Research on Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD Program) / 2019-2020

This program is entirely dedicated to AMD research in all its forms (fundamental, clinical or translational research, epidemiology/public health, and rehabilitation). Any research methodology that would have the potential to help improving the knowledge on AMD is eligible.

The main objectives of this program are to:

• Identify the causes of AMD

• Develop better treatments for patients with AMD

• Reduce significantly the disease course

• Delay the start, or even prevent,  the disease

• Develop rehabilitation’s programs for patients with advanced illness to allow a better life with AMD

• The project’s team must include one Principal Investigator (PI) and co-investigators meeting the criteria relating to research status (see the Definitions section of the Common General Rules):
  • University researcher
  • Clinical university researcher

• A minimum of 2 co-investigators is required

• Including young researchers among the co-investigators is strongly encouraged

• The PI must demonstrate that he/she will devote a sufficient amount of research time to the project to ensure its success

• Multidisciplinarity, intersectoral approaches and complementarity of skills of the research team will be considered as an asset

Postdoctoral trainees cannot apply to this program as PIs or co-investigators.

Clinical university researchers must prove that they are members in good standing of the professional order governing them in Québec, have a valid license to practice in Québec and have professional liability insurance.

• Researchers may only submit one application to this program as a PI
• Researchers may submit several applications to this program as a co-investigator
• A researcher may not simultaneously hold more than one grant from this program as a PI. Ongoing funded projects must be completed no later than January 15, 2019 for the PI to receive a new grant in this program
  • Completed projects are those for which scientific and financial reports have been submitted by the PI and accepted by FRQS

• A researcher currently holding a grant as a co-investigator from this program may apply as co-investigator or PI

The principal investigator and the co-investigators must:

• be employed by a managing institution and be domiciled in Québec at the time the application is submitted (see section 2.1 of the Common General Rules).

Collaborators may be from outside Québec. However, no funds will be transferred outside the province.

Basic training in research ethics is mandatory for all FRQS awardees when their research project involves human beings.

Research on human beings involves:

• Participation of human beings
• Use of human biological materials (parts, products, tissue, cells, genetic materials, derived from a living or dead individual)
• Assisted procreation activities or the use of human embryos derived therefrom, within the meaning of the Act respecting clinical and research activities relating to assisted procreation (CQLR c. A-5.01)
• The use of administrative, scientific or descriptive data from human participants

Awardees must successfully complete levels 1 and 3 of the Online Tutorial in Research Ethics set out by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS).

PIs and co-investigators must complete the training before receiving the first payment of their grant.

Any missing document or document that is not in conformity with the program rules and forms may result in the ineligibility of the funding application.

No extension will be granted. After the deadline application, forms that are not already submitted will be automatically rejected.

IMPORTANT:

• NEW: in order to allow for institution approval, the letter of intent should be submitted before the institutional deadline, which is before the FRQS submission deadline (details are provided in the electronic form). Institution approval, which automatically activates submission of the form to the FRQS, has to be done before the FRQS submission deadline.
• Each co-investigator has to consent to be part of this application. This action can be done in his/her FRQS electronic portfolio before the institutional deadline otherwise it will not be possible to submit the form.
• Once the application is submitted, it will no longer be possible to modify it.

• Canadian Common CV, Funding CV version for the FRQS (updated at leat since June 2016)
• Detailed contributions (updated at least since June 2016, attachment required through the FRQS Electronic Portfolio on the Canadian Common CV page), consult the Guidelines for the CV attachment available in the toolbox
• Electronic form – Letter of intent
  PDF version – for information (to come)

Only researchers whose letters of intent are selected will be invited to submit a full application (see the Evaluation section).

FRQS will send by email a confirmation of the acceptance or rejection of the letter of intent of each candidate.

• Canadian Common CV, Funding CV version for the FRQS (updated at leat since June 2016)
• Detailed contributions (updated at leat since June 2016, attachment required through the FRQS Electronic Portfolio on the Canadian Common CV page), consult the Guidelines for the CV attachment available in the toolbox

IMPORTANT:

In the FRQS electronic portfolio under “As a co-investigator” (En tant que cochercheur) : Each co-investigator has to consent to be part of this application before the institutional deadline otherwise it will not be possible to submit the form.

