Research Team Support Program (SE) 2020-2021

1. FOREWORD

This program is intended for teams working in fields of research covered by the FRQSC. It provides support for the implementation and deployment of scientific programs while respecting the diversity of research practices, configurations and stages of development that characterize Québec research teams.

The program is open to both New and Renewal university teams seeking to structure, advance and disseminate knowledge on a specific theme and partnership teams conducting research in collaboration with a practice setting.

In accordance with the Fonds de recherche du Québec open access policy for the dissemination of research, co-investigators within research teams funded by the Fonds 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.

The Fonds de recherche du Québec also 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. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

This program aims to make Québec’s research community more dynamic and secure a prominent place for its researchers on the international level by:

• Fostering the emergence of new research themes, approaches and topics;
• Consolidating research infrastructures.

More specifically, it aims to:

• Provide research teams and their partners in practice settings, where applicable, with access to joint infrastructures;
• Maximize theoretical and methodological benefits (teaching and research) and encourage knowledge mobilization activities in accordance with the knowledge mobilization strategy adopted by the Fonds;
• Encourage the integration of postdoctoral research fellows and new researchers in research teams;
• Optimize graduate and postgraduate student training and mentoring;
• Help train undergraduate students by involving them in research activities.

Teams must meet these objectives by deploying a series of structuring activities based on a concerted scientific program.

3. TEAM CONFIGURATIONS

Teams applying to the competition must choose one of the following two configurations, based on the nature of their research and collaboration activities:

3.1 University team

The primary goal of a University team is to deploy a scientific program based on a broad scientific theme in an effort to make innovative contributions to knowledge structure and advancement.

3.2 Partnership team

Partnership teams foster collaboration between a practice setting and university or college settings, by offering a scientific program designed based on partners’ needs and implementing an activity plan to meet those needs.

Practice settings may include public, community or private sector organizations and institutions engaged in various fields of activity or in the production of goods or services. The involvement of the practice setting must include, but is not limited to, participation in the execution of the scientific program, and does not necessarily require a financial contribution on its part.

A Partnership team must demonstrate that it has developed close collaborations between the university and college setting, where applicable, and the practice settings. This collaboration must be put in place from the conception of the scientific program and be maintained at all phases of its deployment.

The processes associated with the deployment of the Partnership scientific program must lead to enduring ties between stakeholders, beginning with the imperative inclusion of a co-investigator from the partner setting in the team’s composition.

Organizations dedicated exclusively to scientific research do not constitute eligible practice settings. However, when partners whose work includes research (such as affiliated university centres and institutes) are chosen as practice settings, the Partnership team’s program, as presented in the application, must clearly describe the partner’s specific contribution as a research partner and practice setting.

Teams collaborating with practice settings on knowledge transfer activities, but that have not developed mechanisms to ensure the participation and integration of the practice setting at all phases of the scientific program, should consider applying as a University team.

4. TEAM DEVELOPMENT STAGES

Teams must choose the development stage corresponding to their situation:

4.1 New team

This stage of development is intended for teams that have never been funded by the Fonds under this program or that received their final funding instalment no later than March 2017.

It is aimed at teams who have joined forces to establish a research team whose work will be focused on a specific theme. The 4-year grant should enable them to develop a consolidated scientific program by the end of the funding period, which must also have given rise to joint scientific activities.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In the case of a New team composed, in part, of a team already funded under this program, 50% of its members must be new co-investigators who were not members of the previous team, if funded after April 1, 2018.

4.2 Renewal team

This stage of development is intended for teams already funded by the Fonds under this program and who received their final instalment in March 2018 or March 2019, as well as those whose funding is underway and ends in March 2020.

5. TEAM COMPOSITION AND MEMBER ELIGIBILITY

5.1 Team composition

5.1.1 Principal investigator

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 are not eligible to assume the role of principal investigator under this program (CGR, Section Status and Roles).

5.1.2 Co-investigators

Each team must include at least four (4) co-investigators (including the principal investigator) with one of the following statuses (see the CGR, Definitions – Status and roles):

•   University researcher, i) and ii);
•   Clinical university researcher;
•   College researcher.

