Scholarship for Internship in a Practice Environment (BSMP)

1. OBJECTIVES

• Foster collaboration between the academic research community and organizations in the public, parapublic and private sectors;
• Stimulate interest in knowledge application and the acquisition of work experience in a practice environment;
• Support practice environments in their efforts to provide jobs for people enrolled in master’s or doctoral research programs.
• Encourage students pursuing a Master’s or PhD research program to gain practical experience complementary to their program of study, but separate from the research leading to the completion of the Master’s or Doctorate thesis.

In keeping with its Knowledge Mobilization Strategy, the Fonds encourage funding recipients to carry out such activities (sharing, valorization, dissemination, etc.) for the general public, whenever such activities are relevant in the context of their research.

In accordance with the Fonds de recherche du Québec open access policy for the dissemination of research, all funding recipients must agree to provide open access to their scientific publications no later than 12 months after publication. To learn more about the FRQ’s requirements on this subject, please visit our page on open science.

Finally, the Fonds de recherche du Québec wish to contribute to supporting a research ecosystem based on equity, diversity and inclusion. Measures have been put in place to strengthen the integration of these principles. Funding recipients are also encouraged to consider them in the context of their research activities. For more information, please visit our website.

2. TARGET GROUP

This program is intended for students pursuing a master’s or PhD research program in the humanities and social sciences, arts and literature who wish to do an internship in a practice environment.

3. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Since this program has among its objectives the development of competences complementary to graduate studies, the proposed internship project must not consist in the realisation of the Master’s or Doctorate thesis project. If so, the application will be deemed ineligible by the FRQSC.

Applicants must meet all eligibility requirements at the competition deadline and throughout the duration of the scholarship*.

To be eligible to apply for this program, applicants must:

• Be enrolled as a full-time student in a master’s or doctoral research or research-creation program in a Québec university. Professional master’s and doctoral programs are not eligible. To be considered a research program, a master’s program must have at least 18 credits (or 40% of program credits) dedicated to research training and lead to the writing of a thesis (an essay research report or essay is not accepted). A doctoral program must have at least 36 credits dedicated to research training and lead to the writing of a doctoral thesis.
• Plan to conduct an internship in Québec.
• Be supervised by their master’s or doctoral research supervisor throughout the internship.
• Have an internship supervisor at the host environment, employed by the organization.

* The rules regarding applicant eligibility allow for exceptions only in specific circumstances. This could be an interruption or delay of studies due to parental leave, major family obligations, a disability or for serious health reasons. In all cases, supporting documents must be provided with the application at the time of submission.

3.1 Citizenship and Residency

To be eligible to apply for a BSMP Scholarship, applicants must provide proof that they were enrolled as a full-time student (or equivalent) at a Québec university for at least 2 of the 3 terms prior to the competition deadline*, OR have a valid Régie d’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) card** or official proof of eligibility for RAMQ (i.e. a letter from the RAMQ confirming that a new card has been requested).

Individuals who do not have a valid RAMQ card or official proof of eligibility for RAMQ, or who are not Canadian citizens at the time of application, must pursue their studies in Québec. Their continuous physical presence in Québec is required throughout the duration of funding, apart from break periods listed in the university calendar. Those under cotutelle are also subject to this rule.

FRQSC scholarship holders must meet the citizenship and residency requirements throughout the duration of the scholarship.

* The term in progress at the competition deadline may not be taken into account.

** The RAMQ card is issued by the Québec government and allows the holder to benefit from the services covered under the Québec health insurance plan. Private health insurance cards do not replace the RAMQ card and are not accepted.

3.2 Internship conditions

1. The applicant must be enrolled as a full-time student in a master’s or doctoral research or research-creation programme in a Québec university and maintain the enrollment throughout the internship.
2. At the start date of the internship, the applicant must have completed all required coursework for his/her program of study.
3. The internship must begin no earlier than the end of the second semester of enrollment in a full-time master’s program or the fourth semester of enrollment in a full-time doctoral program.
4. Mandatory and/or for-credit internships that are part of the master’s or doctoral program and internships that are independent of a university program are not eligible.
5. Only one internship per person can be funded under this program.
6. If an organization offers to host multiple applicants, the internship projects sent to the Fonds must be different.
7. The internship must last at least two months, and may be as long as six months. It may be carried out in several stages within a period of nine months.
8. The average time spent on the internship may vary between a minimum of 12 hours and a maximum of 20 hours per week, to be broken down according to project needs.
9. At the competition deadline, no more than 50% of the internship may already be completed. However, this scholarship is not retroactive. Only the months of internship remaining at the competition deadline can be funded.
10. It is up to the student to ensure that he/she has insurance coverage throughout the internship. If insurance coverage is not provided by the institution or the internship host, the student is responsible for taking out private insurance.

