Pre-announcement of the long-awaited fifth call for two interdisciplinary Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence for outstanding researchers from around the world up to 15 years after their PhD.

The Dioscuri Programme aims to strengthen international standards of scientific excellence in Central and Eastern Europe and to support the on-going scientific transformation processes in the EU-13 countries. The person-centered programme was initiated by the Max Planck Society (MPS) and is jointly managed MPS and the National Science Centre Poland (NCN). Funding for the programme is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), funding for the Centres of the 5th call is provided by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW) through the National Science Centre Poland.

Eligible applicants

The 5th Call for two interdisciplinary Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence in Poland is directed at internationally competitive and scientifically outstanding scientists from all scientific disciplines and all nationalities, who have proven their ability to conduct innovative research independently, who:

• completed their PhD no longer than 15 years prior to the application deadline;
• have proven international mobility over the course of their scientific career;
• pursued their PhD and Post-doc(s) at different research institutions;
• who have not been employed at the Host Institution during the last three years prior to the application deadline;
• is able to propose excellent interdisciplinary proposal (10 pages excl. references and budget plan) with significant impact on two out of the three domains:
  • Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences (HS)
  • Life Sciences (NZ)
  • Physical Sciences and Engineering (ST)
• will closely cooperate with a scientific partner from Germany of its choice from a German research institution;
• will establish an international Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to his or her Dioscuri Centre.

Funding and structure of the Dioscuri Centres

Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence in Poland established under the 5th call are funded with up to € 300,000 p.a. each for an initial five years and can be extended for another five years after successful external evaluation.

Dioscuri Centres will be embedded within the structures of the Polish Host Institution (HI), which will contribute to the Centre both financially and infrastructurally by

• providing additional funding of EUR 25,000 per annum;
• providing administrative support, and access to the necessary research equipment;
• providing necessary office and/or lab space;
• providing additional full-time employment for a program coordinator with administrative and research management responsibilities.

No overheads costs are foreseen for HI under the programme. An invitation for Polish research institutions to submit proposals for the establishment of Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence will be launched in mid-March 2026, accompanied by a series of informational meetings.      

Important dates

• The 5th Call for two interdisciplinary Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence in Poland with its full documentation will be published mid-April 2026.

• The application must be submitted until 15 September 2026.
• The invitation for Polish research institutions to submit proposals for the establishment of Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence will be launched in mid-March 2026.
• Series of online information meetings will be organized in the period of Mid-April until mid-June 2026.

Dioscuri Leaders of the Polish and Czech Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence

Dioscuri Leaders

• Dioscuri Centre for RNA-Protein Interactions in Human Health and Diseases: Prof. Gracjan Michlewski
• Dioscuri Centre for Modelling of Posttranslational Modifications: Dr. Mateusz Sikora
• Dioscuri Centre for Metabolic Diseases: Dr. Grzegorz Sumara
• Dioscuri Centre in Topological Data Analysis: Dr. hab. Paweł Dłotko
• Dioscuri Centre for Stem Cell Biology and Metabolic Diseases: Dr. Peter Fabian
• Dioscuri Centre for Chromatin Biology and Epigenomics: Dr. Aleksandra Pękowska
• Dioscuri Centre for Single-Molecule Optics: Dr. Barbora Špačková
• Dioscuri Centre for Structural Dynamics of Receptors: Dr. Przemysław Nogły

Not in the picture:

• Dioscuri Centre in Random Walks in Geometry and Topology: Dr. Mikołaj Frączyk
• Dioscuri Centre for Spin-Caloritronics and Magnonics: Dr. Helena Reichlová

The National Science Centre, in cooperation with the M-ERA.NET network, has launched the M-ERA.NET Call 2026 for international research projects in the area of material science and material engineering in support of the European Green Deal.

Polish researchers are able to participate in M-ERA.NET calls through two grant agencies: the National Science Centre and the National Centre for Research and Development. NCN funding can only be requested by Polish applicants for basic research projects (TRL 1-4). Researchers whose projects start from TRL 3-6 and achieve TRL 5-8 may apply for NCBR funding. Involvement of a Polish industrial partner is required.

The call covers the following topics in the field of material science and material engineering:

• Materials for energy storage and distribution systems
• Materials for energy conversion
• Innovative surfaces, coatings and interfaces
• Innovative functional materials with defined architectures
• Materials addressing environmental challenges
• Next generation materials for electronics

Funding proposals may be submitted by international consortia composed of at least 3 research teams from at least 3 countries participating in the call. The principal investigator of the Polish research team must be at least a PhD holder.

Countries participating in the call: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and Turkey (some countries participate in the call regionally).

Under the M-ERA.NET Call 2026, funds may be awarded to cover salaries for members of the research team, salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students, purchase or manufacturing of research equipment and other costs crucial to the research project.

The NCN Council has decided to allocate EUR 1,500,000 for research projects carried out by Polish research teams under the M-ERA.NET Call 2026.

Call timeline

International level (two-stage procedure)

• Stage 1: 12 May 2026 (12:00 noon CEST): submission deadline for pre-proposals
• Stage 2: 18 November 2026 (12:00 noon CET): submission deadline for joint full proposals

National level (single-stage procedure):

• 25 November 2026: submission deadline for NCN UNISONO domestic proposals by the Polish research teams.

