NOTICE – The Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ) was established on June 1, 2024, in accordance with the Act to amend the Act respecting the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation with respect to research. The Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT), the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) have since been regrouped into the new FRQ, which continues their existence. The rights and obligations of the FRQNT, FRQS and FRQSC have become those of the FRQ; activities continue as usual.

Please note that if you come across an old name or logo of one of the Fonds de recherche du Québec in the program rules or on the website, it should now read as follows:

  • The FRQNT becomes the Nature et technologies sector;
  • The FRQS becomes the Santé sector;
  • The FRQSC becomes the Société et culture sector.

Thank you for your understanding.

Competition year : 
2025-2026

Deadline (application) : 
November 13th, 2024 at 16:00 (EST)

Announcement of results : 
End of April 2025

Amount : 
$150,000 (plus indirect cost of research)

Duration : 
2 years (not renewable)

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This program refers to the Common General Rules (CGR) of the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ), which apply to all FRQ programs. It is the responsibility of applicants and/or funding holders to read the CGR, which set out all rules governing competitions and managing awards. Only conditions specific to the Research Program on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Québec’s postsecondary research community are indicated in this document, and these prevail over the CGR.

Table of contents

  1. BACKGROUND
  2. OBJECTIVES
  3. NATURE OF FUNDING
  4. ELIGIBILITY
  5. APPLICATION
  6. ÉVALUATION
  7. CONDITIONS
  8. EFFECTIVE DATE

1. BACKGROUND

Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) enrich the research community and the quality, relevance and impacts of the research it produces, notably by promoting a diversity of perspectives and approaches. In addition, the prejudices and systemic barriers faced by certain groups may deprive the research community of access to top talent or research projects.

For these reasons, the FRQ are committed to strengthening EDI in research, notably through their EDI Strategy. The present research program is in line with one of the four objectives of this strategy: Accelerate the advancement and sharing of knowledge on EDI.

In planning their EDI initiatives, granting agencies and postsecondary institutions rely, among other things, on research findings related to the issues involved. The FRQ are thus launching a program to support research projects on different aspects of EDI that have been less studied in Québec’s postsecondary research community.

2. OBJECTIVES

With this program, the FRQ hope to generate research results that can be used by Québec’s granting agencies and postsecondary institutions to help develop and improve their approaches to EDI in research. The FRQ therefore invite the research community to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the improvement of EDI practices in Québec, through projects that address at least one of the following two objectives:

1) Gain a better understanding of the current EDI situation in Québec’s research community, particularly in relation to one of the following themes:

  1. Research careers of under-represented or marginalized groups for whom little data is available in the Québec research context (e.g., sexual or gender minorities, first-generation students, people with disabilities, immigrants, black people and other racialized groups);
  2. Perceptions and reactions within Québec’s research community to EDI policies and practices implemented by granting agencies or postsecondary institutions;
  3. Outcomes and impacts of EDI policies and practices introduced by granting agencies and postsecondary institutions in Québec.

2) Identify promising EDI approaches for Québec’s research community. These may be specific to the Québec research community or inspired by practices implemented internationally or in other sectors of activity.

3. NATURE OF FUNDING

Under this program, the FRQ plan to fund up to five research projects for a maximum of $150,000 each, over a two-year period.

The grant must be used to cover current expenses directly related to developing and carrying out the project and disseminating the research results. Indirect research costs (FIR) will be paid directly to the university in addition to the grant. Eligible and non-eligible expenses are listed in Section 8 of the CGR.

Teaching release costs are allowed under this program for the principal investigator, up to a maximum of 1 release per year. It must be requested in the submitted budget. If this is not done, it cannot be requested during the funding period.

Team Project component:

To allow full participation of college researchers in the project, a release from teaching duties may be provided from the grant budget for co-investigators with this status as defined in the CGR.

Finally, a portion of the grant may be used to provide salary support for Status 3 college researchers without teaching duties. This amount is at the discretion of the principal investigator and must be included in the budget. It will be submitted for verification by the evaluation committee. In the case of a researcher at a College Center for Technology Transfer (CCTT), the amount may be transferred by the principal investigator’s institution directly to the college with which the CCTT is affiliated.

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. Applications submitted to the evaluation committee may nevertheless be declared ineligible at any time.

4. ELIGIBILITY

In order to attract as many researchers as possible, the program is divided into two components: Individual and Team.

All teams and applicants must meet the eligibility requirements set out in these program rules and in the CGR, both at the competition closing date and time and for the entire duration of funding, if granted. Teams or applicants who do not meet all of these eligibility requirements will be considered ineligible.

An application that is incomplete, does not comply with the program rules or does not contain sufficient information to establish its eligibility or to evaluate its scientific quality will be declared ineligible.

