Frequently Asked Questions

University of Alberta International Student & Visitor Services (ISVS) team provides research interns with full support before, during, and after their placement.

Each research internship participant whose stay is coordinated by ISVS is offered the following:

• Coordination of immigration processes and documents, including the FVCA and/or Invitation Letter as necessary
• 'Guest' (Academic Visitor) CCID and ONEcard for campus registration
• Liability waiver form processed at the International Service Centre
• In-person orientation and settlement services
• Professional development seminars
• Academic networking opportunities
• An opportunity to present at a research symposium*

*Typically offered in mid-March, mid-late July, mid-late August, and early December

Each intern also has the option to participate in the following activities:

• Trips to the Canadian Rocky Mountains (Banff or Jasper)
• Weekly social programming
• Cultural events offered in Canada's "Festival City"

While each situation and visitor may be different depending on their circumstances and IRCC processing times, generally speaking, visiting international students coming to Canada to participate in a research internship will enter via one of three categories.

• Visitor Visa via Global Skills Strategy 120-day Work Permit Exemption for international research visitor stays of less than 4 months
• Work Permit for stays of over 4 months
• eTA (electronic Travel Authorization)

Find out if you need a visa to travel to Canada

Please note that none of the above options are study permits. Do not apply for a study permit, as academic visitors performing research are not coming to Canada to enroll in courses or participate in a study exchange for credit. No academic transcript will be issued.

As per IRCC, international student visitors entering Canada to perform research through the specific programs in this portfolio are not able to study or enroll in courses.

For any immigration-related questions not answered above, research interns who have already been offered a placement with a U of A Host Professor are welcome to Submit a General Inquiry → Staff General Inquiry to the Staff Service Centre with “Immigration - Academic Visitor” in the ‘What do you need help with?’ subject line. Please be patient, as it may take 1-4 business days on average to receive a reply after you send an inquiry. 

International Student & Visitor Services (ISVS) facilitates the immigration invitation process and campus registration for research interns coming through the programs we administer.

Should you be interested in hosting a research intern whose stay is not directly facilitated by ISVS, please refer to the information regarding inviting international visitors (academic visitors) to campus. In these scenarios, all immigration/invitation and/or campus registration processes are then independently arranged by the faculty member and/or department, not ISVS staff. General information and guidance is provided below. 

Yourself or someone from the department may need to complete the Foreign Visitor Category Assessment (FVCA), which will be reviewed by our U of A HR Immigration Services colleagues. The visiting researcher(s) will need to provide some information such as passport number, citizenship, date of birth, so that the FVCA can be completed.

HR Immigration Services advisors can be reached via the Staff Service Centre if you have questions about this process. The U of A professor or research associate can submit an inquiry with the word "Immigration—Academic Visitors" in the subject line.

Then, once the invitation process has been completed as outlined above, and the visiting international student has arrived in Canada, our team at International Student and Visitor Services (ISVS) would be pleased to invite the academic visitor to weekly social events and cultural activities organized by our student Program Assistants. 

Please have the visitor(s) sign up their UAlberta email address(es) for our newsletter. Many events are free or low-cost ways to meet new people while experiencing life in Canada. For example, our English Conversation Club from 3-5pm on Friday afternoons allow visitors to practice not only conversing in English with people from different countries and cultures (as for some visitors, English may already be their first language), but also aims to educate international visitors about different facets of daily life in Edmonton, Alberta and foster dialogue about Canadian culture.  

While our fellow U of A colleagues in HR Immigration Services are the best resource for starting the visa/immigration process, please do not hesitate to reach out if our office may be able to assist with welcoming or settlement services after their arrival.

University of Alberta International Student and Visitor Services coordinates research internships for visiting international students who are sponsored by the following programs:

• Mitacs Globalink Research Internships (Mitacs GRI)
• Global Affairs Canada International Scholarships (GAC)
  • Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP)
  • Canada-ASEAN Scholarships and Educational Exchanges for Development (SEED)
  • Study in Canada Scholarships (SICS)
• University of Alberta Research Experience (UARE)
• China Scholarship Council (CSC)
• RWTH Aachen Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)

If you are not eligible to for any of the above programs, you may wish to individually pursue a self-funded research internship directly with a U of A host professor.

Please be aware that individually arranged research internships are organized independently of ISVS. A friendly clarification that in this scenario, all immigration/invitation and campus registration procedures must be independently arranged by the faculty member and/or department coordinating your research visit, not ISVS staff.

