Competition year :
2024-2025
Deadline (application) :
November 1st, 2024 at 16:00 (EST)
Announcement of results :
December 2024
Amount :
Up to $1 870 per month
Duration :
Between 2 and 6 months
It is the applicant’s responsibility to read the Common General Rules (CGR) of the Fonds de recherche du Québec, which apply to all Fonds de recherche du Québec – secteur Santé programs, in addition to these program rules. The particular conditions of the current program are detailed here and take precedence over the CGR.
Context and objectives
Graduate studies enable students to develop a range of essential skills for aspiring academics, but more and more graduates are earning degrees only to end up in a highly competitive job market. They could benefit from exploring options to transfer these skills to non-research positions. The Bourse Tremplin Internship Award was created with that in mind.
Through the pilot program, the Fonds de recherche du Québec – secteur Santé aims to:
- foster collaboration between the university research sector and public, parapublic and private organizations;
- spark interest in applying knowledge and acquiring work experience in non-academic practice settings;
- support non-academic practice settings in their efforts to enable students enrolled in a postgraduate research program to develop new skills;
- facilitate the employability of graduate students.
1. ELIGIBILITY
The eligibility criteria for applicants, possible internship settings, exceptions and restrictions are detailed in the following sections.
Applicants and eligibility period
- be enrolled in a PhD university research program on a full-time basis and have completed three terms on a full-time basis when submitting their application;
- carry out an internship in Québec in one of the areas covered by the Fonds de recherche du Québec –Santé in a non-academic, non-research internship setting (e.g. an organization in the public, parapublic or private sector);
- have obtained approval from the individuals who will supervise the internship in the internship setting;
- apply for the Tremplin award before their thesis defense. The internship must begin no later than 3 months after the date of the thesis defense;
- not have completed more than 50% of the internship at the competition deadline. The award is not retroactive. Funding is only available for the months that remain in the internship at the competition deadline.
When an applicant is living with a disability within the meaning of the Act to secure handicapped persons in the exercise of their rights with a view to achieving social, schools and workplace integration (R.S.Q E-20.1), the requirements related to the eligibility period shall not apply.
Internship setting
Organizations in the public, parapublic, community and private sectors in Québec are eligible. The Fonds de recherche du Québec – secteur Santé reserves the right to reject an internship setting that does not meet the program objectives. See Interested partners section if you have not found a place of training.
Restrictions
- internships that constitute an integral part of the academic curriculum of a training program;
- individuals enrolled in certain psychology programs (see Eligibility of psychology programs for FRQS training awards);
- microprograms.
2. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
The following documents must be submitted by the applicant and/or supervisor.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to select the right program and application form. It will not be possible to transfer an application to another program following the eligibility review.
The required form and documents must be submitted via the e-Porfolio. Documents submitted by mail or email shall not be accepted.
Required documents that are incomplete or invalid shall not be requested and the application shall be deemed ineligible.
Documents that are submitted but not required shall be removed from the application prior to the evaluation (e.g. letter of recommendation, published article, etc.).
Documents received after the competition deadline shall not be considered. Applications shall not be updated.
Official documents submitted in a language other than French or English must include a certified translation. Other documents submitted in a language other than French or English must include a translation.
Documents required when submitting the application
Canadian Common CV (funding CV version for the FRQS) up to date, i.e. updated in the 12 months preceding the closing date of the competition
Detailed contributions up to date, that is to say updated in the 12 months preceding the closing date of the competition (to be attached in the FRQS electronic portfolio on the Canadian common CV page) – you can consult the document: Instructions for detailed contributions and the Canadian Common CV
Electronic form: Tremplin Scholarship – Non-academic work placement (PDF version – for information), including the documents listed below, attached
- In the Academic Record section:
- Recent copies of official transcripts for all years of university studies (completed or not)
- In the Other documents section:
- If the session in progress at the time of the request is not recorded on the transcript, attach proof of registration. By proof of enrollment, we mean an official transcript or official document from the Registrar’s Office
- Form for the host environment – 2023 internship offer (available in the Toolbox) duly completed by the person who will supervise the internship
- Document (letter or email) supporting the internship project by the research director of the university doctoral program
- Letter justifying the choice of internship and host environment (1 page maximum). This letter should answer the following questions:
- What are your career aspirations and short and medium term goals?
- What is your skills development plan?
- How will the internship help you acquire transversal skills and how do these skills fit into your career development plan? (Explain the transfer of these skills to “non-research” job(s).)
- Document justifying the achievement of program objectives (1 page maximum). This document must answer the following questions:
- Title of your doctoral thesis
- How is the Tremplin internship project different from your doctoral thesis project?
