Thematic Network/ 2024-2032

1. STATEMENT OF INTEREST

Here is the list of themes proposed for the competition. By sharing this list, we wish to encourage collaborations and linkages.

If you are interested in a topic, please contact the contact person indicated under each theme.

2. OBJECTIVES

The scientific community is invited to submit a proposal that:

• brings together theme stakeholders to address the unmet needs and priorities of Québec’s health ecosystem;
• creates provincial, national and international collaborations between partners and stakeholders across disciplines, institutions, sectors and settings;
• supports students and early-career researchers;
• is competitive, original and daring;
• is inclusive and contributes to the diversity of Québec research;
• is part of an intersectoral approach;
• reaches beyond traditional collaborative approaches;
• meets the objectives of sustainable health;
• promotes the generation of innovative knowledge with high potential for transformation and spin-offs; and
• strengthens the integration of knowledge into practices and policies and engages the public through means including open science.

Ultimately, networks funded for more than eight years are expected to demonstrate the significant positive impacts and changes in the research environment brought about by their activities.

3. ELIGIBILITY

Networks must be made up of at least of 20 regular members. Further details on the roles and responsibilities of network members are available in the Guide de gestion et de gouvernance des réseaux thématiques du FRQS.

4. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS — PRE-APPLICATION

• Documents will not be accepted by email or mail.
• Documents must be submitted through the FRQS Portfolio.
• Missing documents and documents that do not comply with program rules or forms may cause the application to be deemed ineligible.
• No extensions: forms submitted after the deadline will be automatically rejected.

IMPORTANT:

• The co-director(s) (if applicable) must give consent to be listed on the form and must do so by the competition deadline through their FRQS Portfolio.
• Theme leaders must each give consent to be listed on the form and must do so by the competition deadline through their FRQS Portfolio.
• Once the form is submitted, it cannot be edited

All networks must indicate their intent to apply for funding by completing the electronic pre-application form by 4:00 p.m. on October 12, 2022.

5. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS — FULL APPLICATION

Here are some clarifications to the program rules, as mentioned at the April 04, 2023 meeting clarifications_regles_2024

• Documents will not be accepted by email or mail.
• Documents must be submitted through the FRQS Portfolio.
• Missing documents and documents that do not comply with program rules or forms may cause the application to be deemed ineligible.
• No extensions: forms submitted after the deadline will be automatically rejected.

IMPORTANT NOTE

• The co-director(s) (if applicable) must give consent to be listed on the form and must do so by the competition deadline through their FRQS Portfolio.
• Theme leaders must each give consent to be listed on the form and must do so by the competition deadline through their FRQS Portfolio.
• Once the form is submitted, it cannot be edited.
• The CCV and detailed contributions are required for Directors, Co-Directors and Leads with a research status 1, 2 or 3.
  Abridged CVs are required for co-directors and leads with research status 4.
• No documents are required for co-investigators.
• The consent of all members of the application is required.

Consult the List of submitted of pre-applications for the Thematic Network Program.

6. MANAGING INSTITUTION

x

7. GRANT PERIOD AND AMOUNT

The FRQS reserves the right to create new networks on selected themes at the request of partners, which will oversee the networks’ funding. The amounts granted and certain grant terms will be determined by the partners in collaboration with the FRQS. There will be no impact on the budget of the FRQS thematic network program.

Grant period
Networks are funded for a period of eight (8) years, at the end of which they may reapply to a competition held every 8 years.

Start date
The grant comes into effect on April 1, 2024.

Amount

The amount granted to a network by the FRQS is $500,000 or $1,000,000 per year.

The amount does not include partner contributions, if any.

The FRQS will inform each network of its total budget in an award letter valid for eight (8) years. The awarding of the thematic network grant and the amounts for subsequent years are subject to the decision of the board of directors of the FRQS based on the strategic priorities and funds allocated annually by the National Assembly of Québec.

Management 

The list of institutions authorized to manage FRQ grants is limited to managing institutions recognized by the FRQ, including mainly universities, CIUSSS, CISSS, some health network institutions and colleges.

The institution that employs the network’s director generally manages the grant (see Section 6.2 of the Common General Rules).

8. ELIGIBLE EXPENSES

Eligible expenses

See the Guide de gestion et de gouvernance des réseaux thématiques du FRQS.

Non-eligible expenses

The thematic networks program does not benefit from the amounts paid by the FRQS or its partners to cover institutions’ indirect costs of research.

