QPIRG Concordia is offering a $3000 Research Stipend (deadline to apply: June 29)

QPIRG Concordia Research Stipend
Deadline to apply: Monday, June 29, 2015, at 5pm.

The Quebec Public Interest Research Group at Concordia is a resource centre for student and community research and organizing. We strive to raise awareness and support grassroots activism around diverse social and environmental issues. Our work is rooted in an anti-oppression analysis and practice. We seek to make campus-community links and inspire social change through engaging, inclusive and non-hierarchical approaches.

QPIRG’s research stipend is intended to provide a budget/honorarium of $3,000 to work over the summer doing research or working on projects leading towards action and change on campus and within the Montreal community. We encourage anyone interested to apply!
Successful applicants will demonstrate to the selection committee that:
– their project fits into QPIRG’s mandate to promote social and environmental justice activism on Concordia campus and in the Montreal community (QPIRG’s mandate can be found here: https://www.qpirgconcordia.org/?page_id=2526)
– their project demonstrates an understanding of anti-oppression approaches, as well as an understanding that projects proposed in the context of solidarity organizing need to demonstrate how they will take leadership and direction from the communities with which they work and/or are organized by people who are directly affected or implicated in the group’s mandate. In terms of this, please consider the following questions and include responses to them in your application:
1. Please explain how you situate yourself with regard to your project: is the issue/subject/work that your project is based on affecting you/your community directly? Are you/your group an “outsider” proposing a project about a particular topic? What is your interest and investment in the issue that you are researching/presenting? Why did you choose to propose a project related to this particular topic?
2. Please explain in detail whether the subject/topic of your project has been informed by feedback and direction from communities that are directly affected by the topic/subject of your project.
– the research or project will be useful, and implemented as a useful campus and community resource
– the applicant(s) has appropriate experience and can be reasonably expected to meet these goals.
We encourage projects that demonstrate a likelihood of ongoing and sustained activity beyond the final project.
Examples of past stipends at QPIRG Concordia include the development and implementation of:
– The Indigenous Women and Two-Spirit Harm Reduction Coalition‘s document addressing decolonization and solidarity aimed at community organizations and activists (www.qpirgconcordia.org/?p=5285)
– Gentrify This! A Student’s Guide to Understanding and Resisting Gentrification (http://issuu.com/qpirgnoah/docs/gentrify_this__guide__english_?e=8027728/2166748)
– Queers Made This: A Visual Archive of Radical Queer Organising in Montreal, 2005-2010 by members of Qteam
– Resisting Deportations: A Community Guide by members of Solidarity Across Borders (www.solidarityacrossborders.org)
– Convergence, a journal of undergraduate and community research (www.convergencejournal.ca)
– Vélo! Vélo!, a conference about and for bicycle collectives in the Greater Montreal Area
– the Community-University Research Exchange (CURE) database, linking student research with grassroots groups throughout Montreal and beyond (www.curemontreal.org)
In your application, please include:
a) a proposal that outlines the objectives of your project, the needs it addresses, and how it fulfills the above criteria. (2 pages maximum)
b) a CV with two references; for groups of more than 2 people applying, instead of a CV for each person, please provide a short (maximum one page) document outlining the relevant experiences and skills of your group collectively, as well as two references
c) a project timeline that shows clear goals for the summer, as well as the follow-up action period (note: work on projects can continue into the fall, but all expenses must be finalized by the end of August).
d) a budget of estimated expenses (and revenue, if any) for the project (i.e. honorarium, photocopies, travel costs, long distance phone calls, etc).
* Please keep in mind that the $3000 stipend is meant to cover both the estimated project expenses and an honorarium for the project coordinator(s).
** Please also note that the selection of stipends will be entirely based on the applications submitted. There will be no interviews held as part of the selection process. If you have questions or need any help with preparing the application, we encourage you to get in touch.
Responsibilities of Stipend recipients include:
– outlining with a QPIRG board or staff member the method and payment plan for the stipend (NOTE: a TOTAL of $3000 is given per project)
– meeting with a QPIRG board or staff member to give updates on the progress of the project at least once per month throughout the duration of the project
– giving at least three oral reports to the QPIRG board throughout the duration of the project
– producing a final written report of the project that includes a summary of the completed project
– providing QPIRG with any materials that were produced
– presenting their project at QPIRG’s Annual General Meeting in October.
– acknowledging QPIRG Concordia’s contribution to the project on all publicity material
Please submit a research stipend proposal with all the above documents to QPIRG Concordia by 5pm on Monday, June 29, 2015:
– via email to hiring@qpirgconcordia.org
– dropped off in person at our office DURING OFFICE HOURS (Monday to Thursday, 12-6pm): 1500 de Maisonneuve Ouest, suite 204 (corner of Mackay).
– sent by mail to: QPIRG Concordia, c/o Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Ouest, Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8 (it must arrive before the deadline)
Employment Equity: QPIRG Concordia recognizes and welcomes the unique contributions that individuals from marginalized and oppressed communities bring to our organization, and invites these individuals to apply.  We encourage applicants to describe the unique contributions they, as individuals with diverse experiences, would bring to QPIRG Concordia in their cover letter or resume. Please indicate clearly in your cover letter that you would like to be considered for Employment Equity. A full copy of the employment equity policy is available upon request.
Are you interested but not sure if your idea would be accepted? Have lots of energy to commit to a project but fresh out of ideas? Give us a shout!
Contact us with questions at 514-848-7585, email us at hiring@qpirgconcordia.org, or drop by our office:
The Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at Concordia
1500 de Maisonneuve O. suite 204
Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1N1
Tel. 514-848-7585
https://www.qpirgconcordia.org