4. INTERNSHIP HOST

Eligible: Public, parapublic, community or private sector organizations in Québec, and College Centers for Technology Transfer (CCTT).

Ineligible: Postsecondary teaching institutions and university-affiliated research centres and laboratories.

Exception: a host environment located at a postsecondary teaching institution or university-affiliated research centre or laboratory could be considered eligible if the applicant demonstrates that the host environment is not conducting research in his/her field or discipline. The applicant must also demonstrate the relevance and added value of carrying out an internship in a host environment outside his or her discipline in terms of practical experience and the acquisition of new skills, compared to those acquired through his/her master’s or doctoral research project.

This implies that the internship cannot take place in a host environment that could serve as a site for the actual research project, to the benefit of any research team or research centre with which the applicant and supervisor are affiliated.

Should you fail to find an internship host, please consult the list of partners interested in hosting interns.

5. COMPETITION DEADLINES

There are two annual competitions. Application deadlines are March 5 and December 5*. When the deadline falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the deadline is extended to the next business day.

Depending on the targeted competition, internships must begin no later than:

* These dates are subject to change without prior notice. The official competition deadline is posted in the Summary section at the top of the Program Rules.

6. VALUE OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

The value of the BSMP scholarship is $1,500 per month, paid directly to the scholarship holder.

7. APPLICATION PROCESS

Before completing a scholarship 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 E-portfolio.

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

It is the applicant’s responsibility to choose the correct application form. Should an error occur, the Fonds will not transfer the application from one program to another and the application will be deemed ineligible.

The application form must be completed in English or French and submitted electronically by the competition deadline.

The following presentation standards are suggested for all documents submitted:

• Font: Times New Roman
• Size: 12 point
• Left and right margins: 1.25 cm or 0.49 in.
• Top and bottom margins: 1.25 cm or 0.49 in.
• Justification: left

As indicated in Section 3 of the CGR, applicants attest that the information provided is accurate and complete and agree to respect the rules and principles set out in the Fonds de recherche du Québec Policy for the responsible Conduct of Research. Applicants authorize their institution to transmit any personal information in accordance with this policy, where applicable.

The scholarship application must include the following:

• A duly completed application form, available in the “My forms” section of the E-portfolio;
• LETTERS OF SUPPORT (mandatory):

1- A letter from the master’s or doctoral research supervisor or director (one page) supporting the applicant’s internship

AND

2- A letter from the internship supervisor at the host environment (one page), accompanied by a short CV (one page). This letter must specify the supervision planned for the duration of the internship and the host environment’s interest in hosting the applicant.

In addition to completing the different sections of the application form, the following documents must be scanned and grouped in a single PDF document in the order indicated and attached in the “Other documents” section:

• OFFICIAL LETTER from the registrar’s office identifying all full-time, part-time and unregistered terms completed as part of the graduate study program (in the program for which the scholarship is being sought);

• RAMQ CARD OR OTHER OFFICIAL DOCUMENT.

An applicant who is resident in Québec for the purposes of the Act respecting the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) must provide a copy of their medical insurance card, which must be valid at the competition deadline, or proof that a new card has been requested from the RAMQ. A copy of an expired card is not accepted.

OR

An applicant who is not resident in Québec for the purposes of the Act respecting the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec or is unable to provide a copy of a valid RAMQ card must provide proof of enrollment as a full-time student (or equivalent) at a Québec university for at least 2 of the 3 terms prior to the competition deadline.

All documents submitted must be legible and must not be read-protected or have special double tab configuration.

Pages in excess of the number permitted in each section of the application will be removed from the application before submission for evaluation.

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 and which are included with the application will not be submitted to the evaluation committee. Applicants will not be notified of any information or documents missing from the application.

