The Academy held a meeting with the Advisory Committee, virtually through teams technology, to discuss the applications submitted from applicants in the 4th call of PQSB, implemented for the fourth year in cooperation with the Fonds de Recherche du Québec, Canada.

The Academy presented the numbers of 72 applicants, including 40 applicants in the research area of science and technology, 8 in health sciences, and 24 in society and culture sciences, in accordance to their Institutions, gender, governorates, research area, and specialty.

The meeting discussed the selection criteria for first screening shortlisted applicants that should fulfill the following:

• Early career applicants. 
• Active researcher, have any publications within the last three years.
• Duration of stay, should be sufficient to produce a sustainable viable research outcome.
• Clear research work plan, should be typically included in the research proposal, that clearly outlines what tasks will be undertaken during the stay.
• Clear research objectives.
• Ensuring a knowledge of at least one of Canada's two official languages (French and English). 
• Verifying the veracity of the skills reported in the researchers' CVs.
• Special consideration to be considered including researchers with no publications, who can research or are in the process of publishing.
• Ensuring the return of researchers to Palestine

The meeting discussed also the selection criteria for PQSB Collaboration Projects that should fulfill the following:

• The quality of the proposed research project and clarity of the objective & action plan
• The research profile of the Palestinian applicant.
• The potential sustainability of the research project and the collaboration between the partners.
• Compatibility of the proposed research topic(s) with the objectives of the PQSB program with regards to:
• The impact and applicability of the proposed research projects and their relevance to the national priorities set by PQSB.
• The potential of the proposed projects or research for subsequent knowledge transfer to Palestine.

The meeting conclusion was, to form three unified committees for researchers in the West Bank and Gaza for interviewing the applicants that were agreed to take place nearly mid-January 2023, namely:

• Science, Engineering, and Technology Committee.
• Health Sciences Committee.
• Society and Culture sciences Committee, including Business Administration, Economics and Financial Sciences, and Humanities Committee.

It is expected to accept around 30 researchers, which will allow them to do research in several scientific fields in collaboration with researchers in Quebec. The Academy hope to start coordinating and facilitating visa procedures from February to April, in which all Candidates can travel to Canada at the beginning of May 2023.