Concerted Actions program (AC)

Summary

Deadline (application) :

Any time

Amount :

Variable

Duration :

Variable, depending on the component

Announcement of results :

Variable, depending on the component

 

1. CONCERTED ACTIONS PROGRAM – PRESENTATION

OBJECTIVES The objective of the Concerted Actions program is to foster research development and knowledge transfer in the social sciences, humanities, arts and literature so as to better understand social issues and phenomena and develop new approaches and innovative solutions.

Through this program, the Fonds aims specifically to:

  •  Meet the need for increased knowledge expressed by partners in various sectors across Québec;
  •  Support the advancement of knowledge in the social sciences, humanities, arts and literature as it pertains to the issues that impact Québec society;
  •  Support researcher training and the development of research capacity in current and emerging themes through partnership research;
  •  Increase the decision-making and innovation capabilities of organizations and contribute to the development and assessment of public policy;
  •  Encourage knowledge sharing between those who generate knowledge and those who use it.

The attainment of these objectives is conditional upon the participation of partners in different phases in the process, from the definition of knowledge needs to the appropriation of the research results, and also upon the participation of researchers in various fields with diverse approaches and methodologies.

The program hinges on partnerships: Concerted Action partners who determine the needs and fund the research and research partners who collaborate with investigators on a daily basis to carry out the research program or project and implement the knowledge transfer strategy.
TYPES OF CONCERTED ACTIONS The concerted actions may be thematic or targeted based on the needs determined by the concerted action partner(s). The guidelines for each competition are outlined in the call for proposals available online on the Web site of the Fonds.
Thematic program  

  •  Meets research needs stemming from a single theme;
  •  Allows for the awarding of several scholarships and grants;
  •  May provide various funding components;
  •  May be eligible for several competitions.
Targeted project  

  •  Meets a specific, short-term research need;
  •  May be an evaluative research initiative to enhance a program or an intervention, synthesize current knowledge, etc;
  •  Funds a limited number of projects;
  •  Is generally eligible for only one competition.

Different funding components are available to the scientific community for each type of concerted action.

SCHOLARSHIP COMPONENT

Master’s scholarship

The objective of the Master’s scholarship is to contribute to the training of new researchers and generate interest in the theme specified in the call for proposals. Note that the rules governing the management and use of Concerted Actions Master’s scholarship are the same as those for the regular master’s scholarship program of the FRQSC .

Doctoral research fellowship

The objective of the Doctoral research fellowship is to contribute to the training of new researchers and generate interest in the theme specified in the call for proposals. Note that the rules governing the management and use of Concerted Actions doctoral research fellowships are the same as those for the regular doctoral research fellowship program of the FRQSC .

Postdoctoral fellowship

The objective of the Postdoctoral fellowship is to provide support to new researchers interested in helping advance knowledge related to the theme specified in the call for proposals. Note that the rules governing the management and use of Concerted Actions postdoctoral fellowships are the same as those for the regular postdoctoral fellowship program .

Career Award

The objective of the Career Award is to stimulate and facilitate the recruitment of qualified individuals seeking to begin or continue a career in research on the theme specified in the call for proposals. It is also aimed at developing and consolidating hubs of expertise on this theme by attracting new recruits with an interest in the theme and, ultimately, at promoting stronger networking on the theme. Through the addition of new faculty members, this component also aims to eventually enhance the capacity for the teaching and training of new researchers in the field.

The thrusts of the research program and projects to be carried out by the holder of a career award must contribute to the advancement of knowledge related to the theme of the competition. All activities carried out by the holder of a career award must include the sharing of knowledge on the research theme, in the form of dissemination, partnership, transfer and knowledge mobilization activities.

The Career Award is aimed at facilitating the integration of the award holder in his/her host organization. The level of funding offered, the proportion of time devoted to research and the commitment of the host organization are all necessary conditions for achieving the targeted objectives.

OPERATIONAL COMPONENT

Research project

The objective of this component is to provide support for individual or team research projects that are likely to meet the needs and priorities set out in the call for proposals. All projects funded through this component must demonstrate potential for breakthroughs in knowledge, for instance by exploring new approaches, outlooks or hypotheses. All proposals must also strive for innovation and the transfer of knowledge to shed light on the issues for decision-makers and stakeholders.

Action-research project

An action-research project is predicated on the need to understand, explain and transform practices in a given field. Action-research is aimed at helping the community concerned identify and problematize its challenges, establish a critical summary of its problems and develop, implement or improve tools for solving these problems.

