Postdoctoral Fellowship (B3ZR) - Knowledge Mobilization Plan

1. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

This program offers a funding extension to support Fonds Société et culture Postdoctoral Fellowship (B3Z) recipients in their efforts to publicize and promote the results of their postdoctoral research through knowledge mobilization activities, in accordance with the Fonds de recherche du Québec Knowledge Mobilization Strategy. Under this strategy, knowledge mobilization is an umbrella term covering several concepts related to the use and exploitation of research results: sharing, exchange, transfer, translation, application, valorization, commercialization, promotion, dissemination, etc.

More specifically, this program aims to maximize the impact of research funded by the Fonds in civil society by contributing to the circulation of knowledge and expertise outside the academic community and by encouraging the implementation of mobilization and transfer activities that will increase its reach. The following are targeted as potential users of research results: public, private, community and practice sector audiences; policymakers; the general public, etc.

This program also aims to promote the professional integration of postdoctoral fellows outside the academic community by encouraging them to create ties with the communities that are potential users of their research results.

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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.

2. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applicants must meet all eligibility requirements on the competition deadline of 4 p.m. on January 28, 2021. Applying more than once to this program, under any competition, is not permitted.

2.1 Conditions of use of the fellowship

The mobilization activities must take place over a 12-month period beginning no later than 3 months after the end of the Postdoctoral Fellowship (B3Z) funding period (see Section 6, Terms of the fellowship).

They must be carried out under the formal supervision of a member of the academic community (researcher), who may or may not be the same person who supervised the postdoctoral fellowship funded under the Postdoctoral Fellowship program (B3Z). Academic co-supervision is accepted.

As practical experience is encouraged, applicants may also designate a non-academic setting from which to implement the knowledge mobilization plan. In this case, a person from the practice setting must provide a letter of invitation (see 3.3).

2.2 Target group 

This program is intended for all recipients of the fall 2018 Postdoctoral Fellowship (B3Z) competition whose funding period ends no later than September 30, 2021. However, individuals who have already applied under this program (B3ZR) are excluded.

2.3 Citizenship and residency

To be eligible for the competition, the applicant must maintain the citizenship and residency conditions they demonstrated at the time of application for a Postdoctoral Fellowship (B3Z) in the fall of 2018.

2.4 Eligibility period exceptions

For more information about conditions regarding eligibility period exceptions, please refer to Sections 6.13 and 6.14 of the CGR.

The Fonds reserves the right to refuse any request that is not adequately justified.

3. SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION

Applicants are advised to prepare their application well in advance to ensure that it is submitted before the deadline, given the large number of applications and requests received by the Fonds at the end of the competition.

An application consists of the following documents:

1. The application form entitled  Postdoctoral Fellowship – Knowledge Mobilization Plan (B3ZR), available in the E-portfolio (Bourse postdoctorale – Plan de mobilisation des connaissances);
2. The Canadian Common CV and Detailed Contributions file;
3. Required documents to be submitted with the form.

3.1 Application form

It is the applicant’s sole responsibility to choose the right application form, the right funding program and the right Fonds for their application. In the event of an error, the Fonds will not transfer the application and the application will be deemed ineligible, either when assessed for eligibility or by the evaluation committee.

As indicated in the CGR (Section 3.6), forms may be filled out in French or English. However, the project title and abstract must imperatively be in French. It may be used by the Fonds for promotional and dissemination purposes.

The description of the mobilization plan (maximum 6 pages) must be attached in the appropriate section of the electronic application form.

Pages in excess of the number permitted in each section of the application will be removed from the application before submission for evaluation.

3.2 Canadian Common CV and Detailed Contributions attachment

The Canadian Common CV and “Detailed Contributions” attachment file are available in the Toolbox section on the program page or directly in the “Activity details” box in the E-portfolio. The Canadian Common CV (“Fonds Société et culture” version) must be up-to-date. The Detailed Contributions file, also up-to-date, must be completed in due form and attached to the application in the appropriate section of the E-portfolio. To ensure that the attachment is properly transmitted to the Fonds, it must be saved in PDF format under “Canadian Common CV” in the E-portfolio.

3.3 Required documents

The following documents are required and must be attached in the “Other documents'” section of the form:

