FRSQ-AATRM Postdoctoral Exchange Program
(Agència d'Avaluació de Tecnologia i Reserca Mèdiques, Catalonia, Spain)

Lyse Bourbonnais
(514) 873-2114
Ext. 224

Eligible applicants

-Applicants with a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) or professional degree in health sciences

-Canadian citizens or permanent residents domiciled in Québec (as defined in the Common Rules and Regulations, art. 1.1) as of the date the award becomes effective, or by latest June 30, 2008

Not eligible: Those who hold an academic position, unless they take unpaid leave for the duration of the training award. An official letter confirming their employment status for the period and stating that they will resume their position once the training is completed should be provided by the employer.

Terms and conditions

-Must pursue full-time postdoctoral training in health research

-Must be supervised by an independent investigator (as defined in the Common Rules and Regulations, art. 1.2)

-Applicants unable to submit their doctoral thesis at the time of applying must provide, no later than September 30, 2008, an attestation that the thesis has been submitted.

FRSQ-AATRM Postdoctoral Exchange Program

e-documents

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

Applicant

-Canadian Common CV (full CV)

-Application form entitled Bourses de formation

Research supervisor (and co-supervisor, if applicable)

-Canadian Common CV (full CV)

-Form entitled Section du directeur ou codirecteur / Annexe aux bourses de formation

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

Applicant

-Official academic transcripts from the registrar's office for all university courses taken, whether completed or not (except for renewal applications)

-Copies of award notices received, other than FRSQ awards, during the past four years

-Confirmations from publishers regarding manuscripts submitted and agreement to publish

-Certified copy of permanent resident card, if applicable, submitted by June 30, 2008

Application update

Articles in journals with peer-review committees may be updated until November 30, 2007.

Confirmation

Applicant will receive e-mail confirmation of receipt of application in December.

FRSQ-AATRM Postdoctoral Exchange Program

Choice of training location

Must be an internationally-recognized Catalan training environment

Change of training location

Awardees wishing to change their training location must send the FRSQ a written request stating the reasons for the change and describing the new research project.

The new research supervisor must

-oversee a Catalan laboratory

-provide the FRSQ with written agreement to supervise the awardee

-send the FRSQ a paper copy of his/her Canadian Common CV (full CV)

FRSQ-AATRM Postdoctoral Exchange Program

Effective starting date

Between April 1 and September 30, 2008

Duration

1 year, with the possibility of renewal for a second year

Parental leave

Awardees are entitled to a maximum of 6 months of paid parental leave (maternity, paternity or adoption), in which case the duration of the award will be extended by a maximum of 6 months. If both parents are awardees, only one of them is entitled to paid parental leave.

An applicant who wishes to take parental leave must have held the award for at least 4 months, unless he or she is already receiving an award from the FRSQ.

Awardees must give the FRSQ written notice of their intention to take parental leave, accompanied by a statement from their research director confirming that their training is being suspended for parental leave.

The paternity leave cannot begin before the first week of the child’s birth. The awardee must attach a copy of the birth certificate to his application.

Sick leave

The awardee may defer the award in case of serious illness (his or her own or the illness of a close family member) upon presentation of a medical certificate that includes the precise length of leave prescribed by the physician. Payments will be suspended during that period.

FRSQ-AATRM Postdoctoral Exchange Program

Amount

 $ 33 000/year

Administration

The awards are paid in instalments at the applicant's training location.

Income Tax

The awardee is responsible for paying the income tax due on amounts received from the FRSQ. No taxes are withheld at source by the FRSQ on amounts disbursed during the tax year in question.

The date the amount is granted determines the year in which the awardee must declare the amounts received as income for personal tax calculations.

Revenue Canada's T4A form and Revenue Québec's form 1 are sent to the awardee's mailing address (the one shown in the candidate’s module /module du candidat) in February of the following year of taxation.

The details provided in this form are for information purposes only. The FRSQ is not responsible for the validity of the information given about income tax.

Revenue Québec
These awards are not taxable.

Revenue Canada
These awards are taxable. However, when a study program entitles the individual to claim the education tax credit, the award is no longer taxable.

Parental leave

See Duration of award

FRSQ-AATRM Postdoctoral Exchange Program

Institution or supervisor

The awardee may accept additional funding from the institution or his/her research supervisor.

Concurrent funding

See Common Rules and Regulations, at. 6.13

Travel expenses

The researcher may be entitled to reimbursement of travel costs – one return ticket in economy class – upon presentation of supporting documents.

FRSQ-AATRM Postdoctoral Exchange Program

Process

All applications are reviewed by committees of experts representing various health disciplines and methodologies.

Criteria

Fisrt application

Academic record

-Excellence of academic record

-Awards

-Honours and distinctions

Aptitudes and experience

-Lectures and poster presentations

-Publications

Research project

-Clear, concise background for research problem

-Clarity and agreement between hypotheses and objectives

-Relevant methods and analysis

-Originality of project and contribution to the advancement of knowledge

Training environment

-Justification of the choice of the candidate

-Quality of supervisor's publication record

-Quality of supervisor's student training record

Criteria

Renewal application

Research project’s state of advancement since the start of postdoctoral training

-Advancement with respect to methodology and discipline

-Justification for renewal and potential for successful outcome

-Research supervisor's evaluation

Achievements since the start of postdoctoral training

-Lectures and poster presentations

-Publications

FRSQ-AATRM Postdoctoral Exchange Program

In accepting this award, the awardee agrees to observe the Common Rules and Regulations, as well as the terms and conditions stipulated in this Program Description.

The award will be revoked if the awardee fails to observe these rules.

The awardee must notify the FRSQ of his/her acceptance of the award within 30 days of receiving the offer.

Failure to give notice of acceptance will be regarded as refusal of the award.

FRSQ-AATRM Postdoctoral Exchange Program

The research supervisor agrees to oversee the awardee’s work and to provide the material and financial resources required for the research project.

FRSQ-AATRM Postdoctoral Exchange Program

Agència d'Avaluació de Tecnologia i Reserca Mèdiques (AATRM, Catalonia, Spain)