This text is part of the special notebook Relève en recherche
Convince the young people of 1er university cycle to continue their studies and take an interest in the research environment, this is what the Next Generation Research Days organized by Acfas now offer, among the various activities intended for students of the 2e and 3e university cycles.
Big news for 2023, Acfas has prepared the activity “Moving to the next level. Start a master’s research project”, reserved for baccalaureate students. “The idea is to encourage more young people to undertake higher education,” summarizes Jean-Pierre Perrault, president of Acfas and vice-rector for research and higher studies at the University of Sherbrooke.
This year, an intersectoral committee for students from the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ) organized activities relating in particular to eco-responsibility and the psychological health of the post-secondary student community. The Emerging Research Days will also address the place of artificial intelligence in academia, continues Mr. Perreault.
The event will bring together nearly 200 students and postdoctoral researchers from the Francophonie across Canada. And this, with the aim of training the next generation engaged in research, underlines Louise Poissant, scientific director of the Quebec Research Fund, society and culture component. “We want to open up research outside of academia,” she says.
Several challenges for the next generation
The next generation of researchers faces several challenges, notably the situation of full employment in the professional market. “Students are in high demand. They are offered promising and fairly well-paid positions, explains M.me Poignant. This poses a challenge because while students are in academia, their salaries or scholarships cannot equate to remuneration in the workplace.” Although she observes a growing interest in research from the private sector, she specifies that it is not the main activity of companies.
Mr. Perreault agrees. This is why Acfas has set up a free event aimed at people registered for the baccalaureate. “The idea is to demystify mastery and research pathways. Often, students arrive at the end of their program and have barely heard about it,” he notes.
Only a small percentage (20%) of doctorate holders obtain a position at university. “The other 80% will contribute in a multitude of ways to our society,” adds Mr. Perreault. Advisors, intellectual property developers, journalists… “Be sure they will have a good job,” he pleads. He highlights the existence of science popularization programs or the use of social networks in research, in order to allow “easier” integration of young graduates into the professional market.
For his part, Mme Poissant points out that there are scholarships for graduate students who plan to pursue a profession outside of academia. “As there will be few of them pursuing an academic career or becoming professors, we are promoting internship scholarships in practical environments,” she illustrates. It is also a good way to interest companies in the benefits that research can bring them, by transforming their processes, she adds.
Committed young people
Students are more interested in social problems such as demographic or climate change, notes Mme Poignant. “They feel more and more challenged in all areas that require a lot of research. So, we make great efforts to try to captivate them and give them opportunities to develop,” she says.
It also highlights the means deployed to encourage researchers to better popularize their work when they address non-expert audiences. “It’s a way of making people understand the exciting interest of doing research. Many young people are concerned about better sharing of resources,” she observes.
For Mr. Perreault, research students have an “on” social conscience. “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen that,” he notes. And pushing the boundaries of knowledge is exciting in itself. There aren’t many people doing this on our planet, but it’s so essential. »
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.