Scholarship for Internship outside Québec (BSHQ) – 2023-2024

1. OBJECTIVES

• Encourage the national and international mobility of outstanding students in order to widen their scientific network and enrich their intellectual development through contact with different research traditions.
• Provide an added value to the doctoral training of the scholarship holder through mobility and collaboration outside Québec and internationally.
  Foster scientific exchange and openness to new research perspectives.

Peer-reviewed publications resulting from the research made possible by this award must be released as immediate open access (without embargo), under an open license, in accordance with the FRQ Open Access Policy for the Dissemination of Research (revised in 2022).

2. TARGET GROUP

This program is intended for FRQSC Master’s (A2Z1-B1Z) or Doctoral (A2Z2-B2Z) scholarship holders wishing to do a short-term internship in an academic setting outside of Québec.

3. VALUE OF THE SCHOLARSHIP AND EXPENSES COVERED

The value of the BSHQ scholarship is determined based on the eligible expenses described below. A BSHQ scholarship may be held concurrently with a FRQSC Master’s or Doctoral Scholarship. It may also be combined with other internship funding sources but may not be used to cover expenses charged to another source of funding.

In addition to the allowance for tuition fees, the maximum amount reimbursed for indexed living expenses and travel expenses is $10,000 CAD.

Living expenses

A lump-sum allowance of $1,500 per month is granted for living expenses, indexed to the cost of living at the location of the internship. Payment is made upon receipt of an attestation from the internship supervisor specifying the start date and the completion date of the internship.

Tuition fees

Tuition fees required by the host institution will be reimbursed to a maximum of $4,000. When calculating the amount owed, the Fonds considers tuition fees only and does not include enrolment fees or membership fees for student associations, etc. In all cases, official receipts must be provided.

Travel allowance

The cost of round-trip economy-class travel by plane, train or bus to the location of the internship will be reimbursed upon presentation of a copy of the ticket (paper or e-ticket), along with a detailed invoice. Only round-trip tickets on which the departure city is identical to the arrival city will be considered for full reimbursement. A travel allowance claim involving two one-way tickets will be reimbursed at the price of the less expensive ticket. Expenditures for travel to or from train or bus stations and airports are reimbursed on presentation of supporting documents.

For travel by car, the amount payable is $0.59 per kilometre to a maximum equal to the price of round-trip economy airline fare. Car expenses are payable upon presentation of two service station receipts, one issued at the start of the trip and the other at the destination.

Only one round trip is payable even if the internship is carried out in separate stages. Only cost of a round trip to the site of the internship can be reimbursed. No additional amount to cover any other travel expenses is paid during the internship.

No additional amount is paid to cover other expenditures such as travel expenses for a spouse or dependents, moving personal effects or transporting research material.

4. ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must meet all eligibility requirements when submitting the application form and throughout the duration of the scholarship.

To be eligible for this program, applicants must:

• Hold a FRQSC Master’s or Doctoral Research scholarship.
• Be enrolled as a full-time student in a master’s or doctoral program in a Québec university.
• Carry out the internship under the joint supervision of their master’s or doctoral research supervisor and an internship supervisor at the host environment.
• Clearly demonstrate the nature of the scientific activities in which he/she will participate and their added value in terms of scientific experience and networking in relation to the program of study.
• Have completed, at the beginning of the internship, all required coursework for the program of study; in addition, the master’s project or thesis topic must have received final approval from the designated authorities.

To be eligible, the proposed internship must:

• Be located outside Québec. In the case of a joint program, the co-tutoring institution is not eligible.
• Last at least two months, and a maximum of six months.  It is possible to conduct the internship in several stages, but only one round trip will be reimbursed.
• End no later than the end of the ninth full-time term of the master’s program or the eighteenth term of the doctoral program.
• Not be aimed solely at pursuing mandatory and/or for-credit internships that are part of the master’s or doctoral program or any other course work or lectures.
• Only one internship can be funded under this program during the duration of the FRQSC master’s or doctoral scholarship.
• Not be used to pursue a research field for the thesis research project (e.g. data collection, interviews, completion of the creation portion, etc.).

5. ELIGIBLE INTERNSHIP HOSTS

Universities, organizations, industries with an R&D department outside Québec.

6. FREQUENCY OF COMPETITION

The scholarship application may be submitted at any time.

7. APPLICATION

It is preferable that the application form be filled out in French, but it can also be filled out in English. However, the title must imperatively be in French. This information will be used by the Fonds for promotional and dissemination purposes.

Please refer to the FRQnet Application Presentation Standards document to properly format any documents to be attached to the application.