Once the application has been submitted, it may not be modified or resubmitted regardless of the transmission date, even if it is before the competition deadline. No documents received after the application deadline will be considered.

The FRQSC reserves the right to verify the authenticity of all documents and information provided with the organizations concerned.

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

At any time, applicants can verify in their E-portfolio that their application has been successfully transmitted to the Fonds. The application file in “My forms” must be flagged as “Transmis au Fonds” before the competition deadline. This indicates that the application has been received by the Fonds.

All applications received by the Fonds are assessed for eligibility. Applicants will be informed by email, at the latest one month following the competition deadline, of the progress of their application and, if applicable, its transmission to the evaluation committee. The evaluation committee has the right to declare an application ineligible if it considers that the application does not meet the program conditions and objectives.

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.

Throughout the application process, applicants are encouraged to check that no correspondence from the Fonds has ended up in the “junk” or “spam” folder of their email Inbox.

8. APPLICATION ASSESSMENT

Evaluation criteria, indicators and weighting 

Internship (50 points)

• Objectives and relevance of the internship
• Appropriateness of the internship with respect to the program of study
• Added value of the internship for the host environment and for the applicant (in relation to his/her research training)

Timeframe (25 points)

• Relevance of the proposed activities
• Timeframe: Realism and feasibility of the internship project (including a description of the anticipated activities and the number of hours expected to be spent at the host environment)

Host environment and supervision (25 points)

• Quality of the host environment (expertise; networking; access to material, documentary, financial or other resources, etc.)
• Planned supervision methods

Evaluation process

Applications are evaluated by multidisciplinary expert committees recruited within Québec. The committee members assess the applications according to the criteria, indicators and weighting described in this program, based on the Scores and Ratings Grid. To be recommended, an application must obtain an overall score of 70% or more. In addition, a score of 70% is required for the “Internship” criterion.

The evaluation committee recommends a funding period based on the proposed time frame and the objectives of the internship. Consequently, the recommended length of the internship may differ from that indicated in the application.

The number of recommended applications that receive funding will depend on the availability of funding for the program.

9. ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

The results will be announced two months after the competition closing date via the applicant’s E-portfolio.

10. TERMS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

BSMP recipients must continue to be enrolled as full-time students in their program of study for the duration of the internship – the institution will be asked to provide proof of full-time enrolment. The Fonds must be advised of any change in status before it is implemented.

BSMP recipients cannot be employed or remunerated by the internship host throughout the duration of the internship.

The internship start and end dates may be modified, subject to Fonds approval of a documented modification request submitted via the E-portfolio. The proposed changes must meet all eligibility conditions and cannot change the nature of the internship initially evaluated by the Fonds. The Fonds will analyze the request and decide whether to continue, reduce, suspend, or terminate funding. The Fonds may also require repayment of amounts already paid. The decision will be communicated by email.

Scholarship payments are conditional on the signing of a tripartite agreement between the internship host, the thesis director and the scholarship holder. This agreement must be approved by the Fonds.

11. PAID EMPLOYMENT

A BSMP scholarship holder may accept paid employment outside the host environment of up to 225 hours per academic term, if authorized to do so by his/her research director. Teaching a college- level or university-level course is equivalent to 150 hours of employment. Note that teaching the same course to two different groups during the same term is equivalent to two teaching assignments or 300 hours of employment.

12. RULES GOVERNING CONCURRENT FUNDING

A BSMP scholarship cannot be held concurrently with any other scholarship providing funding for the same internship project.

However, concurrent funding is permitted with a master’s or PhD merit scholarship from the Fonds de recherche Société et culture or the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

13. INTERNSHIP REPORT

BSMP scholarship holders agree to submit to the Fonds, no later than one month after the end of the internship, a report summarizing the work done and the extent to which the objectives were achieved. This report must be signed by the master’s or doctoral research supervisor, the internship supervisor and the scholarship holder, and submitted in the scholarship holder’s E-portfolio.

The internship supervisor at the host environment must complete the section provided for this purpose, detailing the successes and/or failures of the internship as perceived and/or evaluated by the internship host.

The final scholarship instalment is conditional on the submission of this report and its approval by the Fonds, no later than six months after the end of the internship. Failure to meet this requirement could lead to the cancellation of the final instalment. Access to future funding under any other Fonds de recherche du Québec program is contingent on receipt of this final report.