5.1.3 Other co-investigators

In addition to the minimum composition mentioned above, individuals with “Other research statuses”, categories a), b), c) et d), as defined in the CGR, can also join a team in the role of co-investigator.

IMPORTANT NOTE: A team opting for “Partnership” configuration is also required to include at least one co-investigator from the partner setting(s), in addition to the minimum 4 co-investigators.

The Fonds recognizes that there are fields in which expertise is rare. In such cases, teams of three co-investigators with eligible statuses may be eligible, with appropriate justification. Teams in this situation must contact the program officer at the FRQSC before submitting a grant application.

5.1.4 Collaborators

In addition to its co-investigators, a team may include collaborators with any of the statuses applicable to grants (see the CGR, Definitions – Status and Roles). On the other hand, individuals with the training statuses defined in the CGR are not eligible for the role of collaborator.

5.2 Member eligibility

IMPORTANT NOTE: The principal investigator and all co-investigators must meet the general eligibility requirements set out in Section 2 of the CGR in addition to the specific program requirements.

5.2.1 Intersectorality and membership in different types of research groups

Principal investigators or co-investigators of major infrastructures funded by the FRQSC (university institute, affiliated university centre or strategic cluster), the FRQNT (strategic cluster) or the FRQS (research centre or group) may also join a team funded under the Research Team Support program as co-investigator or principal investigator, in the interest of fostering intersectoral initiatives.

5.2.2 Membership in two teams funded by the FRQSC

A researcher may not be principal investigator of more than one applicant or funded team under the FRQSC Research Team Support Program. However, a principal investigator may be a co-investigator in another applicant or funded team under the program.

Co-investigators may belong to up to two applicant or funded teams under this program. However, no more than 20% of the co-investigators of a given team may belong to more than one team. This implies that, in order for a researcher to belong to more than one team, the team must have at least five co-investigators including the principal investigator*.

6. SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION

There are two distinct and mandatory steps to submitting an application:

1. Submission of a letter of intent;
2. Submission of the grant application.

Before completing the Letter of intent and Grant application forms, the principal investigator must create a user account on the Fonds website (see informational video) 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 their E-portfolio.

Electronic forms are available in the FRQnet portal no later than 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.

6.1 Letter of intent

The main purpose of the letter of intent is to provide the FRQSC with the information required to assemble the scientific committees that will assess the grant applications. The letter of intent will not be used to assess the eligibility or merit of a team or its scientific program and does not require institutional approval.

The Letter of intent form, available in the E-portfolio under “Available competitions”, must be submitted before 4 p.m. on August 22, 2019.

The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the letter of intent is submitted within the prescribed time, and that it is complete and in compliance with program specifications. A letter of intent that does not satisfy these requirements will not be considered.

Applicants may verify the successful transmission of this form in their E-portfolio at any time: the letter of intent file in “My forms” will be flagged as “Transmis au Fonds” once it has been sent to the Fonds.

6.2 Grant application

6.2.1 The application form and its 4 attachments

The application form, available in FRQnet, must be completed and submitted via the principal investigator’s E-portfolio. The following documents must be attached in the appropriate sections of this form:

1. SATISFACTION OF EVALUATION CRITERIA FILE

In the “Description du projet ou de la programmation” section, the team must attach a file in which it explicitly addresses all evaluation criteria that apply to its stage of development and configuration. The information must be presented in separate sections, following the title and order of the evaluation criteria.

The number of pages allowed is based on the type of team, as shown in the table below:

2. BIBLIOGRAPHY FILE (maximum 10 pages)

In the “Bibliography” section, the team must include a bibliography listing the texts cited as references, including those pertaining to the state of the knowledge in the field.

3. TABLEAUX DE SYNTHÈSE DE LA PROGRAMMATION SCIENTIFIQUE, DES COLLABORATIONS ET DES ACTIVITÉS SCIENTIFIQUES FILE (maximum 10 pages)

This file is available in the program Toolbox. It must be completed, saved in PDF format and attached to the application form, in the “Tableaux de synthèse” section. This file contains several summary tables and is intended to provide evaluators with an overview of the collaborations and activities of co-investigators as they pertain to the proposed scientific program. “Partnership” teams must also present the expected collaboration of the co-investigator from the partner setting.

