Structuring initiatives support

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Competition description

Population health research aims to identify, understand and act on social determinants of health by guiding public health interventions and informing public policy, with the overall objective of improving population health. The mission of the Quebec Population Health Research Network (QPHRN-RRSPQ) is to support capacity development in population health research. Interdisciplinary, inter-institutional and inter-sectorial collaborations are essential to forming an understanding of contemporary health problems and therefore represent an important area of focus.

With this mission in mind, the goal of the current competition is to allow researchers affiliated with different institutions and domains interfacing with population health to establish new research collaborations. In doing so, this competition aims to catalyze interdisciplinary research by encouraging researchers to organize their various domains of expertise around specific research themes to impact population health.

The RRSPQ will provide support or additional support to “structuring initiatives”(1) in order to strengthen subsequent proposals to external funding agencies. Each project must address an original question interfacing with the themes addressed by the strategic groupings and with the potential to exert an impact on public health interventions or policies. These aspects must be clearly outlined in the project proposal. The research team must also attest to the “structuring” role that the project will play (for instance, in uniting interdisciplinary research teams from different sectors, institutions, and organizations around a common point of scientific inquiry). Collaborations between strategic groupings and other organisations and institutions are thus highly recommended. Research teams that receive funding will be required to submit their project to an external funding agency prior to the end date specified for their project and must name this agency in their proposal. 

Amount

$15,000

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be “regular researcher” members of the QPHRN-RRSPQ.
  • The same project cannot be funded more than once by the FRQS, RRSPQ and/or any its strategic groupings or training programs.
  • A same researcher can apply and/or appear as a co-researcher in several applications to the current "Support for structuring initiatives" competitions of the RRSPQ and/or its strategic groupings. Yet, in order to provide all Network members with a fair access to this financial support, a same researcher cannot be funded more than once per year in these competitions. If any author appears in multiple applications, priority may be given to the application that gets the highest evaluation score.

Evaluation criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria: 

  • Scientific quality of the proposed research: clarity of the issues addressed and outlined goals; methodological rigor, feasibility of the proposal and of the timetable for completion of the project, relevance of expected results, benefits in terms of future research and impact.
  • Relevance with regard to the research themes of the QPHRN-RRSPQ strategic groupings.
  • Inter-institutional, inter-sectorial, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Researchers must have different and complementary domains of expertise. 
  • Priority will be given to projects involving at least two “regular researcher” members of the QPHRN-RRSPQ.
  • Priority will be given to projects involving at least two researchers or co-researchers that are both members of the QPHRN-RRSPQ and affiliated with different universities.
  • If possible, each project should include application-oriented aspects and/or a knowledge transfer component. Applicants are strongly encouraged to include a knowledge-user(2) in their research team.
  • High value-added collaborations/partnerships (e.g., collaborations with community partners or other key political stakeholders).
  • Expected benefits: potential to contribute to the improvement of population health interventions, services and public policies.
  • Potential of the research in leveraging extramural support and attracting new partners.
  • Plan for sustainability: plans for the continued development of the project beyond the year of funding provided by the QPHRN-RRSPQ.  
  • A clearly described and realistic timetable: the timetable must span a period of 12 months. 

Commitments

  • Researchers who receive funding must submit a financial report to demonstrate the use of the allocated funds, along with a scientific report.
  • Future applications for extramural funding must include all investigators and co-investigators involved in the current funding application.
  • The financial contribution of the QPHRN-RRSPQ must be explicitly mentioned in all activities resulting from the funded project, including presentations, publications or communications. The following acknowledgment phrase is suggested: 
    « L’équipe de recherche remercie le Réseau de recherche en santé des populations du Québec (RRSPQ) pour sa contribution au financement de ce projet. »
    “The research team would like to thank the Quebec Population Health Research Network (QPHRN-RRSPQ) for its contribution to the financing of this project.”
  • The laureates agree to publish the title and a summary of project (in French and in English) on the QPHRN's website, as soon as their selection is announced.
  • Researchers who receive funding are expected to attend the RRSPQ Annual Scientific Meeting and may be requested to present their results on this day. 

Submission

Upload the “Application form”. 

Applications must be submitted in a single document (Microsoft Word or PDF) via electronic mail, – Subject: “Competition – Structuring initiative” – no later than the submission date (see the top of this announcement), to the following email address: rrspq.coordination@gmail.com

Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated by a committee established by the board of directors; results will be communicated in the month following the submission.

