Released on November 30, 2017
The Government of Saskatchewan is providing $400,000 in funding to support internships in science, technology, engineering and math through Mitacs.This funding will leverage $1.7 million in cash and in-kind support from federal and industry partners. This investment provides funding for 68 research and development internships for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in Saskatchewan industries through the Mitacs Accelerate program, and 26 international student research opportunities through the Mitacs Globalink program.
Since 2007-08, a total of $11 million has been invested by all funding partners in Mitacs programming in Saskatchewan. With this funding, Saskatchewan will have provided $2.56 million to Mitacs since 2007.
“Our government recognizes the value of research and innovation opportunities for Saskatchewan students,” Advanced Education Minister Herb Cox said. “These programs support our vision to develop a skilled workforce and allow these interns to gain valuable experience.”
Mitacs Accelerate enables graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to apply research and technology expertise to individual firms’ industrial challenges to improve productivity and innovation. Mitacs Globalink places Saskatchewan students in foreign universities and companies to gain international research and work experience. It also enables Saskatchewan to recruit top international students and researchers from rapidly developing countries to work with Saskatchewan researchers.
Mitacs presence in Saskatchewan is producing innovative results for industries and making a tangible difference for students. For example, through a fellowship with the Saskatchewan Research Council, University of Regina postdoctoral fellow in engineering Qingwang Yuan developed software that improves enhanced oil recovery through modeling, allowing industry to be more efficient in the recovery process.
Dr. Yuan was recently recognized at the 7th Annual Mitacs Awards in Ottawa with the Mitacs Postdoctoral Award for Outstanding Innovation.
“With this investment, the Government of Saskatchewan is helping Mitacs researchers like Qingwang Yuan connect with local companies to develop new technologies, improve processes, and increase production,” Mitacs CEO and Scientific Director Alejandro Adem said. “This partnership provides career training for undergraduate and graduate students, and high-quality expertise for businesses. Together, these elements help build a strong economy and drive long-term prosperity.”
“There are so many talented students in our province who have innovative research ideas but don’t always have the means to bring them to fruition by applying them outside the classroom or laboratory,” University of Regina President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Vianne Timmons said. “With additional Mitacs funding in place, more students like Dr. Yuan will have the opportunity to put their brilliant ideas to work for all of our benefit in the years to come.”
Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit research and development organization that partners with 60 of Canada’s research universities, including the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina, thousands of industrial partners, and both federal and provincial governments to build innovation strategies.
To learn more about Mitacs visit www.mitacs.ca.
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For more information, contact:
Marieka Andrew
Advanced Education
Regina
Phone: 306-798-3170
Email: marieka.andrew@gov.sk.ca