Professional Postgraduate Training in Research (Fellowship)

To be eligible to apply, applicants must :

• Hold a professional university degree in healthcare and a valid license to practice in Québec at the inception and for the entire duration of the award.

• have a valid Régie d’assurance maladie du Québec (Québec Health Insurance Plan) (RAMQ) card or proof of eligibility for the RAMQ
  AND
  on a regular and daily basis for at least six months of the seven months prior to the competition closing date

Professionals interested in enrolling in a master or doctoral program must apply to :

• Master Training for Applicants with a professional Degree in Human Health (see program rules)
• Doctoral Training for Applicants with a professional Degree in Human Health (see program rules)

WARNING : Applicants with both a professional degree and a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) who are interested in pursuing research training must apply to:

• Postdoctoral Training program

• Must devote at least 75% of his/her time to the research project.

• Must be supervised by a university researcher or clinical university researcher (as defined in the Definitions section of the Common General Rules).
  If the candidate’s supervisor is located outside of Québec, that person should still meet the criteria of university researcher or clinical university researcher in terms of university affiliation and autonomy (see the Definitions section of the Common General Rules).

To use a training award outside Québec, you must have :

• a valid RAMQ card or proof of eligibility for the RAMQ
  AND
  Canadian citizenship at the time the application is submitted.

People who do not have a valid RAMQ card or a proof of eligibility for the RAMQ, as well as those who are not Canadian citizens at the time the application is submitted, must do their training in Québec (see section 2.1 of the Common General Rules).

Reminder: a license to practice / a training card for resident physicians must be valid in Québec for the entire duration of the award.

Not eligible :

• Those who hold an academic position, unless they take unpaid leave for the duration of the training award. An official letter confirming their employment status for the period and stating that they will resume their position once the training is completed should be provided by the employer.
• Applicants with a Ph.D.
• Applicants are not eligible for a renewal if they have already received 3 or more years of fellowships since the initial offer of the FRQS fellowship, regardless of the granting agencys.

Basic research ethics training is mandatory for all FRQS awardees conducting research projects that involve human beings.

Research on human beings involves :

• Participation of human beings
• Use of human biological materials (parts, products, tissue, cells, genetic materials, derived from a living or dead individual)
• Assisted procreation activities or the use of human embryos derived therefrom, within the meaning of the Act respecting clinical and research activities relating to assisted procreation (CQLR c. A-5.01)
• The use of administrative, scientific or descriptive data from human participants

Awardees must therefore successfully complete levels 1 and 3 of the Online Tutorial in Research Ethics developed by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux.

This training must be completed within one year of the date of confirmation by the FRQS that the award was granted.

Before October 15, 2019, 4:30 pm (EDT)

Documents sent via mail or e-mail will not be accepted

Letters of recommendation will not be accepted

Transmission via the FRQS electronic Portfolio only

• Canadian Common CV, Funding CV version, for the FRQS (updated since June 2018);

• Detailed contributions updated since June 2018 (attachment required through the FRQS Electronic Portfolio on the Canadian Common CV page), consult the document entitled Guidelines for the CV attachment in the Toolbox

• Electronic application form : Formation en recherche post-diplôme professionnel (fellowship)/Professional postgraduate training in research (Fellowship)
  PDF version – for information
• A copy of official academic transcripts (except renewal applications)
• A copy of a valid Quebec health insurance card, OR evidence of eligibility to the RAMQ (official RAMQ document before the issuance of the card) (except renewal applications) (crucial for eligibility)
  • If the RAMQ card or a proof of eligibility to the RAMQ is not provided, please include an official document confirming that the individual lived in Québec on a regular and daily basis for at least six months within the seven months prior to the competition closing date (see the list of accepted documentation n in the Toolbox) (crucial for eligibility)
• Acknowledgements from publishers for articles that are submitted or accepted for publication

• Canadian Common CV, Funding CV version, for the FRQS (updated since June 2018);

• Detailed contributions updated since June 2018 (attachment required through the FRQS Electronic Portfolio on the Canadian Common CV page), consult the document entitled Guidelines for the CV attachment in the Toolbox

• Supervisor’s electronic form (and if applicable, co-supervisor)
  PDF version – for information

The awardee must submit:

• proof of membership to a professional corporation certifying that the applicant is entitled to practice in Québec

• a written confirmation of the beginning or the continuation of the project from the research supervisor

To start the second year of the award, the awardee will have to provide:

• ethics training certificates (levels 1 and 3), if applicable (by email in a single PDF document)

Between May 2020 and January 2021, on the first of the month

2 years and possibly a third year, conditional upon the evaluation of a renewal application (renewal may be requested only once).

Applicants are not eligible for a renewal if they have already received 3 or more years of postdoctoral fellowships since the initial offer of the FRQS fellowship, regardless of the granting agency.

The awardee may benefit from an award payment deferral during parental leave (maternity, paternity or adoption) for a maximum period of 12 months as described in Section 6.13 of the Common General Rules.

