New Brunswick advances innovation by continued investment in Mitacs

Commitment of $800,000 advances post-secondary training and job opportunities

Fredericton, NB — The Department of Post‑Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL) will invest $800,000 in Mitacs to benefit researchers ranging from college students to postdoctoral fellows while advancing industry. Mitacs is a national not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation in Canada by solving business challenges with research solutions from academic institutions.

PETL has renewed its funding commitment to Mitacs for its internship program, and has increased its commitment to extend to the postdoctoral and international programs. The partnership means that college, undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students enrolled in New Brunswick’s public post-secondary institutes are eligible to advance their skills through Mitacs’s Accelerate. Postdoctoral research fellows in New Brunswick are now eligible through the Elevate program. And outstanding international undergraduate students are eligible to spend summer internships researching with New Brunswick academic supervisors through the Globalink program.

As part of a government-wide approach to economic recovery and growth, Opportunities NB will be working closely with PETL and Mitacs, helping businesses to connect with these programs and the research community.

The funding will support up to 200 internships for college and university students. These learning opportunities enable students to advance their skills and transfer applications from the laboratory to real-world settings. Local business and organizations gain access to precisely the right research talent to advance their goals.

The New Brunswick-Mitacs partnership has proven successful over the years. For example, a local food-tech start-up partnered with Mitacs, hiring their CTO, a PhD from the University of New Brunswick, to keep food fresh using a revolutionary technology. Food spoilage costs the Canadian economy $30 million annually and Chinova Bioworks developed a preservative extracted from mushrooms to improve quality, freshness, and shelf-life of various food and beverage applications.

Projects funded by this enhanced agreement will focus on emerging and priority sectors including cybersecurity, financial services and fintech, food and beverage, energy innovation, digital health, advanced manufacturing, agriculture technology, and oceans.

Quotes:

Hon. Trevor Holder, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, Government of New Brunswick

“Creating additional research internships will benefit students and local industry, while assisting greatly with our efforts to retain students here in New Brunswick after graduation. This partnership has proven to be good value for the money and we are thrilled to continue and expand on what we are contributing to this successful program.”

Natasha Dhayagude, CEO, Chinova Bioworks, and Mitacs industry partner

“Working with our CTO and the Mitacs program helped us get access to the lab facilities we need to commercialize our product, and the collaboration has been extremely helpful in guiding us through the research process. Having a physical product to show to potential buyers makes all the difference when we’re pitching them. Without Mitacs’s support, the company wouldn’t have been able to get off the ground.”

John Hepburn, CEO and Scientific Director, Mitacs

“This enhanced collaboration between New Brunswick and Mitacs speaks to the success of our ongoing partnership. Together, we have addressed industry challenges and provided valuable opportunities for students to advance their careers. This partnership with the Government of New Brunswick allows us to support economic growth and prosperity throughout the province.”

About Mitacs:

• Mitacs is a not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation in Canada by solving challenges with research solutions from academic institutions.
• Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada and the Government of New Brunswick, along with the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, 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.
• For information about Mitacs and its programs, see mitacs.ca/newsroom.

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