The internship scholarship application must include the following items, to be sent via the E-portfolio in the sections intended for that purpose or in the “Other documents”, section where applicable:

• A duly completed application form;
• A letter of support from the master’s or doctoral research supervisor;
• A letter of support from the internship supervisor at the host environment.

To be admissible, scanned copies of documents in PDF format must be legible and must not be read-protected or have special double tab configuration.

Pages in excess of the number permitted in each section of the application will be removed from the application before submission for evaluation.

Any missing documents will render the application ineligible.

An incomplete application that does not contain the information necessary to establish eligibility or which cannot be evaluated will be deemed invalid by the Fonds. Any documents that are not required and which are included with the application will not be submitted to the evaluation committee. Applicants will not be notified of any information or documents missing from the application.

Once the application has been submitted, it may not be modified or resubmitted. No documents received after the submission of the application will be considered.

The FRQSC reserves the right to verify the authenticity of all documents and information provided with the applicant and possibly with the organizations concerned.

THE APPLICANT MUST NOT FORGET TO TRANSMIT THE APPLICATION AFTER COMPLETING AND VALIDATING IT.

At any time, applicants can verify in their E-portfolio that their application has been successfully transmitted to the Fonds. The application file in “My forms” must be flagged as “Transmis au Fonds”. This indicates that the application has been received by the Fonds.

All applications received by the Fonds are assessed for eligibility. Applicants will be informed by email, at the latest one month following the submission of the application, of the progress of their application and, if applicable, its transmission to the evaluation committee. The evaluation committee has the right to declare an application ineligible if it considers that the application does not meet the program conditions and objectives.

Applicants whose application package is deemed incomplete or invalid will be notified by email that their application has not been transmitted to the evaluation committee.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Throughout the application process, applicants are encouraged to check that no correspondence from the Fonds has ended up in the “junk” or “spam” folder of their email Inbox.

8. ASSESSMENT

Evaluation criteria, indicators, and weighting

Internship (50 points)

• Objectives and relevance of the internship
• Appropriateness of the internship with respect to the master’s or thesis project
• Added value of the internship (for the host environment and for the applicant)

Time frame (20 points)

• Relevance of the proposed activities
• Feasibility of the time frame

Host environment and supervision (30 points)

• Quality of the host institution and supervision

Evaluation process

The evaluation committee may recommend the funding period based on the proposed time frame and the objectives of the internship. Consequently, the recommended length of the internship may differ from that indicated in the application.

The number of recommended applications that receive funding will depend on the availability of FRQSC funding for the program.

9. ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

The results will be announced within 6 weeks of the date of submission of the application form via the applicant’s FRQnet E-portfolio.

Successful applicants are responsible for contacting the consulate or embassy of the host country to obtain a visa if necessary.

10. TERMS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

BSHQ recipients must continue to be enrolled as full-time students in their program of study for the duration of the internship. The Fonds must be advised of any change in status before and during it is implemented.

The internship start and end dates may be modified, subject to Fonds approval of a documented modification request submitted via the FRQnet E-portfolio. The proposed changes must meet all eligibility conditions and cannot change the nature of the internship initially evaluated. The Fonds will analyze the request and decide whether to continue, reduce, suspend, or terminate funding. The Fonds may also require repayment of amounts already paid. The decision will be communicated by email.

INSTALMENT OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

The payment of the scholarship will only be made once the Fonds has received the confirmation of full-time enrolment in the graduate degree program and from the practice environment, an attendance certificate and the official start date of the internship.

CONCURRENT FUNDING

A BSHQ recipient may not accept funding from any mobility program (Soutien aux cotutelles) or other Government of Quebec, Government of Canada or Mitacs Globalink mobility programs during the same period. Students funded under the mobility support program (Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement Supérieur in collaboration with universities) can claim only the difference between the value of the mobility scholarship and funding received under the BSHQ program.

INTERNSHIP REPORT

BSHQ scholarship holders agree to submit to the Fonds  receipts for reimbursement of covered expenses (Section 6) and a report summarizing the work done and the achievement of the objectives (see CGR, section 7.2). This report must be signed by the master’s or doctoral research supervisor, the internship supervisor and the scholarship holder, and submitted in the scholarship holder’s E-portfolio. The final scholarship instalment is conditional on the submission of this report and its approval by the Fonds.

The internship supervisor at the host environment must complete the section provided for this purpose, detailing the successes and/or failures of the internship as perceived and/or evaluated by the internship host.

EFFECTIVE DATE

The provisions set out in this document apply to the 2023-2024 fiscal year.