4. BUDGET JUSTIFICATION FILE (maximum 5 pages)

In the Budget section, the team must attach a file presenting:

• Base grant (see 8.1.2) – Explain all planned expenditures for each category of  base funding only, indicating the amounts and types of expense (maximum 3 pages).
• Optional funding and supplements, if applicable (see 8.1.3 and 8.1.4) – Justify the expenditures related to each optional amount or supplement requested. Be sure to clearly identify each type of funding in the text (maximum 2 pages).

6.2.2 Canadian Common CV (CCV) and Detailed Contributions attachment of the principal investigator and co-investigators

The Fonds requires the Common Canadian CV and the PDF Detailed Contributions file for each co-investigator to be included in the appropriate section of the E-portfolio. The co-investigator must complete the FRQSC version of the Common Canadian CV, update this document within 12 months prior to the competition deadline, and complete the Detailed Contributions file in due form. The documents Preparing a CV for the Fonds and Detailed Contributions attachment, available in the program’s Toolbox, can be consulted as needed.

Exception 

Co-investigators with status 4 of the CGR do not need to submit a CCV. However, they must provide an abridged CV (maximum 2 pages) that provides an overview of the following as they pertain to the theme of the team’s program (and in this order):

1) their training,

2) their experience,

3) their publications and scientific output where applicable.

The abridged CV must be created using word processing software, converted to PDF format and sent to the principal investigator, who will attach it to the application form by clicking on the “Other documents” section, on the left of the application form page. All the abridged CVs should be grouped and scanned into a single PDF document.

6.2.3 Additional documents

Additional documents are required for Partnership teams, interregional teams and teams that include retired researchers, college researchers or contracted researchers. These documents should be sent to the principal investigator who will attach them to the application form. All documents to be attached to the electronic form should be grouped and scanned into a single PDF document for each category of additional documents.

A- PROOF(S) OF PARTNERSHIP (for Partnership teams)

Attach in the “Other documents” section (see 8.1.2 B)

The proof(s) of partnership are used in the evaluation of the Partnership component of the application. They may take different forms, from a letter of support from a partner to a formal partnership agreement between the team and its partners. These documents should be concise (no more than a few pages), and explicitly detail the nature of the partnership and the role of the parties involved.

B- INTERREGIONAL INTEGRATION ACTION PLAN (maximum 1 page)

Attach in the “Other documents” section (see 8.1.2A).

This plan must explain how the principal investigator intends to ensure the full participation of all co-investigators, whatever their geographic distance from the managing institution*. Expenses related to this plan must be listed in the section of the BUDGET JUSTIFICATION file intended for optional funding.

C- LETTER FOR RETIRED UNIVERSITY RESEARCHER

Attach in the “Other documents” section.

Retired co-investigators must provide a letter from their university indicating that prior to retirement the researcher was a regular professor, and that for the term of the grant, he/she 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.

D- LETTER FOR CONTRACTED RESEARCHER

Attach in the “Other documents” section.

Co-investigators with statuses 1 and 2 of the CGR (Section Status and Roles) who hold a non-tenure track university position must provide a letter from the university indicating that they will maintain this status throughout the duration of the grant. An insufficiently documented letter could render the contracted researcher ineligible.

E- SUMMARY FOR COLLEGE RESEARCHER (maximum 1 page)

Attach in the “Dégagement ou soutien salarial – collèges” section  (see 8.1.4).

The principal investigator must identify each college researcher who is requesting a release from teaching duties and/or statutory supplement, specifying his/her role in the consolidation or deployment of the team’s scientific program and justifying the use of the funding allocated specifically for his/her involvement.

6.2.4 Presentation standards

The grant application may be filled out in French or English. However, the title and summary must imperatively be in French (see CGR, 3.6)**.

The Fonds recommends using the presentation standards set out in the Detailed Contributions file to format all text to be submitted.

