Competition year : 
2020-2021

Deadline (pre-request) : 
June 1st, 2020 at 16:00 (EST)

Deadline (application) : 
September 30th, 2020 at 16:00 (EST)

Announcement of results : 
Janvier 2021

Amount : 
50 000 $ / year

Duration : 
2 years

Program 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.
This program refers to the FRQ’s Common General Rules (CGR), which govern all Fonds de recherche du Québec — Nature et technologies (FRQNT) programming. This document provides rules specifically applicable to the Visage Municipal program (MUN), which take precedence over the CGR.

For the purposes of MUN, the term “municipality” refers to any municipality, regional county municipality (RCM) or city included in the following directory: https://www.mamh.gouv.qc.ca/repertoire-des-municipalites/.

The link to the FRQnet Electronic Portfolio and the forms associated with this competition are available under the Portal Access tab of the website. More information is available in the About FRQnet section. It is the applicant’s responsibility to choose the correct application form. Should an error occur, the Fonds will not transfer the application from one program to another and the application will be deemed ineligible.

To access the funding application form, a prior letter of intent
must be submitted before 4 p.m. on June 1st, 2020.

The Fonds requires the Canadian Common CV and its PDF file of detailed contributions to be included in the appropriate section of the E-portfolio. The applicant must complete the Fonds Nature et technologies version of the Canadian Common CV, update this document within 12 months prior to the competition deadline, and complete the Detailed Contributions file in due form. Please refer to the Application Presentation Standards – FRQNT document, available in the program’s Toolbox, for complete presentation instructions.

Indirect research costs (FIR) of 27% are paid to the principal investigator’s institution in addition to the research grant when this institution is a university.

Any application that is incomplete at the competition deadline of 4 p.m. on June 1st, 2020 (letter of intent) or 4 p.m. on September 30, 2020 (application) will be deemed inadmissible by the Fonds.

1. Objectives

The general objective of the Visage Municipal (MUN) program is to catalyze the development of research projects in partnership between the scientific research community and the municipal sector in Québec. Through MUN, the FRQNT aims to fund natural sciences and engineering research and innovation activities dealing with issues jointly identified by researchers and key actors in Québec’s municipal sector.

More specifically, this funding program aims to:

  1. Support innovative research projects based on the needs and challenges of municipalities;
  2. Invest in research projects that address the major societal challenges of demographic change and ageing, climate change and sustainable development, and entrepreneurship and creativity;
  3. Exert a decisive leverage effect for the development of research projects in partnership between post-secondary institutions and municipalities in Québec;
  4. Provide a high quality, stimulating environment for the training and mentoring of highly qualified personnel;
  5. Strengthen the commitment of the FRQNT and the scientific community to society by supporting projects that meet the research, innovation and skill development needs of Québec municipalities.

2. Eligibility requirements

The eligibility of the project and the research team must be maintained throughout the duration of funding. It is the responsibility of the project’s principal investigator to verify, sufficiently in advance, the admissibility of the application. All members of the research team and their post-secondary institutions, as well as the municipalities involved in the project, must meet the eligibility requirements in effect at the time of application, the program rules, and the CGR for the entire period covered by the grant. The Fonds determines the administrative eligibility and admissibility of the application on the basis of the information and documents received by the competition deadline (see Section 3.).

Any project, research team or person that does not meet the eligibility requirements set out below is not eligible.

2.1 Project

To be eligible for MUN, a project must meet all the following conditions:

  • Falls mainly within research fields covered by the FRQNT (CGR, Section 3.1) ;
  • Anticipates benefits to be shared between the research community AND the municipality(ies) involved in the project;
  • Is aligned with the reality, needs and issues of the territory in which it is being carried out;
  • Aims to produce new knowledge AND disseminate this knowledge to end users in the territory concerned;
  • Is carried out entirely in Québec, and involves the active participation of people residing in Québec throughout the term of the grant;
  • Has a signed letter of support from the municipality(ies) involved (Section 2.6).

The following are not eligible:

  • Projects that have been rejected by citizens during a public consultation exercise or a referendum approval process;
  • Projects that involve a municipality outside the province of Québec.

