Relève étoile Paul-Gérin-Lajoie Award (EXZ) - september 2021

1. BACKGROUND

The Fonds de recherche du Québec wish to promote careers in research and encourage university students to publish scientific articles. To this end, each Fonds awards a monthly Relève Étoile Award of $1,000. To promote the award among the research community and showcase the excellence of Québec student research, the Fonds feature the award recipients on their website and social media platforms.

This Award is given by each of the three Fonds de recherche du Québec.

One competition is offered each year, with a deadline of September 1st at 4 p.m. When this date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the deadline is extended to the next business day.

2. OBJECTIVES

• Recognize the exceptional research contributions of Québec student researchers;
• Showcase the research carried out by Québec student researchers and its potential benefits for society;
• Develop strong ties between the Fonds de recherche du Québec and Québec student researchers;
• Promote research careers in Québec.

3. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applicants must meet the eligibility requirements in effect at the time of application, the Award rules, and the CGR. Admissibility and administrative eligibility are determined by the Fonds based on the information and documents received by the competition deadline.

The following are eligible to apply:

• Master’s and doctoral students;
• Postdoctoral fellows;
• Members of a professional order enrolled in an advanced research training program.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Meet the general citizenship and residence requirements applicable to student eligibility for training awards, as set out in Section 2.1 of the CGR;
• Submit a project that was released to the public less than thirteen (13) months prior to the competition deadline.

To be eligible, the applicant must be the author of the submitted project, which must be one of the following:

• An article (in a journal with an editorial review board);
• A book chapter;
• A book;
• A patent;
• A creative work or performance.

Articles published electronically are eligible, 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.

The publication cannot be a translation of an existing publication, and must be available in open access, as required by the FRQ open access policy, within 12 months of its publication.

The following are not eligible:

• Oral and poster presentations;
• Articles only submitted or accepted for publication but not yet published.

In the case of a publication by multiple authors with equivalent contributions (whether or not this is explicitly stated in the article), the recipient shall share the Award with the other co-authors.

Applicants may only submit one project per competition, for all three Fonds. In addition, a project may be submitted only once per competition, for all three Fonds. Finally, an applicant may receive the Award only once during his or her training, for all three Fonds.

4. CONTENTS OF THE APPLICATION AND REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

The forms are available in the FRQnet E-portfolio no later than one month before the competition deadline.

As indicated in the CGR, the application must be sent to the appropriate Fonds by referring to the lists of Research fields. It is the applicant’s sole responsibility to choose the right application form and the appropriate Fonds. In the event of an error, the Fonds will not transfer the application to another Fonds and the application will be deemed ineligible.

Applicants must create a user account before applying, if they have not already done so. Individuals who already have a personal identification number (PIN) have direct access to a FRQnet account and must update their profile in their E-portfolio (watch our video Premier accès à votre profil).

Only the forms accessed, completed and submitted to the Fonds via the FRQnet, platform are accepted.

As indicated in the CGR, the form may be completed in French or English, but the project title and abstract must imperatively be in French. These may be used by the Fonds for promotional and dissemination purposes.

The following documents are required:

All required documents to be submitted with the application form must be grouped and scanned into a single document (PDF file) for each type of document (A to D).

• Completed online application form
• “Other Documents” section:

A- A copy of the project;

B- Documents for assessing the eligibility of the submitted project, clearly indicating¹:

• the exact publication date of the project;

AND

• its review by a review board (in the case of a journal article).

C- A document attesting that, at the time of application, the applicant is enrolled as a student at a Québec higher education institution or at a higher education institution outside of the Province of Québec or, in the case of a postdoctoral fellow, a letter of confirmation from the host environment.

D- Québec applicants enrolled at a higher education institution outside Québec must also provide the following:

• A copy of proof of Canadian citizenship or residency status;
• A photocopy of a Québec health insurance (RAMQ) card that is valid at the competition deadline or proof of application for a RAMQ card and that the card will be valid at the competition deadline.

THE APPLICANT MUST NOT FORGET TO TRANSMIT THE APPLICATION AFTER COMPLETING AND VALIDATING IT. At any time, applicants may verify in the “My forms” section of their E-portfolio that their application has been successfully submitted. The application file should be flagged as “Transmis au Fonds” before the competition deadline. This indicates that the application has been received by the Fonds.

IMPORTANT:

• Any document that is missing or does not comply with the competition rules and online forms renders the application ineligible.
• Applicants will not be contacted to provide any missing information or documents.
• Documents received after the application deadline will not be considered, and applications cannot be updated.
• Any unrequested document submitted with the application will be removed from the application before evaluation.

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.

5. APPLICATION EVALUATION

Applications must be submitted to the Fonds that oversees the research sector identified by the applicant. Applications are evaluated by a selection committee set up by this Fonds.

Applications are assessed on the basis of the applicant’s ability to demonstrate the quality of his or her project in light of the following evaluation criteria:

• The project’s contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the field of research concerned;
• The project’s impact on the scientific community and its ability to reach the general public, including the planned strategy for ensuring open access²;
• The relevance of the project’s societal impact or benefits.

In the case of a multi-authored publication, the applicant’s actual contribution to the submitted project is taken into consideration.

6. DESCRIPTION AND NATURE OF THE AWARD

One $1,000 Award is awarded every month by each Fonds.

Each month’s Relève Étoile Award winners are featured on the Fonds website and social media, with their photo and the title and summary of their project (article, book or chapter abstract, patent description, nature of the creative work or performance).

7. ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

Each Fonds makes a monthly announcement of the Award winner.

Award recipients are contacted in advance by the FRQ’s Communications and Knowledge Mobilization Department in order to provide a photograph and the administrative information required for payment of the Award.