Applications must be presented in a format that is clear and legible. Pages in excess of the number permitted in each section of the application will be removed from the application submitted for evaluation. PDF documents must not be read protected or have special double tab configuration. Any document that is not required by the rules will be removed from the application (see CGR, 3.2).

Internet references

Applicants may include links to web pages as bibliographic references, where relevant. These web addresses may also be listed in the bibliography. However, the application must not be based in whole or in part on online content available to members of the evaluation committee.

6.2.5 Submitting the application

All grant applications must be submitted by 4 p.m. on October 17, 2019.

Any application that is incomplete or does not contain sufficient information to establish its eligibility or to evaluate its scientific quality will be declared ineligible by the Fonds. Elements missing from the application will not be requested and applications cannot be updated after the competition deadline.

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

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, if applicable.

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

Applicants are advised to prepare their application well in advance to ensure that it is submitted before the deadline, given the large number of applications and requests received by the Fonds at the end of the competition.

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

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

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

7. APPLICATION EVALUATION

7.1 Peer evaluation process

As indicated in Section 4 of the CGR, the Fonds receives applications for financial support, checks the eligibility of those applications and submits them for scientific evaluation by committees whose members, who are from Québec, the rest of Canada or abroad and are recognized for their skills, expertise and achievements relating to the program objectives and the applications submitted. Nonetheless, as the evaluators for this type of program come from a wide variety of backgrounds, applicants are encouraged, in the documents submitted for evaluation, to present their project in such a way as to be easily understandable in a multidisciplinary context.

Once the applications have been evaluated, the Fonds produce an overall ranking of all applications recommended for funding and applies a weighting to their scores to ensure maximum comparability across the different committees operating under the program.

7.2 Special case: evaluation of Partnership teams

Partnership team applications are evaluated by a committee of experts in collaborative research in the Québec context. This committee only looks at the eliminatory “Partnership” criterion and its various indicators, for which a minimum score of 70% is required.

The other criteria are evaluated by the multidisciplinary evaluation committees. The Partnership score is added to establish an overall score. The evaluation of the Partnership criteria is independent of the assessment of the other criteria by the multidisciplinary committee. The two committees are separate, and their decisions do not influence each other.

7.3 Evaluation criteria, indicators and weighting

Applicants are invited to consult the FRQSC Scores and Ratings Grid used by the evaluation committees.

All eligible applications are assessed according to four criteria that constitute the basis of the evaluation process:

• Scientific program (eliminatory criterion)
• Team composition
• Integration of students and new academics
• Budget

In addition, criteria and indicators with specific weighting have been set up to ensure that the evaluation process is adapted to the teams’ configurations and stages of development. Applicants are advised to attach equal importance to both the evaluation criteria and their associated indicators.

Grant applications are evaluated solely on the basis of the information submitted in the application process. Applicants must therefore ensure that the documents submitted contain all necessary information to be taken into account when assessing the grant application.

1. NEW UNIVERSITY TEAM

2. NEW PARTNERSHIP TEAM

3. UNIVERSITY TEAM – RENEWAL

4. PARTNERSHIP TEAM – RENEWAL

8. DESCRIPTION OF FUNDING

8.1 Nature of funding: base grant, optional funding and supplements

8.1.1 Nature of the funding

The grants awarded under this program are infrastructure-type allocations to cover operating costs.

Teams must receive external funding in order to carry out the research projects undertaken as part of their scientific program.

The expenses incurred to complete the various phases of a research project, including salaries and travel for data collection/analysis, are not eligible. However, to enhance the leverage effect of the grant, up to 20% of the base grant may be used to reimburse expenditures related to:

• launching a project (e.g. carrying out a preliminary study or pilot project)
• finalizing a project (e.g. completing the final stages of a project whose funding is at an end)

Where applicable, such projects must be part of the team’s program and be carried out on a collaborative basis between at least two co-investigators.

8.1.2 Base grant 

The amount of the base grant is determined by the stage of development of the team, as follows:

• New team: $50,000 per year for 4 years
• Renewal team: $80,000 per year for 4 years

8.1.3 Optional funding available to all teams

Optional funding for interregional teams and partnerships may be granted in addition to the base amount according to a team’s configuration and stage of development. The planned use of this optional funding must be explicitly justified in a document included in the “Budget” section. Without appropriate justification, the requested funding could be refused.

