NOTICE – The Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ) was established on June 1, 2024, in accordance with the Act to amend the Act respecting the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation with respect to research. The Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT), the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) have since been regrouped into the new FRQ, which continues their existence. The rights and obligations of the FRQNT, FRQS and FRQSC have become those of the FRQ; activities continue as usual.

Please note that if you come across an old name or logo of one of the Fonds de recherche du Québec in the program rules or on the website, it should now read as follows:

  • The FRQNT becomes the Nature et technologies sector;
  • The FRQS becomes the Santé sector;
  • The FRQSC becomes the Société et culture sector.

Thank you for your understanding.

Competition year : 
2021-2022

Deadline (application) : 
At all times

Announcement of results : 
Variable

Amount : 
Release from teaching duties: up to $40,000/year / Statutory supplement: $7,000/year

Duration : 
Variable, on an annual basis

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General information and rules

In your application, you will be able to describe how the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected your training or research activities during the past few months, in order for this information to be considered in the evaluation of your application. Please refer to the document “Considering the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the evaluation of funding applications” for further information.

IMPORTANT NOTE: All transactions with the FRQ require the creation of a user account on the Fonds website, if this has not already been done. Individuals who already have a Fonds personal identification number (PIN) have direct access to a FRQnet account and must update their profile in their E-portfolio. The link to the FRQnet E-portfolio is available under Portals access on the website.

These guidelines refer to the Common General Rules (CGR), which are applicable to all FRQSC programs. Only specific conditions applicable to the Program to Release College Researchers from their Teaching Duties are indicated in this document and prevail over the CGR. 

Note that the release from teaching duties and statutory supplement for college researchers are contingent on the availability of sufficient financial resources.

In the event of a discrepancy between the English and French versions of this program, the French version prevails.

This version was updated on July 9, 2020, subject to the approval of the Ministre de l’Économie et de l’Innovation.

Table of contents

  1. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
  2. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
  3. APPLICATION PROCESS
  4. APPLICATION ASSESSMENT
  5. ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS
  6. DESCRIPTION AND NATURE OF FUNDING
  7. FOLLOW-UP AND ACCOUNTABILITY
  8. EFFECTIVE DATE

1. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

  • Enable college researchers to contribute to the technological, economic, social and cultural development of Québec society;
  • Support collaborations between university and college professors on research projects, programs and topics;
  • Foster the emergence and consolidation of research activities in colleges;
  • Help college researchers initiate their students to research;
  • Enable college researchers to contribute to regional development in collaboration with local stakeholders.

In keeping with its Knowledge Mobilization Strategy, the Fonds encourages funding recipients to carry out knowledge mobilization activities (transfer, sharing, valorization, dissemination, etc.) for the general public, whenever such activities are relevant in the context of their research.

In accordance with the Fonds de recherche du Québec open access policy for the dissemination of research, all funding recipients must agree to provide open access to their scientific publications no later than 12 months after publication. To learn more about the FRQ’s requirements on this subject, please visit our page on open science.

Finally, the Fonds de recherche du Québec wish to contribute to supporting a research ecosystem based on equity, diversity and inclusion. Measures have been put in place to strengthen the integration of these principles. Funding recipients are also encouraged to consider them in the context of their research activities. For more information, please visit our website.

2. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

To be deemed eligible, applicants must have the status of College Researcher as defined in the CGR  (“Definitions”, p. 5).

The eligibility of the college researchers who are requesting:

1.     a release from teaching duties

AND/OR

2.     a statutory supplement

is assessed at the same time as the eligibility of the funding application to which they are identified.

To help support the integration of their researchers in Fonds programs that allow this, college institutions are encouraged to complete the process of being recognized to manage FRQ funding before the submission of any funding applications. For more information, please refer to our website and Section 6 of the CGR.

3. APPLICATION PROCESS

The college researcher must apply for a teaching release and statutory supplement in conjunction with a funding application submitted to one of the following programs:

  • Concerted Actions Program
  • Research-Creation Support Program – Team Project component
  • Strategic Clusters Program (next competition in 2023)
  • Research Team Support Program
  • Research Infrastructure Support for Social Sector University-Affiliated Centres and Institutions Program (next competition planned for the fall of 2021)

Depending on the individual program rules, college researchers may assume the role of principal investigator or co-investigator. More information is available on our website.

FORMS

To receive a release from teaching duties grant and/or statutory supplement as a principal investigator / co-investigator under one of the programs listed above, a college researcher is no longer required to complete a request form at the time of application to the funding competition. Instead, it is now the responsibility of the principal investigator to identify, in the full application form submitted to the Fonds, each college researcher for whom a release from teaching duties and/or statutory supplement1 is being requested as well as their home college institution. The principal investigator submitting the full application must also provide the following information in this form:

  • An estimate of the amount claimed for the teaching release, if applicable,
  • The statutory supplement request, if applicable2,
  • The role played by the recipient in the scientific program or project submitted for funding
  • Justification of the use of the funding allocated specifically for the recipient’s involvement.

