FRQS Research Scholars

2025-2026 Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS) salary award competitions:

Chercheurs-boursiers / chercheuses-boursières (CB)

Chercheurs-boursiers cliniciens / chercheuses-boursières cliniciennes (CC)

Chercheurs-boursiers / chercheuses-boursières de mérite (CHA)

• Program Objectives
• Application Requirements
• Submission Deadlines
• Support and Resources
• Guidelines for McGill Applicants

Program Objectives

The FRQS Chercheurs-boursiers (CB) and Chercheurs-boursiers cliniciens (CC) salary awards are designed to support early and mid-career PhD scientists and clinician-scientists as they develop and grow their health research programs.

The Chercheurs-boursiers de mérite award recognizes the excellence of a select few among those graduating from the CB or CC programs (i.e. at the end of the FRQS Senior level).

Application Requirements

Please consult the FRQS website for details:

• Chercheurs-boursiers / Chercheuses-boursières (Junior 1, Junior 2, Senior) 
• Chercheurs-boursiers cliniciens / Chercheuses-boursières cliniciennes (Junior 1, Junior 2, Senior) 
• Chercheurs-boursiers / Chercheuses-boursières de mérite 

Submission Deadlines

IMPORTANT:

• All applications must be submitted through FRQnet by the deadlines below as set by McGill University, and not the agency deadlines listed on the FRQS website.
• McGill reviews and approves all submissions to FRQnet. Please be available to make edits after submitting.

Support and Resources

The Research Office of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences administers all applications from across McGill University.

• Researchers from all McGill Faculties may contact riac.med [at] mcgill.ca for support.
• Our office reviews and approves all submissions to FRQnet. Please be available to make edits after submitting.

Resource	Details
Internal Peer Review (optional)	UReview Deadlines
Library of Successful Proposals	riac.med [at] mcgill.ca (subject: FRQS-CB%20Library%20of%20Successful%20Proposals) (Make a Request)
Detailed Contributions	Download Template
2025-26 FRQS Career Awards Info Session	Co-organized by the FMHS Research Office and Department of Medicine

Guidelines for McGill Applicants:

Eligibility

• All applicants must hold a faculty appointment at McGill, and all applications must be approved by the Department Head/School Director and the Faculty Dean. New employees must have a signed Letter of Offer by the Full Application deadline, with an employment start date no later than the FRQ award start date (i.e. July 1 of the following year).
• Applicants may not hold a similar startup grant (e.g. CIHR New Investigator award) or external career award (e.g. CRC, CERC). Holding other operating grants or internal career awards (e.g. William Dawson Scholar) is allowed.

Classification

• Classification as Junior 1, Junior 2, or Senior is based on years of experience conducting independent research. The Research Experience section of the FRQS program page describes when the "clock" starts ticking (i.e. when an applicant is classified as Junior 1 with 0 years of experience, on July 1st of the calendar year).
• Classification is confirmed by FRQS in the Pre-Request response.

Institutional Approval

• All submissions to FRQnet are checked by the FMHS Research Office before final approval. Please be available to make edits after submitting, and promptly respond to any emails from riac.med [at] mcgill.ca.
• This award comes with University salary commitments, including, i) covering the cost of benefits not provided by the award, and ii) long-term employment for Senior award recipients. Within FMHS, Academic Affairs secures a Letter of Guarantee for all non-tenure track applicants. Other Faculties may have their own approval process. Applicants will be notified if there are any issues to resolve.

Language of Submission

• For the Pre-Request, the application title must be submitted in French, while the rest of the application may be submitted in English or French.
• For the Full Application, the application title and a brief public summary (Résumé destiné au grand public) must be submitted in French, while the rest of the application may be submitted in English or French.
• An additional (optional) document may be uploaded under "Autres Documents" to translate the application title and public summary from French to English ("titre et resumé en anglais").

Detailed Contributions

• Please use the template developped by the McGill FMHS Research Office, and consult the FRQS "Instructions for the Detailed Contributions" PDF in the Toolbox on each FRQS program page.
• The Student Supervision section should include Co-supervision (particularly for Junior 1 applicants).
• The List of Publications section should have 'acceptance notices from editors' appended for any 'accepted and in press reviewed articles'.
• Uploading or updating the Detailed Contributions is possible directly inside FRQnet after navigating back/away from the main application.

Formatting

• Please use the following format for all uploaded documents (except for the Detailed Contributions):
  • Filename: "LastName_FRQPIN_DocumentTitle.pdf"
  • Headers: "Last Name, First Name"
  • Footers: "Document Title" and "Page Number"
  • File size: maximum 2MB

Copies of Award Notices

• Copies of award notices for all scholarships and grants received, except for FRQS awards, must be uploaded in a single file under "Autres Documents" for the Full Application:
  • From the past 4 years for CB and CHA
  • From the past 5 years for CC

Resubmissions

• Please briefly address each past reviewer comment (2 pages max).

Directors of University Research Centres or Departments Form

• This form should be completed by the Department Chair, or the person who is best acquainted with the applicant's available facilities and research context (e.g. to a Research Centre Director).
• While the Department Chair may delegate the writing of this letter, they must approve the application and its contents due to University manpower and resource implications. Any delegation agreement must be communicated to riac.med [at] mcgill.ca.
• Please ensure that the percentage of time allocation provided in the Tasks and Responsibilities section aligns with the information presented in the Admissibility section of the Full Application.

Letters of Support for Junior 1 Applicants

• Mentors, Department Chairs, and Research Centre Directors should be identified and contacted early in the application process.
• The PDF versions of the the electronic forms are accessible on the FRQS program pages. Please consult and share the PDFs for early planning.
• Authors should review applicants' respective Evaluation Grids to determine the most relevant information to include in their letters. Evaluation Grids may be accessed through the Toolbox pop-up at the bottom of each FRQS program page.

How to Submit Letters of Support in FRQnet

• Authors must login/setup their FRQnet portal and enter the applicant's FRQ PIN/NIP to submit. As soon as possible, applicants should confirm their NIP/PIN and email address with authors, and have authors login/setup their FRQnet accounts.
• An FRQNet account may be created from the FRQNet login page by clicking “Créer un compte”. An EDI survey must then be i) completed, and ii) transmitted, to access the forms/competitions. (Tip: authors can find their own NIP/PIN on the top horizontal bar in their FRQnet portal).
• Once the applicant enters the author’s email address into their Full Application in FRQNet, the author receives an email with instructions to submit a Letter of Support (the author's email address must be the same one used to create their FRQNet account).

Contribution santé durable

• FRQS collects data from this section of the Full Application for reporting purposes only. This section is not shared with evaluation committees.
• Please use the drop-down menus to select research objectives, areas of action, and preferred domains. Please also describe, in a few lines, how your research contributes to sustainable health.
• An optional form may also be uploaded under "Autres Documents" (the formulaire santé durable).

Research Funding Checklist

• A Research Funding Checklist is required by the Full Application deadline, fully signed by the applicant and Department Chair. Applicants are contacted by riac.med with a pre-filled template following the FRQS response to the Pre-Request.

Peer Review

• Internal Peer Review is optional and available via UReview for the Pre-Request (Research Summary only) and Full Application.
• Eligibility: applicants located at McGill campus, the RI-MUHC, and St. Mary’s Hospital are eligible for internal review through UReview. Applicants from other units have their own internal review programs.
• Note: the Research Summary (Résumé du programme) is a 1-page section of the Pre-Request and Full Application which summarizes the objectives, methodological approach, and relevance of the proposed work.