Postdoctoral Training (Canadian citizens and permanent residents)

• Applicants with a doctoral degree (Ph.D.). Applicants must have obtained their doctorate no more than two years before October 15^th, 2019 (except for renewal applications).

• Canadian citizens or permanent residents domiciled in Québec, within the meaning of the Quebec Health Insurance Act (RLRQ, c.A-29)
• Canadian citizen from a province other than Québec

This status must remain in effect for the duration of the award.

• Must pursue full-time postdoctoral training in human health sciences research
• Must be supervised by a university researcher or clinical university researcher(as defined in the Definitions section of the Common General Rules)

If the candidate’s supervisor is located outside of Québec, that person should still meet the criteria of university researcher or clinical university researcher in terms of university affiliation and autonomy (see the definition section of the Common General Rules).

• The supervisors and co-supervisors must be different than those who supervised the applicants during their PhD studies and should not be affiliated to the university at which the applicants earned their Ph.D.

• Applicants that did not submit their doctoral thesis at the time of applying must provide, no later than September 30^th, 2020, an attestation that the thesis has been submitted.

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

An exception may be made in the case of major family obligations, a disability or for serious health reasons. Following analysis by the Fonds, an applicant may be authorized to propose a postdoctoral research project at the same institution that awarded their doctorate. It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide the necessary explanations and relevant supporting documents (medical certificate, certificate of disability, proof of tax credit for caregivers, etc.) in the section “Justification du lieu de formation” of the electronic application form.

To use a training award outside Québec, applicant must have :

• a valid RAMQ card or proof of eligibility for the RAMQ
  AND
  Canadian citizenship at the time the application is submitted.

Permanent residents and Canadian citizens from provinces other than Québec must choose a training location in Québec.

Not eligible :

• Those who hold an academic position, unless they take unpaid leave for the duration of the training award. An official letter confirming their employment status for the period and stating that they will resume their position once the training is completed should be provided by the employer
• Individuals who have received or are currently receiving a postdoctoral training award from a Québec granting agency (e.g. FRQNT, FRQS, FRQSC) are not eligible for this competition (except renewal application)
• Applicants are not eligible for a renewal if they have already received 3 or more years of postdoctoral fellowships since the initial offer of the FRQS postdoctoral fellowship, regardless of the granting agency

Basic research ethics training is mandatory for all FRQS awardees conducting research projects that involve human beings.

Research on human beings involves:

• Participation of human beings
• Use of human biological materials (parts, products, tissue, cells, genetic materials, derived from a living or dead individual)
• Assisted procreation activities or the use of human embryos derived therefrom, 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 human participants

Awardees must therefore successfully complete levels 1 and 3 of the Online Tutorial in Research Ethics developed by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux.

This training must be completed within one year of the date of confirmation by the FRQS that the award was granted.

The FRQS encourages awardees to follow a one-credit research ethics training course in addition to the mandatory basic research ethics training, whenever possible.

By October 15, 2019, 4:30 pm (EDT)

Documents sent via mail or e-mail will not be accepted

Letters of recommendation will not be accepted

Transmission via the FRQS electronic Portfolio only

• Canadian Common CV, Funding CV version, for the FRQS (updated since June 2018);
• Detailed contributions updated since June 2018 (attachment required through the FRQS Electronic Portfolio on the Canadian Common CV page), consult the document entitled Guidelines for the CV attachment in the Toolbox

• Electronic application form : Formation postdoctorale (citoyens canadiens et résidents permanents) / Postdoctoral Training (Canadian citizens and permanent residents)
  PDF version – for information

• A copy of doctoral degree. If not available, a copy of official doctoral transcripts (except for renewal applications) (crucial for eligibility)
• Copy of a valid Quebec health insurance card OR evidence of eligibility to the RAMQ (official RAMQ document before the issuance of the card) OR evidence of eligibility to the health care plan of another Canadian province (except for renewal applications)  (crucial for eligibility) 
• Acknowledgements from publishers for articles that are submitted or accepted for publication (crucial for eligibility)

• Canadian Common CV, Funding CV version, for the FRQS (updated since June 2018);

• Detailed contributions updated since June 2018 (attachment required through the FRQS Electronic Portfolio on the Canadian Common CV page), refer to the document entitled Guidelines for the CV attachment in the Toolbox

• Supervisor’s electronic form (and co-supervisor, if applicable)
  PDF version – for information

The awardee must submit (by email, PDF file):

• a written confirmation of the beginning or the continuation of the project from the research supervisor

To start the second year of the award, the awardee will have to provide (by email in a single PDF document):

• ethics training certificates (levels 1 and 3), if applicable

Between May 2020 and January 2021, on the first day of the month.

2 years and possibly 3 years, conditional upon the evaluation of a renewal application. Renewal may be requested only once.

Applicants are not eligible for a renewal if they have already received 3 or more years of postdoctoral fellowships since the initial offer of the FRQS postdoctoral fellowship, regardless of the granting agency.

Awardees who obtain a regular faculty appointment at the professor level in a university located in Quebec, may after at least one full year of postdoctoral funding, use a portion of their award as a start-up grant. A maximum amount of $15,000 may be converted into a grant. To benefit from this measure, awardees must contact directly the person responsible for the program at the FRQS.

The rules for the use of this grant are the same as those provided for the Starting grant for new investigators (see Research Scholars program rules). 

The awardee may benefit from an award payment deferral during parental leave (maternity, paternity or adoption) for a maximum period of 12 months as described in Section 6.13 of the Common General Rules.

