Research-creation Support Program (RC) 2024-2025

1. OBJECTIVES

The Research-Creation Support program has the following objectives:

• Support quality research-creation within the context of projects carried out by an individual (Individual Project component) or a group (Team Project component);
• Support research-creators in the development and advancement of their careers;
• Contribute to the research-creation training of students at every level and improve the quality of their supervision while encouraging them to develop their own practices.
• Promote the integration of with University Researcher status working in research-creation into institutional research and training missions, research-creation networks and relevant practice settings, on national and international levels;
• Facilitate 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;
• Contribute to the visibility and recognition of Québec research – creation and the people who are conducting it.

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 of these processes and approaches must include, to varying degrees (depending on the practices and temporalities specific to each project):

1) Creative or artistic activities (design, 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 requires that the creative or artistic activities and their problematization 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.

2. COMPONENTS

The person in charge of the individual project or team project application (principal investigator) must be known to work in research-creation, and meet the eligibility requirements (section 3).

2.1 Team Project component

The purpose of the Team component is to promote and consolidate collaboration between individuals working on research-creation, research, creation or as professional artists in order to foster new research-creation initiatives.

This component’s specific objectives are to:

• Facilitate the networking of individuals with complementary expertise or training likely to lead to new research-creation perspectives;
• Increase Québec’s research-creation capacity by facilitating interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration.

2.2. Individual Project component

The purpose of the Individual component is to support researcher-creators working individually, while encouraging them to train a new generation in their field.

3. ELIGIBILITY

3.1 Principal investigator

With this program, the Fonds is targeting creators and artists working as university research professors who are able to present both a portfolio of productions resulting from an artistic or creative practice and a body of theoretical or scientific contributions.

The person in charge of the application (Individual or Team component) must have the status of university researcher (CGR, Definitions – Status and Roles), be recognized for their work in research-creation and meet all eligibility requirements set out in the CGR.

Only researchers corresponding to definition i)* of Status 1 of the CGR (university researcher) qualify for the role of principal investigator of a team.

* Researchers employed according to definition ii) of Status 1 of the CGR and retired researchers are not eligible to assume the role of principal investigator under this program.

The person in charge of the application must respect the previously detailed conditions throughout the duration of the funding. An individual funding is not transferable to anyone other than the person who applied for funding and received funding offer.

3.2 Team configuration

To be eligible, a team must include, in addition to the principal investigator, one or more co-investigators with any of the statuses applicable to grants (CGR, Status and Roles):

• University researcher;
• Clinical university researcher;
• College researcher*;
• Other research statuses: only c) Practitioner and d) Artist.

At least 50% of the co-investigators, including the principal investigator, must have one of the first three statuses applicable to grants:

• University researcher;
• Clinical university researcher;
• College researcher*.

* Notwithstanding the definition of college researcher in the CGR, a doctoral degree is required to qualify for the role of co-investigator under this program.

Teams that do not meet all these criteria are ineligible.

College-level co-investigators for whom a release from teaching duties and/or statutory supplement is being requested must be identified by the principal investigator in the completed application form. The following information must be provided for each college-level co-investigator invited to join the team (see also sections 4.1 Forms and 7.2 Supplements):

• The name of the person receiving the release from teaching duties and/or statutory supplement and their home college institution,
• An estimate of the amount claimed for the teaching release, if applicable,
• The statutory supplement request, if applicable1,
• The role played by the recipient in the project,
• Justification of the use of the funding allocated specifically for the recipient’s involvement in the project.

In addition to co-investigators, a team may include collaborators with any of the statuses applicable to grants (see CGR, Definitions – Status and roles) as well as researchers outside Québec. However, individuals with the training award statuses defined by the CGR are not eligible for the role of collaborator.

The activities of the research-creation project, under both the Individual or Team components, must include undergraduate, master’s and/or PhD student training.

3.3 Participation in more than one research-creation project

No individual can be the principal investigator for more than one funding application (Individual component or Team component). However, it is possible to be part of more than one funding applications as follows:

• as principal investigator under the “Individual component” and co-researcher in one or more teams under the “Team component”,

OR

• as principal investigator under the “Team component” and co-researcher in one or more teams under the “Team component”.

These possibilities are intended to enable teams to access all of the expertise required to carry out their research-creation projects. Individuals participating in two or more projects must clearly explain and justify their contribution to each project.

^{1. Reminder: this amount must not exceed 50% of the college-level co-investigator’s gross annual salary or be greater than $40,000. For more details, refer to the Support for College Researchers program from their teaching duties program rules.}

4. APPLICATION

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

A grant application consists of:

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

At the competition deadline of September 21, 2023 at 4:00 p.m., the status of the application in the FRQnet system must be “Submitted to institution” or “Submitted to the Fonds” and all required documents must be attached to the form.

