Mitacs partners with Mexico’s CONACyT to foster R&D internships

Vancouver, BC —Mitacs, a Canadian organization that funds research and training, signed a letter of intent with Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) creating opportunities for graduate students from both countries to participate in industrial research internships.

The Letter of Intent was signed by Dolores Sanchez Soler, CONACyT’s Deputy Director of Graduate Studies and Scholarship, and Alejandro Adem, Mitacs’ Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director.

The Mitacs program will support up to 60 graduate students, over a three year period, to conduct 16–24 week research internships with local companies in Mexico and Canada. The agreement is the first of its kind to foster bilateral international industrial research internships for Canadian and Mexican students.

The program is modelled after Mitacs’ successful Accelerate program, which pairs graduate students for collaborative research projects with industry partners in Canada.

Quotes:

Alejandro Adem, Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director, Mitacs

“This partnership represents the shared interests of both countries to foster research innovation for the benefit of our economies. Graduate students will be given opportunities to engage first-hand with businesses and apply their skills in new settings, contributing to their development as globally engaged citizens.”  

Dolores Sánchez Soler, Deputy Director, Graduate Studies and Scholarship, CONACyT

“This strategic partnership will be a starting point to substantially increase win-win collaborations among universities, research centres, and businesses from both countries.”

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Mitacs quick facts:

• Within Canada, Mitacs works with 60 universities, thousands of companies, and federal and provincial governments, building partnerships that support industrial and social innovation.
• Mitacs Globalink offers two-way student mobility initiatives with universities and companies from around the world to build and strengthen international research networks and to undertake research projects of mutual interest.
• To further strengthen international research collaborations, Mitacs Globalink currently offers two-way student research mobility opportunities between Canada and partner countries — Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Vietnam.

CONACyT quick facts:

• CONACyT is a decentralized public agency of the Government of Mexico.
• CONACyT oversees science, technology, and innovation policies in Mexico; provides scholarships to Mexican graduate students and postdoctoral fellows; administers research funding; and fosters university-industry collaborations in Mexico through a variety of programs.

Learn more:

You can find more information about Mitacs and our programs at www.mitacs.ca/en/newsroom.

More information about CONACyT can be found at www.CONACyT.mx.