Transformation is at the heart of action-research projects; the process leading to this transformation as well as the transformation itself must generate new knowledge. The projects submitted as part of this component must therefore contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the development, testing and transformation of practices.

Action-research projects require the participation of all the stakeholders involved, be they from a university or a practice setting. They require a commitment on the part of the participating researchers and representatives from the practice setting to the planning and operationalization of the research, and the resulting steps or methods of intervention.

To reflect the characteristics of this type of research, the co-researchers must enlist at least one representative from the practice setting. This is an eligibility requirement for obtaining a grant under this component.

Longitudinal studies

The objective of this component is to provide support for longitudinal study projects carried out by individuals or teams that are likely to meet the needs and priorities set out in the call for proposals. All projects funded through this component must demonstrate potential for improving the understanding of the trajectories of a given population and for identifying explanatory factors and trends related to the population under study. All proposals must also strive for innovation and the transfer of knowledge to shed light on the issues for decision-makers and stakeholders.

Research support for new academics

This component aims to:

  •  Enable the completion of an individual research project;
  •  Help support a new generation of researchers and university instructors by assisting individuals embarking upon research careers in establishing themselves in an independent and competitive manner at the national and international levels;
  •  Foster collaborations between new academics and established research environments;
  •  Consolidate the research system by supporting new academics in the humanities, social sciences, arts and letters;
  •  Incite new academics to develop original avenues of research.

Critical summary

The objective of the critical summary is to provide an inventory and critical analysis of existing scientific knowledge for the research needs identified in this call for proposals. Furthermore, when data from practice settings is available, the funded critical summary may also include a practice review accompanied by comparative analyses. The critical summary therefore serves to take stock of available knowledge, but also creates a critical analysis framework in order to identify avenues for further study and action that are pertinent for researchers, decision-makers and stakeholders alike.

INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENT

Research Chair

This component aims to:

Help Québec stakeholders and decision-makers to become better informed and to make decisions based on scientifically validated data, while ensuring a new generation of quality researchers in the theme targeted by the call for proposals.

Research Network

This component aims to:

Provide significant added value to research on the theme of the call for proposals, in order to enhance its relevance, improve its quality and maximize its impact on practices by assembling leading researchers in this theme. Its objectives are (a) to bring together researchers who have developed different analysis perspectives and (b) to get them working in synergy on both research and the transfer of knowledge.

To do this, the Network must build on collaboration between the different actors. This collaboration must be supported by the creation of an interface between university, government and college researchers, decision-makers and practitioners and, more broadly, users of research results. This will encourage the development of new initiatives, access to cutting-edge expertise and its benefits and the training of new researchers in the field.

Research Team Support

This program aims to make Québec’s research community more dynamic and secure a prominent place for its researchers on the international level by:

  •  Fostering the emergence of new research themes, approaches and topics;
  •  Consolidating research infrastructures.

More specifically, it aims to:

  •  Provide research teams and their partners in practice settings, where applicable, with access to joint infrastructures;
  •  Maximize theoretical and methodological benefits (teaching and research) and encourage knowledge mobilization activities in accordance with the knowledge mobilization strategy adopted by the Fonds;
  •  Encourage the integration of postdoctoral research fellows and new researchers in research teams;
  •  Optimize graduate and postgraduate student training and mentoring;
  •  Help train undergraduate students by involving them in research activities.

Teams who wish to apply for funding under this program must meet these objectives by deploying a series of structuring activities based on a concerted scientific program.

 

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM:

A scientific program is different from a research project and must be based on a research theme developed through specific thrusts driven by research projects funded through other sources. The scientific program must be designed to evolve over time and foster the significant and collective contribution of members to the team’s work and activities.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Teams that present a research project rather than a scientific program will be deemed ineligible.