2.2 Composition of the research team

The minimum composition of a research team is as follows:

1- A principal investigator (Section 2.3); and

2- A practitioner (Section 2.4.1). Reporting to the municipality involved in the project, the practitioner must assume the role of co-investigator.

The members of the research team should have complementary expertise relevant to the project.

A research team may also include:

3- A scientific co-investigator (Section 2.4.2);

4- Collaborators (Section 2.5).

AND/OR

5- In a case where more than one municipality supports the project, a practitioner from each of the municipalities involved must assume the role of co-investigator.

If applicable, any change in the composition of the research team must be approved in advance by the FRQNT program administrator (Section 17) and comply with the program rules and eligibility requirements.

2.3 Eligibility of the principal investigator

To be eligible for MUN, the project’s principal investigator must have one of the following statuses as defined in the FRQ CGR.

  • Status 1;
  • Status 2;
  • Status 3 *College and CCTT researchers must have a master’s or PhD and possess the professional autonomy required to direct research projects and supervise students.

The following are not eligible:

  • Individuals who do not meet the eligibility requirements listed above;
  • Researchers whose work is in a field that is not covered by the FRQNT.

In order to ensure the continuity of the project and the sustainability of its attachment to the territory, the principal investigator may not be replaced except in the case of force majeure and with the approval of the Fonds during the term of the grant.

2.4 Eligibility of co-investigators

To add a co-investigator to your research team, you must ensure that they have a FRQnet account. We invite you to send them the procedure available in the Toolbox: FRQnet Account.

2.4.1 Practitioner

Under MUN, the practitioner from the project’s partner municipality must assume the role of co-investigator. This person is a key actor in the territory and ensures that the project is aligned with the reality and needs of the territory covered by the study. He or she has Status 4c of the CGR. No amount of the grant can be transferred to the practitioner or his/her home municipality.

To be eligible for MUN, a practitioner must:

1- Occupy one of the following positions:

a. Director general of the partner municipality;

b. Director of a department of the partner municipality;

c. Full-time employee of the partner municipality supporting the project, who is formally delegated by their municipal department director (justification required, see Section 2.6.);

d. Full-time employee of a mandatary body2 of the partner municipality supporting the project, who is formally delegated by the director general of the municipality (justification required, see Section 2.6.).

2 “Mandatary body of the municipality” means any body or NPO declared by law to be a mandatary or agent of the municipality, whose board of directors is composed in the majority of members of the council of the municipality and whose budget is adopted by the council of the municipality (source: CQLR, c. R-9.3, art. 18).

AND

2- Contribute to the project through skills, experience and practical knowledge of the territory, rather than research or research-creation expertise.

The following are not eligible to be a practitioner on the research team:

  • Individuals who do not meet the eligibility requirements presented above;
  • The mayor of the municipality or any member of the municipal council;
  • Individuals with research statuses 1, 2, 3 4a or 4b as defined in the CGR;
  • A permanent or contract member of the research staff at a post-secondary institution at the time of application and throughout the term of the grant.

In order to ensure the continuity of the project and the sustainability of its attachment to the territory, the practitioner may not be replaced except in the case of force majeure and with the approval of the Fonds during the term of the grant.

2.4.2 Other scientific investigator

Under MUN, if the research team includes a second scientific investigator, he or she must have one of the following statuses as defined in the FRQ CGR.

  • Status 1;
  • Status 2;
  • Status 3 *College and CCTT researchers must have a master’s or PhD and possess the professional autonomy required to direct research projects and supervise students;
  • Status 4a.

The following are not eligible to join the research team as second investigator:

  • Individuals who do not meet the eligibility requirements presented above.

2.5 Collaborators

A collaborator is a researcher (Statuses 1, 2, 3, 4a or 4b) or a practitioner (Status 4c) who contributes on an occasional or ad hoc basis to the research activities necessary for the research project. This person acts as a collaborator with the research team but is not a regular member. His or her scientific production is not evaluated.

The role of collaborator in a research project funding application is set out in the CGR. A collaborator’s CV is not required.

2.6 Municipal support

For the purposes of MUN, the term “municipality” refers to any municipality, regional county municipality (RCM) or city included in the following directory: https://www.mamh.gouv.qc.ca/repertoire-des-municipalites/

A project submitted to this program must receive support from the municipality(ies) involved in the project.

