Dear members and students,
Results of the FRQS competitions have officially been released. I am very pleased to announce that the Vision Health Research Network performed particularly well in the December 2012 competition, earning the network the congratulations from the FRQS and a renewal of 4 years.
I wish to congratulate all of our members for this spectacular achievement in context of major budget cuts. I also wish to sincerely thank you for your participation during the renewal application.
We can be very proud of our Network.
As you know, the FRQ has suffered significant cuts. After a major reassessment, the FRQS has chosen not to penalize further research centers, already severely underfunded, and not to jeopardize the Training Grants and Career Awards programs. Thus, networks and groups will absorb most of the of budget cuts and networks were cut by 20%. The VHRN 2011-2013 budget had already been cut by 15%, which brings us to a total 32% cut compared to the budget of $400,000 per year traditionally allocated to our network up to 2010-2011. The VHRN Executive Committee will meet shortly to evaluate this issue and we will keep you posted as soon as possible about the programs offered this year.
The next few years may not be much easier than the previous ones, but I believe that the maturity of our network will allow us to continue to perform at a very high level.
With regards,
Isabelle Brunette
Director
FRQS Vision Health Research Network
