Research centres in university hospital centres (UHCs), university institutes (UIs) and affiliated university hospital centres (AUHCs)

scharbonneau@frsq.gouv(...)

e-documents

Please make sure to transmit your e-documents to the FRSQ.

-Update the research centre register (Registre des centres).

Centre directors must update the research centre register and submit their updates by November 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006.

Only grants and awards for which proof is submitted will be validated.

Paper documents

The post office stamp or fax transmission date is proof of the document filing date.

Mailing address

FRSQ
500, Sherbrooke St. West
Suite 800
Montreal (Québec)
H3A 3C6

-The grant application must be submitted on the appropriate form provided by the FRSQ. It must be signed by the research director and the executive director of the hospital centre through which the research centre is administered.

The application form titled Demande de subvention - Centres hospitaliers universitaires (CHU), instituts universitaires (IU) et centres affiliés universitaires (CAU) must be completed in an original and eight copies and submitted to the FRSQ by December 1, 2005.

-All necessary proof pertaining to computerized register and grant application information (e.g. researchers' letters and award notices) must be forwarded to the FRSQ by November 1, 2005.

Audit and financial report

As required for government grants, a research centre submitting a grant application agrees that the FRSQ will periodically audit the amounts awarded and further agrees to abide by the FRSQ's administrative rules.

FRSQ representatives will conduct a detailed audit on site. Note that the FRSQ has the right to audit grants and awards that a research centre manages on its behalf.

The research centre must file an annual financial report as at June 30 of each year on the appropriate form provided by the FRSQ.

Research centres

Context

The research centres should carefully plan their development so as to consolidate gains now that research funding is increasingly channelled into themes and to build up highly competitive critical masses of multidisciplinary investigators.

Every four years, each centre is therefore required to provide the FRSQ with a grant application approved by the institution's Board of Directors and university officials.

Official designations /

Transition provisions

The FRSQ notes that the health system makeover and hospital mergers are delaying the official designation of university health institutions.

In the interim, the FRSQ will maintain the transitional designations of the following university institutions of the Québec network:

5 UHCs

Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)
Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec (CHUQ)
Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS)
Centre hospitalier universitaire (CHU) Sainte-Justine
McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)

9 UIs

Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal
Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Sherbrooke
Montreal Heart Institute
Hôpital Laval - Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie
Douglas Hospital Research Center
Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin de l'Hôpital Louis-H. Lafontaine
Centre de recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard
Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation du Montréal métropolitain
Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale

3 AUHCs

Centre hospitalier affilié universitaire de Québec
Centre de recherche Guy-Bernier de l'Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont
Centre de recherche de l'Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal

Special Status

Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research - Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital
Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal

Specificity and strengths

The application will underline the centre's specificity and its strengths by comparison with all other centres in the same category.

It will describe how the centre organizes and develops research based on its priority areas. Note that the number of priority areas varies, one determinant being the scope of the institution's research undertaking. A university hospital centre has more research areas than a university institute or an affiliated university hospital centre.

The application must be prepared in close cooperation with the university involved and have the approval of the institution's Board of Directors and university officials before it is submitted to the FRSQ.

Research areas

-Research areas can be defined with reference to research fields, diseases or groups of diseases investigated, fields of medicine or methodologies used.

-Applications from UHCs will take account of the institution's responsibility for technology evaluation.

-Each research area will include specific themes that may vary in number, but must be consistent as to type and organization.

-The application will describe the planned development of each research area and include the following information:

-The application will recognize the need to avoid isolating research areas and will promote researcher networking instead.

Critical evaluation

The grant application will include a critical evaluation of the research done since the previous evaluation and an assessment of the strengths (and weaknesses) of those studies with a view to prioritizing research themes based on excellence and potential.

The evaluation will describe what has been accomplished since the previous research program was submitted.

The application will take account of the FRSQ's expectations regarding research done in UHCs, UIs and AUHCs.

Research centres

Conditions

There are a limited number of centres. To qualify for this program, the applicant must satisfy the following conditions:

-Be a corporate entity administratively linked to a health institution of the MSSS health and social services network and designated by the Minister as a UHC, UI or AUHC (barring exceptions).

-Have at least 20 FTE researchers (note that UHCs require significantly more personnel).

Those scientists must satisfy the FRSQ that they are able to

-Have obtained training awards and grants in an average annual amount of $2 million from FRSQ-recognized organizations for the two years immediately preceding the year of application.

-Show to the FRSQ's satisfaction that the grant application approved by university officials and the institution's Board of Directors adequately reflects FRSQ objectives and expectations.

