Depending on whether it concerns a grant or an award, the institution to which the candidate is attached could be involved in its management in different ways. The management role of the institutions is described in the Common General Rules and in the program rules. The FRQ designate the institutions that can carry out funding management by granting them the title of “Managing Institution”.
Before preparing a funding application, you must check the role that each institution will play in it. This will help determine whether the institution should have been designated as a “Managing Institution”. In particular, the process to obtain this designation must be initiated when the institution will be called upon to:
- approve the grant and career award application of the candidates who are in its employ, and;
- manage the grants and career awards obtained by funding holders in its employ.
Become a Managing Institution
Any request for designation as a “Managing Institution” is assessed by the FRQ according to the eligibility criteria below. All these criteria are subject to change without notice. The FRQ may conduct audits of the institution to ensure that the criteria are met at all times.
Eligibility criteria
The institution must belong to one of the 4 categories of institutions below:
1. Universities: institutions listed in paragraphs 1 to 9 and 12 of section 1 of the Act respecting educational institutions at the university level. Paragraph 10 of section 1 could also be considered on a case-by-case basis ;
2. College-level institutions: institutions that fall into one of the subcategories below:
- public institutions established under the General and vocational colleges act by letters patent published in the Gazette officielle du Québec;
- public institutions created by law or which are, by law, under the jurisdiction of a ministry other than the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur and which can award college diplomas in accordance with the College education regulations ;
- private institutions that have been holding a permit from at least 3 years to offer college-level instructional services in accordance with the Act respecting private education and that offer at least one program leading to a diploma of college studies that is approved for purposes of subsidies under section 77 of this Act. These institutions must demonstrate a level of organization and support that allows them to conduct research activities in an adequate and sustainable manner. They must also agree to manage the amounts granted separately from any other financial account and to allow the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur to transmit to the FRQ the reports and information it holds concerning their financial health;
3. Health network institutions : institutions in the Québec health and social services network that are considered “public institutions” under the Act respecting health services and social services and fall into one of the subcategories below:
- unamalgamated institutions listed in Section 8 of the Act to modify the organization and governance of the health and social services network, in particular by abolishing the regional agencies;
- CIUSSS and CISSS listed in Schedule 1 of the Act to modify the organization and governance of the health and social services network, in particular by abolishing the regional agencies;
- institutions and the regional board referred to by Parts IV.1 and IV.2 of the Act respecting health services and social services or ;
- institutions referred to by the Act respecting health services and social services for Cree native persons (in these cases, the notion of “public institution” is examined under this specific act);
4. Government institutions with a research mission: certain organizations of the government of Québec which meet all of the following criteria:
- they are government agencies of the province of Québec created by law or regulation;
- their mandate or the orientations of their strategic plan clearly mention research;
- they employ Québec researchers internally;
- they financially support the performance of their research activities, independently of request funding addressed to the FRQ (sustainable budgets must exist to support the salaries of researchers because the latter are not paid by the FRQ);
- they are not a Crown corporation;
- they are not a for-profit organization, and;
- their main research activity is not to financially support external research, such as granting awards and grants.
The institution should not be on the list of ineligible institutions.
A federated, affiliated or part of another institution that is designated as a “Managing Institution” cannot usually be independently designated as a “Managing Institution”.
Not being designated as a “Managing Institution” does not preclude the development of agreements with the FRQ for the conduct of research programs funded in partnership with the FRQ.
The institution must meet the six criteria below:
1. Have a research mission, facilities, personnel dedicated to research and a certain supervision of research activities (policies, regulations or other tools of good research governance);
2. Undertake to comply with the Common General Rules, the Policy for the responsible conduct of research and the applicable program rules, which includes in particular:
- to be able to guarantee the academic freedom of the researcher (freedom to publish the results publicly without fear related to his job – whether the results are positive or negative in the eyes of the institution);
- to subscribe to best research practices and generally accepted standards in research ethics and to respect the principles set out in the Policy for the responsible conduct of research (a breach of responsible conduct on the part of the institution may result in losing the designation of “Managing Institution”);
- to have adopted a policy on responsible conduct of research that meets the requirements of the FRQ policy in this regard (be able to manage allegations, have designated a person in charge of responsible conduct in research, etc.);
3. Undertake to ensure that its human research ethics board (or a research ethics board that it has formally recognized) has approved any research project carried out under its auspices before activities requiring such approval takes place;
4. Have governance that makes its directors accountable in Québec;
5. Have a bank account in Québec, and;
6. Not be registered in the Register of enterprises ineligible for public contracts under the Act respecting contracting by public bodies.
The following institutions are not eligible to be designated as a “Managing Institution”:
- institutions outside the province of Québec;
- federal departments and agencies (even if they have an establishment in Québec) and departments and agencies of other provinces and territories;
- the ministries of the province of Québec;
- municipalities;
- collegial technology transfer centers (CTTC) (because it is the collegial establishment to which they belong that can be designated the “Managing Institution”);
- institutions that are grouped within the health network (because it is the integrated health and social services center (CISSS) or the integrated university health and social services center (CIUSSS) to which they are attached that can be designated a “Managing Institution”);
- for-profit organizations;
- non-profit organizations (even if they receive 100% of their funding from the government);
- institutions in the Québec health and social services network that are considered “private institutions” under the Act respecting health services and social services;
- private colleges not approved for purposes of subsidies.
Process
The evaluation process requires several interactions between the authorities of the institution and the FRQ. Since it can take several weeks between the start of the process and the obtaining of a designation, it is recommended that the process be started as soon as applicants begin to prepare a funding application. A designation as a “Managing Institution” is valid with regard to the FRQS, the FRQSC and the FRQNT.
The process includes two main steps:
1. Preliminary assessment: A conditional designation is granted when the eligibility criteria of Section I appear to be met following a preliminary analysis. This conditional designation allows the institution to accept funding requests in FRQnet, which is often the last step in submitting a funding application to the FRQ. Scientific assessment of funding applications from an institution with a conditional designation is performed as usual, but the institution can’t manage a funding until it obtains a final designation (step below).
2. Full Assessment: A final designation is granted when the eligibility criteria of Sections I and II are met following a full analysis. This final designation allows the institution to carry out all the actions of a “Managing Institution”, including accepting funding applications in FRQnet and managing funding. The institution must have obtained a final designation before the FRQ will transfer funding to it. The criteria in Sections I and II must be met at all times to retain the final designation.
How to initiate the process
If an institution wishes to be designated as a “Managing Institution”, the authorities of this institution which are responsible for research must simply indicate their interest by email to the following address: reconnaissance@staging.frq.gouv.qc.ca (no specific form). The FRQ will contact the establishment to initiate the evaluation process and to obtain the necessary information and documents.
If a candidate wishes an institution to which he is affiliated to be designated as a “Managing Institution”, this person must inform the institution’s authorities which are responsible for the research as soon as possible. Since it can take several weeks between the start of the process and the obtaining of a designation, it is recommended that the process be started as soon as applicants begin to prepare an funding application.
Questions
For any questions, contact Emmanuelle Lévesque, Research Ethics Advisor at 514 873-2114 extension 4280 or emmanuelle.levesque@staging.frq.gouv.qc.ca