Transmission of the documents via the FRQS electronic portfolio only.

Any missing document or document that is not in conformity with the program rules and forms may result in the ineligibility of the funding application.

No extension will be permitted. After the deadline application, forms that are not already submitted will be automatically rejected.

IMPORTANT:

• New: in order to allow for institution approval, the complete application should be submitted before the institutional deadline, which is before the FRQS submission deadline (details are provided in the electronic form). Institution approval, which automatically activates submission of the form to the FRQS, has to be done before the FRQS submission deadline.
• Each co-investigator has to consent to be part of this application. This action can be done in his/her FRQS electronic portfolio before the institutional deadline otherwise it will not be possible to submit the form.
• Once the application is submitted, it will no longer be possible to modify it.

• Canadian Common CV, Funding CV version for the FRQS (updated at leat since June 2016)
• Detailed contributions (updated at least since June 2016, attachment required through the FRQS Electronic Portfolio on the Canadian Common CV page), consult the Guidelines for the CV attachment  available in the toolbox
• Electronic form – Funding application
  PDF version – for information (to come)

• Letter of support from the administrators of the institution or university department in which the research will be carried out (for the PI only)
• Letter of support from a collaborator or a partner, if applicable

• Clinician: a letter from the director of the clinical department or the dean of the faculty specifying the number of hours for which the applicant will be released from his/her clinical obligations to carry out the research project (only for clinicians who are not recipients of an FRQS career award)

• Canadian Common CV, Funding CV version for the FRQS (updated at leat since June 2016)
• Detailed contributions (updated at least since June 2016, attachment required through the FRQS Electronic Portfolio on the Canadian Common CV page), consult the Guidelines for the CV attachment  available in the toolbox

• Clinician: a letter from the director of the clinical department or the dean of the faculty specifying the number of hours for which the applicant will be released from his/her clinical obligations to carry out the research project (only for clinicians who are not recipients of an FRQS career award)

IMPORTANT:

• In the FRQS electronic portfolio under “As a co-investigator” (En tant que cochercheur) : Each co-investigator has to consent to be part of this application before the institutional deadline otherwise it will not be possible to submit the form.

An FRQS centre, an institution administered by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) or a Québec university.

The FRQS expects that the grantee will conduct his/her project at the same institution or university that initially endorsed the application throughout the entire grant period.

The grantees who wish to change their research location must submit by email an official request to the FRQS. The request must detail the reason(s) for the change and describe all possible consequences on the research project.

University or institutional authorities must notify the FRQS in writing once they have approved the change of location.

The acceptance of the grantee in the new research centre or university department must also be done in writing to the FRQS by the director.

Up to $100,000 per year

The list of institutions that can administer funding from the FRQ is limited to the managing institutions recognized by the FRQ, including universities, CIUSSS, CISSS, some institutions of the healthcare network and colleges.

The managing institution is usually the employing institution of the funding recipient (see section 6.2 of the Common General Rules).

The grants awarded under this program are eligible to receive an additional amount to cover indirect costs of research of the institutions. However, the FRQS is not responsible for the amounts paid by its partners. The details on indirect costs of research reimbursement will be available at the time of the grant.

In addition to the list of eligible and non-eligible expenses detailed in section 8 of the FRQ Common General Rules, the following expenses are eligible:

• Salaries for research assistants

• Remuneration of students (MSc and PhD) and postdoctoral fellows in their first year only.  Students and postdoctoral fellows  must apply to provincial and national competitions for subsequent fundind

• Equipment or platform user fees

• Fees and reimbursements of travel expenses for research human subjects

• Participation to conferences (up to 3% of the grant amount), from year 1

• Remuneration of the PI, co-investigators, and collaborators

• All indirect expenditures related to layout organization or reorganization, facilities leasing and maintenance or the indirect costs covered by the host institution

• Funds must not be transferred outside of Québec

• Determine the applicants’ eligibility
• Assess the relevance of the application
• Establish a peer review committee with relevant expertise

Only applicants whose letter of intent has been considered eligible will be invited, by email from the FRQS, to submit a complete application.