This support from the practitioner’s home municipality is comprised of the following two actions:

1- For each practitioner involved in the project, a letter of support for the project must be submitted along with the letter of intent. A letter of support template is provided in the Toolbox on the competition web page. This letter should be signed by the following:

a. If the director general of the partner municipality is a member of the research team: the mayor OR a municipal councillor signs the letter of support;

b. If the director of a department of the partner municipality is a member of the research team: the director general of the municipality signs the letter of support;

c. If a full-time employee of the partner municipality who is formally delegated by their municipal department director because of their skills and experience beneficial to the project (justification required in the letter of support) is a member of the research team: the director general of the municipality AND the director of the department in which the practitioner works both sign the letter of support;

d. If a full-time employee of a mandatary body of the partner municipality who is formally delegated by their municipal department director because of their skills and experience beneficial to the project (justification required in the letter of support) is a member of the research team: the director general of the municipality AND the director of the department in which the practitioner works both sign the letter of support.

2- In this letter, the municipality commits to providing financial support for the project according to the following terms and conditions:

Case 1: municipalities with 24,999 inhabitants or less: the municipality commits to a minimum contribution equal to 25% of the grant, distributed as follows: 10% in cash and 15% in kind in the form of human and/or material resources.

Maximum grant amountContribution of a partner municipality with fewer than 25,000 inhabitants
Cash (10%)In kind (15%)
Per year$5,000$7,500
$50,000
Over two years$10,000$15,000
$100,000

Case 2: municipalities with 25,000 to 99,999 inhabitants: the municipality commits to a minimum contribution equal to 40% of the grant, distributed as follows: 25% in cash and 15% in kind in the form of human and/or material resources.

Maximum grant amountContribution of a partner municipality with 25,000 to 99,999 inhabitants
Cash (25 %)Nature (15 %)
Per year12 500 $7 500 $
$50,000
Over two years25 000 $15 000 $
$100,000

Case 3: municipalities with 100,000 inhabitants or more: the municipality commits to a minimum contribution equal to 50% of the grant, distributed as follows: 40% in cash and 10% in kind in the form of human and/or material resources.

Maximum grant amountContribution of a partner municipality with more than 100,000 inhabitants
Cash (40%)In kind (10%)
Per year$20,000$5,000
$50,000
Over two years$40,000$10,000
$100,000

In the case where several municipalities are involved in a project:

  • If one of the municipalities involved has 25,000 inhabitants or more, the contribution is calculated according to Case 2.
  • If one of the municipalities involved has 100,000 inhabitants or more, the contribution is calculated according to Case 3.
  • In all cases where several municipalities are involved in a project, a municipality’s minimum contribution is 20% of the total contribution requested from the municipalities, according to the Case that applies. The maximum number of municipalities that can be involved in a project is therefore 5.
IMPORTANT: A municipality can only be part of one letter of intent and one project.

2.7 Partnerships with the private and non-profit sectors (optional)

The research team may propose the establishment of one or more partnerships relevant to the realization of the research project submitted to MUN. The partner(s) must bring expertise specific to the project for which funding is requested. No amount of the grant can be transferred to these partners.

The following are eligible as partners:

  1. One or more private sector actors (industry, business)
  2. One or more non-profit organizations (NPOs) registered with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec
  3. One or more non-profit organizations (NPOs) registered with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec

The involvement of such partners is optional. The relevance and complementarity of any partners is evaluated based on the Quality of the research team and complementarity of the expertise attached to the project criterion at Stage 2.

The following are not recognized as eligible partners:

  • Companies that are part of the Register of enterprises ineligible for public contracts (RENA) as published by the Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor du gouvernement du Québec;
  • Post-secondary institutions;
  • Parapublic organizations;
  • Political organization, labour unions, religious associations, foundations whose mission is essentially to collect and redistribute funds;
  • All entities that receive funding from the FRQNT or more than 50% of whose funding comes from public funds.

Applicants must demonstrate that they are not in conflict of interest with the proposed partner(s). For example, there is conflict of interest when a member of the research team holds a decision-making position within the partner organization.

