Ottawa, ON — Mitacs has opened the call for nominations for the 14th Mitacs Innovation Awards. One of Canada’s premier innovation celebrations, this year’s ceremony will highlight eight exceptional innovators and their impactful work, made possible through partnerships with Mitacs.
As the organization celebrates 25 years committed to fostering innovation and productivity in Canada, the annual ceremony continues to recognize the best in Canadian talent, innovation, and research, but with a renewed name and updated award categories. For the first time, start-up innovators will be awarded for their outstanding contributions as emerging entrepreneurs.
Some of the groundbreaking innovations brought forward by past Mitacs Awards winners include a smart garment that makes blood-glucose monitoring as easy as putting on a shirt, a first-of-its-kind non-opioid, non-addictive pain medication aimed at solving the opioid crisis, a game-changing work to help Indigenous youth succeed, and a disruptive effort to remove employment barriers for those with communication disabilities.
Nominations for the 2024 Mitacs Innovation Awards are now open for the following categories:
- Mitacs Innovation Award — Outstanding Innovation*
With four winners in this category and an emphasis on potential achievement and larger societal and economic impact of research, the Mitacs Outstanding Innovation Award recognizes extraordinary talent from across Canada, and the potential their innovations hold to drive innovation and broaden our understanding of the world around us. The award is given to a student or postdoctoral fellow.
- Mitacs Innovation Award — Canadian Start-Up Innovator of the Year*
The Canadian Start-up Innovator of the Year Award celebrates an outstanding Canadian innovator who has used a Mitacs-funded project to kick-start their entrepreneurial journey. This self-nominated award highlights the successful commercialization of research and/or creation of a new enterprise, and the infinite potential created when research and entrepreneurial vision align.
- Mitacs Innovation Award — Canadian Enterprise Innovator of the Year
The Canadian Enterprise Innovator of the Year Award celebrates a Mitacs industry partner whose leadership, adoption of burgeoning technology, and support of cutting-edge research and development, demonstrate an ongoing commitment to innovation in Canada.
- Mitacs Innovation Award — Outstanding Research Leadership*
The Mitacs Innovation Award for Outstanding Research Leadership is presented to an academic supervisor with an exemplary record of developing collaborations with industry partners, providing valuable research and training experiences to their interns, and utilizing Mitacs funding to initiate ground-breaking research.
- Mitacs Innovation Award — Inclusive Innovator of the Year*
Recognizing the importance, value, and accomplishments of equity-deserving groups within Canada’s innovation ecosystem, the Mitacs Inclusive Innovator of the Year Award is granted to a Mitacs program participant who is committed to developing and/or fostering an inclusive innovation ecosystem.
*These award categories are open to nominations for college, CEGEP, polytechnic, and university participants from eligible programs.
The nomination deadline is Sunday, September 15, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET. More details on the awards and how to submit a nomination are available at Mitacs Innovation Awards.
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“The Mitacs Innovation Awards recognize the achievements of exceptional innovators across Canada and the infinite potential for impact when bold leaders work together. This year, we’re particularly excited to present our community with a fresh look and updated categories as Mitacs celebrates 25 years of leading Canadian innovation. With an emphasis on highlighting impact, thought leadership, and inclusivity, the new categories are a better representation of our focus and Canada’s innovation landscape.”
John Hepburn, CEO, Mitacs
About Mitacs
Mitacs works to bring innovation to more people in more places across Canada and around the world. Mitacs makes investing in new knowledge easier through access to top researchers, flexible project plans, and co-investments in talent.
A not-for-profit organization, Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.
Learn more at mitacs.ca
