Postdoctoral Training (Citizens of other countries) / 2022-2023

• seek to pursue their postdoctoral training in human health on a full-time basis;
• completed a doctorate less than two (2) years prior to the competition deadline or who intend to submit their doctoral thesis before March 1, 2023 (except for renewal applications);
• citizens of countries other than Canada who seek to pursue their doctoral training in Québec.

These requirements shall remain in effect for the tenure of the award.

• Individuals who discontinued their studies after having obtained their Ph. D. due to parental leave or special leave for serious illness or major family obligations may seek to defer the eligibility period for up to one (1) year.
• When an individual has a disability within the meaning of the Act to secure handicapped persons in the exercise of their rights with a view to achieving social, school and workplace integration (CQLR c E-20.1), the eligibility period shall not apply.

• be university researchers or clinical university researchers (see definitions section of the Common General Rules); *
• not have supervised the doctoral project or be affiliated with the university at which the doctorate was completed.

Applicants must choose a host university other than the one at which they earned their Ph. D., which must be in Québec.

Awardees must complete their research training in the physical location of the host institution.

Distance learning is not allowed.

In the case of major family obligations, serious illness or disability, exceptions may apply. Based on the outcome of a review by the Fonds, applicants may propose to carry out their postdoctoral studies in the same university at which they completed their doctoral degree. It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide all required explanations and evidence (medical certificate, recognition of disability, application for tax credit for family caregiver, etc.) in the Other documents section of the e-form.

• individuals who hold a university position, unless they take an unpaid leave for the entire tenure of the training award. The employer must provide an official letter attesting to the individual’s employment status for the period and her/his return to work once the training period has ended
• individuals who have been awarded or currently hold a postdoctoral research award from a Québec or Canadian funding agency (e.g. FRQNT, FRQS, FRQSC, CIHR, NSERC) (except renewals)

• individuals who have already been awarded three or more years of postdoctoral awards since the initial FRQ award was offered, regardless of the funding agency

Applicants

• Canadian Common CV (funding CV for the FRQS) updated in the 12 months prior to the competition deadline (awards and grants must be listed in the research funding section and awards and recognition in the recognition section);
• Detailed contributions updated in the 12 months prior to the competition deadline (attach document in the FRQS ePortfolio on the Canadian Common CV page). IMPORTANT NOTE: read the Instructions for the detailed contributions and the common canadian CV;
• Postdoctoral training e-form (Canadian citizens and permanent residents). PDF version – for information
• Copy of official doctoral transcripts for completed and incompleted studies (except for renewal), including transcripts from exchange programs and credits, as the case may be;
• Copy of the doctoral degree (except for renewal). If not available, a copy of an official doctoral transcript will suffice;
• Acknowledgements from publishers for articles that are submitted or accepted for publication;
• Documents required for eligibility period exception, if applicable (eg: medical certificate).

Applicants shall be notified of their eligibility by December 15, 2021.

SUPERVISOR (AND CO-SUPERVISORS)

Supervisor’s (or co-supervisor’s) e-form, as the case may be  PDF version – for information

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.

If the university does not issue transcripts:

• Supporting letter from the university (office of the registrar or equivalent administrative authority) specifying the reasons for which a transcript is not available;

If no transcript is issued and the applicant cannot obtain a letter from the university:

• Supporting letter from the applicant endorsed by the director of the department with which the host institution is affiliated explaining why a transcript is not issued.

AT THE START DATE OF THE AWARD

The awardee must provide (via the ePortfolio):

• confirmation of supervision and presence at the training location form;
• proof of initial thesis submission by March 1, 2023.

AT THE START OF THE SECOND YEAR OF THE AWARD

At the start of the second year of the award, the awardee must provide (via the ePortfolio):

• confirmation of supervision and presence at the training location form;

• Ethics training certifications (levels 1 and 3), as the case may be

Read the awardee’s guide for more information on how to attach the required documents.

If all the required documents are not received in the two (2) months following the start of the semester or should the applicant fail to meet the eligibility requirements and not request a deferral, the FRQS shall cancel the payment for the semester. When the payments for two consecutive sessions are cancelled because required documents are missing or the applicant has failed to meet eligibility requirements, the FRQS shall terminate the award.

Basic research ethics training is mandatory for all FRQS awardees whose project or research program involves humans.

Research involving humans implies:

• the participation of humans;
• the use of human biological material (parts, products, tissues, cells, human genetic material from a living or deceased person);
• assisted human reproduction activities and/or the use of resulting embryos within the meaning of the Act respecting clinical and research activities relating to assisted procreation (CQLR c A-5.01);
• the use of administrative, scientific or descriptive data from humans.

Developed by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS), the program includes levels 1 and 3 of the research ethics courseware.

Awardees must complete the training program to receive the first payment of the second year of their FRQS funding (see Required documents section).

