Over 160 students secure research internships through UUKi and Mitacs partnership

The Globalink Research Internship (GRI) is a fully funded internship programme for undergraduate students, which provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to carry out a 12-week summer internship at a Canadian university. After a competitive selection process, the top applicants are hosted at one of Mitacs’ 70 partner institutions across Canada, to undertake research as part of their degree. 

Students will now begin to work with their Canadian host professors to prepare for their internship before travelling to their host universities across Canada. 

Jamie Arrowsmith, Director of UUKi, commented: 

“Growing outbound international opportunities for UK students is an important priority for UUKi and our members. The GRI scheme is an excellent opportunity for students to benefit from our research links with Canadian partners, allowing them to develop global perspectives and gain experience helping to co-create solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.” 

Since 2019, UUKi and Mitacs have been working together to increase UK mobility to, and research collaboration with Canada, supporting up to 400  undergraduate students to undertake virtual and in-person research internships through the Mitacs GRI scheme. This scheme is just one of the ways that Mitacs are working to develop the next generation of researchers helping to fuel Canada’s knowledge-based economy. 

UUKi research shows that student mobility experiences can have transformative, life changing positive impacts. International opportunities provide students with vital soft skills, self-confidence, cultural competencies and global connections leading to improved degree outcomes and better quality, higher paying graduate employment prospects.

A call for students to apply for the GRI scheme in 2024 will open this summer.

About Universities UK International:

Universities UK International (UUKi) represents UK higher education institutions (HEIs) globally and helps them flourish internationally. To do this we actively promote UK HEIs abroad, provide trusted information for and about them, and create new opportunities through our unique ability to act at sector level. We draw on UK university expertise to influence policy in the UK and overseas, delivering information, advice and guidance to facilitate mutually beneficial collaboration between UK HEIs and a broad range of international partners. 

For more information, explore our website - accessed here - and follow us on Twitter @UUKIntl

About Mitacs:

Mitacs is a not-for-profit organisation that fosters growth and innovation in Canada by solving business challenges with research solutions from academic institutions. It is funded by the Government of Canada, provincial governments, academic institutions, and industry partners. 

For more information about Mitacs, visit their website https://www.mitacs.ca/en and follow them on Twitter @MitacsCanada