships at their

Canadian host University

• 2013 : recruitment from India, China, Brazil and Mexico.– Call for summer 2013 students: July 2012

www.mitacs.ca

Globalink:

• Professor submits project– Forms on website (www.mitacs.ca)– Deadline for summer 2013 is July 31, 2012– Can submit up to four projects– We support projects in all disciplines

• Projects are reviewed for scientific merit• Students apply to program

– Best students from best institutes selected– Students matched to projects– Announcement of matches in January, 2013

Globalink Process

www.mitacs.ca

Mitacs-Accelerate

Canada’s premier research internship programme.Objective:• To initiate and support collaborations between

university researchers and external partners Adopted model:• Collaborative research projects are built from (multiple)

graduate student internships.

Accelerate: Advantages

• Applications are short• Full support of the Mitacs BD Team• No application deadlines• Peer-reviewed• Fast review• For-profit and not-for profit partners• International students welcome

• Open to graduate students and post-doc fellows– All academic disciplines are supported– Undergraduate students can be included

• Internship is based on a research project of industrial interest

Accelerate: Eligibility & Timeline

• Student spends approx. half time at company, half time at university

• Travel subsidies available

Accelerate: Funding – Research Project, One Block

• $7,500 Industry Partner

• $7,500 Mitacs

$15,000 research

grant

$10,000 minimum

student stipend

$5,000other project-

related expenses

Accelerate: Funding – CLUSTERS

• Extra leverage for medium to large projects • Minimum: 3 students (scalable)• Minimum total funding: $80K (6 blocks + $20K flexible)• Scalable: each additional $18K from industry generates $22K from Mitacs

• $36,000 Industry Partner• $44,000 Mitacs

$80,000 research

grant

$20,000other project-

related expenses

$10,000

internships

$10,000

$10,000$10,00

0$10,00

0$10,00

0

Accelerate: Project Scope

• Some past project submissions: – Implications of a whole genome scan in beef cattle– Exploiting effects of selenium on cell survival and

immunity to improve lactation of dairy cows and functionality of their milk

– The role of essential amino acids in milk protein production in lactating dairy cows

Accelerate: Process

• A researcher begins (or continues) a collaboration with an external partner– Not-for-profits, provincial entities are acceptable partners

in Saskatchewan.

• An intern (or interns) are identified– Projects can be approved provisionally pending the

location of interns

• The intern prepares a proposal, with assistance from company, professor, and the Mitacs BD

Accelerate Successes

• Since 2003, 3,500 internships nation-wide

• In 2010/2011:– Canada-wide: 1358 internships

totaling $19.4M– In 2011/2012, 27 internships

were supported in Saskatchewan

– We have funds to grow significantly, to 50-75 internships in SK

2003/04

2004/05

2005/06

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

17 2795

157229

630

1040

1300

Number of Internships per Year

Mitacs Accelerate InDev

• Pilot program• Projects of a developmental nature (non-research)

• Eg. Prototyping, software development, business, marketing, etc.

• Intern spends ~ 50% time at company• Additional travel & accommodation support available• 2 week review turnaround

$11,000Research grant

($7,500 industry partner$3,500 Mitacs)

$10,000Minimum intern stipend

$1,000Other project expenses

• We can help support your research and students• We offer:

– Financial support for research– A jump-start to HQP training– Freedom from NSERC subject restrictions

• The match:– Very difficult to “find a company to support my work in…”– We CAN help with:

• The reverse match• Advice and assistance to ‘make a pitch’.

Accelerate and WCVM

www.mitacs.ca

• Acquiring important interpersonal skills for the industrial

environment

• Open to other graduate students/post-docs

www.mitacs.ca

STEP:

• Workshops in:• Management of scientific

projects• Communications, networking

and establishing partnerships• Business etiquette• Presentation skills

• Mitacs can take on the task of organizing conferences and meetings for applicants.

• See Mitacs website (www.mitacs.ca) for details

Conference Services and Networking Events

www.mitacs.ca

For More Information

Christopher BowmanDirector, Business Development, Prairies

Thorvaldson 226.7, University of Saskatchewancbowman@mitacs.ca

306-202-9630