4.1 Forms

Forms are available in the FRQnet portal no later than one month before the competition deadline.

Before completing a funding application, the applicant must create a FRQnet user account on the Fonds website, if this has not already been done.

With regard to the language of submitted forms and documents, please refer to Section 3.6 of the CGR.

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” FORM (Recherche-création / Individuel OR Recherche-création / Équipe);
• For co-investigators with statuses 1, 2 and 3 (CGR, Section Status and Roles), THE CANADIAN COMMON CV and DETAILED CONTRIBUTIONS attachment (available in the E-portfolio FRQnet): The Canadian Common CV and “Detailed contributions” attachment file are available in the Toolbox section on the fellowship program page or directly in the “Activity details” box in the E-portfolio. The Canadian Common CV—”Fonds Société et culture” version—must be updated within the 12 months prior to the competition deadline. The Detailed Contributions file specific to grants 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, it must be saved in PDF format under “Canadian Common CV” in the FRQnet E-portfolio. Only the official “Research-Creation Support” form (in FRQnet, entitled “Recherche-création / Individuel” or “Recherche-création / Équipe”), the FRQSC version of the Common Canadian CV with its Detailed Contributions attachment, and the other required documents will be accepted.

IMPORTANT: College researchers who are identified as co-investigators do not need to complete a form at the full application stage.

More information on this new procedure can be found in the Support for College Researchers program rules.

4.2 Required documents

The following documents to be submitted with the FRQnet 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 ”Other documents” section:

1.   For co-investigators in categories c) Practitioner and d) Artist of Status 4, an abridged CV (max. 3 pages).

2.   Retired co-investigators must provide a letter from the university indicating that prior to retirement the researcher was a regular professor, and that for the term of the grant, they will have access to the facilities and logistical support required to carry out research activities and will continue to train/supervise students, where applicable. An insufficiently documented letter could render the retired researcher ineligible.

3.   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.

4.   If the submitted project is dependent on a partnership, a letter demonstrating the existence of said partnership must be included. This letter can take different forms, ranging from a letter of support from the partner to a formal agreement co-signed by the applicant or the team and the partner. It is suggested that the documents submitted for this purpose be concise (a few pages at most) and explicit about the nature of the partnership and the role of the parties involved.

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.

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 before the competition deadline and to ensure that the application is forwarded to the Fonds within the time prescribe bye 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 principal investigator’s relevant creative achievements, as well as those of the research creation co-investigators, in the case of the Team component.

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

The digital file must be smaller than 2 GB.

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/partage

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

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. The creation portfolio may include files of various formats: PDF, MPEG, PNG, MP3, MP4, MOV, etc. A press kit – maximum of 15 pages – may also be included (PDF format).

The person evaluating the application should not need to spend more than fifteen 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.

_______________________________________________

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 Appui à la Recherche-création

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 October 11, 2023.

Any missing documents will render the application ineligible.

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. Applicants will not be notified of any information or documents missing from the application and no reminder will be made. Once an application has been transmitted to the Fonds, it cannot be updated. Any documents that are not required will not be submitted to the evaluation committee.

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 their application and, where applicable, its transmission to the evaluation committee.

Applicants whose application package is deemed incomplete or invalid will be notified by email that their application has not been transmitted to the evaluation committee.

5. ASSESSMENT

Research-creation project descriptions 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 committees use the FRQSC Scoring System Grid.

To be recommended for funding under either program component, an overall score of 70% is required.

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:

5.1 Evaluation criteria, sub-criteria and weighting for Team component

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)
• Realism of the time frame and budget estimates and feasibility (10 points)
• Relevance of the dissemination plan (10 points)

* In the case where the submitted project is a continuation of previous research funded under this program, the added value of new funding must be shown.

Expertise of team members and relevance of the group – 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.) (10 points)
• Alignment of group member’s expertise; complementarity and balance of skills (10 points)
• Efficacy of planned coordination and collaboration methods and leadership ability of the principal investigator (10 points)

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

Research-creation training – 20 points

• Educational value of the activities offered to research-creation students*** and diversity of the tasks and responsibilities planned for that purpose during the project (workshops, symposia, concerts, conferences, exchanges, radio broadcasts, exhibitions, festivals, rencontres, shows, etc.) (10 points)
• Measures proposed during the project to allow students to develop original or autonomous research-creation practices (10 points)

*** Beyond what is normally provided by the study program.

5.2 Evaluation criteria, sub-criteria and weighting for Individual component

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)
• Realism of the time frame and budget estimates and feasibility (10 points)
• Relevance of the dissemination plan (10 points)

* In the case where the submitted project is a continuation of previous research funded under this program, the added value of new funding must be shown.