Call results will be published in February 2027.

February 2027: publication of the list of projects recommended for funding

Lauch of NCN’s international “LUKE Joint Call: R&I Cooperation with Ukraine”

The international LUKE Joint Call has just been launched by the National Science Centre (NCN) in collaboration with international partners in the LUKE project - Linking Ukraine to the European Research Area – Joint Funding and Capacity Building Platform for Enhanced Research and Innovation Cooperation.

The aim of the call is to support research projects involving international collaboration, with Ukraine as the key partner. The call is targeted at strengthening integration of the Ukrainian research and innovation system with the European Research Area (ERA).

Proposals should address one of the following topics:

1. Energy: Sustainable and renewable energy and energy security
2. Cybersecurity: Cyber resilience of critical infrastructures and adaptive cybersecurity systems
3. Medical and health research: Telemedicine, biomedical research
4. Social sciences and humanities: Social reconciliation, sustainable social development, and human capital restoration

The topics are described in more detail here.

Countries participating in the call: Austria, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine.

The call is open to international research consortia comprising at least three entities from various countries participating in the programme, of which at least one must be based in Ukraine.

The principal investigator of the Polish team must be at least a PhD holder.

The total NCN budget for all Polish research teams selected in the call is EUR 750,000.

The Polish project budget in the joint proposal will be calculated according to the following exchange rate: EUR 1 = PLN 4.3463.

Under the LUKE programme, funding may be awarded for remuneration of the research team members, salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students, purchase or manufacturing of research equipment, and for other costs crucial to the research project.

The application process consists of:

• International level, during which Polish research teams will draft joint proposals (in English) together with foreign partners and submit them to the electronic submission system PT-Outline
• National level, during which Polish research teams will draft NCN proposals for the Polish part of the project and submit them to NCN electronically via the OSF submission system within 7 days of the date of submission of joint proposals at the international level. 

The call comprises a single stage which means that only joint proposals are submitted at the international level. The proposal submission procedure at the international level is described in detail in the LUKE Joint Call text.

Call timeline:

• Submission deadline for joint proposals in the PT-Outline submission system: 15 May 2026,23.59 p.m..
• Submission deadline for NCN proposals in the OSF submission system: 22 May 2026
• Call results: November 2026
• Project start date: January 2027 – March 2027
• Project end date: December 2028 – March 2029

The principal investigator in the Polish research team drafts an NCN proposal for the Polish part of the project in the OSF submission system, which is then submitted to NCN electronically via the OSF submission system within 7 days of the submission deadline for joint proposals. Information in NCN proposals and in joint proposals must be consistent.

Under LUKE, only basic research proposals are eligible for submission to NCN, where basic research is understood as experimental or theoretical endeavours undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any direct commercial application or use).

Information in NCN proposals that affects the merit-based evaluation (e.g. concerning composition and remuneration of the research team or forecasted costs) must also be included in the joint proposals to enable evaluation of the forecasted costs and project feasibility. If such information is missing, the proposal may be rejected at the stage of eligibility check.

Please read:

• the call documents available on the website of the LUKE Partnership (applicable to all applicants in the call) and
• information for applicants below and annexes hereto (only for applicants requesting NCN funding).

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Eligible applicants

Who may act as a principal investigator?

What are the topics covered by the call?

What is the project duration?

How should the project budget of the Polish part of the project be planned?

Is the number of Polish research team members predetermined?

Can proposals in this call include application for state aid?

What is the proposal evaluation procedure?

Who performs the merit-based evaluation of proposals?

When and how will the results be announced?

Useful information

Where can additional information be found?

As of the March calls, the proposal form will include a new section on retracted articles. The new solution will complement the evaluation of applicants’ publication track record based on the DORA Declaration and will provide a more comprehensive overview of grant applicants’ publication track record.

Since 2018, NCN has been a signatory of the DORA Declaration and has evaluated the publication rack record on the basis of value and originality of research achievements rather than bibliometric indicators, such as the number of publications or citations. Funding proposals must include 1-10 most important papers of the researcher, published or accepted for publication over the past 10 years. The proposal review is based solely on the information included in the proposal, thereby fostering equal treatment of applicants and limiting bias.

New requirement

In order to ensure a more comprehensive overview of the applicants’ publication track record, the NCN Council has introduced a requirement that all researchers must disclose information on retracted papers (Resolution of 12 February 2026).

A retracted paper is an article published or accepted for publication and then formally withdrawn by the journal editors. Retraction may indicate a breach of publication standards. It is identified by the journal editors, has a certain status, reason and context described.

According to the modifications, the proposal form must include information on any articles retracted over the past 10 years, reasons for retraction, co-authors and DOI of retracted articles.

The modification will enter into effect as of the launch date of OPUS 31 and PRELUDIUM 25 (16 March 2026). The new requirement will apply to researchers whose publication track record will be evaluated, i.e. principal investigators, as well as (depending on the call) mentors, senior researchers and PIs of LAP proposals.