9. EVALUATION

x

10. COMMITMENT BY THE NETWORK DIRECTOR

By submitting the application, the network director agrees to:

• Fulfill the obligations detailed in the Common General Rules, the policy on open access to research publications (the Politique de libre accès aux résultats de recherche publiés) and all the conditions and requirements in the e-form and program rules;
• adhere to the standards of research ethics and scientific integrity of the FRQS( Standards en éthique de la recherche et d’intégrité scientifique du FRQS) and the Policy for the Responsible Conduct in Research of the Fonds de recherche du Québec.
• authorize the FRQS to retain and use all the personal and scientific information provided in accordance with the terms and conditions detailed in Statement regarding the protection of personal and confidential information in applicant and funding holder files and on the condition that persons with access to the personal information shall respect its confidentiality.

11. COMMITMENT BY THE HOST INSTITUTION

The host institution must commit to providing an environment that meets the standards of research ethics and scientific integrity of the FRQS (Standards en éthique de la recherche et d’intégrité scientifique) and the Policy for the Responsible Conduct in Research of the Fonds de recherche du Québec.

12. ACCOUNTABILITY

Financial reports

The annual fiscal year begins on April 1 and ends on March 31. FRQS thematic networks must produce an annual financial report. This report must be received by the FRQS six (6) months after the end of the fiscal year, by September 30 of each year. Institutions that have received funds from a network (inter-institutional transfers) must send their annual financial report to the managing institution.

The network must then submit its financial report. Any failure to do so must be justified and may result in a delay in the following year’s grant payments.

All reports must be generated and submitted through the FRQnet Portfolio. Originals and hard copies are not accepted.

Annual report

Each year, the FRQS thematic networks are required to submit a progress report demonstrating how the grant contributes to the following objectives:

• Open science
• Equity, diversity and inclusion
• Sustainable health
• Structuring effect of the network
• Knowledge mobilization

It is important to note that, at the end of the first year of the grant, the network charter must also be submitted.

The format and requirements will be determined and communicated by email.

13. PROGRESS REPORT

Thematic networks must submit a mid-term report to the FRQS on June 1, 2028, and a final report on June 1, 2032.

The network’s progress report must be sent to the program manager through the FRQnet Portfolio. Originals and hard copies are not accepted.

14. KNOWLEDGE MOBILIZATION

The FRQS encourages grant holders to conduct and take part in knowledge mobilization activities (transfer, sharing, enhancement, promotion and dissemination) in practice settings and with the public, whenever relevant. Consult the knowledge mobilization page.

15. ETHICS AND THE RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH

Consult the Policy for the Responsible Conduct of Research of the FRQ and the research ethics policy in the toolbox.

16. OPEN ACCESS

Open access policies are subject to change during the course of the grant. Any amendments will be communicated to grant holders.

During the grant period, a scientific portfolio of five (5) peer-reviewed publications shared in immediate open access (no embargo) and under open license must be produced (see progress report). These publications must be representative of the quality of the research led by the infrastructure during the grant period.

For further details on the FRQ’s requirements, consult our Open Science page.

17. SUSTAINABLE HEALTH

Sustainable Health

Several major global disruptions – pandemics, climate change, demographic change – are causing significant changes in health research. For example, the concepts of “One Health” (interrelation of human, animal and environmental health) coexist with the concepts of Learning Health Systems (continuous and incremental improvement of the quality of care and services). Sustainable Health is at the intersection of these concepts, focusing on strategies for health promotion, prevention and early intervention of diseases, for optimal health outcomes while limiting additional costs, with at least 3 levels of declination:

·         A better consideration of health determinants / prevention – promotion

·         The transformation of service corridors / new actors

·         Global health – the transformation of public health by integrating the surrounding natural ecosystems.

Such an undertaking requires the integration of all health factors, including the interactions with its surroundings. It gives an important place to public health, but not only that. It is supported, among other things, by cutting-edge themes such as artificial intelligence and digital health, massive integration of massive data sets, and precision medicine. Applied to both physical and mental health, they are essential to the development of connected entities that facilitate our own health management, the optimization of service corridors with a better management of access to the “right patient at the right time in the right place” and the improvement of public services (transportation, land use planning based on population health criteria)

In other words, sustainable health is a global approach that combines the physical and psychological health of people with the environment in which they evolve. It encourages individuals and the community to promote, at all stages of life, different interventions that will allow an optimal state of health for each individual, including vulnerable populations and future generations.

18. EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Equity, diversity and inclusion are essential to achieve scientific excellence and to reach the full potential of the research ecosystem. These 3 elements enrich the research environment and the quality, relevance and impact of the work produced.Consult the FRQ’s statements on equity, diversity and inclusion for further details.

19. SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITY OF DATA USE

Basic training on the social acceptability of health data sharing and use is offered to all team members whose projects involve health and social services information.

The training includes the following modules:

• Definition of social acceptability
• Guiding principles and best practices
• Tools and services available to teams
• Description of the support offered by the FRQ

This basic training will take place during an online webinar in which researchers can participate before submitting their application. Details on how to access this training will be shared at a later date.

Researchers must have completed this basic training prior to the start of payments.

20. GLOSSARY

Cohesion: Cohesion refers to the capacity of network members to support each other, promote each other’s successes and cooperate in the pursuit of common goals. The degree of cohesion depends on how attractive the network is perceived to be by its members. Cohesion is based on a strong sense of belonging and implies the active participation of each member in the common objectives. It therefore constitutes one of the keys to the network’s success. For example, annual scientific days are a means to maintain the cohesion of network members.

Competitiveness : Competitiveness refers to better positioning for members of the scientific community to obtain additional funding. For example, belonging to a network provides access to interdisciplinary collaborations, shared infrastructures and seed money, which enable members to conduct innovative research and stand out in funding competitions. Thematic networks are levers whose mobilizing and structuring effects help enhance researcher competitiveness.

Diversity: Diversity refers to the presence of people from different groups within the research ecosystem and society. This encourages the expression of a range of experiences, approaches and perspectives, including those of under-represented groups. The FRQ value the contribution of diversity to research.

Equity: Equity refers to fair treatment, including the removal of systemic barriers that disadvantage certain groups. While not necessarily the same for everyone, equitable treatment takes into account current and historical realities to enable all people to benefit from the same opportunities for advancement and research support.

Inclusion: Inclusion refers to the development of practices that enable all members of society—and underrepresented groups within the research community and the research itself in particular—to be and feel valued, supported and respected.

Innovation: A new or improved product or process (or combination of both) that differs significantly from previous products or processes and is made available to potential users (product) or implemented (process) is considered innovative. Innovation may be technological or social in nature.

Social innovation:  An initiative that meets a social need by proposing a new, more appropriate, sustainable and systemic response emerging from a dynamic, creative and interactive process and which often constitutes a break with current responses. Social innovation generates a measurable benefit for the community and not only for certain individuals. Its scope is transformative and systemic. Source : SQRI

Intersectoral: By intersectoral approach, the FRQS refers to a research and collaboration approach that brings together researchers from different disciplines or research practices in the various sectors covered by the Fonds de recherche du Québec to shed new light on common and shared research issues. An intersectoral approach goes beyond the simple coming together or juxtaposition of several disciplines and sectors to resolve a problem or address a research topic. In an intersectoral perspective, disciplines and sectors are resolutely engaged in a joint and co-created research approach.

Reach: Reach refers to the visibility of researchers and research teams to disseminate and promote their work in Québec, Canada and internationally. Reach may be expanded through various activities such as workshops, colloquia and conferences, leading to disciplinary, interdisciplinary and intersectoral exchanges between researchers and practitioners in the public and private sectors. Reach also provides a link between the research community, the public, user communities and the political sphere.

Network: The thematic networks of the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) are virtual groups of researchers focused on a specific theme and stakeholders working towards concerted action and structuring of the driving forces in Québec’s health research sector.

Research impacts: By advancing knowledge, research yields a range of impacts for society. The benefits of health research are the positive impacts of discoveries that improve quality of life (e.g., the discovery of a new drug for the treatment of a disease). The team and its partners are expected to have a clearly defined plan to transfer the results of their research and technological development.

Sustainable health: An asset for society, sustainable health is a comprehensive approach that combines the physical and psychological health of people and the environment in which they live. It engages individuals and communities to put into practice interventions at all stages of life for the optimal health of every individual, including vulnerable groups and future generations. Sustainable health therefore aims to achieve well-being and better quality of life for all.

Open science: Open science is an inclusive concept that encompasses different movements and practices aiming to make scientific knowledge multilingual, freely accessible and reusable by all, strengthen scientific collaboration and information sharing for the benefit of science and society and open up the processes of creating, evaluating and disseminating scientific knowledge to social stakeholders beyond the traditional scientific community.  Source : UNESCO