Supporting the Next Generation Scholarship Program - 2024

Obvia is offering $1,500 research initiation scholarships for college students. The scholarship is awarded for a duration of 12 months and is non-renewable.

Eligibility requirements

In addition to meeting the Program’s general eligibility criteria, candidates for a college scholarship must meet all of the following conditions by the competition’s closing date to be eligible:

• Submit a research activity or a research-creation activity that aligns with Obvia's mission, focusing on the societal impacts of AI and digital technologies;

• Be enrolled in a college program at an institution in Quebec (part-time enrollment allowed in a continuing education program);
• Be supervised by a teacher at a college or cégep located in Quebec. Priority will be given to students enrolled in Obvia’s member institutions : Collège Ahuntsic, Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne, Collège de Brébeuf, Collège Dawson, Collège John Abbott, Cégep de Limoilou, Collège de Rosemont, Cégep de Sainte-Foy et Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe.

Evaluation criteria

• Relevance of the project in relation to the societal impacts of AI and digital technologies: 40%
• Quality of the academic record: 20%
• Quality of the project: 40%

Obvia is offering $5,000 scholarships for undergraduate students. The scholarship is awarded for a duration of 12 months and is non-renewable.

Eligibility requirements

In addition to meeting the Program’s general eligibility criteria, candidates for a college scholarship must meet all of the following conditions by the competition’s closing date to be eligible:

• Submit a research activity or a research-creation activity that aligns with Obvia's mission, focusing on the societal impacts of AI and digital technology;
• Be enrolled or have an offer of admission to an undergraduate program at a Quebec university;
• Be supervised by a researcher who is a member of Obvia.

Evaluation criteria

• Relevance of the project in relation to the societal impacts of AI and digital technology: 20%
• Quality of the academic record: 20%
• Quality of the project: 40%
• Potential outcomes of the project in relation to societal impacts of AI and digital technology: 20%

Obvia is offering $20,000 scholarships for master’s students. The scholarship is awarded for duration of 12 months and is non-renewable.

Eligibility requirements

In addition to meeting the Program’s general eligibility criteria, candidates for a master’s scholarship must meet all of the following conditions by the competition’s closing date to be eligible:

• Submit a project proposition that aligns with Obvia's mission, focusing on the societal impacts of AI and digital technologies;
• Be enrolled full-time in a master’s program at a Quebec university for up to 3 semesters (1 year) as of September 1^st 2024 OR hold an offer of admission to a master’s program at a Quebec university;
• Be supervised or co-supervised by an Obvia research member.

Evaluation criteria

• Relevance of the project in relation to the societal impacts of AI and digital technology: 20%
• Quality of the student’s records (publications, presentations, other achievements, involvement in society and academic results): 20%
• Quality of the project (clarity, hypotheses, methodology): 50%
• Potential outcomes of the project in relation to societal impacts of AI and digital technologies: 10%

Obvia is offering $25,000 scholarships for doctoral students. The scholarship is awarded for a duration of 12 months and can be renewed twice upon submission of progress reports considered satisfactory by both Obvia’s evaluation committee and the research supervisor.

Eligibility requirements

In addition to meeting the Program’s general eligibility criteria, candidates for a doctoral’s scholarship must meet all of the following conditions by the competition’s closing date to be eligible:

• Submit a project proposition that aligns with Obvia's mission, focusing on the societal impacts of AI and digital technologies;
• Be enrolled full-time in a doctoral program at a Quebec university for up to 3 years (9 semesters) as of September 1^st 2024 OR hold an offer of admission to a doctoral program at a Quebec university;
• Be supervised or co-supervised by an Obvia research member. 

Evaluation criteria

• Relevance of the project in relation to the societal impacts of AI and digital technology: 20%
• Quality of the student’s records (publications, presentations, other achievements, involvement in society, and academic results): 20%
• Quality of the project (clarity, hypotheses, methodology): 40%
• Potential outcomes of the project in relation to societal impacts of AI and digital technologies: 10%

Obvia offers $50,000 in funding to support the completion of postdoctoral internships. The funding is granted for a duration of 12 months and is non-renewable. This funding operates on a matching funds model and must therefore be supplemented by the supervisor (see Program Terms and Conditions).

Eligibility Requirements

In addition to meeting the Program’s general eligibility criteria, candidates for a postdoctoral fellowship must meet all of the following conditions by the competition’s closing date to be eligible:

• Submit a project that aligns with Obvia's mission, focusing on the societal impacts of AI and digital technologies;
• Hold a doctoral degree obtained within the past five years. Eligibility confirmation is based on the date stated on the Ph. D. diploma. Individuals whose careers have been interrupted or delayed may provide a justification along with the application OR be in the process of obtaining a doctoral degree and start the postdoctoral fellowship within a maximum of eight months following the program's closing date. The candidate is deemed to fulfill this condition when all requirements of the degree have been met, including the successfully defending the thesis and the submitting of the corrected version;
• Be supervised by a an Obvia research member;
• Dedicate full-time effort to the research project submitted;
• Obtain a letter of commitment from the supervisor that endorses the candidacy and ensures the required co-funding of the postdoctoral fellowship to cover costs related to benefits and other expenses according to the rules of the host university (see Program Terms and Conditions);
• Submit a letter of recommendation from a person other than the supervisor of the fellowship.