FOLLOW-UP AND TRANSFER PROCESS In an effort to inform Concerted Action partners of the progress of the research, foster the broad dissemination of findings to stakeholders and support the appropriation of the research results, each funded project will include follow-up meetings and a knowledge-transfer activity.
Follow-up committee
  •  Made up of Concerted Action partners, researchers, scholarship and grant recipients and Fonds representatives. If necessary, external resources may also be invited to take part.
  •  Meets when the research project begins and then again at a frequency jointly established by the scholarship and grant recipients and the Concerted Action partners. Funding recipients are required to participate. Travel expenses inherent to this activity must be provided for in the scholarship or grant budget.
Progress report
  •  Required for certain Concerted Actions. When required, details are provided in the call for proposals.
Research report
  •  In all cases, funding recipients must produce a research report no later than three months after the end of the scholarship or grant period (Master’s and doctoral students must provide access to their thesis or dissertation). 25% of the last portion of the grant is retained until the research report is submitted (required condition for receiving the final grant instalment). The FRQSC has developed a Guide 1 :4 :20  for the use of funding recipients in preparing their research report. The report includes appendices for any additional information. It may be written in English or French. If written in English, it must be accompanied by a title and abstract in French. The conditions governing the submission of the report are set out in the call for proposals. The report must be submitted no more than 3 months after the end date of the grant, except under exceptional circumstances.
Final report
  •  An administrative final report must be provided 6 to 9 months after submission of the final financial report, to allow the Funds and its partners to document the impact of the grants awarded.
Transfer activity
  •  Organized by the Fonds in collaboration with Concerted Action researchers and partners once the research report has been submitted to the Fonds. Funding recipients are required to participate. Travel expenses inherent to this activity must be provided for in the scholarship or grant budget.
Obligations of scholarship and grant  recipients
  •  Scholarship and grant recipients must take part in follow-up meetings and the transfer activity. Refusal to participate in these activities may lead to the suspension of the scholarship or grant.
Participation costs Expenses related to participation in follow-up meetings and the transfer activity:

  •   Are the responsibility of the participants.
  •  Must be provided for in the scholarship or grant budget under “Travel and subsistence costs”.
 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Details: section 5.6 of the Common General Rules 

 The Fonds adheres to the ”Plan d’action sur la gestion de la propriété intellectuelle” implemented by the government of Québec and complies with the practices in effect in the research sector. Concerted Action partners must also comply.
Recognition The Fonds and its partners:

  •  Recognize the researchers’ intellectual property rights as they pertain to original raw data, interim research and the results of the funded project.
  •  Will not divulge the results before the researcher has submitted his/her report.
Interim data
  •  May reproduce, translate and/or communicate, through any medium, the original raw data collected by the scholarship or grant recipients—or by others working under their supervision—with the recipients’ prior approval.
  •  May use the interim research results communicated during follow-up activities or in progress reports, with the scholarship or grant recipients’ prior approval.
Research report and research findings
  •  May reproduce, translate and/or communicate the research report through any medium.
  •  May use the research results that have been made public by the scholarship or grant recipients.
Appropriate citations 
  •  Will comply with regular university research citation standards at all times, especially with regards to subsequent work based on the research results.
Delay of disclosure
  •  If the partners ask for a delay of the results disclosure, an agreement must be made with the researchers as to the date at which the results will be divulged.
  •  The delay must not exceed one month, except in the case of a major foreseeable event (e.g. parliamentary committee hearings).
Obligations of funding recipients
  •  Further to the provisions of Section 7 of the CGR , funding recipients must fully disclose all research results as early as possible through follow-up activities, progress reports, the research report, the transfer activity, publications and any other means.
Research report copyright Funding recipients:

  •  Must grant, to the Fonds as well as to each of the Concerted Action partners, a non-exclusive, non-transferable copyright licence on the research report, without territorial limits (worldwide) and for an unlimited period of time, for which the grant constitutes consideration.
  •  Assure the Fonds and each of the Concerted Action partners that they hold all the rights that entitle them to consent to the assignment of copyright in accordance with this agreement.

 

2. CONCERTED ACTIONS –PROCESS OVERVIEW

DEVELOPMENT
  •  Determine needs with partners;
  •  Approval from the Fonds Board of Directors to begin the collaboration;
  •  Development of the call for proposals;
  •  Signature of Fonds-partners memorandum of understanding.
COMPETITION AND EVALUATION
  •  Launch of the call for proposals;
  •  Submission of the letters of intent;
  •  Relevance assessments;
  •  Announcement of the results;
  •  Submission of the applications for funding;
  •   Scientific evaluations;
  •   Funding recommendations to the Board of Director and partners;
  •  Announcement of the results.
PROJECT
  •  Start of the project;
  •  Follow-up meetings.
KNOWLEDGE MOBILIZATION  
  •  Submission of the research report;
  •  Transfer meeting.

 



Last Modified: February 26, 2021