April 27, 2023 – Chief Scientist of Québec Rémi Quirion and the scientific directors of the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ)—Janice Bailey (FRQNT), Carole Jabet (FRQS) and Louise Poissant (FRQSC)—are pleased to announce the results of the FRQ’s regular competitions for 2023–2024. This year, the FRQ will be offering $58.6 million in training scholarships, $13.1 million in career grants and $29.8 million in research grants. These new awards represent a total of $101.5 million for 2023–2024. Taking into consideration its previous commitments, The FRQ will be investing $83.5 million in scholarships and $186.8 million in grants this year, for a grand total of $270.3 million.
Under the new provincial budget presented by Minister of Finance Éric Girard, the FRQ will receive an additional $10 million over the next five years to be earmarked for scholarships. This is exciting news for next generation researchers, who will see the master’s and doctoral scholarships available to them this year increase in value. Given the amount of funding available, the Boards of Directors for the three branches of the FRQ made the decision to focus on master’s and doctoral scholarships in the interest of ensuring an equal distribution of funds between cohorts of award recipients at these levels. The FRQ hopes to be able to increase the value of postdoctoral scholarships in the future.
A master’s scholarship from the FRQ will be increased from $17,500 to $20,000 for scholars awarded a scholarship as of this year (2023–2024). The same adjustment will be made for master’s scholarships accepted by applicants in last year’s competition (2022–2023). Likewise, a doctoral scholarship will be increased from $21,000 to $25,000 for scholars awarded a scholarship as of this year (2023–2024), and a similar adjustment will be made for doctoral scholarships accepted by applicants in competitions from previous years (2020–2021, 2021–2022, 2022–2023) who are in their second, third or fourth year of funding.
This increase in scholarship value is in keeping with the increase to master’s, doctoral and post-doctoral scholarships that was made possible in 2018–2019 under the Québec Research and Innovation Strategy 2017–2022. The FRQ has also increased the duration of scholarship support, extending doctoral scholarships to four years and adding the possibility of a third year for post-doctoral scholarships. The FRQ believes that this year’s increase is a positive step forward, and the FRQ intends to continue its efforts to press upon the government the importance of increasing support for research.
Further details about the awards offered by each branch of the FRQ for 2023–2024 can be found here:
FRQNT press release
FRQS press release
FRQSC press release
The FRQ’s Directorate of Societal Challenges is also pleased to reveal the recipients of funding awarded through its programs for 2023–2024.
May is time to show your #communautéFRQ spirit
The third edition of the FRQ’s digital campaign Propulsons ensemble la recherche [Driving research together] officially kicks off on May 1. Whether you have received a new FRQ award this year or are a current award holder, you’re invited to join the movement to voice your support of public research and show your pride in being part of the #communautéFRQ. Get your own custom campaign graphics today!
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“We are incredibly pleased to be able to increase the value of the scholarships we grant master’s and doctoral students. There is no question that this is a step in the right direction to preparing a new generation to be the researchers that Quebec so greatly needs. The FRQ intends to continue its efforts to press upon the government the importance of increasing support for research and create the best conditions possible for future scholars in all areas of research to do their work.” – Rémi Quirion, Chief Scientist of Québec
The FRQ, proudly driving research
For more information
Benoit Sévigny
Director of Communication and Knowledge Mobilization
Fonds de recherche du Québec