Objectives
The Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program supports the training and mentoring of teams of highly qualified students and postdoctoral fellows from Canada and abroad through the development of innovative training programs that
- encourage collaborative and integrative approaches, and address significant scientific challenges associated with Canada’s research priorities
- facilitate the transition of new researchers from trainees to productive employees in the Canadian workforce
These innovative programs must foster the acquisition and development of important professional skills among students and postdoctoral fellows that complement their qualifications and technical skills, and improve their job readiness for careers in industry, government, non-governmental organizations and/or academia.
In addition, these programs should encourage the following as appropriate:
- student mobility, nationally or internationally, between individual universities and between universities and other sectors
- interdisciplinary research within the natural sciences and engineering (NSE), or at the interface between the NSE and health or between the NSE and the social sciences and humanities—however, the main focus of the training must still lie within the NSE
- increased collaboration between industry and academia
- for the industrial stream, an additional objective is to support improved job readiness within the industrial sector by exposing participants to the specific challenges of this sector and training people with the skills identified by industry
Description
The CREATE program is designed to improve the training and mentoring environment for the Canadian researchers of tomorrow by improving training in areas such as professional skills, communication and collaboration, as well as by providing mentoring and experience relevant to both academic and non-academic research environments. Initiatives do not necessarily have to involve development of new professional skills training courses but can take advantage of existing training (offered at the university, provincially or by other organizations such as Mitacs). The CREATE program promotes and furthers the development of new researchers within the NSE disciplines, or at the interdisciplinary frontier between the NSE and the areas covered under the umbrella of the two other federal granting agencies—the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)—if, by combining the strengths of the various disciplines, a greater impact is achieved for the trainees. Where appropriate, proposed initiatives could also encourage interaction with the users of research and future employers of the trainees, or contribute to providing additional opportunities for students to participate in exchanges at the national or international level. The training initiative should be focused on providing a value-added experience to the university training environment to better prepare research trainees for their future careers in industry, government or academia.
Successful applicants will consist of a group of accomplished researchers who will work collaboratively to offer a defined research training program to a group of trainees. This environment will provide trainees with experience relevant to both academic and non-academic careers. The research training experience should focus on providing an enriched training and mentoring experience for graduate (master’s and doctoral) students. Undergraduate students can be supported and integrated into the training program as potential future graduate students, but a proposal that is focused solely on support of undergraduate students will not be considered. Postdoctoral fellows may also be supported, as it is recognized that they often play an integral part in the training and mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students. If postdoctoral fellows are included, the application must clearly elaborate on their contributions to the training program and the enhanced benefits this group can realize by being involved. Successful applications will be those best able to demonstrate the benefits of their proposed research training experience to their targeted trainees.
Supported training programs will be recognized nationally for
- their innovative nature to create a rich research training and mentoring environment
- the excellence of the researchers, and their success in training and mentoring highly qualified personnel (HQP) for future employment in all sectors including industry, government and academia
- their capacity to raise the standard for best practices in research training, mentoring and development of professional skills of new researchers
- encouraging student mobility, as appropriate, between different Canadian universities, between the universities and potential workplaces or among participating Canadian and international institutions, thus promoting international awareness
In addition, industry-supported training programs will be recognized for their capacity to support improved job readiness within the industrial sector by exposing participants to the specific challenges of the private sector, and to support training in skills that have been identified as needed for a career in industry, such as leadership, business management, entrepreneurship and marketing.