Awardees must fill out the Award payment deferral form (Report de versement de bourse), accompagnied by the documents supporting the leave, to inform the FRQS of their intention to receive a supplement to their award for a parental leave.

The installments of the award planned for each month of the parental leave will be rescheduled at the end of the funding period.

The FRQS reserves the right to reject any request that is not properly justified.

The FRQS reserves the right to reject any request that is not properly justified.

Deferrals with the goal of acquiring relevant experience can be consecutive if they are approved by the research supervisor.

To benefit from this measure, the award holder must submit a request to the FRQS by filling out the Award payment deferral form. Furthermore, the research supervisor should provide a letter confirming his or her agreement and the relevance of the paid activities that are involved.

The FRQS reserves the right to reject any request that is not properly justified or relevant.

* except in some cases (see the section Awards in partnership)

A $10,000 supplement is added for professional postgraduate training outside Québec

The award will be paid to the awardee by installments. There are three installments per year.

The awardee is responsible for paying the income tax due on amounts received from the FRQS. No taxes are withheld at source by the FRQS on amounts disbursed during the taxation year in question.

The date the amount is granted determines the year in which the awardee must declare the amounts received as income for personal tax calculations.

Revenue Canada’s T4A form and Revenue Québec’s form 1 are sent to the awardee’s mailing address (the one shown in the module My funding (Gérer mon financement) in the FRQS Electronic Portfolio) in February of the following year of taxation.

The details provided in this form are for information purposes only. The FRQS is not responsible for the validity of the information given about income tax.

This program does not benefit from the amount paid out by FRQS to cover indirect costs of research of the institutions.

Awardees may accept additional funding from the institution or their research supervisor.

It is the responsibility of the FRQS award holder to check whether concurrent scholarships are allowed by the institution or the research supervisor.

Holding several scholarships is not allowed. Awardees who obtained an award from another public agency or a foundation recognized by the FRQS must notify the FRQS and decline the FRQS funding as soon as the award is offered.

However, if the amount of the other award is lower than the one given by the FRQS, the awardee is eligible to receive the difference.

Holding an FRQS training award concurrently with a research internship to be done in another organization and that is not part of the training program of the awardee, is allowed under certain conditions.

For internships of $ 5,000 or less, awardees must notify the FRQS by email before the beginning of the internship.

For internships of $ 5,000 and more, awardees must ask the FRQS for authorization by completing the Internship authorization form (see Toolbox) before the internship begins. If the internship is approved, it will be allowed either to 1) combine the training award and internships amounts or 2) defer the amount of the FRQS award for a period equal to the duration of the internship or a maximum of 6 months.

The travel expenses (one return economy airline ticket) of awardees and their close family (spouse and children) carrying out their projects in institutions located outside Québec may be reimbursed upon the presentation of supporting documents, as long as these expenses are not reimbursed by another organization.

All applications are reviewed by committees of experts representing various health research disciplines and methodologies.

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The FRQS offers a number of awards in collaboration with partners. The share of funding from the FRQS and the partner may vary according to the agreements in effect.

Eligible applicants are selected through a three-step process:

1. The applicant selects, in the Partnership [Partenariat] section of the application form, one or more partners whose targeted research areas correspond to the theme of their application.

2. The FRQS sends to the partners a list of candidates and useful information for them to assess the relevance of the request according to their research priorities and strategy.

3. After evaluation of the applications by a committee of experts or peers, applications having obtained the scientific excellence rating of 70 % and which have been deemed relevant by one or more partners, may receive a partnership award offer.

Candidates must also submit an application to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
Amount of the award: $51,500 per year.

Candidates must also submit an application to the CCHCSP.

Training Awards in the Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis research fields.

Société québécoise d’hypertension artérielle (SQHA) – Jacques de Champlain Award

The Jacques de Champlain Award in Cardiovascular Health and Hypertension fields includes a research support supplement (maximum of $10,000 per year).

The Kidney Foundation of Canada – KRESCENT Research Program

All candidates must also submit an application to the KRESCENT Program (Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training).  Amount of the award: $55,000 per year.

Priority will be given to doctoral and postdoctoral training.

Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada

Training Awards in the Multiple Sclerosis research field. Candidates must also submit an application to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. Only physicians are eligible. Amount of the award: minimum of $50,500 per year.

Training Awards in the Parkinson’s Disease research field. All candidates must also submit an application to the Parkinson Canada. Amount of the award: maximum of $50,000 per year.

Training Awards in the Parkinson’s Disease research field.

The Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) in Québec is to engage the various stakeholders involved, including patients, caregivers and the public, in the development and delivery of patient-oriented research projects (POR). The SPOR Support Unit in Québec contributes to capacity building and professional development in POR of these stakeholders. The awards offered in partnership with the Unit allow award recipients to hone their skills and develop or consolidate valued expertise in POR, and to expand their network of collaborators and mentors in this area.

Priority themes: primary care, proximity care, integration of care and service trajectories.