Leveraging your Funding

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Alliance Grants

Alliance grants encourage university researchers to collaborate with partner organizations, which can be from the private, public or not-for-profit sectors. These grants support research projects led by strong, complementary, collaborative teams that will generate new knowledge and accelerate the application of research results to create benefits for Canada. To help you navigate submission requirements, please review the NSERC Alliance Resources developed by the Research Innovation Office. For all questions related to NSERC Alliance grants, please contact RIO's Industry Liaison Officer, Kaleigh Rajna at krajna@uoguelph.ca.

Mitacs

Accelerate

Mitacs Accelerate allows students to work closely with a partner organization and faculty supervisor, using the latest tools and techniques available to them in both academic and industrial settings. Projects are a cost-shared model with Mitacs, through the support of federal and provincial government, matching the industry partners or non-for-profit (NFP) organizations contributions.

Business Strategy Internship Program

In partnership with Canadian academic institutions, Mitacs is pleased to offer the Business Strategy Internship (BSI). The award provides funds for an intern to allow them to undertake a four-month internship project with a partner organization in Canada. Interns will work with their academic supervisor to co-design a project with their partner organization to work on the organization’s innovation activities, helping them improve their products, processes, or services. Throughout the internship, Mitacs provides online professional development courses to interns through Mitacs’ e-Campus, EDGE.

Elevate

Mitacs Elevate is a two-year training program for postdoctoral fellows, in which participants lead and undertake an industrially relevant research project. During this time, fellows receive experiential training in R&D directly through their industry-academic research collaboration and leadership training and business acumen through the program’s training curriculum. With a suite of skills development workshops and activities unique to Mitacs Elevate, fellows learn about communication, leadership & management and other critical business skills relevant to R&D management careers in academia and industry. These training opportunities complement fellows’ specialized expertise and ensure they are ready to lead large-scale research projects throughout their careers.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)

Connection Grants

Connection Grants support events and outreach activities geared toward short-term, targeted knowledge mobilization initiatives. These events and activities represent opportunities to exchange knowledge and to engage on research issues of value to those participating.

Events and outreach activities funded by a Connection Grant may often serve as a first step toward more comprehensive and longer-term projects potentially eligible for funding through other SSHRC funding opportunities.

Partnership Development Grants

Partnership Development Grant proposals are expected to respond to the objectives of the Insight program or the Connection program, or a combination thereof. Please see the Insight and Connection  program descriptions for more details

Partnership Engage Grants

These grants provide short-term and timely support for partnered research activities that will inform decision-making at a single partner organization from the public, private or not-for-profit sector. The small-scale, stakeholder-driven partnerships supported through Partnership Engage Grants are meant to respond to immediate needs and time constraints facing organizations in non-academic sectors. In addressing an organization-specific need, challenge and/or opportunity, these partnerships let non-academic organizations and postsecondary researchers access each other’s unique knowledge, expertise and capabilities on topics of mutual interest.

Partnership Grants

Partnership Grants support formal partnerships between academic researchers, businesses and other partners that will advance knowledge and understanding on critical issues of intellectual, social, economic and cultural significance. By fostering mutual co-operation and sharing of intellectual leadership, the grants allow partners to innovate, build institutional capacity and mobilize research knowledge in accessible ways. The grants may also be used to help establish partnered chairs and research centres.

Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI)

Voucher for Innovation and Productivity (VIP)

This program supports the collaboration between Academia and Industry to solve an industry-based problem and drive the commercialization of Intellectual Property [IP]. The institution will leverage the unique skills and specialized infrastructure that is instrumental to streamline internal innovations and commercialization needs. Resulting in targeted training of individuals and direct engagement with Industry to work on commercially viable solutions.

Market Readiness Co-Investment Fund

The Market Readiness Co-Investment Fund provides direct investment to Ontario companies and passionate entrepreneurs with competitive/transformational IP building disruptive/next generation technologies to support their growth into scalable businesses.

Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN)

AVIN’s five distinct programs focus on supporting the development and demonstration of C/AV technologies, including infrastructure, related to the following Priority Areas: commercially-ready technologies for application in mass light vehicles (e.g., cars, trucks and vans), heavy-duty vehicles (including commercial vehicles, trucks, buses, recreational vehicles (RVs) and others used for goods movement), transportation infrastructure, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and transit-supportive systems and vehicles in Ontario.

TalentEdge Internship Program (TIP)

The TalentEdge Internship Program (TIP) stream of the Next Generation Network Program (NGNP) provides support for current college and university students and recent undergraduate or Masters graduates, to work on industry-driven research and development projects related to Next Generation Network (NGN) technologies at Ontario-based SMEs using the Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks (CENGN) platform. Companies can tap into world-class talent coming out of Ontario’s publicly-funded post-secondary institutions and strengthen their capacity to develop new products, services and processes, while interns receive hands-on industry experience to excel in the digital economy.

Ontario Genomics

Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP)

The Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP) funds downstream research and development (R&D) projects that address real-world opportunities and challenges defined by “Receptor” organizations such as industry, government, or not-for-profit entities. These organizations should have the expertise, resources and commitment to commercialize or implement the project’s outcomes. Projects must be active collaborations between the Receptor organization (Canadian or international) and a Canadian academic researcher. Both must play an integral role in the project. These projects are co-funded by Receptors and other stakeholders and must have the potential to generate significant social and/or economic benefits for Canada.