Depending on whether it concerns a grant or an award, the institution to which the candidate is attached could be involved in its management in different ways. The management role of the institutions is described in the Common General Rules and in the program rules. The FRQ designate the institutions that can carry out funding management by granting them the title of “Managing Institution”.

List of Managing Institutions

Before preparing a funding application, you must check the role that each institution will play in it. This will help determine whether the institution should have been designated as a “Managing Institution”. In particular, the process to obtain this designation must be initiated when the institution will be called upon to:

  • approve the grant and career award application of the candidates who are in its employ, and;
  • manage the grants and career awards obtained by funding holders in its employ.

Become a Managing Institution

Any request for designation as a “Managing Institution” is assessed by the FRQ according to the eligibility criteria below. All these criteria are subject to change without notice. The FRQ may conduct audits of the institution to ensure that the criteria are met at all times.

Eligibility criteria

The institution must belong to one of the 4 categories of institutions below:

1. Universities: institutions listed in paragraphs 1 to 9 and 12 of section 1 of the Act respecting educational institutions at the university level. Paragraph 10 of section 1 could also be considered on a case-by-case basis ;

2. College-level institutions: institutions that fall into one of the subcategories below:

  • public institutions established under the General and vocational colleges act by letters patent published in the Gazette officielle du Québec;
  • public institutions created by law or which are, by law, under the jurisdiction of a ministry other than the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur and which can award college diplomas in accordance with the College education regulations ;
  • private institutions that have been holding a permit from at least 3 years to offer college-level instructional services in accordance with the Act respecting private education and that offer at least one program leading to a diploma of college studies that is approved for purposes of subsidies under section 77 of this Act. These institutions must demonstrate a level of organization and support that allows them to conduct research activities in an adequate and sustainable manner. They must also agree to manage the amounts granted separately from any other financial account and to allow the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur to transmit to the FRQ the reports and information it holds concerning their financial health;

3. Health network institutions : institutions in the Québec health and social services network that are considered “public institutions” under the Act respecting health services and social services and fall into one of the subcategories below:

4. Government institutions with a research mission: certain organizations of the government of Québec  which meet all of the following criteria:

  • they are government agencies of the province of Québec created by law or regulation;
  • their mandate or the orientations of their strategic plan clearly mention research;
  • they employ Québec researchers internally;
  • they financially support the performance of their research activities, independently of request funding addressed to the FRQ (sustainable budgets must exist to support the salaries of researchers because the latter are not paid by the FRQ);
  • they are not a Crown corporation;
  • they are not a for-profit organization, and;
  • their main research activity is not to financially support external research, such as granting awards and grants.

The institution should not be on the list of ineligible institutions.

A federated, affiliated or part of another institution that is designated as a “Managing Institution” cannot usually be independently designated as a “Managing Institution”.

Not being designated as a “Managing Institution” does not preclude the development of agreements with the FRQ for the conduct of research programs funded in partnership with the FRQ.

Process

The evaluation process requires several interactions between the authorities of the institution and the FRQ. Since it can take several weeks between the start of the process and the obtaining of a designation, it is recommended that the process be started as soon as applicants begin to prepare a funding application. A designation as a “Managing Institution” is valid with regard to the FRQS, the FRQSC and the FRQNT.

Process diagram (in French)

The process includes two main steps:

1. Preliminary assessment: A conditional designation is granted when the eligibility criteria of Section I appear to be met following a preliminary analysis. This conditional designation allows the institution to accept funding requests in FRQnet, which is often the last step in submitting a funding application to the FRQ. Scientific assessment of funding applications from an institution with a conditional designation is performed as usual, but the institution can’t manage a funding until it obtains a final designation (step below).

2. Full Assessment: A final designation is granted when the eligibility criteria of Sections I and II are met following a full analysis. This final designation allows the institution to carry out all the actions of a “Managing Institution”, including accepting funding applications in FRQnet and managing funding. The institution must have obtained a final designation before the FRQ will transfer funding to it. The criteria in Sections I and II must be met at all times to retain the final designation.

How to initiate the process

If an institution wishes to be designated as a “Managing Institution”, the authorities of this institution which are responsible for research must simply indicate their interest by email to the following address: reconnaissance@frq.gouv.qc.ca (no specific form). The FRQ will contact the establishment to initiate the evaluation process and to obtain the necessary information and documents.

If a candidate wishes an institution to which he is affiliated to be designated as a “Managing Institution”, this person must inform the institution’s authorities which are responsible for the research as soon as possible. Since it can take several weeks between the start of the process and the obtaining of a designation, it is recommended that the process be started as soon as applicants begin to prepare an funding application.

Questions

For any questions, contact Emmanuelle Lévesque, Research Ethics Advisor at 514 873-2114 extension 4280 or emmanuelle.levesque@frq.gouv.qc.ca