• LETTER OF SUPPORT (mandatory) : A letter of support from the person(s) who will (co)supervise the postdoctoral fellowship in an academic setting, attesting to the relevance of the mobilization project and confirming (co)supervision for the additional year of funding (in the form, document referred to as: LETTRE DU SUPERVISEUR OU DE LA SUPERVISEURE).
• LETTER OF INVITATION FROM THE HOST ENVIRONMENT (if applicable): If the fellowship will be taking place in a non-academic setting, an official letter of support from a person representing the practice setting that has agreed to host the applicant for his/her mobilization activities must be included with the application. This letter must indicate the added value of this collaboration and describe the planned support and guidance mechanisms (in the form, document referred to as: LETTRE D’INVITATION DU MILIEU).
• POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH PROJECT SUMMARY (mandatory): A summary of the funded, ongoing or completed postdoctoral research project.
• PROOF OF REGISTRATION OR INVITATION (if applicable): Proof of registration or invitation to participate in an event relevant to the proposed knowledge mobilization activities.
• VALID RAMQ CARD OR OFFICIAL PROOF OF ELIGIBILITY FOR RAMQ OR OTHER OFFICIAL DOCUMENT (mandatory): If the applicant does not have a valid RAMQ card or official proof of eligibility for RAMQ (i.e. a letter from the RAMQ confirming that a new card has been requested), the applicant must provide a copy of two different documents, each of which demonstrates that he or she lived in Québec throughout the postdoctoral fellowship (see List of accepted documents).
• SUPPORTING DOCUMENT FOR ELIGIBILITY PERIOD EXCEPTION (if applicable): Applicants seeking eligibility period exceptions (see Section 2.4) must provide an official document attesting to a parental leave authorized by the Fonds during the Postdoctoral Fellowship (B3Z), a medical certificate attesting to serious health reasons or a disability, or a supporting document attesting to major family obligations.

For each of the relevant sections under “Activity details”, all required documents must be assembled and scanned into a single PDF document and attached to the electronic form in that section.

To be accepted, scanned PDF copies must be legible and without read protection or special double tab configuration.

The Fonds recommends using the presentation standards set out in the Detailed Contributions file to format the description of the knowledge mobilization plan.

Applicants may include links to web pages as bibliographic references, where relevant. However, the application must not be based in whole or in part on online content available to members of the evaluation committee.

The applicant is responsible for ensuring that all required documents have been included and submitted with the application. No document other than those listed here will be accepted.

Any missing document will render the application ineligible.

THE APPLICANT MUST NOT FORGET TO TRANSMIT THE APPLICATION AFTER COMPLETING AND VALIDATING IT, BY CLICKING THE “SUBMIT” BUTTON IN THE FORM.

At any time, applicants may verify in their E-portfolio that the most recent version of their application has been successfully submitted. The application file in “My forms” should be flagged as “Submitted to the Fonds” before the competition deadline. This indicates that the application has been received by the Fonds.

Once the application form has been submitted, it will not be possible to resubmit or modify the application in any way regardless of the transmission date, even if it is before the competition deadline.

No reminder will be made and no documents can be added after the competition deadline of 4 p.m. on January 28, 2021.

As indicated in Section 3 of the CGR, applicants certify that all information provided is accurate and complete, and undertake to comply with all rules and principles set out in the Fonds de recherche du Québec Policy for the responsible conduct of research. They authorize their institution to transmit, where applicable, any personally identifiable information resulting from the application of this policy. Applicants are asked to sign an agreement to that effect when submitting their application.

The FRQSC reserves the right to verify the authenticity of all documents and information provided with the organizations concerned.

All applications received by the Fonds are assessed for eligibility. A notice will be sent via email no later than February following the competition deadline, informing the applicant of the status of his/her application and, where applicable, its transmission to the evaluation committee.

Applicants whose application package is deemed incomplete or invalid will also be notified by email that their application has not been transmitted to the evaluation committee.

4. APPLICATION ASSESSMENT

4.1 Evaluation process

As indicated in Section 4 of the CGR, the Fonds receives fellowship applications and submits them for evaluation by research professors from a variety of disciplines who recommend funding for applications judged to be of satisfactory scientific quality.

4.2 Evaluation criteria, indicators and weighting

Committee members evaluate the applications according to the evaluation criteria, indicators and weighting specified in these program rules, based on the Fonds Scores and Ratings Grid.

To be recommended, an application must obtain an overall score of 70% or more. In addition, a score of 70% is required for the Mobilization plan criterion.

Applicants are advised to attach equal importance to both the evaluation criteria and their associated indicators.

Applications are evaluated according to the following criteria, indicators and weighting:

Postdoctoral fellowship (30 points):

• Scientific output (15 points)
• Acquisition of skills and experience (15 points)

Mobilization plan (70 points):

• Description of the planned mobilization strategy in accordance with the program objectives, including a presentation of the research results that will be mobilized and specifying the nature of the target audience(s) (25 points)
• Relevance of the planned mobilization activities and anticipated benefits for the target audience(s) (20 points)
• Timeframe, realism and feasibility (15 points)
• Added value for the career plan (10 points)

5. ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS AND VALUE OF FELLOWSHIP

5.1 Announcement of results

The Fonds informs every applicant of the results of the evaluation of his/her application and the funding decision made by the Fonds. Competition results are officially announced on the Fonds website and the announcement letter is sent to the applicant’s E-portfolio.

Successful applicants must accept or refuse the fellowship within 30 calendar days after the fellowship offer was sent, in the “Manage my funding” section of their E-portfolio. An applicant who fails to accept the fellowship before the deadline is considered to have refused the fellowship (CGR, Section 5.2).

