Frequently Asked Questions

Transition to Mitacs Plus

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  What is Mitacs Plus, and how is it different from the old Registration and Application Portal (RAP)?

  Mitacs is in the midst of several enterprise transformation initiatives, one of which is creating a new client-centric application platform called Mitacs Plus. Once fully launched, you will see several benefits with our new application platform including, a simpler application form, an intuitive onboarding process and clearer insight into the status of your applications. We are committed to making the applicant experience more seamless and putting your needs at the center of our services.

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  Will my current and past projects be visible on the new platform?

  The Mitacs Plus platform is being piloted with a small group of institutions. It will be gradually rolled out to all our partners over the coming months. At this stage, you will not see any past projects in this new platform. Until further notice, you will need to refer to the documents you received for any projects submitted prior to the launch of Mitacs Plus.

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  What happens to any applications I am currently drafting? Do I need to switch to the new platform?

  If you have already started an application on our old systems, you will be able to continue until submission for a limited time during the transition. The deadline to move all applications to the new platform will be communicated to you through the old platform and/or your Mitacs Advisor.

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  Will I be able to manage all my Mitacs projects in this new platform?

  Mitacs Plus has been designed with the goal of becoming a centralized hub for all Mitacs offerings. To begin, it will process applications for our Mitacs Accelerate program for a small pilot cohort, and will eventually expand to include all of our funding streams and all our partner organizations and academic institutions.

Eligibility and Application Process

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  How do I know if my partner organization is eligible?

  A partner organization on a Mitacs application must be a for-profit or not-for-profit corporation, municipality or hospital located in Canada. For-profit businesses and not-for-profit corporations operating outside of Canada may be eligible as additional partners on projects with a Canadian partner organization.

  Any potential conflicts of interest (COI) between the academic supervisor or intern and the partner organization must be declared and may result in ineligibility. A COI can include the supervisor or intern being in a position of ownership, employment or influence over operations at the partner organization. Any such relationship must be declared as a COI for assessment and may result in required mitigation steps or ineligibility.

  To confirm a partner organization’s eligibility, please contact us via the “Contact Us” section on the platform.

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  Who is eligible to participate as an intern?

  To be eligible for Mitacs Research funding (previously known as the Accelerate program), an intern must be:

  1. A Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, international student with a student visa, OR international postdoctoral researcher with a valid work permit, who is 18 years old or over, and falls into one of the following categories:

  a. Registered students and postdoctoral researchers at Mitacs partner colleges and universities in Canada. Postdoctoral researchers are eligible if the date of graduation from a PhD program is less than five years to the start date of the project. Exceptions are available for extenuating circumstances such as parental leave or military service. Postdoctoral researchers must not have been employed at the partner organization prior to applying.

  b. Recent graduates (must be within two years of graduation at the start of their project), and non-degree students (diploma, certificate, etc.) are eligible at the academic institution’s discretion. (Any interested applicants should check with their institution to first determine whether they are able to support other types of university interns before drafting an application.)

  c. Visiting students and researchers at Canadian academic institutions who are completing a degree at a university abroad may also be eligible at the discretion of the Canadian institution.

  To be eligible for Mitacs Research funding, an intern must not be in a position of ownership, employment or influence over operations at the partner organization. Any such relationship must be declared as a Conflict of Interest for assessment and may result in ineligibility. Failure to declare a conflict of interest will delay the review of your application and may result in the project being declined for Mitacs funding.

Understanding Key Terminology and Roles

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  Who is an academic supervisor?

  An academic supervisor is one of the primary applicants on a Mitacs application. They contribute their expertise to addressing the research challenge and provide mentorship and support to the interns. They directly oversee the work of the intern(s) on a Mitacs project in collaboration with the project’s partner organization.

  A university academic supervisor must be a faculty member at an eligible Canadian academic institution who is eligible to hold Tri-Agency funds and will be responsible for managing the Mitacs program funds. College academic supervisors may be faculty or designated staff, and at colleges, the research office manages the program funds.

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  What is a partner organization?