The principal investigator and an executive director or authorized manager from the partner organization must complete and sign the Conflict of Interest Declaration Form in the Toolbox, which provides further details. The Fonds reserves the right to request additional documentation to support this declaration.

3. Contents of the funding application and required documents

A member of a research team may only participate in one funding application under any given competition. However, he or she may act as a collaborator on multiple projects.

3.1 Stage 1: Letter of intent form

Researchers who wish to propose, as principal investigator, a research project under MUN must submit a letter of intent via their FRQnet E-portfolio. The purpose of this first stage is to assess the appropriateness and relevance of the project in relation to the program objectives.

The following are required for Stage 1:

1- The electronic Letter of Intent form available in the FRQnet E-portfolio. This form must be approved by the managing institution in the FRQnet portfolio;

2- The principal investigator’s Canadian Common CV (CCV) and PDF file of Detailed Contributions, which must be attached in the FRQnet E-portfolio. The reference documents Preparing a CV for the Fonds and Detailed Contributions Attachment, available in the FRQnet E-portfolio, may be consulted as needed;

The following documents, in PDF format, must also be added where indicated in the Letter of Intent form:

Note that any excess pages will be removed from the application.

3- A free-format abridged CV of the practitioner who is part of the research team. The CV must state the eligible position occupied by the practitioner and in which municipality, and summarize the following information as it pertains to the project, in this order: 1) training, 2) experience and, 3) where applicable, any other relevant information that will allow the evaluation of the practitioner’s competence and the relevance of his/her contribution to the project — maximum 3 pages;

4- Presentation of the research project — maximum 3 pages of text, see Toolbox;

5- A Municipal Letter of Support form, available in the Toolbox, duly completed and signed (Case 1, 2 or 3) (Section 2.6.), from each municipality involved in the research project;

The following documents are also required, where applicable:

6- The CCV of the second investigator, if applicable, including the PDF file of Detailed Contributions, which must be attached via the FRQnet E-portfolio;

7- A free-form abridged CV of any other practitioner reporting to another municipality who is part of the research team, if applicable. The CV must state the eligible position occupied by the practitioner and in which municipality, and summarize the following information as it pertains to the project, in this order: 1) training, 2) experience and, 3) where applicable, any other relevant information that will allow the evaluation of the practitioner’s competence and the relevance of his/her contribution to the project — maximum 3 pages;

8- If one or more eligible partners (Section 2.7.) are contributing financially to the grant application, the Conflict of Interest declaration form, available in the Toolbox, duly completed and signed by the principal investigator AND an executive director or authorized manager from the partner organization.

9- Any appendices, where applicable, are to be combined in a single PDF. The following appendices are allowed: tables, figures and references related to the research project — maximum 2 pages.

3.2 Stage 2: Application form

Only the principal researchers of projects that are declared eligible and receive a positive evaluation in Stage 1 (Section 5.1.) will be invited to submit a funding application.

The following are required for Stage 2:

1- The electronic funding application form available in the FRQnet E-portfolio. The principal investigator and the managing institution must approve the application on the FRQnet portfolio;

2- The updated Canadian Common CV (CCV) of the project’s principal investigator, including the Detailed Contributions file (PDF) which must be attached via the FRQnet E-portfolio;

The following documents, in PDF format, must also be added where indicated in the Application Form:

Note that any excess pages will be removed from the application.

3- The updated free-format CV of the practitioner(s) who is (are) part of the research team, containing all information requested in Stage 1 – maximum 3 pages per CV;

4- Research project description – maximum 7 pages (document complying with FRQNT’s application submission standards, see toolbox);

5- Justification of the planned expenses for the FRQNT funding – maximum 1 page (document complying with FRQNT’s application submission standards, see toolbox)

The following documents are also required, where applicable:

6- The updated CCV of the second investigator, or the CCV of a second investigator who was not included in the research team in Stage 1, where applicable, including the Detailed Contributions file (PDF) which must be attached via the FRQnet E-portfolio;

7- The abridged CV of any new practitioner attached to another municipality who is part of the research team, if applicable. This free-format CV must state the eligible position occupied by the practitioner and in which municipality, and summarize the following information as it pertains to the project, in this order: 1) training, 2) experience and, 3) where applicable, any other relevant information that will allow the evaluation of the practitioner’s competence and the relevance of his/her contribution to the project — maximum 3 pages per CV;