5.2 Value and duration of funding

The fellowship has a maximum value of $45,000 and a duration of 12 months.

The annual supplement of $10,000 may be maintained for applicants who carried out their postdoctoral fellowship in a host environment situated more than 250km from Québec’s borders and wish to implement their mobilization plan there¹.

¹Reminder: in the case of co-supervision in a Quebec institution, the $10,000 will be adjusted in proportion to the number of months spent outside the province of Quebec.

6. TERMS OF THE FELLOWSHIP

To retain the fellowship, fellowship holders must meet the following basic conditions throughout the duration of funding:

• Meet the conditions relating to citizenship and place of residence.
• Have completed the Postdoctoral Fellowship funding period before beginning the mobilization activities.
• Begin the mobilization activities no later than 3 months after the end of the Postdoctoral Fellowship (B3Z) funding period and pursue them on a full-time basis.
• Respect the rules relating to concurrent funding.
• Respect the rules relating to paid employment.

Fellowship holders are required to inform the Fonds immediately if they cease to satisfy any of these conditions. Should any of these conditions no longer be met, the Fonds will be obliged to withdraw the fellowship and could request reimbursement.

6.1 Fellowship period

The fellowship must begin no later than 3 months after the end of the Postdoctoral Fellowship (B3Z) funding period.

The fellowship is non-transferrable from one year to the next.

The fellowship is not retroactive.

6.2 Fellowship payments

Fellowship payments must be requested by the fellowship holder for each 4-month period, in the “Manage my funding” section of the E-portfolio.

The second and third instalments are conditional on the presentation of a letter from the supervisor attesting to the good continuation of the mobilization activities according to the plan.

Any unclaimed payment can be cancelled at the end of the period it covers, without advance notice.

6.3 Full-time rule

To retain the fellowship, the fellowship holder must devote himself/herself full-time to carrying out the mobilization activities. Failure to respect this rule could result in the withdrawal of the fellowship. If, under exceptional circumstances, these conditions cannot be respected, the Fonds must be advised as soon as possible and will determine whether the fellowship should be maintained or cancelled.

Note that the postdoctoral fellowship cannot be suspended during the funding period. Under exceptional circumstances, the fellowship holder should contact the Fonds, which will analyze the situation on reception of the required supporting documents and approve or refuse the requested suspension.

6.4 Convertibility of the fellowship into a start-up grant

This fellowship can be used as a start-up grant by a fellowship holder who is offered a position as a regular professor in a Québec university. The fellowship holder must have completed four full months of planned transfer activities before requesting to convert part of the fellowship (up to $15,000) into a start-up grant for the new position. The effective date of the start-up grant is the fellowship holder’s employment start date

This grant is subject to the same rules as those of the Research Support for New Academics program. A person who benefits from this conversion remains eligible to apply for this program.

6.5 Parental leave  

For more information about conditions regarding parental leave, refer to Section 6.13 of the CGR.

6.6 Concurrent awards

The fellowship may not be held concurrently with:

• A fellowship or scholarship from a Canadian granting agency such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), etc.
• A fellowship or scholarship from a Québec granting agency such as the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS), the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT), the Conseil de recherches en pêche et agro-alimentaire du Québec (CORPAQ).
• Concurrent funding is prohibited with a scholarship from the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) or the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) for the same project.

The fellowship may be held concurrently with:

• Scholarships and fellowships from ministries and agencies of the Québec and Canadian governments, other than those mentioned above;
• Private sector and university scholarships and fellowships.

6.7 Paid employment

A fellowship holder may accept paid employment provided that the employment does not exceed 250 hours per 4-month period and that the employment does not interfere with the mobilization activities.

The Fonds considers teaching a 45-hour course to be equivalent to 150 hours of employment. Note that the same 45-hour teaching assignment given to two groups during the same term constitutes two teaching assignments.

6.8 Modifying the mobilization plan

For more information about conditions regarding making changes to the mobilization plan, please refer to Section 6.5 of the CGR.

To retain the fellowship, fellowship holders must meet the following basic conditions throughout the duration of funding:

• Meet the conditions relating to citizenship and place of residence.
• Have completed the Postdoctoral Fellowship funding period before beginning the mobilization activities.
• Begin the mobilization activities no later than 3 months after the end of the Postdoctoral Fellowship (B3Z) funding period and pursue them on a full-time basis.
• Respect the rules relating to concurrent funding.
• Respect the rules relating to paid employment.

Fellowship holders are required to inform the Fonds immediately if they cease to satisfy any of these conditions. Should any of these conditions no longer be met, the Fonds will be obliged to withdraw the fellowship and could request reimbursement.

7. EFFECTIVE DATE

The provisions set out in this document apply to the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

The Fonds reserves the right to modify the value of the scholarship and/or the program rules detailed in this document without prior notice.

Version updated on the website December 7, 2020.