After moving to London, Ontario seven years ago, Roberta was intrigued by some of the older Victorian buildings near the downtown area and on historic Dundas Street. She wondered why such beautiful architecture had been neglected and what the significance of these heritage buildings had once been.

For Alyssa, her Mitacs Accelerate internship was a great way to get real-world experience in her field while completing her studies. “Mitacs Accelerate builds the bridge between academic and industry by giving graduate students a chance to work with more experienced researchers, and provides exposure to research in real world settings,” she said.

Literacy rates in New Brunswick are among the lowest in Canada. Half of the population lives in rural areas and because the province is bilingual, minority language children can find it difficult to develop early language skills.

In 2009, the Tsawwassen First Nation situated south-west of Vancouver became the first in British Columbia to sign a self-governance treaty with the governments of Canada and British Columbia. It effectively set up a new government jurisdiction for the local population under the formal treaty negotiation process, allowing them to pass new laws over their land and decide, independent of other levels of government, how the community should be managed.

My research is particularly important because it identified that stigma may be preventing open discussions about the risk for psychiatric disorders. An open discussion is the first step in making sure patients receive proper and timely mental health care, which can greatly improve prognosis.

It really helped to have Jennifer hone in and focus on a specific challenge. We got a lot out of our investment.

Under the guidance of Dr. Janet Light, Abhishek is researching how to use signal processing to detect when an individual is about to fall. The research has the potential to change the way we approach healthcare for the elderly and those living with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s by reducing overall dependence on caregivers and keeping potentially harmful accidents at bay.

“I wanted to seize the opportunity to contribute to research that could have a major impact. I felt that a Mitacs Globalink internship would be an enriching experience and make for a very interesting summer, and this has proven to be true.”

Adrian Gil saw Mitacs Globalink as the perfect opportunity to challenge himself with a research project in a new country, and in a different language.