Research-Creation Support for New Academics (CCZ) 2023-2024

1. OBJECTIVES

The Research-Creation Support for New Academics program has the following objectives:

• Enable the completion of an individual research-creation project;
• Foster a new generation of academic researcher-creators within Québec universities and contribute to their visibility and recognition on national and international levels;
• Encourage new academics to establish a diversity of collaborative ties with peers from different disciplines and professional artists within and outside Québec, to stimulate the development of original avenues of research-creation;
• Promote the integration of new researcher-creators into institutional research and training missions, research-creation networks and relevant practice settings, on national and international levels;
• Contribute to the research-creation training of students at every level;
• Facilitate the transmission, presentation and dissemination of the experimentation and results of research-creation projects of all types to students, peers and the general public.

The Fonds uses the term research-creation to designate any research process or approach that fosters creation and aims at producing new aesthetic, theoretical, methodological, epistemological or technical knowledge. All these processes and approaches must include, to varying degrees (depending on the practices and temporalities specific to each project):

1) Creative or artistic activities (conception, experimentation, technology, prototype, etc.)

AND

2) The problematization of these activities (critical and theoretical analysis of the research-creation, creation or artistic process; conceptualization; etc.).

As there can be no research-creation without give and take between the work of art and the creation process by which it exists, the Fonds goes by the principle that the creative or artistic activities and their problematization must be carried out by the same person.

For the purposes of the Fonds, a research-creation approach is based on:

• A sustained creative or artistic practice;
• The problematization of this creative or artistic practice;
• The transmission, presentation and dissemination of the experimentation and/or results of research-creation projects of all types to students, peers and the general public.

Specifically, the research-creation activities carried out under this program must contribute to the development of productions or works resulting from a creative or artistic practice, provided that they offer an element of renewal or innovation in terms of approach, process, technology, materials, form of presentation or experimentation, repertory or interpretative style. These productions must lend themselves to problematization leading to the development of new aesthetic, theoretical, methodological, epistemological or technical knowledge.

For the purposes of this program, performance in the context of a theatrical, choreographic or musical presentation is considered to be creation provided that it is innovative and gives rise to a problematization.

The following do not qualify for this program:

• Performance as exegesis or as an analysis of a creator’s artistic works or productions;
• The development of productions resulting from an artistic or creative practice that are not accompanied by problematization leading to the development of new aesthetic, theoretical, methodological, epistemological or technical knowledge.

In light of these objectives, universities are encouraged to support the application by releasing the applicant from at least 25% of his/her teaching duties.

2. DESCRIPTION AND DURATION OF FUNDING

The funding is an operating grant of up to $15,000/year and includes expenditures for the equipment necessary to carry out the proposed research.

The grant must be used to cover current expenses directly related to the production and dissemination of the results of the research-creation project.

The grant is awarded annually for the period from April 1^st to March 31^st for up to three years and is not renewable.

All expenses listed in the CGR  (section 8) are eligible with the following exceptions:

• Expenses arising from the promotion or marketing of artistic works;
• The costs of publishing artistic works (literary, musical, etc.).

3. ELIGIBILITY

This program is intended for creators and artists working as university research professors who are able to present both a portfolio of productions resulting from a creative or artistic practice and a body of theoretical or scientific contributions.

Applicants must, on the competition closing date, satisfy the following requirements:

• Meet all eligibility requirements set out in the CGR;

• Qualify for Status 1: University Researcher, remunerated as per Definition i)* (CGR, Definitions – Status and Roles) and be recognized for their work in research-creation;
• Have held one or more tenure-track positions as a regular professor or contract research professor at universities in Québec, elsewhere in Canada or abroad for less than 5 years.

* individuals who qualify for definition ii) are not eligible for this program.

An applicant who does not qualify for the status of university researcher under Definition i) of the CGR on the competition closing date is still eligible if he or she expects to qualify for this status no later than June 1, 2023, notwithstanding Section 2.1 of the CGR. Successful applicants will have to provide a letter from the appropriate authorities of their university specifying the hiring date and type of position held.

Applicants who have interrupted or delayed their career for parental leave, major family obligations or serious health reasons may be granted an eligibility period extension. In the case of parental leave, the eligibility period may be extended for up to one year per parental leave. In the case of major family obligations or a career interruption due to serious health reasons, the Fonds will determine the extension to be granted based on the supporting documents provided by the applicant.

Applicants who suspend or postpone their studies for reasons related to a disability may also be granted an eligibility period extension. The Fonds will determine the extension period based on the supporting documents provided. This exemption is in accordance with the Act to secure handicapped persons in the exercise of their rights with a view to achieving social, school and workplace integration (CQLR c. E-20.1).