Other information

For more information, contact: rrspq.coordination@gmail.com

 

(1) A “structuring initiative” aims to bring together important contributors to a specific field for a large-scale project involving researchers, research teams, research networks, institutional and inter-institutional centres, observatories, research institutes and other types of facilities and partners from the public, private and community sectors. A structuring initiative may take the form of a large-scale project (scientific dissemination, promotion or exchange; field research, etc), a collective infrastructure (development of joint services or a technical or electronic platform, etc) or a common resource accessible to a large number of researchers (development of a database, etc). The project must demonstrate the ways in which the planned initiative will lead to the development of coherent and productive links between researchers and partners from the public, private and community sectors based on the needs, objectives, priorities, implementation methods and activities set out in the proposal. (Adapted from http://www.frqsc.gouv.qc.ca/en/bourses-et-subventions/consulter-les-programmes-remplir-une-demande/bourse?id=d1cktwko1460378222414)

 

(2) As per the definition provided by CIHR, a knowledge-user is an individual:

  • who is likely to be able to use the knowledge generated through research in order to make informed decisions about health policies, programs and/or practices; 
  • whose level of engagement in the research process may vary with respect to intensity and complexity depending on the nature of the research and the information needs of the beneficiary; 
  • who could be, for instance, a practitioner, policy maker, educator, decision maker, health care administrator, community leader, or member of a health charity organization, patient group, private sector organization or media outlet. (Adapted from http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/34190.html#k4)

 

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List of former recipients

2017 - 2018

Emmanuelle Bédard (UQAR) et collègues:
Processus d’accès au logement des personnes qui participent au programme Clé en main en Chaudière-Appalaches.
IS soutenue par le RS ISSE. 

Chantal Blouin (INSPQ) et collègues: 
Intervention économique pour augmenter la consommation de fruits et légumes : Étude initiale sur la faisabilité et l’acceptabilité de l’intervention.

Geneviève Brisson (UQAR), Lilly Lessard (UQAR) et collègues:
Utilisation des services de santé et des médicaments d’ordonnance : indicateurs des impacts sur la santé mentale des populations touchées par des désastres causés par des aléas climatiques extrêmes (ACE).
IS soutenue par les RS SMe et TIC & Santé.

Alexandre Coutant (UQAM) et collègues:
Les « mots qui font du bien ». Analyse communicationnelle de l’efficacité thérapeutique de la parole dans des situations de traumatismes personnels majeurs. 
IS soutenue par le RS Éthique.

Christopher Fletcher (ULaval), Vincent Laliberté (McGill University), et collègues:
Évaluation des besoins en santé mentale des Inuits en situation d’itinérance à Montréal.
IS soutenue par le RS ISSE.

Matthew Hunt (McGill University) et collègues:
Ethics and the closure of humanitarian healthcare projects. 
IS soutenue par le RS Éthique.

Lara Maillet (UdeM) et collègues: 
En temps et lieux : Prendre la mesure des inégalités sociales en santé mentale pour les personnes réfugiées au Québec.
IS soutenues par les RS SMe et ISSE.

Joane Otis (UQAM) et collègues:
Initiative structurante relative à l’accessibilité aux services de prévention combinée offerts aux hommes qui ont des relations sexuelles avec d’autres hommes (HARSAH) dans la région du grand Montréal : un projet pilote.

Mathieu Philibert (UQAM) et collègues:
Inégalités sociales et territoriales dans la conciliation travail-famille : état de la situation et effets sur la santé et le bien-être des parents. 
IS soutenue par le RS ISSE.

Louise Vandelac (UQAM) et collègues: 
Briser le cycle des dépendances aux pesticides: des enjeux de santé des populations, d’environnement, de sciences et de politiques publiques au cœur de l’éthique publique.
IS soutenue par le RS Éthique.

Kate Zinzser (UdeM), Mathieu Maheu-Giroux (McGill University) et collègues:
Data and modelling exploration for arboviral disease patterns, determinants, and forecasts in Colombia.
IS soutenue par le RS SM.

Années précédentes

Elham Emami (UdeM) et collègues - Concours Réseau de recherche en santé buccodentaire et osseuse/IRSPUM/RRSPQ:
Accessibilité aux soins buccodentaires pour les clientèles vulnérables : Faisabilité, efficacité et efficience de différents modèles d'organisation des soins et dans le contexte québécois.

Marjolaine Héon (UdeM) et collègues - Concours bi-réseaux Réseau de recherche en interventions en sciences infirmières du Québec/RRSPQ:
Analyse d’évaluabilité de l’implantation et du fonctionnement d’une banque publique de lait humain selon une approche réaliste: un projet pilote.

Mathieu Maheu-Giroux (McGill University), Michel Alary (ULaval), et collègues: 
La prévention du VIH en Côte d’Ivoire: analyse coût-efficacité de différents scénarios d’interventions pour atteindre la cible ONUSIDA 90-90-90. 
IS soutenue par le RS SM.

Ginette Paquet (INSPQ) et collègues:
Consolidation de la formation de l’équipe de recherche évaluative en lien avec l’implantation et l’évaluation de la Clinique communautaire de santé et d’enseignement SPOT.

Chantal Robillard (UQAM) et collègues:
Création d’un réseau québécois d’information publique sur les substances psychoactives.

Audrey Smargiassi, Kate Zinszer (UdeM), et collègues: 
Évaluation du rôle de l'usage et du mésusage des moustiquaires dans la lutte contre le paludisme en Ouganda - Assessing the role of bednet use and misuse in malaria control in Uganda. 
IS soutenue par le RS SM.