COMMON CANADIAN CV

The FRQSC versions of the Common Canadian CV  and Detailed Contributions PDF file of all college researchers associated with the project or scientific program either as principal investigator or co-investigator must be attached to the full application form in the appropriate section of the E-portfolio. Without these documents, it will not be possible to submit the full application to the Fonds.

The CCV and its PDF attachment must have been updated within 12 months prior to the competition deadline and completed in due form. The documents Preparing a CV for the Fonds and Detailed Contributions attachment, available in the program’s Toolbox, may be consulted as needed.

If funding is awarded by the Fonds and accepted by the principal investigator, a second form will be made available in the E-portfolio of the college researchers for whom a release from teaching duties and/or statutory supplement has been requested.

Upon receipt of this form, the recipient college researchers must complete it and have it approved by their institution, before submitting it to the Fonds.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is recommended that college researchers seeking to participate in a project or program (as principal investigator or co-investigator) inform their institution in advance, without waiting for the teaching release grant or statutory supplement to be awarded (i.e. when the full application is being prepared for the funding competition).
  • At any time, applicants may verify the transmission status of their application in the “My forms” section of their E-portfolio:
  • The form will be flagged “Transmis à l’établissement” once the applicant has transmitted the application to the managing institution;

Throughout the application process, applicants are encouraged to check that no correspondence from the Fonds has ended up in the “junk” or “spam” folder of their email Inbox.

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1. If the principal investigator is a college researcher him or herself, he or she must also be sure to request a teaching release and/or statutory supplement for him or herself, if applicable.

2. Reminder: this amount must not exceed 50% of the college-level co-investigator’s gross annual salary, or be greater than $40,000

4. APPLICATION ASSESSMENT

As indicated in Section 4 of the CGR, funding applications are evaluated according to the criteria, indicators and weighting specific to each program.

The recommendations of the evaluation committee members are submitted to the Board of Directors of the FRQSC, which then makes funding decisions in accordance with the proposed ranking.

The awarding of funding and the commitment to continue funding in subsequent years are subject to decisions made by the Board of Directors of the Fonds according to strategic priorities and the annual budgetary appropriations allocated to it by the Québec National Assembly. Its funding decisions are final and cannot be appealed. If need be, the Board of Directors may review and modify or terminate funding without notice.

Teaching releases and statutory supplements are awarded only as part of a full application submitted to one of the programs listed in Section 3 and selected for funding. It is the responsibility of the scientific committee that evaluates these applications to ensure that the expenditures planned in connection with the integration of college researchers in the submitted project or scientific program are appropriate.

5. ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

The results are announced in accordance with the conditions described in Section 5 of the CGR.

6. DESCRIPTION AND NATURE OF FUNDING

Once the college researcher has accepted the grant, the funding awarded for a teaching release and/or statutory supplement will be made available through the finance department of his or her college institution.

The release from teaching duties and statutory supplement are awarded for the duration of the grant, provided that the college researcher continues to meet the eligibility requirements, as indicated in Section 6.4 of the CGR.

The program has two funding components:

1) Release from teaching duties

A maximum of $40,000 per year, paid directly to the college, to cover the portion of the salary related to a release from teaching duties for a college researcher involved in an application funded by the FRQSC.

Under no circumstances can the funding represent more than 50% of the college researcher’s gross salary3.

A college researcher may be awarded several teaching releases, but their total must never exceed the maximum amount of $40,000 per year.

All eligible college researchers involved in an application submitted to one of the five programs listed in Section 3 may apply for a release from teaching duties.

2) Statutory supplement

A supplement of $7,000 per year may be awarded to any college researcher with the role of co-investigator in an application funded by the FRQSC under one of the five programs mentioned in Section 3 of these program rules, with no stacking limit. To receive a statutory supplement, it is not necessary to have a release from teaching duties.

The statutory supplement is exclusively intended for the college researcher, to cover research-related expenses that are not funded by the college.

Expenses must be eligible in accordance with Section 8 of the CGR, unless otherwise indicated in the individual rules of the programs listed in Section 3 above.

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3. For example, an applicant with a gross salary of $76,000 cannot ask for more than 50% of this amount, i.e. a maximum of $38,000 per year. For a salary of $90,000 $, maximum funding is capped at $40,000.

7. FOLLOW-UP AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Any significant changes made to the initial application during the funding period must be reported in the FRQnet E-portfolio and an email must be sent to the program officer, justifying the changes (CGR, Section 6.5).

The funding recipient is required to approve the annual financial reports produced by his or her managing institution within three months after the end of the Fonds fiscal year (March 31), i.e. by June 30 (CGR, Sections 6.2 and 7.1).

The funding recipient must also update his or her file in the E-portfolio before the end of March each year, indicating any significant changes.

8. EFFECTIVE DATE

These rules apply to the 2021-2022 fiscal year.