January 18th, 2016

Employers from every industry look for people who can quickly solve problems, make decisions on the fly, and possess critical thinking skills. Industry leaders know that they need creators, not just someone who can regurgitate the same information to them they already possess. This is why hiring someone with a PhD gives organizations a significant advantage. 

People with a PhD know how to create and know how to get the job done. People with a PhD bring years of experience in academia to tackle the most challenging projects across every industry. They have the knowledge and transferable skills to give your organization the boost it needs.

This is where someone from the TalentEdge Fellowship Program (TFP) comes into play. This initiative provides an exciting marriage of skills and mutually beneficial opportunities between Ontario-based PhD students and Postdoctoral Fellows (PDF) to work closely with industry leaders on innovative research and development projects to help grow the sector in question. 

Industry partners from every sector and speciality work with their PhD or PDF to create a project with a significant level of interaction between both parties. The primary goal is to attract top talent that will help the company they work with to develop new products, services, and processes to service the industry and help it excel.

Industry Partner Eligibility

All partners must be for-profit organizations operating in Ontario. This initiative also considers not-for-profit social enterprises in the province that are creating an innovative product, program, or service that has the potential to generate revenue. For fellowships that do not fit into traditional STEM disciplines, applicants must demonstrate the environmental, social, or economic benefit to Ontario to be deemed eligible.

All projects require at least one investing industry partner that meets the necessary cash and in-kind contributions this initiative requires, which are detailed below. All industry partners must provide a Business Number, or BN, as in accordance with Canada Revenue Agency standards.

Projects and assessment criteria

Every fellowship must be project-based, and they should be in line with proposed PhD or PDFs experience and expertise in the field. That’s why you have them on board for the project, after all!

Project participants manage the intellectual property they produce during the twelve months they work together. Intellectual property policies bind company-based fellowships based on the mandate of the organization. All parties are bound to this policy for the duration of their collaboration. All partners enter into a contract with the primary supplier of funding, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), and they must cooperate with them, reporting on their projects with new developments as they arise. 

This funding initiative awards the best TalentEdge fellows and the strongest research and development projects. All PhD or PDF applicants must have a proven record of success, demonstrated through their curriculum vitae and reference letters from their host organization. They also consider the industry partner’s capacity to execute their plan while providing the TalentEdge fellow with a valuable and useful experience that will benefit their future career.

Program value

Each year-long TalentEdge fellowship is worth $85,000. OCE provides $35,000 of this amount, while the industry they will work at (and their partner) but supply $25,000. For the highly reasonable cost of $25,000, you can have one of tomorrow’s industry leaders providing their professional insights and contributions to help them develop their own talent and the processes and outputs of your company.

OCE will begin accepting applications in February of this year, so the time is now to get started on yours. TalentEdge is a discretionary, non-entitlement program that carefully allocates the funding they have. Their careful reviewing process assesses applicants based on how well they fit the program’s objectives and assessment criteria. Contact INAC Services and we can help your application stand out from the rest!