2024 Mitacs Elevate Rolling Deadline

Eligibility

Postdoctoral fellow eligibility:  

• They are Canadian citizens, permanent residents or international applicants. 

• They are based at an academic institution (including colleges or polytechnics) located in Canada for the duration of the fellowship. 

• Their date of graduation from a PhD program is less than five years to proposed start date of the Elevate project, unless: 
  • Fellows who have had a break in their career due to military service, illness, or family leave may be considered exceptions and must be approved in advance of application 
  • If this situation applies to you or you have any questions, please contact Mitacs at elevate@mitacs.ca. 
• They have fulfilled all PhD degree requirements (e.g., successful defence, final deposit, and sign-off of the dissertation), meet the postdoctoral fellow eligibility criteria at their home academic institution, hold a postdoctoral fellow status for the entire duration of their Mitacs Elevate fellowship. 
• They can commit to the two-year Mitacs Elevate fellowship, including the exclusive professional development curriculum. Replacement or substitute fellows are not allowed 
• Fellows who have held a Mitacs Accelerate award as a Master's or PhD student are eligible as long as they have not completed more than two year (six internship units equivalent) of Mitacs Accelerate at postdoctoral level. This must be completed before the start of the Mitacs Elevate fellowship. 
• Elevate alumni that have completed a 1- or 2-year Elevate project will be able to apply for another Elevate project. Postdocs can only be funded for a maximum of 3 years 
• Postdocs can complete nine internship units (typically 3 years) of Mitacs funding, including any combination of Elevate & Accelerate in any order (e.g. Accelerate after an Elevate; hold more than one Elevate). One year of Elevate counts as 3 internship units. 
• Fellows cannot apply to multiple Mitacs programs for the same period of time. 

Fellows are ineligible if they have:  

• Been employed for more than six months in an R&D position outside the academic institution after receipt of their doctoral degree 

• Received an offer of employment from the proposed partner organization except an offer of this fellowship or short-term employment of up to six months while awaiting a decision on the Mitacs Elevate fellowship 

• If the application is not recommended for an award, fellows may not be eligible to apply again if they have accumulated more than six months of industrial or partner organization work. It is recommended that fellows accept a temporary contract only if necessary and that the period is kept as short as possible.  

Academic Supervisors are eligible if:  

• They hold a faculty position at a Canadian academic institution 

• They are eligible to administer Tri-Agency funds 

• They are in a position that allows them to supervise graduate students  

Start your elevate application here 

Summary

Postdoctoral fellows – enhance your skills, apply your knowledge, and seize game-changing research opportunities with Elevate, a one to two-year program for top-ranked postdoctoral fellows in any discipline. Paired with a partner organization in need of high-level research expertise, fellows receive a minimum $55,000 annual stipend, proposal assistance and feedback from Mitacs, and invaluable access to cross-disciplinary networking and peer-learning opprtunties that might not otherwise be within reach. 

Mitacs Elevate is a postdoctoral fellowship with an exclusive professional development curriculum component. Fellows address complex challenges through: 

• A one or two-year research project with a partner organization in need of high-level expertise 

• A professional development curriculum that prepares Elevate fellows for success as leaders in research and industry 

Fellows progress through the program in a cohort, giving them cross-disciplinary networking and peer-learning opportunities they might not have otherwise in their careers. 

Over the one or two-year fellowship, fellows will spend time with both a partner organization and their academic institution to work on their research project with their academic supervisor 

 
The Elevate program offers: 

1. An award valued at $60,000 per year with a minimum stipend of $55,000 
   • Partner organization contributes $30,000 per year  
2. An exclusive professional development curriculum   
3. Proposal assistance, including application feedback, from a Mitacs Advisor  
4. Certificate of completion after receipt of their exit survey and final report submission   

Submission Process  

How to apply 

1. Connect with a Mitacs advisor 
   • Get your Elevate application started here 
   • Click here for guidelines on how to write your proposal. IMPORTANT: When filling in the proposal, please make sure to follow the format provided. Changing or modifying the format provided may result in your application becoming ineligible. 
2. Upload the following documents to your Elevate application:  
   • For postdoctoral fellow, please upload the following to your profile:
     • Postdoctoral fellow’s CV 
     • One (1) recommendation letter* from a former supervisor or person familiar with the fellow’s research expertise  
     • Any supplementary documents as applicable  
   • For academic supervisor, please upload the following to your profile: 
     • Proposed academic supervisor’s CV  
     • One (1) recommendation letter* from the proposed academic supervisor  
     • Any supplementary documents as applicable  
   • For partner organization, please upload the following to your profile: 
     • One (1) recommendation letter* from an eligible partner organization including financial contribution in dollar amount 
     • Any supplementary documents as applicable 
   • *All recommendation letters must include letterhead and signature. Please refer here for guidelines. 
3. Submit your Elevate application. 
    

After you apply 

You will receive an email confirmation that your application has been received. 

For more information on the adjudication process, click here. 

If accepted, the project can only start after research approval of the proposal AND the receipt of the partner organization funds at Mitacs as per Mitacs Policy. 

Application deadlines

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

Before you apply 

1. Check the eligibility of the postdoctoral fellow, academic supervisor, and partner organization.  
   • If you are collaborating with a not-for-profit, hospital, or municipality, you must seek partner and project eligibility approval before proceeding by connecting with a Mitacs advisor in your region  
2. If you have a potential conflict of interest (COI): 
   • If you are uncertain whether you have a COI, please consult the Mitacs Conflict of Interest Policy or contact elevate@mitacs.ca 
   • Postdoctoral fellow COI: Submit the completed Intern eligibility and COI Declaration to your Mitacs Business Development representative in accordance with the deadlines listed above 
   • Academic supervisor COI: Bring your COI to your academic institution's attention and include in your final application the documents below:  
     • Details on academic supervisor’s involvement with non-academic partner organization 
     • Evidence that the academic supervisor’s academic institution is aware of the conflict 
     • A description of the academic institution's mitigation measures