Mitacs congratulates University of British Columbia on its centennial year

Vancouver, BC – The University of British Columbia, a Full Partner of Mitacs’, celebrates its centennial birthday this year – marking the opening of its doors 100 years ago in 1915. Over the past seven years, UBC and Mitacs have partnered to provide innovative research opportunities to students and postdocs through the Mitacs Accelerate, Elevate, Globalink, and Step programs.

Mitacs and UBC have partnered on more than 1,200 projects:

• 1,005 Mitacs Accelerate research internships, which enable UBC graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to broaden their impact by connecting with non-academic organizations and applying their skills to new challenges
• 57 Mitacs Elevate fellowships, which offer UBC postdoctoral fellow top-tier R&D management training as they undertake a research project with a partner organization and faculty supervisor
• 247 Mitacs Globalink Research internships, which provide international undergraduate students opportunities to strengthen their international networks through summer research internships with UBC professors

In addition, more than 3,000 UBC students have attended Mitacs Step workshops, which provide high-quality skills training to graduate students and early-career researchers. Since 2012, Mitacs has run 46 workshops at the university.

Mitacs programs are supported by the University of British Columbia, the Government of British Columbia, and the Government of Canada. Since 2008, the university has received a total investment value of almost $23 million.

Quotes:

Alejandro Adem, CEO and Scientific Director, Mitacs
“Mitacs offers our warmest congratulations to the University of British Columbia on celebrating its anniversary. Over the last century, UBC has played a pivotal role in shaping Canada’s research landscape. I look forward to building on our shared achievements as we look ahead to the 2015–16 academic year.”

John Hepburn, Vice President, Research &International, University of British Columbia
“UBC’s centennial celebrations focus not only on past achievements, but more importantly on what the next 100 years may bring. Research-intensive universities help drive innovation and change, and partner with governments and industry to tackle urgent societal challenges at home and around the world. UBC’s long-standing partnership with Mitacs is an effective way for our researchers and students to engage with industry for the greater good, and we look forward to developing this partnership well into our second century.”

Quick facts:

• Mitacs is a national not-for-profit organization that develops the next generation of innovators with vital professional skills through unique research and training programs.
• Mitacs Accelerate connects companies with research-based universities through graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, who apply their specialized expertise to business challenges. In 2014–2015, Mitacs supported almost 3,200 Accelerate internships.
• Mitacs Elevate is a competitive postdoctoral fellowship that offers customized professional development training targeted at new PhDs. Fellows receive training in areas such as communication, leadership, and project management as they lead a two-year research project with a non-academic partner organization. In 2014–15, Mitacs Elevate supported 110 fellowships.
• Mitacs Globalink offers two-way mobility opportunities between Canada and Mitacs partner countries for both undergraduate and graduate students. In the summer of 2015, Mitacs Globalink matched 750 international senior undergraduates with Canadian faculty for 12-week research projects.
• Mitacs Step provides professional development training to advanced degree graduates, supplementing their education and research experience with the tools necessary to succeed in today’s workforce. In 2014–2015, nearly 6,000 students attended 283 online and in-person workshops across Canada.

Links:

For information about Mitacs and our programs, see mitacs.ca/newsroom.

###