2026 Mitacs Accelerate Global Excellence Award

Eligibility

Global Excellence Awards (GEA) projects are collaborations between a postdoctoral fellow, a partner organization, and an academic supervisor. The GEA call is intended to recruit international postdocs to Canada. The GEA is a standalone call and cannot be combined with joint applications such as NSERC. 

Postdoctoral Fellows:

• Must currently reside outside Canada and intend to relocate to Canada to take up the award
• Eligible within five years of PhD completion (extensions available for parental leave, military service, etc.)
• Must be eligible for postdoctoral fellow status at a Canadian institution
• Canadians/permanent residents returning to Canada or international candidates requiring a work permit are eligible

Partner Organizations:

• Canadian for-profit companies (must receive more than 50 percent of their funds from non-government sources); eligible not-for-profit corporations, municipalities, or hospitals in Canada
• Eligibility can be confirmed with a Mitacs Advisor

Academic Supervisors:

• Must be faculty at a Canadian academic institution
• Must be eligible to hold Tri-Agency funds

Summary

The Mitacs Accelerate Global Excellence Award is a new funding opportunity targeting individuals who will relocate to Canada for a collaborative, industrial-based research project at an eligible Canadian academic institution and with a Mitacs-eligible partner (private company, not-for-profit organization, municipality, or hospital). Jointly funded by Mitacs and industry partners, this award ensures strong collaboration and impact and will provide an enhanced funding package to support the costs of research as well as relocation.

Each two-year project will be valued at $170,000, broken down as follows:

• $85,000 annual award, with $42,500 + tax per year provided by the partner organization (full contribution for the first year will be invoiced upon project approval)
• Minimum of $70,000 allocated to stipend and up to $15,000 available for research and relocation expenses
• Mitacs is pleased to partner with CIFAR to offer up to an additional 10 fellowships to researchers affiliated with CIFAR.

Timeline & Application Process

1. Mon Mar 2, 2026: GEA call opens. Review the Mitacs Accelerate Global Excellence Awards webpage, and the Mitacs Terms, Conditions & Policies. Reach out to a Mitacs Advisor to obtain the specific GEA application templates.
2. Fri Apr 10, 2026: Send completed application drafts to the Mitacs Advisor(s) and UofC Research Security
3. Tue April 28, 2026, at 12pm: RSO internal deadline for RMS submissions
4. Fri May 1, 2026: External deadline for Mitacs submissions (GEA call closes)
5. Aug-Sep: Results announced 

Overhead

N/A. Mitacs does not allow overhead. 

Pre-application deadlines

Pre-application program deadline

Application deadlines

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

This competition will be part of the Research Management System (RMS), and approvals will be obtained electronically. Research Funding Application Approvals (RFAA) forms are not required as approvals are collected electronically in RMS. 

The Full Application, plus approval in the Research Management System (RMS) using a Pre-Award/Application record, must be submitted to RSO by April 28, 2026 at 12:00 pm. Please be sure to select 'Submitted for approval' (under Save & Progress) in RMS in good time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the RSO internal deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines. 

Once institutional approval has been obtained, the Principal Investigator will receive an automated message from RMS to their @ucalgary email address. You can then proceed with submitting your application via Mitacs by May 1, 2026. This application also requires a signed signature page from the RSO prior to submission (this document will be available for download in RMS). 

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.

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.

RESOURCES

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with Research Services, the more help we can be!

Contact the following Research Service units for support with:

Projects Involving Indigenous Research:

Support with incorporating wise practices in Indigenous research, community engagement, and Indigenous data management is available through the Indigenous Research Support Team (IRST).

Applicants can reach out by email to IRST at IRST@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. For more information about IRST, please visit the IRST webpage.

Knowledge Mobilization, Research Impact Assessment, DORA:

Support for knowledge mobilization/engagement/translation, community partnerships, research impact, responsible research assessment (DORA), and open science, is available through the Knowledge to Impact team.

Applicants can reach out by email to the KI team at knowledge.impact@ucalgary.ca.

For more information and access to resource archives, please visit the KI team webpage.

Research Data Management:

For information on research data management plans, processes, or best practices for your research program, please contact research.data@ucalgary.ca.

EDI in Research:

RSO can provide resources and support to research teams on the integration of equitable and inclusive practices in research design and research practice.

Contact edi.rso@ucalgary.ca for more information.

Research Security:

The Research Security Division is available to ensure researchers adhere to research security guidelines and policies, including the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships (NSGRP) and the policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC).

Visit the Research Security website to learn more or contact researchsecurity@ucalgary.ca.

Pre-Award Submissions:

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application