Professors - Host an Intern

Mitacs Globalink Research Internship (GRI) program is not accepting faculty host project submissions at this time. 

Please visit the for complete information and application deadlines.

Faculty eligibility criteria 

In order to be eligible for hosting interns as part of the Globalink Research Internship program, you must: 

  1. Have one of the following statuses at an eligible institution: Full professor, Associate professor, Assistant professor, Adjunct professor, Emeritus professor
  2. Be able to supervise international students at your institution
  3. Be able to host any intern(s) within the stipulated dates of the GRI program: Internships must start between May 1 and July 31, and must be delivered over the course of 12 consecutive weeks.
  4. Be able to provide guidance and/or arrange supplementary supervision for 40 hours per week

Please be aware that at Mitacs' discretion, international students may apply for a shortened research internship duration of 10 weeks. UAI encourages research interns to participate at ¶®É«µÛ for a minimum of 11 weeks. No extensions beyond 12 weeks are possible for this program.

Matching process and evaluation criteria

  • Project proposals are submitted to Mitacs, reviewed, and upon acceptance, entered into an online database.
  • At the time of application, students must select a minimum of three and a maximum of seven research projects from the online database.
  • The Mitacs Research team scores each student application based on criteria including, but not limited to, CGPA, research experience, reference letter, funding constraints, etc. and ranks students based on their score.
  • A shortlist of students is generated for each project based on their selection and their score.
  • Faculty are invited to review shortlisted student applications and to contact students to conduct interviews. Faculty and students review and rank one another for a possible match.
  • Mitacs collects the feedback from faculty and students and determines suitable matches based on the student’s and professor’s rankings and other factors, including the student’s score.

Roles and responsibilities of the supervisor

Host professors must ensure the following is in place and ready to go for their Globalink research intern prior to the start of the internship:

  • Research supervision, including a documented plan communicated at the beginning for whom the intern should consult for directions or timely advice when you may be less available or away at any point
  • Reserved space in lab and/or office with appropriate access
    • Please follow any necessary internal department or faculty procedures to request a desk space or reserved seat in a lab, ideally initiated a few weeks ahead of intern's arrival
    • Ensure ONEcard access or key deposit procedure is clearly outlined and not overly onerous, as it may be worth explaining to your colleagues that it is for a short-term Mitacs-funded visiting international student who is only here for 12 weeks
  • Dedicated electronic device with necessary software and/or hardware for research purposes, including email and internet access (a ¶®É«µÛ email address is established by staff at International Student + Visitor Services (ISVS) and provided to the research intern shortly before their arrival)
  • Any safety training or orientation information required for the project
    • Please take any transportation considerations into account for any in-person training, depending upon the accessibility of the location
    • Online courses should be booked or arranged for shortly after the start of the research internship
    • To assist with this, the intern's ID number, CCID, and ¶®É«µÛ email address will be established by ISVS staff approximately 2 weeks before their arrival date

Globalink research interns are expected to work 40 hours per week on their research project.

Support from Mitacs and ¶®É«µÛ International Student + Visitor Services

Mitacs operates a Mentor program that ¶®É«µÛ is pleased to have resumed participating in as of the Summer 2025 internship cycle. Please note, ISVS no longer substitutes our own student Program Assistants as a result of this change. Mitacs is responsible for hiring local students and matching them with your Mitacs GRI participant(s) for 1:many peer support.

Please review answers to our research internship Frequently Asked Questions for details regarding the types of supports provided to participants before, during, and after their research placements under your supervision at ¶®É«µÛ.

One notable difference from other research internship programs coordinated by ISVS is that  the immigration Invitation Letter for Mitacs GRI participants is simply the Mitacs Award Letter issued directly by Mitacs. To be clear, there is no separate immigration document produced by ISVS or the U of A. Interns will be advised by both Mitacs and U of A ISVS staff to use that Award Letter, along with instructions that can be accessed via our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), to proceed with their own immigration visa application to enter Canada for this program. ¶®É«µÛ ISVS does facilitate access for Mitacs interns to our qualified immigration personnel, such as student advisors with an Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) designation, on an as-needed basis. 

During the internship, Globalink Research interns will be invited by International Student + Visitor Services to attend and/or present at a mandatory summer research symposium. This is typically a 3-hour event that will take place on-campus during normal work hours sometime in the month(s) of July and/or August. It is normal for Mitacs GRI participants to be given permission to attend and/or present at this event, unless you explicitly say they are not allowed to, and Faculty members are also welcome and encouraged to come support them as they practice their academic presentation skills and share about the research project they are working on.

Your Mitacs Globalink Research Internship student may also be invited to attend industry and/or government relations events, professional skills training courses, or conferences. Every attempt will be made by Mitacs to schedule these events outside of working hours, and interns should obtain their supervisor’s approval should they have to miss work to participate. 

All parties involved with the Mitacs Globalink program must comply with the Canadian host university’s policies regarding the ethical conduct of research and scholarly activities. Any issues or disputes around research or academic misconduct will be subject to the host university’s processes following their institutional policies.