$45 000 per year*

*Exceptions apply (see partnership awards section)

• The award is paid to the awardee in three payments per year.
• The payments are conditional upon the submission of all required documents through the ePortfolio and compliance with eligibility requirements.
• When an application remains incomplete and/or does not meet eligibility requirements in the two (2) months following the start of the payment period and a deferral is not requested, the FRQS will cancel the payment.
• The FRQS will terminate the award if two consecutive payments are cancelled due to missing documents and/or failure to meet eligibility requirements.

Read the awardee’s guide for more information on the requirements to receive award payments and the payment schedule.

The awardee is responsible for paying income tax on the amounts received from the FRQS. The FRQS does not make any deductions at the source on the amounts paid in a taxation year.

The payment date determines the year in which the awardee must file income tax returns for the amounts paid as income.

The T4A slip issued by Revenue Canada and Relevé 1 issued by Revenu Québec are available in the award management section of the FRQS ePortfolio in late February following the tax year.

The information provided in the program rules is for information purposes only. The FRQS shall not be held responsible for the validity of any information pertaining to income tax.

This program does not provide FRQS funding to cover institutions’ indirect research costs.

The award may begin between May 2022 and March 2023, on the first of the month.

The Fonds systematically offers two (2) years with the option to renew for a third year following the review of an application for renewal (awards may only be renewed once).

Awardees may apply to renew their award for a third year. The application must be submitted according to the same eligibility and review calendar as the initial application (competition deadline in the fall, competition results the following spring). It is therefore the applicant’s responsibility to submit the application to the right competition to ensure the funding is not discontinued.

Applicants must submit their renewal application to the same program for which they currently receive funding, even if they have obtained permanent resident status or Canadian citizenship since the start of the tenure of the award.

Awards may only be renewed once.

Awardees who have received three (3) or more years of postdoctoral training awards since the initial FRQS award, regardless of the funding agency, are not eligible for renewed funding.

Parental leave

Awardees may defer an award payment during a parental leave (maternity, paternity or adoption) for a period of up to twelve (12) months. An awardee who has already received payments for an FRQS award and requests parental leave may receive an amount equal to six (6) months of the FRQS funding.

In such cases, awardees must complete and attach the award deferral form and supporting documents to their ePortfolio to inform the FRQS of their plan to request a supplement for a parental leave.

Sick leave and other types of leave

Awardees may defer an award during sick leave or for other reasons stipulated in the Act respecting labour standards under the terms set out in Section 6.14 of the Common General Rules. In such cases, awardees must complete and attach the award deferral form to their ePortfolio.

Relevant experience

For every full year of FRQS funding, an awardee may suspend the award payments for the equivalent of one semester (four months) to gain relevant experience (work with a research team, teaching experience in her/his field of study, language stay, etc.). The payments are then deferred to the end of the tenure of the award.

Deferrals to gain relevant experience may be consecutive when approved by the research supervisor.

For a deferral to gain experience, the awardee must first submit a request to the FRQS by completing the award payment deferral form. In addition, the research supervisor must provide a letter confirming her/his approval and the relevance of the awardee’s activities to gain experience.

Any changes to an awardee’s status must be reported in the funding management module of the ePortfolio, as specified in Section 6.5 of the Common General Rules. Read the awardee’s guide to learn where to find the required documents and attach them to the ePortfolio.

The FRQS reserves the right to reject any irrelevant or incomplete request.

An awardee who obtains a position as a full-time professor in a Québec university may, after at least one full year of FRQS funding, request to use part of the award as start-up funding. Up to $15 000 may be converted. The awardee must contact the FRQS program manager to request the change.

The rules for using the funding are the same as those established for the starting grant for new scholars (see rules of the research scholars program).

• Up to 250 hours of paid work unrelated to the postdoctoral fellowship are permitted over a six-month period.
• The work may only be undertaken with the approval of the fellowship supervisor and providing it does not have a negative impact on the awardee’s research activities.

• Working hours should be declared in the eportfolio

The institution or research supervisor may grant an award supplement, which should not be reported in the ePortfolio.

It is the FRQS awardee’s responsibility to determine if the award supplement is allowed by the institution or research supervisor.

Awardees may not hold concurrent awards.

• FRQS awardees who sought and received an award from another public funding agency or foundation recognized by the FRQS must inform the FRQS and decline the Fonds’ award when it is offered, except in the case of a supplement from the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et sécurité du travail (IRSST). However, if the other award has a lesser value or shorter funding period, the recipient is eligible to receive an amount to cover the difference.
• However, if the amount value of the other award is lower than the one given by the FRQS, the awardee is eligible to receive the amount needed to make up the difference between the two scholarships.

FRQS training awardees may hold a concurrent research internship award that is not part of their study program from another organization provided certain conditions are met.

For an internship valued at $5 000 or less, the awardee must inform the FRQS by email prior to the start of the internship.

For an internship valued at $5 000 or more, before the start of the internship, the awardee must obtain approval from the FRQS by completing the internship authorization form. When approval is granted, the awardee may:

• receive the training and internship awards payments concurrently

OR

• defer the amount of the FRQS award for a period equivalent to the internship period, up to six months.