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 the achievements, research-creation activities, experience and training to the project (10 points)

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

Research-creation training – 20 points

• Educational value of the activities offered to research-creation students*** and diversity of the tasks and responsibilities planned for that purpose during the project (workshops, symposia, concerts, conferences, exchanges, radio broadcasts, exhibitions, festivals, rencontres, shows, etc.) (10 points)
• Measures proposed during the project to allow students to develop original or autonomous research-creation practices (10 points)

*** Beyond what is normally provided by the study program.

6. DESCRIPTION AND DURATION OF FUNDING

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. DESCRIPTION AND DURATION OF FUNDING

7.1  Operating grant

The funding is an operating grant of up to $50,000 per year, for a maximum of $150,000 for 36 months. This funding is complementary to other sources of research funding (e.g. grants, contracts, sponsorships and other funds available for research).

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

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

All budget items 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.).

7.2  Supplements

Each of these supplements, when presented in the budget, must be justified in a document attached to the application form.

• Supplements for college researchers :

These supplements are subject to budget availability under the Program Support for College Researchers (CHC). Individuals wishing to take advantage of this program are invited to read the complete CHC program rules.

Specifically, the Release from teaching duties (2.1) and Statutory supplement (2.2) components provided under de Support for College Researchers program are available to college researchers who wish to join a research team if they meet the following definition:

Person who has a PhD and who is employed in the equivalent of a full-time position in the college-level institutions recognized by the FRQ to manage funding and/or in the Québec college centres for technology transfer (CCTT).

College researchers must also possess the professional autonomy required to supervise research projects and hold: i) a position as a college-level institution professor, OR ii) a position as a CCTT researcher, OR iii) a position in a college-level institution in which at least 75% of their time is dedicated to research activities.

• Supplement for Principal Investigator – Team Component:

A release of teaching duties is authorized for the principal investigator for the purpose of carrying out the research or coordination activities relevant to the project submitted. It must be requested in the submitted budget. Otherwise, it cannot be requested during the funding period.

• Interregional supplement*: $2,500 to $10,000 per year per interregional team.

This supplement is intended to defray distance-related expenses (travel and living expenses, videoconferencing, etc.) between regular team members including students involved in the team’s work. To qualify as interregional, a team must include co-investigators working in different universities than that of the project leader and located in distinct administrative regions, as defined by the Government of Québec. Applications for the supplement for interregional teams are evaluated according to the justification for interregional team support in relation to expressed needs. Maximum $2,500 per university, excluding the managing institution, for a total of $10,000

* The Fonds reserves the right to analyze the geographic distribution of the co-investigators before awarding this optional funding.

• Supplement for knowledge mobilization:

Additional funding of up to $7,000 per year may be granted under the Individual Project or Team Project component to support transfer initiatives (e.g. dissemination activities, exchanges and knowledge-sharing between researchers and users, etc.). Applications for the supplement for transfer support are evaluated according to the justification for transfer support in relation to expressed needs.

• Equipment supplement*:

A supplement of up to $30,000 to be paid out in the first year of funding may be awarded under the Individual or Team component for the acquisition (purchase or rental) of equipment. Other expenses related to equipment acquired through this supplement may also be eligible; these are listed in the CGR (Sections 8.6 and 8.8).

Applications for the equipment supplement are evaluated according to the following criteria:

• The relevance of the equipment to the research-creation activities;
• The availability of similar equipment at the university or in other institutions in the area;
• The importance of the equipment to the researcher-creator’s institution;
• Anticipated equipment use time.

* The amount requested for the equipment supplement must be entered in the first year of the budget on the form, even if its use is planned over three years.

With the exception of the supplement for college researchers, supplement requests are assessed qualitatively by the peer committee during the application evaluation process. The committee makes a positive or negative recommendation for supplemental funding and, if positive, also recommends the amount to be awarded, which may be less than that requested.

^{1. For example, an applicant with a gross salary of $76,000 cannot ask for more than 50% of this amount, i.e. a maximum of $38,000 per year. For a salary of $90,000, maximum funding is capped at $40,000.}

^{2. Thus, a college researcher with the role of co-investigator in two applications funded by the FRQSC (or “parent” applications) could receive two statutory supplements of $7,000.}

8. EFFECTIVE DATE

These rules apply to the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

Version updated on the website August 18, 2023.