- Justify how the proposed internship is “non-research”
- Internship offer form from the internship setting (Formulaire pour le milieu d’accueil, available in the Toolbox) attached by the applicant to the application form
- Document (letter or email) supporting the internship project attached by the applicant to the application form
The elements that make up an official transcript vary from one academic institution to another. However, to be deemed official by the Fonds, the requirements are as follows:
- Transcript is issued by the university;
- Transcript includes elements indicating it is an official document issued by the university (e.g. university seal AND/OR signature of the registrar AND/OR the official transcript reference, etc.);
- A watermark does not make a transcript non-official, providing the requirements listed here are met;
- The transcript may be a scan of a transcript delivered by the registrar in a sealed envelope. Opening the envelope to scan the transcript does not make the document non-official for the Fonds.
A transcript that does not meet the requirements listed here or does not include official elements shall be considered NON-OFFICIAL, and the application shall therefore be deemed ineligible.
Final Report
The final report document (Rapport final – Bourse Tremplin, available in the Toolbox) must be submitted to the Fonds no later than one month following the end of the internship. The document must provide an overview of the activities and indicate whether the objectives were attained. The report must be signed by the internship supervisor. The awarding of subsequent funding under another FRQ program is conditional upon the submission of a duly completed report.
3. DURATION OF THE INTERNSHIP
This section details the minimum and maximum duration of the internship, as well as the number of hours per week the awardee may dedicate to the internship.
Duration and maximum number of hours
- The internship period is 2 to 6 months or up to 225 hours. In exceptional cases, it may be carried out in several phases, subject to prior approval from the FRQS.
- The internship must begin in the six months following the competition deadline*.
*The start and end dates of the internship may be modified, subject to the Fonds’ approval of a request for changes. The request for changes, including supporting documents, must be sent to the program manager by email. The proposed changes must comply with all eligibility conditions and must not alter the nature of the internship evaluated by the Fonds.
The awardee may dedicate one to three days per week to the internship, as needed.
The Fonds de recherche du Québec – secteur Santé considers a full work day to be seven hours.
4. AMOUNT OF THE AWARD
The maximum amount granted for an internship and award management rules are detailed here.
Amount and award management
Up to $5,000 (up to $1,870 per month)
The amount will be adjusted based on the duration of the internship and hours dedicated by the awardee. For example:
21 hours per week = $1,870 per month for up to 10.5 weeks or 225 hours
14 hours per week = $1,250 per month for up to 16 weeks or 225 hours
7 hours per week = $625 per month for up to 24 weeks or 168 hours
Funding is awarded for one internship per awardee.
The award is paid out directly to the awardee in monthly instalments.
If the internship is interrupted, the awardee must advise the FRQS as soon as possible. The payments will be suspended.
Awardees may undertake up to 225 hours of paid work per semester (45 hours per semester for a course assignment). One semester is equivalent to four months.
The employment must be approved by the research supervisor, and the work must not have a negative impact on the awardee’s internship.
From the practice setting
The individual who holds a Tremplin Internship Award to carry out an internship in a practice setting shall not be employed and/or paid by the practice setting at any time during the internship period.
Important: It is the responsibility of the individuals carrying out the internships to ensure they have insurance coverage for the entire internship period. When the institution or practice setting does not provide coverage, the awardee must take out private insurance.
Concurrent awards
If a Tremplin Internship Award is awarded, it cannot be combined with another scholarship supporting the same internship project.
However, it can be held currently with doctoral training awards from the Fonds de recherche du Québec and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
This program does not benefit from the amount paid out by the FRQS to cover the indirect research fees incurred by institutions.
5. EVALUATION
Process
Applications will be evaluated by a review committee whose members will be chosen by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – secteur Santé in accordance with applicable rules.
To be recommended for funding, the application must receive a minimum overall score of 70%.
Quality of the applicant’s academic record | 25 |
---|---|
Academic record: score, progress, continuation | 10 |
Experiences: publications, conferences, internships and involvements | 10 |
Awards, honours, distinctions | 5 |
Internship proposal | 55 |
Quality of the letter justifying the choice of internship and practice setting | 20 |
Objectives of the internship: potential to learn and acquire skills | 20 |
Complementarity of the internship project taking into account the study program | 10 |
Perspectives once the internship has ended | 5 |
Internship setting | 20 |
Relevance of the setting’s activities | 5 |
Description of tasks assigned to the student | 5 |
Integration level of the student in the setting’s activities | 5 |
Human resources available to supervise the student | 5 |
6. UNDERTAKING
All applications submitted to the program must comply with the requirements set out in the FRQ.net portals and e-forms.
7. OPEN ACCESS
The FRQ Open Science Policy does not apply to this program.
8. KNOWLEDGE MOBILIZATION
The FRQ encourages awardees to lead and contribute to knowledge mobilization activities (transfer, sharing, development, outreach and dissemination) with practice settings and the public. For more information, see the Knowledge mobilization page.