Funding for student research in environmental sustainability
If you’re an NSCC student or recent graduate who is looking to get a paid internship, broaden your network and gain research experience, our new Mitacs Accelerate Umbrella program will be of interest to you.
How it works
Mitacs Accelerate funding helps students get paid internships at local companies that need research expertise. Interns are paid up to $15,000 for each four-month internship and can work up to three consecutive internships depending on the project.
- A student, or new graduate, is matched with an NSCC supervisor and a partner organization to develop a research project.
- They submit a proposal via NSCC Mitacs representative Ava Vila-Leahey - .
- The student works directly for the company, who also pays a portion of their salary, and meets regularly with their NSCC supervisor to make sure the project is moving forward successfully.
NSCC’s new Mitacs Accelerate Umbrella program provides pre-approved funding for 100 projects a year for the next two years, opening this opportunity to many more students. Read about the application process for employers (PDF 1MB) and the application process for interns (PDF 569 KB).
About the program
The umbrella program will help bridge research gaps and supports student research and learning in areas of environmental sustainability, with an emphasis in forestry and oceans sectors. Both of these sectors are pillars of economic support for local communities in Nova Scotia. The goal of the umbrella program is to revitalize environmental sectors in Nova Scotia through research and development (R&D) while equipping interns with research and development (R&D) skills to create a more efficient labour market for post-graduate employment.
While students from any program are eligible to apply, we expect to see high engagement from students in ocean technology, forestry and natural resources, engineering and information technology (IT) computing programs as their skill sets align nicely with the needs of local forestry and ocean companies.
Nova Scotia’s forestry sector is ready for substantial changes. There are many supports in place for companies looking at sustainable methods of optimizing our natural resources and generating new value-added products. Students may find themselves working on projects that are focused on developing innovative technologies or coming up with ways to re-purpose waste or low value resources. In support of the growing ocean economy, students can expect to help companies solve research challenges in engineering new oceans technology, clean marine energy systems and developing IT solutions to support new products and initiatives.
The new umbrella program helps support the long-term goal of achieving a more sustainable and prosperous Nova Scotia. This funding collaboration builds strong connectivity to industry, supports student workforce development in forestry and oceans and helps local companies overcome research and innovation challenges.
Contact us
If you have questions or an idea for a research project that you’d like to run by a member of our team, please reach out to our Industry Liaison Officer