Undergraduate Introduction to Research Scholarships

The Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) provides undergraduate introduction to research scholarships of $5,000 to allow undergraduate students in eligible programs to undertake a 200-hour research assistantship under the supervision of a Bishop’s University faculty member during the 2024-2025 academic year.

Please note that the program has been reviewed and that the eligibility criteria and overall application/selection process has been changed for the 2024-25 academic year.

Eligibility

Student eligibility

To be eligible, students must be:

registered in an undergraduate program at an eligible institution (Bishop’s is eligible) leading to a bachelor’s degree in an area covered by the FRQSC;
have never held an Undergraduate Initiation to Research Scholarship from the FRQSC.

Supervisor eligibility

To be eligible, supervisors must be:

tenured/tenure-track Faculty at an eligible institution*;
from an area covered by the FRQSC.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted by the students directly on the FRQnet portal. All applications must first be reviewed by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies (ORGS) before submission to the FRQSC.

Final review and decisions are made by the FRQSC.

Applications may be submitted in both official languages (French or English) as long as the entirety of the application is submitted in the same language.

Deadline

Applications will be reviewed on a first-come first-served basis until March 31^st, 2025 or until the entirety of the funds have been allocated, whichever comes first.

Evaluation criteria

Academic excellence – 40 points

Relevancy of the internship and research potential – 60 points

For more information about this scholarship opportunity, please visit the FRQSC website.

If you have questions regarding this competition, please contact the Graduate Studies Coordinator (Jimmy Couturier – jimmy.couturier@ubishops.ca).

*Eligible institutions are limited to Bishop’s University, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Université du Québec en Outaouais, and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can hold a FRQSC Summer Internship following the completion of your degree (Summer 2025), provided you have not yet started your graduate studies and you meet all other eligibility criteria. You must be registered in your undergraduate degree at the time of application. However, since this funding is to initiate students to research, it would be pertinent in this case to mention what are the plans of the student now that they are done with undergrad school.

If you are selected for this funding, nothing in the guidelines prevents you from obtaining credits while being paid by this scholarship. However, some programs might prevent you from being paid while obtaining credits, so this would be program-dependent.