A) Interregional teams: $2,500 to $10,000 per year

This amount covers costs incurred due to the geographic distance between co-investigators (travel expenses, videoconferencing, etc.).

To qualify as interregional, a team must include co-investigators based at institutions other than that of the principal investigator and in different administrative regions, as defined by the Government of Québec*.

Up to $2,500 may be claimed for each administrative region represented on the team – excluding that of the principal investigator – up to a maximum of $10,000.

In justifying these costs, the team must specify how it intends to ensure the full participation of all co-investigators in the consolidation or deployment of the scientific program, whatever their distance from the principal investigator’s host institution.

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

B) Partnership: $20,000 or $40,000 per year

This funding is exclusively for Partnership teams and is intended to make possible the coordination and realization of joint activities involving the practice setting. The amounts requested for partnership activities must facilitate full and enhanced collaborations between the university and college researchers, where applicable, and the partner practice setting, and be explicitly justified in the section of the application provided for that purpose.

8.1.4 Supplements

A) Supplement for college researcher

This supplement is offered to all teams. It is subject to budget availability under the Program to Release College Researchers from their Teaching Duties (CHC). Researchers interested in obtaining this additional funding are invited to contact the FRQSC to verify the availability of funding before submitting their application.

1) Release from teaching duties

This maximum amount of $40,000 per year is paid directly to the college, to cover the portion of the salary related to a release from teaching duties for a college researcher involved in an application funded by the FRQSC.

Under no circumstances can the funding represent more than 50% of the college researcher’s gross salary*.

A college researcher may be awarded several teaching releases, but their total must never exceed the maximum amount of $40,000 per year.

All eligible college researchers involved in an application submitted to one of the five programs listed in Section 3 may apply for a release from teaching duties.

2) Statutory supplement

This supplement of $7,000 per year is awarded to a college researcher with the role of co-investigator in an application funded by the FRQSC.

A college researcher with or without a release from teaching duties is eligible for a statutory supplement, with no stacking limit**.

The statutory supplement is exclusively intended for the college researcher, to cover research-related expenses that are not funded by the college.

B) Supplement for Renewal team with 12 members or more

This funding is awarded to teams with 12 members or more, to allow them to function fully.

8.2 Eligible expenses

Eligible expenses under this program are those listed in Section 8 of the CGR, with the exception of expenses related to the realization of research projects. Teams that incur this type of expense will not be reimbursed.

A release from teaching duties is authorized for the principal investigator.

In addition, in the case of Partnership teams, a release from duties is also authorized for a team member representing the partner setting(s).

*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.

9. FOLLOW-UP AND ACCOUNTABILITY

The conditions regarding the announcement of funding are set out in the CGR (Section 5).

Any significant changes made to the initial application during the funding period must be reported in the FRQnet E-portfolio and an email must be sent to the program officer, justifying the changes (CGR, Section 6.5).

The principal investigator is required to approve the annual financial reports produced by his or her managing institution within three months after the end of the Fonds fiscal year (March 31), i.e. by June 30 (CGR, Sections 6.2 and 7.1).

The principal investigator must also update his or her file in the E-portfolio before the end of March each year, indicating any significant changes.

In addition, the principal investigator must complete and transmit a final report, available in his/her E-portfolio, within 12 months after the end date of the grant (CGR, Section 7.2). If a final research report is not submitted within the prescribed time, the funding recipient is not eligible to receive new funding from any of the three Fonds de recherche du Québec.

10. EFFECTIVE DATE

These rules apply to the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

11. TOOLBOX

FORMS FOR INFORMATION

Grant application (for information)
Request to Release College Researchers from their Teaching Duties
Canadian Common CV 
Detailed Contributions attachment for Canadian Common CV 
Preparing a CV for the Fonds 

DOCUMENT TO BE ATTACHED TO THE FORM

Tableaux de synthèse de la programmation scientifique, des collaborations et des activités scientifiques

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

Common General Rules 
Policy for the responsible conduct of research