Based on your individual funding and availability, you may opt to find a willing University of Alberta host supervisor and independently arrange a research stay. Please review our other FAQs for more details about this process.

Should you independently arrange a research stay at University of Alberta as an academic visitor, once you arrive in Canada, our team at International Student and Visitor Services (ISVS) would be pleased to invite you to participate in optional weekly social events and cultural activities organized by our student Program Assistants. 

Please sign up using your CCID@ualberta.ca email address for our newsletter. Many events are free or low-cost ways to meet new people while experiencing life in Canada. For example, our English Conversation Club from 3-5pm on Friday afternoons allow visitors to practice not only conversing in English with people from different countries and cultures (as for some visitors, English may already be their first language), but also aims to educate international visitors about different facets of daily life in Edmonton, Alberta and foster dialogue about Canadian culture.  

Due to capacity and resources, the Inbound International Internship Coordinator collects research projects from U of A faculty members who are willing and able to host and mentor visiting researchers through some specific programs. Examples include UARE and CSC-funded research internships. Student applicants then apply directly to the specific research project(s) during specific application periods. 

For other research internship programs, such as Global Affairs Canada International Scholarships (ELAP; SEED; SICS) or the University of Alberta-RWTH Aachen Junior Research Fellowship, research projects are not centrally collected and applicants must independently initiate finding an appropriate placement. These still have deadlines each year.

If none of the above options are a viable option based on eligibility, timing, or other factors, you may independently pursue a research stay with a U of A host professor if you will be self-funded or have external funding.

In order for you to find an appropriate/suitable research project with a host professor/supervisor/mentor at University of Alberta as a prospective academic visitor, you will need to perform some active outreach to self-arrange a placement. You can visit our Colleges & Faculties webpage, and from there, click on the webpage of the faculties you are interested in to view a list of our professors and their research areas.

Alternatively, you can also search for Professors, Associate Professors and/or Assistant Professors using this Directory, which is grouped by faculty.

You may also wish to consult this list of Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects.

Your next step is for you to reach out to the University of Alberta faculty member directly via email. When contacting University of Alberta host professors via email, they may find it helpful for you to include:

• your full name and contact information
• your home university and home country
• whether you are currently an undergraduate (bachelor's) or graduate (master or doctoral) student
• current year of your program and anticipated date (month/year) of graduation
• how you expect to fund your research stay (ex. funding from your home university or other sources; a scholarship you have already received; a scholarship that you plan to apply for but need someone to supervise you, etc.)
• your research background and academic interests, and how they align with the chosen host professor's
• desired length of program (how long you wish to stay to do research), including your ideal start & end date and/or which specific months you are available, or how flexible you can be
• documents such as your CV/resume, transcripts, or relevant academic history

To our knowledge, there is no centralized list of all research projects on campus for interested visiting researchers to access. The closest resource we can find to a centralized list or database of research projects across campus is this Successful Grants Library hosted by the Research Services Office, which serves U of A Researchers (i.e., faculty members). Please feel free to reach out to us if you have new information to share with us.

In order to effectively perform research, visiting international student participants must have proficient English speaking, reading, writing, and listening capabilities. In terms of standardized testing and benchmarking, this translates to TOEFL 70 iBT or 5.5 IELTS (or the equivalent through another testing platform) as a minimum score. 

Of course, some of our research interns are native English speakers, or have taken courses in English as an additional language during the majority of their schooling. However, other students may have had less opportunities to use English as the primary language in professional settings, or to be immersed in a predominantly English-speaking community. 

Due to the unique technical nature of specific terminology in many academic subjects and fields of research, University of Alberta International encourages faculty members to set up a brief video interview to see if the prospective visiting international student has sufficient communication capabilities to contribute to the host professor's research project. 

There are also opportunities to utilize French as the primary language of communication with specific Host Professors, such as for research projects with our faculty members based at University of Alberta's Campus Saint-Jean in Edmonton.

International Student & Visitor Services (ISVS) requires all research internship participants to have mandatory health insurance coverage through our University of Alberta Health Insurance Plan (UAHIP).

The only exception is for Mitacs Globalink Research Internship (GRI) program participants, as they are covered by an alternate plan.

The monthly fee for UAHIP is currently $50 CAD per person, and eligible dependents may be added to your plan for an additional fee.

For detailed UAHIP coverage information and answers to health insurance-related frequently asked questions, please visit UAHIP.