8- Justification of the supplement requested for a college researcher, if applicable – maximum 1 page (document complying with FRQNT’s application submission standards, see toolbox)

9- A new Municipal Letter of Support form per municipality involved in the project only in case of modification since step 1. In this case, the Municipal Letter of Support form available in the toolbox must be preceded by a 300-word paragraph indicating the changes that have occurred since step 1*

10- If one or more new eligible partners (Section 2.7.) are contributing financially to the grant application, the Conflict of Interest declaration form, available in the Toolbox, duly completed and signed by the principal investigator AND an executive director or authorized manager from the partner organization.

11- The Appendices, where applicable, are to be combined in a single PDF file. The following appendices are allowed: tables, figures and references related to the research project, and a list of any minor changes made to the project following receipt of the summary sheet after Stage 1 (Section 5.2.) — maximum 3 pages.

*If and only if changes have been made to other documents provided in Stage 1, these modified documents must be preceded by a paragraph of no more than 300 words, indicating and justifying any changes made after Stage 1, to be included in the same PDF file as the modified document. Should the applicant fail to declare any changes that are likely to alter the objectives of the project or the eligibility of the research team or the project, the Fonds reserves the right to declare the application inadmissible or to immediately take any measures it deems expedient in accordance with the CGR.

4. Procedure for submitting a letter of intent and funding application

The letter of intent (Stage 1) and funding application (Stage 2) must be completed using the appropriate forms available in the FRQnet E-portfolio of the person designated as the project’s principal investigator.

These documents may be completed in English or French. The project title and summary must imperatively be in French.

The letter of intent and funding application, as well as all required documents, must be submitted by the deadlines indicated below:

  • Letter of intent: 4 p.m. on June 1, 2020;

In early July 2020, the Fonds will send the results of the project relevance assessment to the principal investigators and aux authorities of the managing institutions concerned.

  • Funding application for applications selected at Stage 1: 4 p.m. on September 30, 2020.

The competition results will be announced in January 2021.

5. Evaluation of letters of intent and applications

5.1 Evaluation of letters of intent

Letters of intent are received by the FRQ and assessed for administrative eligibility (Section 2.). If the program’s administrative eligibility requirements are met, the FRQ submits the project for scientific evaluation by a mixed committee of researchers and municipal actors whose members are recognized for their skills, expertise and achievements relating to the program objectives. A person representing the FRQNT acts as a resource person. The committee includes a resource person from the FRQNT.

Reminder: The purpose of Stage 1 is to assess the appropriateness and relevance of the project in relation to the program objectives. The letters of intent are evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • The project description indicates that the project is aligned with the needs and challenges of the municipality(ies) involved (yes/no);
  • The expected results of the research are clearly identified (yes/no);
  • The innovative nature of the project is demonstrated (yes/no);
  • The distinctive and unique nature of the project is demonstrated (yes/no);
  • Students and postdoctoral trainees are included in the project (yes/no);
  • The project appears feasible based on the description, objectives, methodology and timeline (yes/no);
  • The Letter of intent and CVs provided demonstrate that the research team consists of at least one principal investigator AND one practitioner, both of whom are eligible under the program rules (yes/no);
  • The project anticipates and lists benefits for the research community (yes/no);
  • The project anticipates and lists benefits for the partner municipality(ies) (yes/no);
  • The project describes ways of sharing and mobilizing the research results obtained with end users in the territory concerned (yes/no).

The evaluation of the letter of intent is an eliminatory step. Three or more “no’s” result in elimination. This evaluation is based on the documents provided by the deadline for submission of the Letter of Intent. All decisions made by the evaluation committee are final.

Successful research teams will receive a summary sheet of comments at the end of July 2020 indicating 1) the ratings obtained (yes/no) for each evaluation criterion, and 2) brief recommendations for each “no” obtained, indicating areas for improvement in the project, if any, prior to submitting the funding application in Stage 2.

5.2 Evaluation of the funding application

The project presented in Stage 2 must be the same as the project evaluated in Stage 1. However, minor changes may be made following receipt of the summary sheet after Stage 1. Such changes must be described and justified as mentioned in Section 3.2.