Responsibilities of the Postodoctoral Fellow

• Participating and presenting your research findings in Obvia’a activities
• Sharing your research findings to diverse audiences (academic papers, editorials, opinion pieces, blogs, conferences, interviews, etc.)
• Publishing your research findings in scientific journals
• Working in collaboration with Obvia researchers and teams
• Acknowledging the support of Obvia and of the Fonds de recherche du Québec in all scientific communications and publications.

Evaluation criteria

• Relevance of the research project, both to Obvia's mission and to the candidate's background, originality: 20%
• Candidate's experiences and achievements, including publications, social involvements, academic results, professional experiences, research or teaching assistantships, student supervision, internships, as well as the quality of the supervisor's letter and the letter of recommendation: 20%
• Quality of the project (clarity, hypotheses, methodology): 40%
• Project's alignment with Obvia's research axes and interdisciplinary nature: 10%
• Outcomes of the project in relation to societal impacts of AI and digital technology: 10%

The competition is open to all, without restriction as to citizenship or residence. Priority is given to candidates who have not yet received support from Obvia.

The scholarship recipient is required to maintain full-time enrollment at a post-secondary educational institution in Quebec and meet the program requirements throughout the duration of their scholarship to remain eligible.

The research or research-creation project must align with Obvia's mission. The primary focus of the research must have a direct connection to the societal impacts of artificial intelligence and digital technologies. Projects of a purely technical nature or research projects that solely utilize AI for modeling or analysis purposes are not eligible.

Candidates must be supervised by a regular, associate, or collegial research member of Obvia who qualifies under one of the following statuses recognized by the Fonds de recherche du Québec: University researcher; Clinical university researcher; College researcher.

Due to the large number of applications and the limited number of scholarships available, supervisors can only refer one candidate per level per year.

An individual holding a scholarship or postdoctoral fellowship from Obvia cannot simultaneously receive other scholarships or funding from the Fonds de recherche du Québec and the Tri-agency federal councils (SSHRC, NSERC, and CIHR) for the same period and the same research project.

However, cumulations are permitted in the following cases:

• Scholarships from Canadian and Quebec government departments and agencies other than those mentioned above;
• Co-supervised international mobility scholarships and scholarships for internships in or outside Québec;
• Scholarships from the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) or Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ);
• Scholarships from the private sector, internal scholarships from universities and affiliated centres and supplementary scholarships from the research supervisor.

Any paid work undertaken in addition to the academic training is allowed without any time limit per session. This employment must be approved by the research supervisor and should not interfere with research activities. The research project must remain the primary focus.

The salary received by a student from his or her supervisor to work on their research project is considered as a scholarship that can be cumulated.

Funding for postdoctoral fellowships offered through Obvia’s Program is based on a matching-fund model.

Applicants must have proof of minimum co-funding from the supervisor or other sources. This co-funding is intended to cover :

• The cost related to the social benefits of the postdoctoral fellow, according to the rules of the host institution. For your information, postdoctoral fellows are unionized at many Quebec universities and benefit from a collective agreement that covers the cost of social benefits. For example, at Université Laval, an amount equivalent to approximately 19.76% of the salary paid must be added to the budget for the payment of social benefits.
• Any other requirements in according to the rules in force (in a collective agreement, if applicable) at the host university (minimum annual remuneration, salary increases, etc.).

Obvia’s scientific committee, based on the evaluation committee's recommendations, retains the right to allocate the number of scholarships within each category, taking into account both application evaluations and available budgets.

The scholarship must begin at the start of a semester and within eight months following the awarding of the scholarship. For students already enrolled in a program, the scholarship will start at the beginning of the next semester. The scholarship is not retroactive, and sessions completed before the scholarship's effective date cannot be funded.

 The scholarship cannot be used for full-time preparatory studies (propaedeutics).

The postdoctoral fellowship for which funding is granted must start no later than eight months following the competition's closing date.

The scholarships are paid directly to the recipients twice a year (fall and winter), but the amounts cover all three semesters. Doctoral scholarship recipients must maintain full-time enrollment throughout the year, including the summer semester.

Postdoctoral fellowship funds are transferred to the supervisor overseeing the fellowships. They are responsible for paying the fellow's salary according to the rules and procedures in place at their institution.

Doctoral scholarships may be renewed for an additional two years. The renewal of the scholarship cannot exceed the 6th year of enrollment (18 sessions) and is conditional upon the recipient's continued eligibility, satisfactory progress of the project, compliance with scholarship cumulation rules, and the availability of budget at Obvia.

College scholarships, undergraduate scholarships, master's scholarships, and postdoctoral fellowships are non-renewable.

Individuals interrupting their studies or postdoctoral fellowship due to childbirth or adoption may request an unpaid parental leave for a continuous duration of twelve months. The leave will be approved if the period covered by the scholarship does not exceed the period for which Obvia is funded by the FRQ and may begin during the expected term of childbirth or adoption period and ends no later than one year after the child's birth.

Doctoral scholarship recipients may receive a supplementary scholarship equivalent to one installment. Eligible individuals must have received their first installment to apply for this supplement.

If any changes are made regarding the research project or its supervision after the awarding of a scholarship or funding, the scholarship recipient must notify Obvia in writing. Obvia’s research direction will then assess whether the requested changes might impact the project’s evaluation, determining whether to maintain, renew or cease the funding.