Professors - Host an Intern

Call for Applications NOW OPEN for Summer 2027

The Mitacs Globalink Research Internship (GRI) Faculty program is currently accepting research project applications from U of A host professors through Wednesday, June 10 at 1:00pm Pacific Time. Submit project(s) via the Mitacs Globalink Platform. 

Updates for Summer 2026

The inbound international internship coordinator has contacted the selected Mitacs GRI student participants and their U of A host professors to coordinate support.

ISVS staff remain available to administratively coordinate the non-research aspects of the Mitacs GRI stays at U of A.  

If you wish to be added to the email contacts as an additional or alternate contact for a faculty member, such as in your role as a department administrator or research assistant, please send an email to intern@ualberta.ca and Ashley will be happy to include you on email updates going forward.

Please feel free to visit our FAQs page for answers to frequently asked questions about research internships, such as campus registration procedures. 

Roles and responsibilities of the supervisor

Mitacs GRI Faculty Operations Manual

Globalink research interns are expected to work 40 hours per week on the host professor's research project. Please ensure that research duties and tasks are clearly communicated both verbally and in writing to interns, and that you are available to meet with the intern weekly to discuss their progress and answer their questions.

Please be aware that any tripartite agreement forms are the responsibility of the academic supervisor (host professor) to sign off on or complete, not ISVS staff. This is the answer from our International Agreements unit. Should you wish to delegate seeking assistance with collecting any necessary signatures on these types of forms, we kindly recommend that you reach out to the appropriate person within your department or faculty, thank you.

Interns are not students nor staff, and as such, they are not covered by any U of A insurance. As guests on campus, interns sign the academic visitor liability waiver form at the International Service Centre after arrival. Mitacs has made it clear to the intern that they are to ask their home university whether any liability insurance coverage is provided, and if not, to provide their own. ISVS keeps the liability waiver on file and processes the POI.

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/expensive. It may be worth explaining to your work colleagues that it is for a short-term Mitacs-funded visiting international student from another institution who is only here for 12 weeks.
  • Dedicated electronic device with necessary software and/or hardware for research purposes, including email and internet access (please read below for CCID creation details, which are taken care of in advance by ISVS staff)
  • Any safety training or orientation information required for the project
    • Online courses should be booked or arranged for shortly after the start of the research internship
    • Since registering a participant in safety training often requires a CCID, ISVS staff endeavour to establish the intern's ID number, CCID, and University of Alberta email address at least 2 weeks before their arrival date, if not further in advance
      • Confirming that this was done by the end of March for almost all participants, so they should be good to go
      • Occasionally there may be late additions to the roster of interns, so if it is preventing registration procedures, please do not hesitate to contact the internship coordinator to request that this be expedited
  • The supervisor is responsible for providing transportation to off-campus field work, research station(s), or in-person training, as necessary
    • Please consider the location, along with any public or private transportation options and the cost, into account for any required in-person training or field work
      • Depending upon the accessibility or remote nature of the location, if public transportation is not available to reach the location, or unavailable at the day/time required, the faculty member (or someone in the department) may need to directly arrange and/or pay for private transportation to facilitate the intern participating
      • A taxi cab booked by the department with a company that accepts PCard is one potential option
      • Please be mindful that Mitacs GRI interns are not given funds in their award budget beyond regular public transportation costs

Support from Mitacs and University of Alberta International Student + Visitor Services

Terms and Conditions for the Academic Institution (University of Alberta) can be found at Mitacs Program Terms and Conditions - Institutions

Answers to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding support and settlement services to Mitacs GRI participants

Payments are made directly to interns from Mitacs GRI, NOT the U of A

The University of Alberta does not do direct deposit nor etransfer award payments for Mitacs GRI interns. We understand that this is different from many other research internship programs and scholarships that we administer.

Mitacs has clearly communicated with all interns that they must set up a Canadian bank account, and ISVS has proactively provided instructions and easy no-cost local options on or near campus. The intern must then enter their direct deposit information in the Mitacs intern logistics portal. All payment details can be found on page 11 of the 2026 Mitacs Globalink Research Intern Handbook. 

Please do not set up anything for direct deposit with the University of Alberta. These interns are 'guests' at our institution here for a short time, not students nor staff. Please explore how someone else in the department or lab group can front the cost of a necessary item and/or file the expense reimbursement.

Mitacs Award Letter = U of A Invitation Letter

One notable difference from other research internship programs coordinated by ISVS is that when it comes to immigration procedures, the Invitation Letter for Mitacs GRI participants is simply the Mitacs Award Letter issued directly by Mitacs, not by University of Alberta. To be clear, there is no separate Invitation Letter produced by ISVS or the U of A. Interns will be advised by both Mitacs and U of A ISVS staff to use the Mitacs 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. University of Alberta 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. 

Research Symposium

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, in which case they may be asked by ISVS staff to volunteer as an event assistant.

Faculty members and fellow researchers or teammates are also welcome and encouraged to come support their interns as they practice their academic presentation skills and share about the research project they are working on. If you stop by, please do not hesitate to ask someone nearby to take a photo of you with your researcher (as we understand it's often a scheduling challenge to stay for all of the event, and you are welcome to attend for part of it) - our staff or volunteers at the event would be happy to help with this!

Mitacs Mentors help support your student GRI participant

Mitacs operates a Mentor program that University of Alberta is pleased to participate in again for Summer 2026. Mitacs is responsible for hiring local students and matching them with your Mitacs GRI participant(s) for one to many peer support.

Please note, ISVS no longer substitutes our own student program assistants as a result of this change. In order to reach our two ISVS part-time student program assistants, interns have had the email address uaipa@ualberta.ca shared with them.

Administrative and campus registration procedures done by ISVS

Please review answers to Frequently Asked Questions for details regarding the types of supports provided to participants before, during, and after their research placements under your supervision at University of Alberta. These include CCID, ONEcard, academic visitor liability waiver form, guest POI, etc.

Professional development

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. 

Date modified: 2026-05-01