Innovative online training and network aim to facilitate a ten-fold
boost in Quebec-based researchers who become entrepreneurs

MONTREAL–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ) and Concordia
University’s innovation hub District
3 proudly announce their partnership to help Quebec’s student
research trainees become innovation leaders and entrepreneurs through
the Quebec
Scientific Entrepreneurship (QcSE) program.

The objective of the program is to bring university cities across Quebec
in line with startup centers in areas such as Boston, hubs where 10% of
entrepreneurial ideas born in research labs are converted into new
business opportunities. While Quebec-based researchers are among the
world’s best and brightest, all too often their work doesn’t leave the
laboratory.

This new immersive program along with unique networking opportunities
will stimulate collaboration between all Quebec universities and
affiliated research centers. Together, they will integrate the
intersectoral research programming put forward by the Directorate of
Societal Challenges and Intersectoral Networks (DSMI) of the Office of
the Chief Scientist. In so doing, they will be meeting one of the three
FRQ’s societal challenges identified by the Stratégie
québécoise de la recherche et de l’innovation 2017-2022: fostering
entrepreneurship and creativity.

“Quebec’s strong economy provides powerful leverage for attracting and
retaining PhD students,” says Rémi Quirion, chief scientist of Quebec.
“This program presents an exciting option for academics: to see their
laboratory work have real-world impact through their mastery of
entrepreneurial skills.”

Beyond traditional research and teaching careers, the QcSE program
positions PhDs and postdocs to help further propel job creation in
Quebec where small- and medium-sized enterprises have always been
significant economic drivers. Students can test their entrepreneurship
potential with nascent business ideas and prepare for their entry into
the marketplace. It is never too early for a student researcher to
network, to understand the work required to build a company, and to draw
inspiration from Quebec’s entrepreneurial culture.

The QcSE program’s goal is to see 10% of Quebec PhD and postdoctoral
researchers turn toward entrepreneurship within the next three years.

“Based on a new economic model, this program will provide the province’s
student researchers with the ability to build and scale research-based
startups.” says Christophe Guy, vice-president of Research and Graduate
Studies, Concordia University. “Bridging the gap between the lab and
commercialization will allow researchers to pursue an entirely new path.”

“Researchers are the job creators of tomorrow,” says Xavier-Henri Hervé,
executive director of Concordia’s District 3. “Their scientific
knowledge combined with the right support could see a number of
innovations come to market that positively impact employment in the
province.”

The inaugural cohort currently has 45 participants from a variety of
backgrounds and affiliated with universities across Quebec. The program
cycles through three distinct phases of training over the course of
eight months. Recruitment is currently underway for the fall of 2019.

13 Quebec universities and affiliated research centers

The QcSE program in partnership with the FRQ brings different actors in
entrepreneurship together to offer customized training, developped
specifically for scientific trainees, across Quebec. Institutions that
will be served by the program include Concordia and McGill University,
Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), École de technologie supérieure
(ÉTS), Université de Montréal (UdeM), Institut national de la recherche
scientifique (INRS), Université de Sherbrooke, Université Laval,
Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), Université du Québec à
Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO),
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), Université du Québec en
Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), plus a number of these institutions’
affiliated research centres.

About the Fonds de recherche du Québec

Under the responsibility of the Ministre de l’Économie et de
l’Innovation, the Fonds de recherche du Québec are mandated to fund and
ensure the strategic and coherent development of research in Quebec,
support research training, develop partnerships to achieve their mission
and promote and support knowledge mobilization.

Contacts

Concordia University
Fiona Downey
Senior Advisor,
Public Affairs and Deputy Spokesperson
[email protected]
(514)
848-2424 ext. 2518

Fonds de recherche du Québec
Denise Pérusse
Director of
Societal Challenges and Intersectoral Networkings
[email protected]
Phone:
(418) 643-8560, ext. 3120