  A partner organization is one of the primary applicants on a Mitacs application. They are a non-academic organization and must be a for-profit or eligible not-for-profit corporation, municipality, or hospital based in Canada. This partner will host the project intern(s) in-person or virtually over the course of the project and co-supervise their work alongside the intern’s academic supervisor.

  In applying for a Mitacs internship, the named partner organization also commits to financially contributing to the project. These funds must be received by Mitacs before a project can begin.

  For-profit businesses and not-for-profit corporations operating outside of Canada may be eligible as additional partners on projects with a Canadian partner organization. You can verify a partner organization’s eligibility with your Mitacs Advisor.

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  Who qualifies as an intern?

  An intern is a student, recent graduate or postdoctoral researcher at a Canadian postsecondary institution who undertakes a Mitacs internship under the supervision of an academic supervisor with an eligible partner organization.

  This intern will carry out the project objectives in four-month increments (or internship units).

  Interns are named to projects after an application has been submitted through Mitacs Plus and must be vetted for eligibility before they can begin work on a project. All Mitacs interns receive a stipend as determined by the project budget, which is administered by their academic institution.

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  What is the Grant Writer role?

  The Grant Writer role can be assigned to a student/postdoctoral researcher, trainee or administrative contact assisting with drafting an application. Since interns are not added to projects until after submission, if you have a prospective intern helping you with drafting the application, they will need to be added as a “Grant Writer” and can then be added as an “Intern” after submission.

Application Process

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  Why am I being taxed for my contribution as a partner organization?

  Mitacs is registered for GST/HST and is required to collect taxes on any consideration that is received for taxable supplies. Funding provided by partner organizations constitutes consideration for a supply of services that is subject to GST/HST unless that supply is either zero-rated or exempt from GST/HST purposes.

  If you can provide us with a tax-exempt status document, we can assess whether the taxes on the invoice can be waived.

  If you have any further questions on this, please reach out to the Mitacs Finance team at [email protected].

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  Why can’t I name interns during the application?

  It is common for an academic supervisor not to be certain of which interns will undertake the internship at the time of application. To standardize our process for all applicants, Mitacs has streamlined its application so that interns are only required to be named after submission of the application.

  An intern can be added to the project after submission. All interns must be named and vetted for eligibility before their internship can be approved and before they can begin working on the project.

  Interns are at the core of Mitacs programming, and we recognize they are often active contributors to the development of research proposals. If you have an intern contributing to the application, you can add them to the Project Members tab as a Grant Writer. This status will enable them to assist in the drafting of the application.

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  How do I add an assistant to my project?

  To add an assistant or team member to help with drafting your project application, please follow these steps outlined below. Please note that even if you already have an intern in mind and they will be helping you draft the application, the new Mitacs process only requires interns to be named after submission. If your intended intern will be help you draft the application, please assign them as a ‘Grant Writer’ below and you can then add them as an ‘Intern’ after submission.

  • Start an Application

  • Navigate to the "Project Members" section

  • Click on “Add a Project Member”

  • Enter that person's name, email, and turn on “Has Edit Permission”.

  • Set their role as “Grant Writer”

  • Click “Invite”

  This will send an invite email to the new project member. They will need to create an account (if they don’t already have one), set up their profile (if applicable), and they will be granted access to your application.

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  What are research costs?

  Research costs are the direct costs of the project beyond the intern stipend amount. Please refer to Mitacs’s Use of Funds policy for details, and note that research costs cannot be paid to the academic institution or partner organization. This amount cannot exceed $5,000 per 4-month internship.

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  How do I get approval from my Office of Research Services (ORS)?

  Once you have completed your application form, the ORS (or equivalent) at the respective postsecondary institution(s) of the academic supervisor(s) will receive a notification that an application is ready for their review. The ORS sign off is required to submit your application to Mitacs. Please note that academic institutions may have their own internal approval requirements, timelines, and processes. Please contact your institution’s ORS for further information.

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  How can I change my award value from $15,000?

  Mitacs’s standard funding model is $15,000 per internship unit of 4-month/6-month duration. Postdoctoral researchers are eligible for $20,000 per internship. If you believe you are eligible for an alternate funding model, please contact us by clicking on the ‘Contact Us’ button and providing us with details. If you are eligible, we will update your application accordingly.