In addition, changes relating to the people involved in the project must be dealt with as follows:

  • Members of the research team: except in the case of force majeure, the principal investigator and practitioners who are members of the research team presented in Stage 1 cannot be replaced for Stage 2. Should a force majeure event require a change of these research team members between Stage 1 and Stage 2, or at any other time before the end of the grant period, the program administrator must be notified as soon as possible in order to approve or reject the change. Any changes regarding the second investigator (section 2.4.2) must also be mentioned. Where applicable, the second investigator’s CCV and Detailed Contributions file must be added to the application file package before the application deadline.
  • Partner: where applicable, any changes to the financial partners (Section 2.7) announced in Stage 1 must be mentioned.
  • Collaborators: the list of collaborators must be updated for Stage 2, if necessary.

As in Stage 1, the FRQ submits the selected projects for scientific evaluation by a mixed committee of researchers and municipal actors whose members are recognized for their skills, expertise and achievements relating to the program objectives and the projects received. A person representing the FRQNT acts as a resource person. The committee includes a resource person from the FRQNT.

Funding applications are evaluated based on the following criteria and weighting:

1- Scientific quality of the research project (25 points)

  • Innovative, original, promising or emergent aspects of the research project;
  • Quality of the methodological approach and realism of the timeline;
  • Feasibility of the research project.

2- Alignment of the research project with the needs of the municipal community (20 points)

  • Relevance for the user community of the theme and issues addressed;
  • Quality of the municipal community’s involvement in the project.

3- Quality of the training environment (10 points)

  • Experience of the principal investigator and the second investigator of the research team, if applicable, in the supervision of students;
  • Inclusion of college students, university students of various levels (undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate) or postdoctoral trainees in the research project;
  • Contribution of the project to the training of the new generation of researchers and highly qualified personnel.

4- Expected benefits of the research project (20 points)

  • Positive impact on the advancement of knowledge AND on the search for solutions to the needs expressed by the municipality involved;
  • Proposal of actions or solutions that can be implemented by the municipalities involved and fall within their sphere of action as described by the Municipal Powers Act;
  • Dissemination and valorization of results; transfer of knowledge and technology.

5- Quality of the research team and complementarity of the expertise attached to the project (10 points)

  • Skills and leadership of the principal investigator;
  • Skills and capacity for action of the practitioner(s);
  • Skills of the second investigator, where applicable;
  • Complementarity and synergy of the research team’s expertise and experience in relation to the project;
  • Suitability and balance of team member skills in relation to project objectives;
  • Quality and relevance of collaboration between members of the research team and other key players or partners, if applicable.

6- Quality of organization and management (10 points)

  • Joint construction and realization of the project by researchers and municipalities;
  • Realism and soundness of the budget;
  • Leverage and diversification of funding sources.

7- Integration of the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion (5 points)

  • Efforts put in place to promote equity, diversity and inclusion.
  • It is up to each team to choose how it wishes to address this criterion, through concrete actions, taking into account the specific context of the project.

For more information on this criterion, please consult the document entitled Guidelines on considering equity, diversity and inclusion in the evaluation of FRQNT grant applications.

6. Description and nature of funding

The maximum grant awarded for a project is $100,000 in total, over 2 years.

Indirect research costs (FIR) of 27% are paid to the principal investigator’s institution in addition to the research grant when this institution is a university (Section 8.2 of the CGR).

The grant is used to fund operating expenses directly related to carrying out the research project, the training of highly qualified personnel, and the dissemination of the results to the research and municipal communities.

Except in the specific case of college researchers (Sections 2.3 and 2.4.2) and in accordance with the conditions set out in 6.1, Fonds funding must not be used to pay salaries or salary supplements to co-investigators or individuals whose salaries are paid out of the regular budget of a government-funded institution such as a university, a government department or its institutions, or any other government agency. Refer to the CGR for further details.

Only eligible expenses that are directly related to the proposed research activities of the project will be accepted. These must be rigorously justified in the application. Any unjustified expenses may be removed from the budget during the evaluation of the application. When a percentage is specified for a budget item, it must be respected.

Important – As stated in the CGR, no amount of the grant may be transferred to the practitioner or his or her home municipality. A minimum contribution in cash and in kind from the municipality is required over and above the grant (Section 2.6.).