Awardees must fill out the Award payment deferral form (Report de versement de bourse), accompagnied by the documents supporting the leave, to inform the FRQS of their intention to receive a supplement to their award for a parental leave.

The FRQS reserves the right to reject any request that is not properly justified.

The FRQS reserves the right to reject any request that is not properly justified.

Deferrals with the goal of acquiring relevant experience can be consecutive if they are approved by the research supervisor.

To benefit from this measure, the award holder must submit a request to the FRQS by filling out the Award payment deferral form (Report de versement de bourse). Furthermore, the research supervisor should provide a letter confirming his or her agreement and the relevance of the paid activities that are involved.

The FRQS reserves the right to reject any request that is not properly justified or relevant.

$45,000/year*

 *except in some cases (see section on Awards in partnership)

A $10,000 supplement is added for postdoctoral training outside of Québec.

The award will be paid to the awardee by installments. There are three installments per year.

Failure to receive all required documents within two months of the scheduled start of installment and no postponement has been requested, the FRQS cancels the installment. FRQS terminates the scholarship if two consecutive installments have to be canceled due to missing documents.

The awardee is responsible for paying the income tax due on amounts received from the FRQS. No taxes are withheld at source by the FRQS on amounts disbursed during the taxation year in question.

The date the amount is granted determines the year in which the awardee must declare the amounts received as income for personal tax calculations.

Revenu Canada’s T4A form and Revenu Québec’s form 1 are sent to the awardee’s mailing address (the one shown in the Module My funding (Gérer mon financement) in the FRQS Electronic Portfolio) in February of the following year of taxation.

The details provided in this form are for information purposes only. The FRQS is not responsible for the validity of the information given about income tax.

This program does not benefit from the amount paid out by FRQS to cover indirect costs of research of the institutions.

Maximum of 250 hours per 6-month period

Requires the research supervisor’s permission and the work must not interfere with the awardee’s research activities.

Awardees may accept additional funding from the institution or their research supervisor.

It is the responsibility of the FRQS award holder to check whether concurrent scholarships are allowed by the institution or the research supervisor.

Holding several scholarships is not allowed. Applicants who obtained an award from another public agency or a foundation recognized by the FRQS must notify the FRQS and decline the FRQS funding as soon as the award is offered.

However, if the amount of the other award is lower than the one given by the FRQS, the awardee is eligible to receive the difference.

Holding an FRQS training award concurrently with a research internship from another organization and that is not part of the training program of the awardee, is allowed under certain conditions.

For internships of $ 5,000 or less, awardees must notify the FRQS by email before the beginning of the internship.

For internships of $ 5,000 and more, awardees must ask the FRQS for authorization by completing the Internship authorization form (see Toolbox) before the internship begins. If the internship is approved, it will be allowed either to 1) combine the training award and internships amounts or 2) defer the amount of the FRQS award for a period equal to the duration of the internship or a maximum of 6 months.

The travel expenses (one return economy airline ticket) of awardees and their close family (spouse and children) carrying out their projects in institutions located outside Québec may be reimbursed upon the presentation of supporting documents, as long as these expenses are not reimbursed by another organization.

All applications are reviewed by committees of experts representing various health research disciplines and methodologies.

Quality and scientific value of the research project
– Clarity of the research problem and concordance of the hypotheses and
objectives
– Relevance of the methods and analyses
– Feasibility
– Originality of the project and contribution to the advancement of knowledge

Skills and experiences
– Publications
– Lectures, presentations and internships

Research project’s state of advancement since the start of
postdoctoral training
– Level of completion of the project in view of the methodology and the
research area
– Justification for renewal and potential for successful outcome
– Research supervisor’s evaluation

20

20
20

Achievements since the start of postdoctoral training
– Lectures and presentations
– Publications

The FRQS offers a number of awards in collaboration with partners. The share of funding from the FRQS and the partner may vary according to the agreements in effect.

Eligible applicants are selected through a three-step process:

1. The applicant selects, in the Partnership [Partenariat] section of the application form, one or more partners whose targeted research areas correspond to the theme of their application.

2. The FRQS sends to the partners a list of candidates and useful information for them to assess the relevance of the request according to their research priorities and strategy.

3. After evaluation of the applications by a committee of experts or peers, applications having obtained the scientific excellence rating of 70 % and which have been deemed relevant by one or more partners, may receive a partnership award offer.

As with all the awards offered by FRQS, the awards granted in partnership are based on merit following a scientific evaluation by a committee of experts or peers. 

Note that by choosing to be considered for an award in partnership, and that you obtain such an award, you agree that the partner communicates with you for activities related to the award.

Candidates must also submit an application to the CCHCSP.

Société québécoise d’hypertension artérielle (SQHA) – Jacques de Champlain Award
The Jacques de Champlain Award in Cardiovascular Health and Hypertension fields includes a research support supplement (maximum of $10,000 per year).

The Kidney Foundation of Canada

All candidates must also submit an application to the KRESCENT Program (Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training).  Amount of the award: $55,000 per year.

Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
Training Awards in the Multiple Sclerosis research field. Candidates must also submit an application to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.

The Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) in Quebec is to engage the various stakeholders involved, including patients, caregivers and the public, in the development and delivery of patient-oriented research projects (POR). The SPOR Support Unit in Quebec contributes to capacity building and professional development in POR of these stakeholders. The awards offered in partnership with the Unit allow award recipients to hone their skills and develop or consolidate valued expertise in POR, and to expand their network of collaborators and mentors in this area.

Priority themes: primary care, proximity care, integration of care and service trajectories.