Relève étoile Louis-Berlinguet Award

1. Objectives

• Recognize the exceptional research contributions of university students (master’s, doctorate), postdoctoral fellows and members of professional orders who are enrolled in advanced research training programs in any of the areas covered by the three Fonds de recherche du Québec1;
• Promote research careers in Québec;
• Develop strong ties between the Fonds de recherche du Québec and the province’s student researcher community.

2. Award

• $1,000 awarded every month by each Fonds;
• Dissemination of a overview of the recipient’s work (article, book or chapter, patent, creation or performance) as well as a photo of the recipient will be featured on the website of the awarding Fonds https://frq.gouv.qc.ca/en/nature-and-technologies/.

3. Competitions

• Two competitions per year;
• Every month, each Fonds will reveal the name of a recipient.

4. Applications

Applications may only be submitted by student researchers, postdoctoral fellows and members of professional orders who are enrolled in advanced research training programs.

5. Eligibility

Student researchers whose projects have been released to the public for less than seven months at the competition deadline are eligible. The project must be in the form of an article (in a journal with an editorial review board), a book or book chapter, a patent, a creation or a performance of which the applicant is the author. Oral presentations and posters are not eligible.

Articles that are in press or submitted for review are not eligible;

Articles published electronically are eligible. Eligibility will be determined based on the electronic publication date. In the case of publication in paper form following publication of the electronic version, eligibility will be determined based on the online publication date;

For publications with several authors, the following rules apply:

• If several student researchers collaborated on a project in the same capacity and the published article explicitly states that the authors all equally contributed to the work, the student researchers shall share the award;
• If several student researchers collaborated on a project in the same capacity (without being mentioned in the article) and their contributions are explicitly stated by the applicant on the application form, the student researchers shall share the award.

When submitting an application, the student researcher must be enrolled in an educational institution, affiliated university centre or research centre in Québec. Québec students enrolled in an institution outside Québec are also eligible. In this case, proof of citizenship or resident status is required in addition to the document attesting the registration as a student in an educational institution or, in the case of a postdoctoral fellow, an attestation from the applicant’s host organization. (see section 8 – Application Process);

One application per student researcher per competition. A project may only be submitted once;

A student researcher may receive the award only once.

6. Evaluation criteria

• Demonstrate the project’s contribution to the advancement of knowledge in a sector covered by one of the three FRQ. If the project is based on multidisciplinary research, the applicant must describe the added value of the multidisciplinary aspect;
•  Demonstrate the project’s social relevance and/or benefits;
•  Demonstrate the ability to explain the subject matter in plain language.

7. Evaluation process

Applications must be submitted to the Fonds that oversees the research sector specified on the application form by the applicant. All applications will be assessed based on program criteria by an evaluation committee assembled by the Fonds. The quality of the written language, the applican’s actual contribution to the project and, in the case of an article, the quality of the journal, will be taken into consideration.

8. Application process

Deadlines for submitting required documents

• March 1^st and September 1^st of each year, 4:00 p.m.

Documents to be sent electronically

The online form available in the Toolbox. Applicants may fill out the form in French or in English. However, the project summary must be in French. Important: Once submitted to the relevant Fonds, the online form cannot be changed; you must attach to the online form in, the “other documents” section, the following documents

• A copy of the project.
• Documents for assessing the eligibility of the submitted project, clearly indicating[1]:

• the exact publication date of the project;
• its review by a review board (in the case of a journal article).

• A document attesting that the applicant is enrolled as a student at a Québec educational institution or at another higher educational institution outside of the Province of Québec, in effect on the date of submission of the application or, in the case of a postdoctoral fellow, an attestation from the applicant’s host organization in Québec.
• Québec applicants enrolled in an educational institution outside Québec must provide the following documents:
• Proof of Canadian citizenship or resident status;
• A photocopy of a valid Québec health insurance card or other official document issued by the Régie de l’assurance maladie demonstrating that the applicant is a resident of Québec within the meaning of the Québec Health Insurance Act.

Applications that do not include all required documents by the competition deadline will be deemed ineligible. The evaluation committee will not receive any appendices or documents other than those required.

To receive the award, winning student researchers must provide the following documents

• A photograph;
• Certain administrative information.

9. Announcement of results

Award recipients will be contacted by the FRQ. A monthly announcement will also be made by news release.

10. Appendix

Research disciplines

See the document tableau de la classification des disciplines.

Research areas

See the Mission and research fields section.