The three roles mentioned below, principal investigator, co-investigator and collaborator, and the statuses recognized by the FRQ are defined in the CGR, Section “Status and Roles Eligible”.

4.1 Principal investigator (Individual and Team components)

Only persons with Status 1 i) (university researcher), 2 (clinical university researcher) or 3 (college researcher) qualify for the role of principal investigator on an application submitted under this program *.

A researcher may not be principal investigator on more than one project submitted under this program.

* 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.

4.2 Co-investigators (Team component)

In addition to the principal investigator, a Team application must include one or more co-investigators with one of the following statuses as defined in the CGR:

  • University researcher (Status 1)
  • Clinical university researcher (Status 2)
  • College researcher (Status 3)
  • Other research statuses: 4 a), b), c) and d)

It is possible to have the role of co-investigator in multiple projects submitted or funded under this program. However, the relevance and feasibility of this type of multiple participation will be assessed by the evaluation committee.

There is no limit to the number of co-investigators on a Team Project funding application.

4.3 Collaborators (Team component)

In addition to co-investigators, a Team application may include collaborators with any of the statuses applicable to grants as defined in the CGR, as well as researchers outside Québec. On the other hand, individuals with the training statuses defined in the CGR are not eligible for the role of collaborator.

5. APPLICATION

For more information on how to prepare their application, applicants are invited to refer to Section 3 of the CGR. In addition, the document Presentation standards for PDF attachments explains how to properly format the documents to be attached to the application.

Forms

The forms are available exclusively from a FRQnet E-portfolio, sector Société et culture.

Please refer to Section 3.6 of the CGR for the language requirements of submitted forms and documents.  The project title and abstract must be in French and may be used by the Fonds for promotional and dissemination purposes.

A complete funding application consists of the appropriate application form for the chosen component (Individual or Team), available in the FRQnet electronic portfolio, to which the following documents are attached:

  • Description of the research project in light of the evaluation criteria for the chosen component (maximum 7 pages for the Individual Project component, maximum 9 pages for the Team Project component)
  • Bibliography (maximum 2 pages)
  • Justification of planned expenditures (maximum 2 pages for the Individual Project component, maximum 3 pages for the Team Project component)
  • Abridged CV of the principal investigator and each co-investigator. All CVs must be completed using the program’s abridged CV template (maximum 2 pages per abridged CV)
  • If applicable, a letter from the institution for contracted researchers indicating that the researcher will be employed by the institution for the duration of the grant
  • If applicable, a letter from the institution for retired researchers indicating that before retirement, the researcher was a regular professor, that he/she will have access to the facilities and the logistical support required to carry out research activities for the duration of the grant, and that he/she will continue to train students, where applicable

IMPORTANT : The Fonds requires the approval of the managing institution. Applicants are invited to contact their institution to find out about internal deadlines.

In all cases, at the competition deadline of 4 p.m. on November 13, 2024, 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. Applications with any other status will be considered inadmissible. To be considered admissible, an application with the status of “Submitted to institution” must nonetheless have the status “Submitted to the Fonds” within the time limit set out in the CGR (Section 3.2).

6. ÉVALUATION

Evaluation committees use the FRQSC Scoring System Grid. An overall score of 70% is required for the application to be recommended for funding.

Funding applications are evaluated according to the following criteria, sub-criteria and weighting, depending on the chosen component (Individual or Team):

Individual Project component

Research project – 50 points

  • Ability of the project to meet program objectives (see Section 2)
  • Originality and contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the given field
  • Clarity of the research problem, relevance of the theoretical and methodological approaches, and precision of the stated research objectives
  • Feasibility of the time frame and consistency of the budget estimates with the submitted project

Expertise – 30 points

  • Demonstration of the link between the applicant’s expertise and the submitted project (relevance of achievements, research activities, experience, training, etc.)

Impacts – 20 points

  • Plan for mobilizing anticipated results
  • Potential contribution of the project to training students in the field
Teams Project component

Research project – 50 points

  • Ability of the project to meet program objectives (see Section 2)
  • Originality and contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the given field
  • Clarity of the research problem, relevance of the theoretical and methodological approaches, and precision of the stated research objectives
  • Feasibility of the time frame and consistency of the budget estimates with the submitted project

Expertise – 30 points

  • Demonstration of the link between the team’s expertise and the submitted project (relevance of the researchers’ achievements, research activities, experience, training, etc.)

Impacts – 20 points

  • Plan for mobilizing anticipated results
  • Potential contribution of the project to training students in the field

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

The role of the evaluation committees and the conditions governing funding decisions are defined in the CGR (Sections 4.4 and 4.5).

7. CONDITIONS

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

Funding recipients must indicate, in all press releases, reports, papers or other communications, that the research was funded by the FRQ.

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.

8. EFFECTIVE DATE

These rules apply to the 2025-2026 fiscal year.