Finnish–Canadian Quantum Research Partnership

How to apply

Mitacs Globalink Research Award application instructions

Interested applicants should first identify a supervisor (professor) in their home institution and another one in the destination country before starting the application process.

Once supervisors from both institutions have been identified, the applicant should contact the Mitacs local advisor at the Canadian institution to discuss project eligibility and process. These Mitacs advisors can be found from this database: https://www.mitacs.ca/about/mitacs-advisors/

The applicant and supervisors will then receive the link to the application portal from the Mitacs advisor. They need to individually fill-in their information.

Once the application is completed and signed off (including the Canadian university signature), applicants should submit their application at least 12-16 weeks prior to their anticipated travel date.

Mitacs will typically provide a decision on the application in 6-10 weeks. Upon receival of the award letter, participants have one year to begin the project.

Note: For Finland-based applicants, Mitacs funds will only be provided upon arrival to the Canadian institution. For Canada-based applicants, Mitacs funds will be issued immediately upon the start of the project.

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Finnish Quantum Flagship additional funding application instructions

Additional Finnish funding is available for eligible Mitacs Globalink Research Award (GRA) recipients travelling from Finland to Canada or from Canada to Finland. It covers eligible travel and accommodation expenses up to €2,000 per project, reimbursed against receipts after the project ends.

1. Check eligibility before applying to Mitacs

Eligibility depends on the affiliation of the Finnish principal investigator (PI): the host PI for incoming researchers and the sending PI for outgoing researchers.

• PIs affiliated with FQF or QDOC: Researchers who receive a positive GRA award decision are automatically eligible for the additional funding if their Finnish PI is directly affiliated with the Finnish Quantum Flagship or Quantum Doctoral Pilot Programme. No separate eligibility approval is required.
• Other InstituteQ research groups: Funding may also be available where the Finnish PI is listed in the InstituteQ research group directory but is not directly affiliated with FQF or QDOC. These requests require a separate review and are subject to available funding.

If you are considering a Finnish PI in the second category, verify the availability of additional funding before finalising your choice of PI and submitting your GRA application. The Finnish PI, rather than the researcher, should contact their institution’s designated eligibility representative to request confirmation.

Institutional representatives for eligibility enquiries:

• Aalto University: Mahdi Moghaddam
• CSC – IT Center for Science: To be announced
• Tampere University: Teemu Ojanen
• University of Eastern Finland: Andreas Norrman
• University of Helsinki: Zoltán Zimborás
• University of Jyväskylä: Anniina Runtuvuori-Salmela
• University of Oulu: Matti Silveri
• University of Turku: Konstantinos Daskalakis
• VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland: Eija Tuominen

2. After receiving the GRA award

Researchers coming to Finland: Once the GRA award has been received and eligibility for the additional funding has been established—either automatically through FQF/QDOC affiliation or through separate approval—the Finnish host PI should contact their institution’s local HR services to arrange the hosting agreement and other necessary arrangements.

Researchers travelling from Finland: Once the GRA award has been received and eligibility for the additional funding has been established, follow your Finnish institution’s usual travel procedures. Submit your reimbursement request after the project ends and you return to Finland.

3. Claim reimbursement after the project

The additional funding is paid by the participating Finnish institution after the project has ended. It is a reimbursement of actual eligible travel and accommodation expenses up to €2,000 per project, rather than a fixed payment.

To arrange reimbursement, contact the designated financial representative at your Finnish host or sending institution. Submit the following documents and information in a single PDF file:

• A two-page summary report outlining the project partners, objectives, outcomes and future plans.
• A letter from the Finnish PI confirming successful completion of the project.
• A summary of the actual travel, accommodation and living expenses incurred during the visit.
• A breakdown identifying the expenses claimed from FQF and those covered by the GRA award.
• Receipts for all travel and accommodation expenses.

Living expenses should be included in the overall cost summary, but FQF funding covers only eligible travel and accommodation expenses.

The same expense cannot be reimbursed from both FQF and GRA funding. Reimbursement is subject to the Finnish institution’s applicable procedures and expense requirements.

Institutional financial representatives for reimbursement:

• Aalto University: Kirsi Romanoff (kirsi.romanoff@aalto.fi) and Seidi Lemström (seidi.lemstrom@aalto.fi)
• CSC – IT Center for Science: To be announced
• Tampere University: Teemu Ojanan (teemu.ojanen@tuni.fi)
• University of Eastern Finland: Milla Itkonen (milla.itkonen@uef.fi)
• University of Helsinki: To be announced
• University of Jyväskylä: To be announced
• University of Oulu: Anssi Käyrä (anssi.kayra@oulu.fi)
• University of Turku: Markus Suominen (markus.suominen@utu.fi)
• VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland: Teija Pääkkönen (teija.paakkonen@vtt.fi)