6.1 Eligible expenses

Eligible expenses under this program are those listed in Section 8 of the CGR, with the exception of expenses covered by Section 8.7 of the CGR.

Travel and subsistence costs

The following conditions apply for Travel and Subsistence Costs (as per the Financial Guidelines of the Québec Institution of the Researcher Concerned: these expenses may represent up to 10% of the annual grant amount (i.e. a maximum of $5,000 for an annual grant of $50,000). See also the work-family balance measures in the CGR (Section 8.5).

Salary support for MUN-eligible Status 3 college researchers with no teaching duties

Part of the grant awarded by the FRQNT may be used as salary support for college researchers on the team who have no teaching duties. This amount is paid directly to the college, or to the college with which the CCTT is affiliated in the case of a CCTT researcher.

SUPPLEMENT for MUN-eligible Status 3 college researchers with teaching duties

For each college researcher on the team who has teaching duties, a maximum additional amount $6,000 (0.2 FTE) will be paid directly to the college to cover the portion of the salary dedicated to the release from teaching duties. This amount is paid directly to the college.

6.2 Conditions for disbursement of grant instalments

Allocation of the grant and disbursement of funds for the first year are conditional on:

  • The principal investigator’s agreement to carry out the research activities according to the objectives and timeframe established in the funding application, with the financial resources granted and in compliance with the conditions set out in the summary sheet accompanying the announcement letter;
  • The maintenance of the initial eligibility requirements by the members of the research team throughout the term of the grant;
  • The maintenance of support from the municipality(ies) involved in the project throughout the term of the grant, in accordance with the terms set out in the letter of support provided in Stage 1.

All other conditions related to awards set out in the CGR must also be respected. Any additional conditions, if applicable, will be indicated in the award letter or at the time of subsequent instalments.

7. Duration and management of the grant

Grants are awarded for a period of 2 years. Grants are disbursed annually for the period from April 1 to March 31 of each year.

At the end of the first year of funding, between April and June, the principal investigator must submit a brief report outlining the activities carried out and the budget used for this purpose. This report is evaluated by the FRQNT. Following this evaluation, the Fonds may revise the grant amount. In the event of a negative evaluation, the annual amount of the grant may be adjusted accordingly.

The rules governing residual balances, unexpended funds and overpayments are described in the CGR.

The grant is not renewable.

8. Announcement of results

Decisions regarding the admissibility and eligibility of applications are final and without appeal.

8.1 Stage 1 

Successful research teams will receive a summary sheet at the end of July 2020 (Section 5.2.).

Unsuccessful research teams will receive an evaluation summary sheet at the end of the competition after the award has been announced to the selected teams.

8.2 Stage 2 

The decisions made by the evaluation committees are approved by the Board of Directors of the FRQ and sent to the managing institutions and principal investigators of the projects concerned. All decisions of the Board are final and without appeal. Grant results will be announced in January 2021.

Awards are contingent on the allocation of funding by the Québec National Assembly and the decisions of the Board of Directors of the Fonds, and may be modified at any time without prior notice. It is therefore highly recommended that no funding be committed before it has been officially announced

The list of grant recipients is published on the FRQNT website.

9. Ethics and the responsible conduct of research

9.1 Responsible conduct of research

Any individual or institution that receives funding must demonstrate the highest standards of research ethics and scientific integrity. Please refer to the Common General Rules for further details.

This includes a declaration by the project’s principal investigator and the managing institution that there are no real or apparent conflicts of interest that could influence the application evaluation process.

Please refer to the CGR for any matter related to responsible conduct in research, privacy and confidentiality, intellectual property and the protection of academic freedom.

9.2 Intellectual property

The sharing of intellectual property rights and exploitation rights must comply with the principles defined by the Government of Québec in its Action Plan for managing intellectual property in universities and institutions of the health and social service network (MRST, 2002) and the CGR (Section 5.5).

Compliance: Researchers funded under this program must comply with the practices in effect in their institution. Team members and partners are also required to comply with these practices. Accordingly, researchers and their institutions should work with practitioner co-investigators and project partners to negotiate intellectual property clauses that respect the fundamental principles set out in the Action Plan and the CGR with respect to intellectual property (Section 5.5). The institution must confirm that such an agreement has been reached prior to the payment of the grant.