The applications will be evaluated by a peer review committee composed of experts from clinical and scientific institutions chosen by the FRQS according to the rules in effect for the constitution of review committees.

Representatives from the Antoine-Turmel Foundation, the Eye Disease Foundation and VHRN may sit on the evaluation committee as observers without the right to vote.

In addition to answering the specific objectives of the AMD program, the teams should pay particular attention to the strategic and structuring aspects of their research projects. These two aspects will be the guiding principles for the evaluation of the projects.

By structuring, it is meant that the projects will have to consolidate and accelerate the development of  Québec AMD research by:

1. mobilizing the available resources in the AMD community

2. raising awareness and involving the different actors (researchers, clinicians, decision makers, non-profit organizations, partners, and patients) who can facilitate the AMD research and the implementation of the results

The project should therefore strengthen links or develop new meshing or partnerships with members of the local, national and international research community, decision-makers and / or practice settings.

The recruiting and the development of a critical mass of scientists in AMD Québec research will also have a structuring impact.

The strategic aspect is related to the approach used by the researchers and the efforts and resources they will utilize to optimize their chances to reach the objectives of the program. New funding, public or private investments, and partnerships with the industry are examples of leverage effects resulting from a project. Visibility and impact at the international level, and consolidation of key collaborations are other examples.

The other evaluation criteria for the complete  application will be:

Research project

• Originality and coherence of the project

• Clarity of the objectives

Research team

• Scientific quality of each team member

• Complementarity of the researchers’ expertises

• Scientific achievements (publications, development of structuring initiatives, visibility in Canada and/or internationally, etc.)

• Role in training young scientists

Feasibility

• Scientific and technical feasibility

• Realism of the timeline and relevance of the monitoring indicators

Short term benefits

In the short term, how will this project allow meeting the objectives of the program?

• Project impact in terms of acquisition of knowledge and skills

• Project impact on the development of new concepts and models, instruments, approaches and methods, the final goal being to better treat or rehabilitate patients with AMD, or to find the causes of this disease

Knowledge transfer

• Proposed strategies to ensure that research results are used in the development and/or implementation of:

  • Better treatments

  • Better tools for rehabilitation or prevention

  • Better programs

  • New practices or care policy for patients with AMD

Budget

• Adequate budget justification in the proposal

In accepting the grant, the grantees agree to submit scientific and financial reports by the deadlines determined by the FRQS. The results of all funded projects will have to be presented at the VHRN annual meeting.

The grantees authorize the partners to use final report and published research outputs (scientific publications, conferences, symposia, conventions or e-publication) for reproduction, translation, execution or public extension purposes through whatever means or for any other non-commercial purposes, provided there is no infringement of copyright law.

The FRQS encourages awardees to conduct and participate in knowledge mobilization activities (transfer, sharing, development, enhancement and dissemination) with practice settings and the general public, where such activities are relevant. Please read the document Knowledge Mobilization in the toolbox.

By submitting an application, the applicant must:

• Comply with the obligations outlined in the Common General Rules of the three Fonds and in the Policy Regarding Open Access to Published Research Outputs as well as with the conditions and requirements outlined in the electronic form and program rules.

• Submit additional files linked to the grant, if requested by the FRQS.

• Comply with the ethics and integrity standards outlined in the FRQS document Standards en éthique de la recherche et d’intégrité scientifique and in the Policy for the Responsible Conduct of Research of the Fonds de recherche du Québec.

• Authorize the FRQS to retain and use the personal and scientific information included in the application documents, in keeping with the terms outlined in the document Énoncé relatif à la protection des renseignements personnels et confidentiels des dossiers des candidats, candidates et titulaires d’un octroi and provided that the people who are granted access to the information respect its confidentiality.

The research institution will provide:

• Functional laboratories and research facilities as well as basic equipment required to carry out the research project
• An environment respectful of the ethics and integrity standards outlined in the FRQS document Standards en éthique de la recherche et d’intégrité scientifique and in the Policy for the Responsible Conduct of Research of the Fonds de recherche du Québec