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  Does a Mitacs Advisor still need to review my application before submission?

  You are able to name your Mitacs Advisor if you have worked with one during your application. However, we no longer require the Advisor to review your application prior to submission.

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  How can I check the status of my application?

  Once your application has been submitted, it will appear on your dashboard where you can access an overview of your applications. To navigate to the page:

  1. Click on “My Dashboards” in the upper right-hand corner of the portal

  2. Then click “Applications & Awards” from the drop down. This should open a page with a list of all your submitted and in-progress applications. The list will provide a high-level application status in the “Status” column.

  3. For more information, click on the application ID in the first column.

  4. To see all details regarding your project status, click the “Status and Decision” tab.

  Depending on your communications settings, you will receive a notification when your project status changes.

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  How will I be notified of application updates?

  All project members named on an application will receive a notification from Mitacs Plus whenever there is an update available.
  
  You will also receive these notifications within the platform on the Messages page depending on the Communication Preferences settings in your Profile. You can access your messages by clicking “Messages” in the top right corner of the platform. We recommend enabling all notifications to avoid missing important messages about your application that may result in delays.

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  Why was my application sent back for revisions?

  Research proposals undergo external peer-review by subject matter experts to ensure quality and integrity of projects that receive Mitacs funding. Applicants may be asked to revise their proposal in order to address issues raised through the peer-review process or to provide additional information or clarification, as necessary, to inform Mitacs’s funding decision.

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  Do I have to implement all requested revisions?

  Mitacs’s external peer-review process affords applicants the opportunity to receive constructive feedback from subject matter experts to address potential limitations or otherwise improve the quality of their project. Applicants are strongly encouraged to consider how reviewer feedback can be integrated into their proposal with this purpose in mind. In the event that applicants disagree with review comments, the applicant may choose to offer a well-reasoned rebuttal in response to particular reviewer comments in the cover letter attached to their revised proposal. Please note that cover letters are made accessible to external reviewers, if a revised proposal is sent for a subsequent round of peer-review. The decision of whether a revised proposal will require a subsequent round of peer-review is made at Mitacs’s sole discretion.

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  How does the intern receive their award?

  Mitacs awards are administered by the intern’s academic institution and may be provided as a stipend or a salary depending on the intern’s status and the policies of the institution. The exact value of the award is determined by the budget submitted in the project application.

  Once the partner contribution funds have been received by Mitacs, Mitacs will send the full award value for each internship unit to the academic institution. The intern will then receive their payment as a stipend or salary, depending on their arrangement with their institution.

  Participants can check the payment status of partner invoices on Mitacs Plus by navigating to their project’s overview in the Application & Award dashboard.

  Please note that Mitacs’s Terms and Conditions stipulate that no work begin on a project until the project has been approved and payment has been received. Any work conducted on an internship before payment is received and a formal award letter/notification has been issued may not be eligible for funding.

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  Can we start the project before final approval?

  In order for your internship(s) to begin:

  1. Your project application must be approved
  2. Your named intern(s) must be deemed eligible by Mitacs
  3. Funding must be received from the partner organization and disbursed to the academic institution
  4. An award letter/notification confirming all details of your internship must be issued.
     • Please note a separate award letter/notification is issued for each internship unit (4- or 6-month duration) within a project, and must be received prior to beginning work on each unit.

  You will be notified through Mitacs Plus when you are able to begin. You can check your dashboard for the status of your application and award notifications at any time.

  Please note that any work conducted prior to the above conditions being met may not be eligible for Mitacs funding and is done at the risk of the participants. Mitacs is not liable for any losses incurred on an internship unit(s) prior to an award letter/notification being issued.

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  When will I receive my invoice?

  Once your project is approved, the academic supervisor will have to name at least one eligible intern and enter internship dates. Mitacs will then send an invoice to the named partner organization(s) based on the invoicing preferences of the partner. This invoice is due upon receipt; any delays in payment will result in delays in internship start dates.

Project Management

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  How do I view my project details?

  To view your project details, please navigate to your application’s dedicated page.

