Quebec streamlines FRQ research funding agency to make it more efficient, diverse and multidisciplinary

Quebec is proceeding with several changes to the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ – Quebec’s Research Fund) to make the research funding system more multidisciplinary and geared to tackle society’s biggest challenges.

The changes, introduced through a new law implemented this June, are also expected to make Quebec’s research funding system more efficient, equitable and diverse, said Dr. Rémi Quirion, PhD, Quebec’s chief scientist (photo at right).

 “We hope with the model we have now that the community [funded by the FRQ] will be more multidisciplinary and more intersectoral,” he told Research Money.

Overall, a main goal of the changes is to “facilitate interaction at the level of scientists, but also between universities and government and universities and the [FRQ],” Quirion said.

The biggest change is merging the FRQ’s previous three 15-member boards – one for each sector – into only one board with 19 members.

The new board will have its own chair, while Quirion remains as president and CEO of the FRQ.

The new board also will have at least two-thirds “independent” members – meaning they aren’t receiving funding from the FRQ, although they may receive research funding from other sources.

Another big change is creating a scientific committee for each of the three sectors – Nature and Technology, Health, and Society and Culture. The new board will include three scientific directors, one from each of the sector’s scientific committees.

The mandate of the scientific advisory committees is to provide advice and make recommendations to the FRQ on active or emerging fields of research, financial assistance programs and the development of the FRQ’s strategic planning.

Each committee is chaired by the vice-president, research, of the FRQ sector to which it is attached. Each committee is composed of 10 to 15 members appointed by the FRQ for a non-renewable term of up to three years.

The composition of each of the three committees will be approved by the chief scientist and the new single board of directors.

Quirion pointed out that unlike in the previous FRQ governance structure, the new board won’t have to seek approval from the Quebec government to appoint FRQ board members when it comes to the three scientific directors.

The new board also will include three students as members, he said. “We wanted to have the presence of the younger generation on the board.”

One thing that hasn’t changed, he noted, is that each sector retains its existing research funding budget allocation, which will increase as needed.

“That helped a lot in getting support [for the changes] from the scientific community,” which was concerned that the three sectors’ budget allocations would be rolled into one big budget, administered by the new single board.

Instead, “the funding program is the same as what we had before,” Quirion said. The peer-reviewed process to obtain research funding also remains the same.

New focus on multidisciplinary projects, society’s big challenges

The FRQ’s mission is to support the strategic and coherent development of scientific research in Quebec in the natural sciences and engineering, health sciences, social sciences and humanities, arts and letters.

For example, the Nature and Technology sector includes natural sciences, mathematical sciences, technology, engineering and environmental sciences.

The Health sector includes medical and clinical sciences, epidemiology, public health, health services and sustainable health more broadly.

The Society and Culture sector includes social sciences and humanities, educational sciences, management sciences and arts and letters.

The FRQ also has a mission to promote the training of the next generation of researchers and excellence in research, to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the development of solutions to the societal challenges facing Québec.

The FRQ contributes to the sustainable development of society, by stimulating the development of social and technological innovations. The agency also promotes, with respect to each sector, the influence of research and its results in Quebec, elsewhere in Canada and abroad.

Quirion said that with the changes, the big difference researchers will notice is a new emphasis on society’s big challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity, democracy and others, and the focus on multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary projects.

The new law mentions a budget specifically for multidisciplinary projects, in addition to the budget allocations for each of the three sectors, Quirion noted.

The new board won’t be able to change that, or have the final say on who gets research funding, he added. Such funding is allocated prior to calls for research funding applications, which will all go through the usual peer-reviewed process.

The new board will be responsible for a new five-year strategic plan for the FRQ, and work on this plan has already begun.

Quirion said this new strategic plan will reflect the changes seen in Quebec's, Canada’s and the world’s research ecosystem in recent years.

Accordingly, he expects the plan will include a focus on open science, the impact of artificial intelligence, the need for scientific collaboration, cybersecurity, and other new and emerging aspects of research.

The next step in making the changes to the FRQ is to put in place the three new scientific committees for each of the sectors. The FRQ’s three scientific directorates have issued a call, in partnership with universities and colleges, to interested scientists to become members of the new scientific committees. Applications are due by midnight on September 23.

Quirion said the FRQ is looking for committee members with, among other things, diversity in career stage and areas of expertise, gender representation, representation of urban centres/regions, and inter-level representation of universities and colleges.

The plan is to approve the composition of the three new scientific committees at the FRQ’s single board’s first official meeting on October 29.

Responsibility for the FRQ falls under newly appointed Quebec economy and energy minister Christine Fréchette, previously Quebec’s immigration minister.

Fréchette was appointed by Premier François Legault on September 5, taking over the files previously held by Pierre Fitzgibbon, who announced the day before that he’d lost the motivation for politics and was quitting his cabinet position.

Quirion described Fréchette as “a young woman, very bright, and trained in the economy. He said he has known her for several years, including through the FRQ’s partnership with Quebec’s immigration ministry.

Fréchette was previously president and general manager of the Chambre de commerce de l'Est de Montréal. She was first elected to Quebec’s National Assembly in October 2022.

“I’m quite pleased [about the appointment],” and also that the government made it quickly, Quirion said.

Quirion said he anticipates one of Fréchette’s immediate priorities will be Bill 69, a large piece of legislation aimed at helping Quebec produce more green energy if the proposed legislation is passed.

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