In all cases, the managing institution must attest that the researcher will be in its employment for the duration of the grant.

The following are not eligible:

• Individuals who have applied for this program three times (in a previous or current version);
• Individuals who have applied to another research start-up program of one of Québec’s three Fonds de recherche;
• Individuals who are (or have been) already funded through a research start-up program of one of Québec’s three Fonds de recherche.

4. APPLICATION

For further details, applicants may consult Section 3 of the CGR.

A complete funding application consists of:

• The application form, available in the FRQnet E-portfolio;
• Required electronic attachments to the form;
• A creation portfolio, uploaded to the FRQSC’s secure document sharing platform;
• The Canadian Common CV and its Detailed Contributions attachment (available in the FRQnet E-portfolio).

The application form and all required documents must be transmitted to the managing institution before the competition deadline, which is 4:00 p.m. on September 22, 2022.

4.1 Forms

The forms associated with this competition will be available on FRQnet at least one month before the competition deadline.

Before completing a grant application, the applicant must create a user account on the Fonds website, if this has not already been done. Individuals who already have a personal identification number (PIN) have direct access to a FRQnet account and must update their profile in the FRQnet E-portfolio (see Premier accès à votre profil video).

It is preferable that the funding application be written in French, but it can also be written in English. However, the title and project summary must imperatively be in French. These may be used by the Fonds for promotional and dissemination purposes (see CGR, Section 3.6).

Please refer to the FRQNet Application Presentation Standards document to properly format any documents to be attached to the application. For further details on completing and submitting applications, please refer to Section 3.2 of the CGR.

The following forms and documents are required:

• CREATION PORTFOLIO (see section 4.3) – Attention : In the absence of the creation portfolio, the application will be deemed ineligible;
• THE “RESEARCH-CREATION SUPPORT FOR NEW ACADEMICS” (CCZ) FORM;
• THE CANADIAN COMMON CV and its “DETAILED CONTRIBUTIONS” attachment (available in the E-portfolio FRQnet). The Common Canadian CV and Detailed Contributions attachment file are available in the Toolbox section on the program web page or directly in the “Activity details” box in the E-portfolio. The Common Canadian CV – “Société et culture” version – must be updated within 12 months prior to the competition deadline. The Detailed Contributions file 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, you must save it in PDF format under “Canadian Common CV” in the E-portfolio.

Only the official “Research-Creation Support for New Academics” form, the FRQSC version of the Common Canadian CV with its Detailed Contributions attachment, and the other required documents will be accepted.

4.2 Required documents

All required documents to be submitted with the application form must be scanned individually in PDF format, without read protection or special double tab configuration, for each of the appropriate sections in the “Activity details” box.

The following documents must be transmitted from the “Budget” section:

1. Simplified budget: Research-creation support for new academics. The applicant must complete the dynamic PDF file provided in the Toolbox. Once completed, this file must be scanned in PDF format (not dynamic) before being attached to the application form. A justification of the budget must also be included in this section (2 pages max.).
2. Justification of planned expenditures (2 pages max.)

The following documents must be transmitted from the “Other documents” section:

1. A letter from the appropriate university authorities stating that the applicant qualifies or will qualify for the status of university researcher, remunerated as per Definition i) CGR, Definitions – Status and Roles) by June 1, 2023. The letter must specify the hiring date, the type of position held, and state that the applicant will be employed by the institution for the duration of the grant, regardless of the type of position held (regular or contract research professor). The employment start and end dates for previously-held tenure-track regular professor or contract research professor positions at other universities must also be listed if applicable;
2. If a request is being made for an eligibility period extension, official documents justifying the parental, family or sick leave, or confirming the disability.
3. If the submitted project is dependent on a partnership, a letter demonstrating the existence of said partnership must be included.
4. If the full realization of the submitted project is dependent on participation in an event, a detailed letter of invitation or agreement with the organization concerned must be included.
5. If applicable, proof of registration or invitation to participate in a workshop, lecture, colloquium, meeting, biennial arts festival, festival, symposium or any other event of this type.

THE APPLICANT MUST NOT FORGET TO TRANSMIT THE APPLICATION AFTER COMPLETING AND VALIDATING IT.

ATTENTION: At this stage of the application process, the Fonds requires the approval of the managing institution. It is the applicant’s responsibility to transmit the application to the managing institution before the competition deadline and to ensure that the application is forwarded to the Fonds within the time prescribed by the CGR (section 3.2).

At any time, applicants may verify the transmission status of their application in the “My forms” section of their FRQnet E-portfolio:

–   The form will be flagged “Transmis à l’établissement” (Transmitted to the institution) once the applicant has transmitted the application to the managing institution;

–   The form will be flagged “Transmis au Fonds” (Transmitted to the Fonds) once the managing institution has transmitted the application to the Fonds.