  1. Click on “My Dashboards” in the upper right-hand corner of the portal

  2. Then click “Applications & Awards” from the drop down. This should open a page with a list of all your submitted and in-progress applications. The list will provide a high-level application status in the “Status” column.

  3. For more information, click on the application ID in the first column.

  This will open an overview of your project, including its status, associated files, and any messages received relating to the project from our Service Delivery team.

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  Where can I find the files associated with my project?

  You can view any documents associated with your project by navigating to your project page on our portal. To do this:

  1. Click on “My Dashboards” in the upper right-hand corner of the portal

  2. Then click “Applications & Awards” from the drop down. This should open a page with a list of all your submitted and in-progress applications. The list will provide a high-level application status in the “Status” column.

  3. For more information, click on the application ID in the first column. This will open your project page

  4. From here, click on the “Documents” tab to see any individual files uploaded in association with this application.

  If you want to see a copy of your full submitted application, click on the blue “Actions” button in the upper right side of the page, and then select “View Application”.

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  How do I make a change to my project?

  To request a change to one or more units on your application, please email our [email protected] inbox detailing the request.

  Please be sure to include:

  • Your application ID

  • Which units you want to update the dates of

  • Details of the type of change you want to make

  Please ensure you CC the relevant participants so we can confirm that all parties are aware of and consent to the requested change.

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  How do I cancel my project?

  To request a project cancellation, please ensure you have informed all involved participants and email [email protected] with the request.

  Please also CC all impacted participants. It is required that all parties be informed of a cancellation request before it is cancelled. If one or more key participants is missing from the email chain, our team will follow-up with them directly to inform them of the request.

  A Mitacs project requires the active participation of a partner organization, academic supervisor, and an intern. If a cancellation is unilateral, thirty (30) days' notice is required before a cancellation is processed.

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  How do I share feedback on my experience?

  All core participants will be invited to complete a survey on their application experience after submission. We welcome your feedback on our new portal and your overall experience to help us improve our services.

Technical

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  I cannot log in. What should I do?

  If you have never logged in to Mitacs Plus before, you will need to create a new account. To do so:

  1. Click on the “Sign In” tab in the upper right corner and then click on the “Register” tab.

  •If you have been invited to participate on a specific project, click the “Redeem Invitation” tab. This will prompt you to enter your invitation code, and then to register for an account.
  Upon registration, the project you have been added to will appear in your “Applications & Awards” dashboard under “My Dashboards”.

  2. Verify your email address by clicking the link in the email you receive upon registering.

  3. Update your Profile details for your new account.

  If you already have an account but are having trouble logging in, please verify that you are using the correct email address and password. If your password is not being accepted, please click the “Forgot your password?” button to reset it.

  If you are still having trouble, please reach out to our team at [email protected] for further assistance.

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  I registered for an account but I did not receive a confirmation email.

  If you did not receive a confirmation email after registering on Mitacs Plus, please follow the steps below:

  • Check your spam, junk and/or “Other” folders in your inbox for the confirmation email. Your organization may flag these emails as junk or spam.

  • Please verify that you are using the correct email address, both at registration and at sign-in. You may want to try to re-register with the correct email address to verify if it is in the system.

  • If you have confirmed that your email address was correct, and are still unable to log in, please attempt to reset your password.

  • If you have confirmed your email address was correct and are unable to reset your password, please reach out to our team at [email protected] for further assistance.

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  I received an invitation to join a project but I do not see it in my account. What do I do?

  If you have been invited to collaborate on a project but cannot see it on your dashboard, please:

  1. Log out and select the “Redeem Invitation” tab from the Sign In menu. This will prompt you to enter the invitation code in your email invitation. You can click the “I have an existing account” button to be directed to sign in.

  • If you did not receive an email with an invitation code, please ask the participant who invited you to remove you and resend the invitation.
  Double check that your email matches the email they are using to invite you to their project.

  2. Once you have logged in, double check that you have completed your Profile.

  3. Check your Application & Awards dashboard to find the project listed.

  4. If the application still does not appear on your dashboard, please reach out to our team at [email protected].