Professional Outreach Awards

The OCE Professional Outreach Awards are given to graduate level students and post-doctoral fellows who wish to develop their professional skills by participating in conferences, tradeshows, business competitions or other learning opportunities. Typical activities might include: oral or poster presentations of research results; chairing a conference session; volunteering to be a member of an event’s organizing body; working with their R&D partner in a tradeshow booth; pitching their business ideas at business competitions; or taking a mini-course offered only at a conference or summer school program. All activities must be directly related to, and add value to, their OCE-funded project as well as the student’s chosen career path. The Professional Outreach Awards Competition takes place four times per year and winning students are selected by an external review committee.

Eligibility

Successful Professional Outreach Awards applications will contain the following elements:

• The applicant is a registered graduate student or post-doctoral fellow at an Ontario college or university working on an OCE-supported Research, Commercialization or Talent-related project.
• The applicant is a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or has applied for permanent status.
• Applicants have the support of their academic supervisor and project partners.
• The content/format of the conference clearly benefits the student's professional development.
• The student’s application package, in particular the mini-essay component, must:
• detail how the student's research at the host institution is linked to an OCE-supported project
• outline relevant event activities (e.g. presenting a paper or poster, working a booth, chairing a session, entering a business competition, etc.)
• show how attending the event and completing the activities will add value or contribute to industrial and academic stakeholders, as well as their own professional development
• Students must acknowledge affiliation with, or support from, OCE in the activities in which they are engaged at the event, including proper branding (logo, name of OCE Centre).

Application Process

Program has been suspended until further notice.