Relève Étoile Awards - 2024-2025

1. BACKGROUND

The Fonds de recherche du Québec wish to promote careers in research and recognize the exceptional research contributions of Québec student researchers. To this end, the FRQ are continuing to offer the Relève Étoile Awards competition.

Three awards are presented to honour the remarkable careers and contributions of three pioneers of Québec’s research community. These are:

·        Relève Étoile Louis Berlinguet Award for the Fonds Nature et technologies;

·        Relève Étoile Jacques Genest Award for the Fonds Santé;

·        Relève Étoile Paul Gérin-Lajoie Award for the Fonds Société et culture.

2. OBJECTIVES

1. Recognize the exceptional research contributions of Québec student researchers;
2. Promote research careers in Québec;
3. Develop strong ties between the Fonds de recherche du Québec and Québec student researchers.

3. DESCRIPTION AND NATURE OF THE AWARD

The FRQ award three Relève Étoile Awards of $1,500 each month. The names and photos of the three successful applicants are announced on the Fonds de Recherche du Québec website and social media, along with the title and summary of their project.

In the case of a project with more than one student author who contributed equally, it is the applicant’s responsibility to identify the other author(s) in the application form and share the award with them.

4. ELIGIBILITY

The following categories of Québec student researchers are eligible to apply:

• Master’s and doctoral students;
• Postdoctoral fellows;
• Members of a professional order enrolled in an advanced research training program.

To be eligible, applicants must:

1.  Submit a project of which the applicant is the author. An eligible project is defined as an article, a book chapter or a book presenting the results of research or a research-creation process, which has been peer-reviewed and published by a scholarly journal. Patents and creative works or performances are also accepted.

The project must have been:

• Released to the public less than 13 months before the competition deadline. Articles published electronically are eligible, based on the electronic publication date. In the case of publication in paper form following publication of the electronic version, eligibility will be determined based on the online publication date;
• Peer-reviewed.

The following are not eligible:  

• Oral and poster presentations:
• Articles only submitted or accepted for publication but not yet published;
• The translation of an existing publication.

2.  Be attending an educational institution, university-affiliated institution or research institution in Québec at the competition deadline. This also applies to the co-applicant (other student author who contributed equally to the project) where applicable. Applicants who completed part of their postsecondary education in Québec and who are pursuing their studies at an institution outside Québec are also eligible, but must provide, in addition to proof of enrolment, proof of previous studies in Québec (see Section 6 – Application for further details).

Note

An applicant may submit only one application per year for this competition. The choice of award should be based on the main sector of the submitted project (see Section 6). An applicant or a co-applicant may receive the Relève étoile Award only once.

5. EVALUATION

SELECTION COMMITTEE

For the evaluation of applications, three selection committees are set up according to the main sector identified by the applicant.

Given the diverse profiles of committee members, applicants are encouraged to present the application in such a way as to be easily understood by an interdisciplinary and intersectoral committee.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Applications are evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. Demonstration of the project’s contribution to the advancement of knowledge – 30 points;
2. Demonstration of the project’s social relevance and/or benefits – 30 points;
3. Demonstration of the applicant’s specific contribution to the project – 30 points;
4. Ability to popularize the subject matter – 10 points.

6. APPLICATION

The three electronic application forms are available in the FRQnet E-portfolio. It is the applicant’s responsibility to select the award appropriate to the main sector of the submitted project. These are:

• Relève étoile Louis Berlinguet Award for the Fonds Nature et technologies; see the research areas on the FRQNT page;
• Relève étoile Jacques Genest Award for the Fonds Santé; see the research areas on the FRQS page;
• Relève étoile Paul Gérin-Lajoie Award for the Fonds Société et culture; see the research areas on the FRQSC page.

The form must be submitted electronically by the competition deadline date and time set by the FRQ.

The application form must be completed in French (although any attached documents may be written in either French or English). The project title and abstract must imperatively be in French. These may be used by the Fonds for promotional and dissemination purposes.

Please refer to the Presentation standards for PDF attachments in the FRQnet E-portfolio to properly format any documents to be attached to the application.

6.1 REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

1.  The electronic form including:

• The title and lay abstract of the project in French;
• A description of the relevance of the project. Note that the applicant must complete and attach the “Project Relevance Template” in the Relevance section of the online form. This template is available in the Toolbox and includes: the project’s contribution to the advancement of knowledge; the project’s relevance/benefits to society; the applicant’s specific contribution to the project.

IMPORTANT: Use of the “Project Relevance Template” is mandatory. If the template is not used, the document will be considered ineligible. In addition, the presentation standards indicated in the template must be respected, otherwise the document will also be considered ineligible.

2.  One copy of the submitted project. In the case of a work or performance, a link to the project will be accepted.

3.  A document attesting that the submitted project has been available to the public for less than 13 months at the competition deadline. The following documents are accepted:

• A copy of an email or letter from the publisher confirming the publication date;

OR

• A screenshot of the journal’s website page showing the article with the publication date.

4.  A document attesting that the submitted project has been peer reviewed. The following documents are accepted:

• A copy of an email or letter from the publisher indicating that the reviewers have submitted their comments, without including the reviewers’ comments;

OR

• A screenshot of the journal’s website page describing the journal’s peer review process.

5.  A document attesting to enrolment at an educational institution, university-affiliated institution or research institution in Québec at the competition deadline. In the case of a project with more than one student author who contributed equally, the other authors should be identified as co-applicants. A document confirming enrolment at an educational institution, university-affiliated institution or research institution in Québec is required for each co-applicant.

The following documents, valid at the competition deadline, are accepted:
Official confirmation of enrolment from the registrar’s office; if this document is not available, proof of enrolment for the summer 2024 or winter 2024 semester will be accepted. Where applicable, official confirmation of enrolment at the competition deadline will be required at the time of the award;

OR

• A letter of confirmation from a host environment;

OR

• A letter of confirmation from the thesis director.

The following are not accepted: proof of enrolment letters for public transit purposes, invoices for student fees, student cards.

For applicants who completed part of their postsecondary education in Québec and who are pursuing their studies at an institution outside Québec:

A document attesting to enrolment at an educational institution, university-affiliated institution or research institution. The following documents, valid at the competition deadline, are accepted:

• Official confirmation of enrolment from the registrar’s office; if this document is not available, proof of enrolment for the summer 2024 or winter 2024 semester will be accepted. Where applicable, official confirmation of enrolment at the competition deadline will be required at the time of the award;

OR

• A letter of confirmation from a host environment;

OR

• A letter of confirmation from the thesis director.

AND a copy of a document certifying that part of the applicant’s postsecondary education was completed in Québec. The following document is accepted:

• The last postsecondary degree obtained in Québec (DEC, bachelor, master’s, doctorate).

The following are not eligible: diplomas equivalent to a university certificate or minor.

Documents required following the award

In order to receive their award and for dissemination purposes, recipients will be required to provide the following documents:

• A photograph;
• A biographical note;
• Administrative information.

If the award is shared with a co-applicant, as identified in the form, the co-applicant’s name will appear in the award announcement, but no photograph will be required.

6.2 IMPORTANT NOTES FOR SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION

• All required documents must be included with the application for it to be considered eligible. Documents that are illegible or low-resolution and those that do not make it possible to determine eligibility will be rejected.
• Official documents submitted in a language other than French or English must include a certified translation. Other documents submitted in a language other than French or English must be accompanied by a basic translation.

• No appendices or documents other than those required will be shared with the review committee.
• Applications cannot be updated after the competition deadline date and time.

7. ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

The Fonds de recherche du Québec announces the names of the award winners in a monthly news release. Only the award winners will be contacted.