4.3. Creation portfolio (mandatory)

ATTENTION : In the absence of the creation portfolio, the application will be deemed ineligible.

A portfolio is required, illustrating the applicant’s relevant creative achievements.

IMPORTANT: The creation portfolio must be transmitted in digital form, with all its component documents assembled into a single compressed file (ZIP file).

The file must be identified as follows:

LAST NAME OF APPLICANT_APPLICATION NUMBER (e.g. SIMARD_654321).

It must be uploaded before the competition deadline to the FRQSC’s “Répertoire de partage sécurisé de documents “:

https://repertoire.frq.gouv.qc.ca/authentificationPartage

The applicant must authenticate their identity using the email address and password used to access their FRQnet account.

The digital file must be smaller than 8 GB.

It must include a description of the items presented (a maximum of one to two-pages, in PDF document). This document must allow easy identification of the different items making up the creation portfolio and may contain links to one or more websites for large files. However, it is not recommended to provide only hyperlinks to one or more websites. The creation portfolio may include files of various formats: PDF, MPEG, PNG, MP3, MP4, MOV, etc. A press kit may also be included (PDF format).

The person evaluating the application should not need to spend more than twenty minutes reading and assessing the creation portfolio.

Applicants are requested to send their accompanying documents only once, in their final version. A successful upload message will appear in a pop-up confirmation window. No other acknowledgement of receipt shall be sent. In case of duplicate transmission resulting from a manipulation or other error, the most recent version will be considered for the evaluation.

____________________

If the portfolio cannot be transmitted in digital form, the applicant must notify the program officer sufficiently in advance to determine an alternative method of transmission.

If the portfolio is to be transmitted by post, the applicant must mail all documents being submitted for evaluation in triplicate to the following address:

Programme Soutien à la recherche-création pour la relève professorale
Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture
140, Grande Allée Est, bureau 470
Québec (Québec) G1R 5M8

The Fonds will keep the documents submitted electronically or by post for a period of 90 days from the date on the letter announcing the results of the evaluation. After this time, unless otherwise requested, they will be disposed of.

The Canada Post postmark or the dated stamp of a messenger service will be considered proof of submission before the deadline of September 22, 2022.

An incomplete application that does not contain the information necessary to establish eligibility or which cannot be evaluated will be deemed invalid by the Fonds. Any documents that are not required will not be submitted to the evaluation committee. Applicants will not be notified of any information or documents missing from the application and no reminder will be made.

All applications received by the Fonds are assessed for eligibility. A notice will be sent via email no later than December 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 is not forwarded to the evaluation committee will also be notified of this via email.

Any documents received after the competition deadline of 4 p.m. on September 22, 2022 will not be considered and applications cannot be updated after this deadline.

5. ASSESSMENT

Research-creation project description must be written in such a way as to be easily understandable in a multidisciplinary context. The role of the evaluation committees and the conditions governing funding decisions are specified in the CGR, Sections 4.4 and 4.5).

Evaluation criteria, sub-criteria and weighting

Evaluation committees use the FRQSC Scoring System Grid.

An overall score of 70% is required for the application to be recommended for funding. In addition, a score of 70% is required for the Research-creation project criterion.

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

Funding applications are evaluated according to the following criteria, sub-criteria and weighting:

Research-creation project – 50 points 

• Originality and impact on the development or renewal of the field, based on the state of knowledge (15 points)
• Problematization of the creative or artistic practice, and appropriateness of the methodology for the stated objectives (15 points)
• Feasibility of the time frame (10 points)
• Relevance of the planned dissemination activities (10 points)

Expertise – 30 points 

• Quality of research-creation achievements and activities, peer recognition and renown (networking activities, scholarships, communications, student supervision*, exhibitions, organization of conferences or similar events, performances, publications, individual or group works, meetings, residencies or exchanges, shows, grants, symposia, etc.) (20 points)
• Relevance of achievements, research-creation activities, experience (academic or other) and training to the project (10 points)

*  Depending on the potential for supervision offered by the institution.

Research-creation training – 10 points 

• Measures proposed during the project to allow students to develop original or autonomous research-creation practices (10 points)

Budget – 10 points 

• Appropriateness and consistency of the budget with regard to the submitted research-creation project and planned student training.

6. FUNDING AND CONDITIONS

The conditions regarding the announcement and management of funding are set out in the CGR (Sections 5 to 8).

Peer-reviewed publications resulting from the research made possible by this award must be released as immediate open access (without embargo), under an open license, in accordance with the FRQ Open Access Policy for the Dissemination of Research (revised in 2022).

7. EFFECTIVE DATE

These rules apply to the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

Version updated on the website July 7, 2022.