PERSÉIS – Call for proposals #1 – Research in innovative scientific entrepreneurship – 2023-2024

1. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

PERSÉIS was launched on May 3, 2023 with the goal of stimulating research on innovative scientific entrepreneurship in all its diversity, based on the needs and concerns of support organizations, decision-makers and entrepreneurs in the field. It is intended to mobilize stakeholders, from the statement of needs and research questions to the dissemination, adoption and evaluation of the impacts of research results.

This call for proposals is the first initiative to emerge from PERSÉIS and has the following objectives:

• Identify research needs in the area of innovative scientific entrepreneurship;
• Initiate unifying research projects for all of Québec with a view to long-term exchanges and interactions;
• Produce measurable far-reaching impacts particularly but not exclusively aimed at the creation of new practices and tools and their adoption to stimulate innovative scientific entrepreneurship in a Québec context.

Proposals should address one of the following priority themes:

• The funding continuum
• Impact measurement
• Access to talent
• The integration of sustainable development goals in the operations of support organizations

These themes are prioritized to increase the unifying potential of the projects selected. However, it is possible to focus on other themes.

For more details on the Research-Society Space for Innovative Scientific Entrepreneurship, visit PERSÉIS.

2. CO-CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE AND IMPORTANT DATES

This call for proposals is part of a collaborative process with several opportunities spread out over time (see calendar below) to initiate collaborations, identify research needs and questions, and form research teams.

The calendar content is only available in French.

3. ELIGIBILITY

The team must:

• include at least two (2) researchers with status 1,2 or 3 as defined in the FRQ’s CGR (regular university or college faculty position). One of these two researchers will be the principal investigator designated to complete and submit the application to the FRQ;
• include at least three (3) individuals from a Québec-based business accelerator or incubator (BAI), designated as co-investigators. See details below.

The project must:

• be registered with the PERSÉIS team by June 19, 2023.

At the time of registration, the team must demonstrate that the project idea was developed through a co-construction process in connection with the call for proposals. Team members are expected to have participated in at least one networking event (including the February 1st half-day).

Notes on team composition

Collaborators

Teams may include an unlimited number of collaborators. Teams may identify up to twenty collaborators in the form and use the project description to include additional information in this regard.

Co-investigator from a Québec-based BAI

A co-investigator shares equal responsibility for the conduct of the proposed research with the principal investigator. As such, and if applicable, the co-investigator must accompany the principal investigator to the interview with the scientific committee in Phase 2 of the application evaluation. It is expected that a co-investigator from a BAI be identified with the principal investigator as co-leader of the research project with the additional requirement to endorse the final report in case of funding.

Participation in more than one project

A principal investigator cannot be responsible for more than one funding application or grant awarded under this program.

4. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Documents to be attached to the form

The principal investigator is asked to submit the following documents:

• A text (maximum 4 pages, PDF format) describing the project in relation to the objectives of the call for projects, and including the following elements in the order indicated below:
  • Project description
  • Demonstration of the project’s unifying character
  • Presentation of anticipated impacts and demonstration of the benefits for the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and in particular for science and innovation companies in Québec
  • Description of the potential for adoption of the results in practice environments
• An FRQ abridged CV for each researcher (maximum 2 pages, prepared using the FRQ presentation rules)
• A professional CV for each BAI co-investigator (maximum 2 pages)
• A detailed budget (based on the eligible expense categories detailed in the CGR) and a maximum of 1 page of budgetary justifications.

If the team includes a co-investigator who is paid as a contracted professor or has “retired” status, a letter from the institution must be provided if the application is selected for funding, attesting that the co-investigator’s employment relationship with the managing institution will be maintained for the duration of the grant.

Only forms completed by the principal investigator, submitted to his or her managing institution and transmitted electronically to the FRQ before the competition deadline are accepted. An application that does not contain the information necessary to determine eligibility or enable evaluation will be deemed invalid by the FRQ. No document submitted or sent after the deadline will be accepted.

5. DURATION AND AMOUNT OF THE GRANT

The maximum annual grant amount is $100,000 for a maximum of three years.

In accordance with the program’s objectives, the grant must be used to cover expenses directly related to the implementation of the project. All budget items listed in the CGR are eligible (see Section 8 of the CGR).

Indirect costs equivalent to 27% of the grant amount will be paid in addition to the research grant.

6. APPLICATION EVALUATION PROCESS

6.1 Evaluation committee

Applications will be evaluated by committees whose members are recognized for their skills, expertise and achievements related to the program’s objectives and the submitted applications. Given the diverse profiles of committee members, applicants are encouraged to present the project in such a way as to be easily understood by an intersectoral committee from different spheres of society.

The program has a two-phase evaluation process:

Applications will be evaluated based on the objectives and criteria of this call for proposals. A maximum of ten (10) applications with the highest scores and an overall score of at least 70% will be retained for Phase 2.

The leaders of the selected projects will be invited for an interview and presentation before an international scientific committee. To be recommended for funding, the interview must receive an overall score of 85% or higher.

6.2 Evaluation criteria

1. Quality and realism of the project (20%)

2. Unifying character (40%)

• Breaks down barriers between Québec’s scientific and entrepreneurial sectors
• Brings together a wide diversity of actors
• Provides for sharing and discussion activities with the rest of the PERSÉIS community (entrepreneurial and research community)

3. Potential for impact (scope of benefits) (40%)

Meets a need in the Québec ecosystem and demonstrates potential for adoption of the anticipated benefits for:

• Stakeholders directly involved and Québec’s innovative scientific entrepreneurial ecosystem
• Decision-makers (public policy), Québec, and its position at the international level
• And, above all, science and innovation companies in Québec

7. FOLLOW-UP AND REPORTING

In accordance with the CGR, holders of a grant obtained under this program are required to submit a final report, the format of which will be communicated in due course to the principal investigators of the funded applications.

In addition, in the interest of promoting the impacts of the projects funded under this program and in line with the objectives of this program, teams must contribute, on invitation, to events such as forums, conferences and follow-up or transfer activities organized by MAIN and the FRQ. Teams also agree to present the progress of their work at the Accelerator Summit during the years of their grant.

The FRQ also encourage funding recipients to carry out knowledge mobilization activities for practice communities and the general public, whenever such activities are relevant.

8. IMMEDIATE OPEN ACCESS FOR PUBLICATIONS RESULTING FROM THIS GRANT

Peer-reviewed publications resulting from the research made possible by this grant must be released in immediate open access (without embargo), under an open license, in accordance with the Open access policy for the dissemination of research (revised in 2022).

9. EFFECTIVE DATE

These rules apply to the 2023-2024 fiscal year.