Less than one year after eclipsing $1 million in Mitacs internships, The University of Winnipeg is once again on pace to surpass the million-dollar mark and outpace other full and associate partner universities in key categories for the 2022-23 academic year.
In the Mitacs University Interim Report, which provides insight into active projects as of September 30, 2022, and covers the first two quarters of the academic year, UWinnipeg has seen $771,417 in total cash disbursed through projects with a total estimated value of $1,530,833.
The disbursements through quarters one and two already represent a marked increase from the 2020-21 and 2019-20 academic years, which saw figures of $520,000 and $380,000, respectively. The disbursements also put UWinnipeg on pace to exceed the $1,141,667 doled out across the 2021-22 academic year.
Key to UWinnipeg’s success is its involvement in Mitacs’ Accelerate program, which “builds research partnerships while increasing the employability of post-secondary students, postdoctoral fellows, and recent graduates through funded industry and community collaborations that solve partner research and development challenges.”
In the past two quarters alone, UWinnipeg’s 66 internship units represents 85 per cent of its total internship units for all of 2021-22, and is nearly double the participation in 2020-21.
By virtue of its outstanding participation, UWinnipeg, a Mitacs Associate partner, is outperforming the national average among other Associate institutions. The average Associate institution plays host to 1,016 full-time graduate students and boasts 42 internship units. Comparatively, despite falling below the national average with 160 full-time graduate students, UWinnipeg’s average internship units of 41.3 is more than 10 times that of the national average.
Among Accelerate offerings, the Standard program is the most successful with 56 submissions valued at upwards of $920,000. Not far behind is the Business Strategy Internship, which provides a four-month internship with a partner organization in Canada, with 41 submissions valued at $415,000. UWinnipeg’s Mitacs participants were also involved in the Industrial Postdoc (nine submissions, $180,000) and Entrepreneur (one submission, $15,000) programs.
Partner organizations welcoming Mitacs Standard participants include Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative, Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties, and Manitoba Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Council, among others. Sara Riel Foundation Inc., Indigenous Women’s Healing Centre, and West Broadway Community Organization are among the partner organizations hosting Business Strategy Internship participants.
In addition to local partnerships, UWinnipeg’s involvement in the Mitcas Globalink program resulted in 19 international applicants earning 12-week research internships under the supervision of University faculty. The associated $228,000 valuation represents is a sevenfold increase on the 2021-22 academic year.
History of Mitacs
Founded in 1999, Mitacs encourages Canadian innovation, economic growth, productivity, and meaningful growth by fostering connections between Canadian students and industry leaders. Through these partnerships, students develop skills and connections while collaborating with experts in the field. UWinnipeg is an associate academic partner of Mitacs, whose programs are delivered to UWinnipeg students in partnership with the provincial and federal governments.