-Show to the FRSQ's satisfaction that its research environment makes an original, complementary scientific contribution to the existing network of research centers.

-Show to the FRSQ's satisfaction that it is pursuing interdisciplinary and multimethod research activities.

-Show to the FRSQ's satisfaction that the regulatory framework adopted by the institution's Board of Directors is consistent with FRSQ objectives and expectations.

Requirements

The FRSQ's requirements are:

-a formal, detailed grant application approved by the university;

-an integrated research program;

-managerial autonomy;

-the legal and financial capacity to recruit researchers;

-a single directorate (one director having the necessary authority);

-an assembly of researchers and associate researchers;

-a research policy consistent with research governance requirements;

-a functional geographic concentration;

-common infrastructures and support services for researchers, students and research studies;

-a critical mass of researchers;

-a sufficient concentration of competitive research funds.

Expectations: research centre

The FRSQ expect each centre to:

-develop research programs consistent with the mission and purpose of the institution through which it is administered;

For UHC-based centres, special emphasis will be placed on technology evaluation.

-set up research collaborations for complementarity with health institutions in its region;

-encourage collaborations with thematic research networks in streams reflecting its research directions and expertise;

-bridge the gap between health promotion, prevention, care and services, research, teaching and evaluation of clinical interventions;

-organize its priority areas and resources to ensure that each research area is covered by a critical mass of researchers from various disciplines to facilitate balanced development of basic, clinical, epidemiological and evaluative research;

-recruit researchers based on the priority areas identified in the grant application;

-develop, implement and promote good research practices;

-put the FRSQ's standards for research ethics and scientific integrity into practice.

Expectations: research centre director

-The FRSQ considers that the research director of a centre plays a vital part in steering and coordinating the centre's research activities, especially for designing, implementing, monitoring and fine-tuning the development proposal outlined in the grant application.

-The research director is responsible for assigning resources to the various priority areas and sees that they are used to achieve the centre's objectives.

-The research director decides on the use of income from indirect costs (20% and over) billed to commercial partners.

-The research director has some say in use of the FRSQ grant, but has to account to the institution's Board of Directors and the FRSQ for those decisions.

-The research director sets up management mechanisms that are flexible, efficient and transparent and oversees the scientific activities of the centre's researchers.

-Although the grant application represents a commitment by the centre and its director, it must not block initiative. The research director will decide whether or not the original application should be modified and must justify such decisions.

-The research director must encourage and promote the development of basic, clinical, epidemiological and evaluative research for each of the centre's priority areas and see that researchers and clinician-scientists are recruited accordingly.

-The leadership of the research director is reviewed during the evaluation visit. An FRSQ representative sits on the committee that appoints the research director, and that appointment is subject to the approval of the institution's Board of Directors.

Research centres

The spirit and framework of the current Act Respecting Health Services and Social Services lends new validity to research done in institutions designated as university hospital centres (UHCs), university institutes (UIs) or affiliated university hospital (AUHCs). Research is now part of their normal institutional activities.

In line with its responsibilities, the FRSQ encourages the boards of directors of those institutions to take full charge of research support and development initiatives.

Initiatives will best be part of a coherent whole in step with an institutional policy for research support and development in designated institutions (UHCs, UIs, AUHCs) that the institution will submit for FRSQ approval.

The main points addressed by that policy have been forwarded to the management of the host institutions and include a regulatory framework for ethics and scientific integrity.

Ultimately, approval of the institutional research support and development policy by the FRSQ Board of Directors will be a prerequisite for FRSQ recognition and funding.

Research centres

By accepting FRSQ research funding, the above-mentioned health institutions accept and confirm their responsibility to:

-draw up and implement a research support and development policy for the institution;

-set up a regulatory research framework in line with the departmental action plan for research ethics and scientific integrity (Plan d'action ministériel en éthique de la recherche et en intégrité scientifique, MSSS, June 1998);

-audit the budgets received from government sources (including the FRSQ) and private sources for research conducted within the institution;

-meet FRSQ requirements for the evaluation of good research practices.

Research centres

The grant normally covers a four-year period.

The FRSQ reserves the right, however, to adjust the grant amount in light of information on the performance of the centre's researchers, as found in the research centre register.

Any increase in the level of one-time or recurrent funding for a research centre will depend on the performance evaluation by a scientific review committee.

Research centres

Amount

-All non-amalgamated centres with at least 20 FTE researchers and an average annual budget of $2 million in grants and awards are assured of basic infrastructure funding of $725 000 a year.

The grant could be increased in special cases for centres that far exceed the minimum 20 FTE.