Rights of the FRQNT regarding the summary of results available in the final report: The FRQNT may use the summary of project results and applications requested in the final report form, for reproduction, adaptation, publication, translation, or communication to the public by any means (conference, websites, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in compliance with copyrights and for non-commercial purposes only. The text may be edited prior to dissemination without further notice.

10. Integrity of the evaluation process

At no time may applicants and evaluation committee members discuss or comment on the MUN selection process currently underway. The identities of evaluation committee members are kept confidential to avoid any attempt at collusion.

The Fonds reserve the right to withdraw an application from competition if there is any inappropriate intervention, lobby, undue influence or collusion during the evaluation process, as stipulated in the Policy for the Responsible Conduct of Research.

FRQNT Board of Directors members are not involved in the scientific evaluation process.

At no time may project team members or their institutional authorities make contact with evaluation committee members. Similarly, evaluation committee members must not make contact with project teams. The Fonds reserve the right to withdraw an application from competition if there is any inappropriate intervention, lobby, undue influence or collusion during the evaluation process. See the Policy for the Responsible Conduct of Research for more details.

Every person recruited to sit on an evaluation committee must comply with standard confidentiality rules regarding the application packages, committee makeup, deliberations and recommendations. The evaluation committee chairperson, members and outside experts are required to disclose any conflicts of interest and must sign a written statement in this regard.

Each committee participant has signed a confidentiality agreement in which they consent not to reveal any of the information gained during the course of their mandates. All discussions are also subject to confidentiality rules.

11. Open access to research results

In accordance with the FRQ open access policy for the dissemination of research, principal investigators and co-investigators who are part of a funded project 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.

12. Equity, diversity and inclusion

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.

To mitigate the influence of unconscious bias in the scientific assessment process, individuals taking part in the Fonds de recherche du Québec’s peer review process will henceforth be encouraged to take a short online training course. In the interest of avoiding duplication for the scientific community, we have chosen to use the Unconscious bias training module developed by the federal funding agencies and available on the Canada Research Chairs website.

While this training course is not mandatory, we hope that a critical mass of reviewers will choose to take it to help enhance the fairness of the assessment process. Please note that all Fonds staff responsible for evaluation committees will be required to complete the online training module as well as additional training.

Funding recipients are also encouraged to consider these measures in the context of their research groups and activities. For more information, please consult our Statement on equity, diversity and inclusion.

13. Liability of the Fonds

The Fonds make all reasonable efforts to ensure optimal service. However, they cannot be held liable for any direct or indirect damage resulting from their handling of applications for funding. Furthermore, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Fonds are not liable for any direct or indirect damage resulting from the disclosure of personal or confidential information that was not authorized by the Fonds.

14. False or misleading information

The Fonds presume the good faith of the information provided in funding applications or in any other document submitted at any time during the funding cycle, from the initial funding application to the final report. Applicants and funding holders must be transparent and provide accurate and precise information. They must be conscientious about advising the Fonds of any changes in their situation, where applicable.

Under the Act Respecting the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie (CQLR, c. M-15.1.0.1), any individual who submits an application containing false or misleading information to obtain or procure financial support is committing an offence, is liable to a fine and could be barred from receiving financial support for a period of up to five years. Where a legal person commits such an offence, every director or representative of that legal person who was aware of the offence may be liable to a fine. Furthermore, such a declaration constitutes a breach of responsible research conduct, as set forth in the Fonds de recherche du Québec Policy for the Responsible Conduct of Research and may be subject to sanctions in accordance with this policy.

The Fonds reserve the right to take immediate measures to stop the use of public funds obtained through false or misleading information, and to take legal action to recover fraudulently obtained funds and claim compensation for damages caused where appropriate.

15. General considerations

Researchers and institutions must meet the general eligibility requirements in effect at the time of application, the program rules and the Common General Rules throughout the period covered by the grant.

16. Effective date

These rules apply to the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

17. Contact person for this program

Margaux Gourdal
Program Manager
Programme Visage municipal
418 643-8560, ext. 3327
Margaux.Gourdal@frq.gouv.qc.ca