-Funding for centres in transition that do not yet meet these criteria is calculated on the basis of $225 000 + 25% of grants and awards (two-year average), up to $725 000.

-Basic funding for centres integrated into an amalgamated hospital institution equals the sum total of the amounts the FRSQ would have awarded each individual component.

-Where a centre integrates an FRSQ team or group into its research areas, the previous year's grant to that team or group will be paid into the centre's overall budget.

FTE calculation

The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) researchers in each centre is calculated as follows:

-receipt of a recognized award or grant during the current year;

-time spent by researchers on research activities (at the centre) at the rate of:

Recognized value of grants and awards

The recognized value of grants and awards will vary with type, as follows:

* According to the name on the award notice. If several names appear on the notice, the grant is divided equally among the lead co investigators, unless the researchers decide otherwise.

Research centres

The grant covers the costs of scientific and administrative organization of the research centre and the costs of direct support for research.

1. Administrative and scientific organization of research centre

-Contribution to salary of centre's director

-Contribution to salary of associate director(s)

-Contribution to salary of administrative assistant

-Contribution to salary of librarian(s)

-Expenses for administrative and clerical support

-Expenses for promotion and dissemination (travel, conferences, Web site)

-Fees for guest speakers

-Purchase of journals and scientific works

-Expenses for telecommunications and information technologies

-Common animal supply services

2. Direct support for research

-Temporary contribution to salary of newly recruited researchers or those awaiting awards; contribution to salary of researchers in career transition; contribution to salary of visiting scientists; contribution to payment of research chair holders, in partnership with university and supplementary salary for reseach scholars

-Master's, doctoral and postdoctoral awards. The FRSQ recommends that these awards be granted on merit and that awardees undertake to submit an application for the FRSQ's regular competition

-Start-up funding for new researchers

-Expenses for travel, accommodation and registration for scientific conventions

-Support for animal supply activities for specific research projects (e.g. transgenic mice or special animal models for certain project initiatives)

-Salaries of research assistants, research professionals, lab technicians assigned to platforms, and common services

-Purchase of equipment and materials for specific research projects and/or platforms and common services

-Leasing of equipment and materials for specific research projects and/or platforms and common services

Expenses incurred as direct costs as opposed to indirect costs (see above) shall be identified as such in the financial report. Furthermore, the allocation for indirect costs shall not exceed the amount earmarked for direct costs.

Research centres

Procedure

Renewal applications only

Periodic review by a scientific review committee (SRC) is an essential element of the grant program for research centres of the health and social services network.

SRC members will be chosen to reflect the mission of the hospital centre and the research streams scheduled for review.

They will also be chosen so as to cover the basic, clinical and epidemiologic components of the research done at the centre. If need be, the committee will call on outside experts to review certain research areas.

Starting in 2006, a health research ethics sub-committee will concurrently review the implementation of good research practices and compliance with them.

The SRC's recommendations are submitted to the FRSQ Board of Directors, then forwarded to the executive director, the research director of the centre and the institution's Board of Directors.

Those recommendations are based on the parameters outlined in Criteria and on the SRC's observations.

Criteria

The SRC evaluates the centre's scientific performance as per the following criteria:

-objectives and expectations identified in the current program;

-the leadership of the research director;

-use of the grant received;

-relevance and feasibility of the application;

-consistency of the centre's research activities and the health care mandate of the institution;

-the level of collaboration with the university network or other health institutions;

-the level of contribution to the health objectives set out in Québec's Policy on Health and Well-being (MSSS).

More specifically, the SRC's recommendations to the FRSQ Board of Directors are based on the following sub-criteria:

-grants and training awards received from organizations having peer review committees;

-the advancement of scientific knowledge and its application to the centre's priority research areas;

-participation in master's and doctoral instruction and postdoctoral training;

-the quality of supervision of young researchers in training and of support for clinical investigation;

-the set-up of in-house scientific activities;

-the ability to attract and retain international-calibre researchers;

-use of the FRSQ grant in the current program;

-the centre's success at balancing basic, clinical, epidemiological and evaluative research;

-the centre's success at putting together a critical mass of experienced researchers from a variety of disciplines for each research area;

-the level of collaboration with other research centres within its university network based on common research themes;

-the level of collaboration with other health institutions and of researcher participation in FRSQ thematic networks;

-the level of collaboration with public or private partners, including the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Review results

Post-review, a centre's status of "FRSQ centre" could be questioned during the regulation visit if requirements are not met.

A priority research area could receive temporary FRSQ recognition if the SRC has doubts about future performance in that area.