The new information will form an integral part of the evaluated proposal and will provide expert-reviewers with a more comprehensive overview of the publication track record of applying researchers without increasing discretion in the process.

Owing to Weave-UNISONO funding, researchers from the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology together with their German partners will study proteins driving prostate cancer progression.

Prof. Monika Pietrowska will lead the Polish research team in carrying out the project: “Characterization of the ALDH1A1/MMP11 pathway as a potential biomarker and regulator of prostate cancer progression and metastases.” The German research team will be headed by Dr Ielizaveta Gorodetska from the Dresden University of Technology.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancer in men worldwide and its metastatic form has low survival and limited therapeutic options. Our study describes a new mechanism whereby ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A3 are critical regulators of PCa radioresistance and metastases by activating a pathway using retinoic acid, TGF-β1 and MMP11. MMP11 was found to contribute to the PCa progression, whereas its inhibition enhances prostate cancer cell radio-sensitization. The tumour and plasma MMP11 levels have shown a potential to differentiate between metastatic and non-metastatic, and to predict disease progression and response to therapy. Development of the MMP11 targeting strategy may enhance cancer diagnosis, patient stratification, and treatment efficacy in prostate cancer, especially when combined with radiotherapy.

The successful proposal was evaluated by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the evaluation results were approved by NCN under the Weave cooperation. The Polish project budget is over PLN 950,000.

Weave-UNISONO and Lead Agency Procedure 

Weave-UNISONO is a result of multilateral cooperation between the research-funding agencies associated in Science Europe and aims at simplifying the submission and selection procedures in all academic disciplines, involving researchers from two or three European countries.

The winning applicants are selected pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure according to which one partner institution performs a complete merit-based evaluation of proposals, the results of which are subsequently approved by the other partners.

Under the Weave Programme, partner research teams apply for parallel funding to the Lead Agency and their respective institutions participating in the Programme. Joint research projects must include a coherent research program with the added value of the international cooperation clearly identified.

Weave-UNISONO is carried out on an ongoing basis. Research teams intending to cooperate with partners from Austria, Czechia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium-Flanders are urged to read the call text and apply for funding.

Dr Aneta Pazik Aybar, Poland’s representative in the EOSC Association and head of NCN’s Open Science Team has been appointed Co-Chair of the EOSC Steering Board.

Aneta Pazik-Aybar On 13 February 2026, nominees-experts from the EU member states and countries associated to Horizon Europe appointed Co-Chairs of the EOSC Steering Board, a key strategic authority of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).

The EOSC Steering Board supports the European Commission in guiding the EOSC development and forms a part of the EOSC Tripartite Governance.

This is a huge honour for Aneta, as well as the National Science Centre and our country. Aneta’s involvement and long-term efforts to support open science have a real impact on the EOSC development in Poland and abroad.

In view of the recent International Day of Women and Girls in Science, her success is of particular importance. Aneta’s experience, knowledge and passion serve as an example of the highest European decision-making position of women in the field of research and innovation.

Congratulations to Aneta! We are proud of your accomplishment and wish you every success in developing strong, open and modern European science.

We are pleased to announce that the Slovenian agency ARIS will conduct a call for proposals under the Weave programme between 16 February 2026 and 31 March 2026, with the Slovenian agency acting as the lead agency.

Under the Weave-UNISONO call, if a joint proposal is submitted to ARIS, an NCN proposal must be submitted electronically via the OSF submission system as soon as possible following the submission of the joint proposal to the ARIS, by 7 April 2026, 23:59 p.m. at the latest.

Once the work on the NCN proposal has started in the OSF submission system, the Polish research team has 45 calendar days to complete the proposal and submit it to the NCN. After that, the proposal can no longer be edited, in which case a Polish research team that has not sent its proposal to the NCN must prepare a new proposal and complete it in the OSF submission system.

At the beginning of March 2026, the M-ERA.NET network will launch its next call for international research projects. The call focuses on research and innovation in materials technology, aimed at supporting the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals.

This year’s edition will cover the following thematic areas:

• Clean energy technologies;
• Circular economy;
• Digital technology integration.

For more information, please visit the official M-ERA.NET program website.

Note: This announcement is for informational purposes only. Detailed terms and conditions will be specified in the official call for proposals.

We are pleased to announce that the Czech agency GAČR will conduct a call for proposals under the Weave programme between 9 February and 31 March 2026, with the Czech agency acting as the lead agency.

Under the Weave-UNISONO call, if a joint proposal is submitted to GAČR, an NCN proposal must be submitted electronically via the OSF submission system as soon as possible following the submission of the joint proposal to the GAČR, by 7 April 2026, 23:59 p.m. at the latest.

PLEASE NOTE: Once the work on the NCN proposal has started in the OSF submission system, the Polish research team has 45 calendar days to complete the proposal and submit it to the NCN. After that, the proposal can no longer be edited, in which case a Polish research team that has not sent its proposal to the NCN must prepare a new proposal and complete it in the OSF submission system.

On 16 January 2026, the National Science Centre in Kraków hosted a strategic meeting of the EOSC Poland Network. Representatives of more than twenty institutions from across the country gathered at the headquarters of the NCN — the coordinator of the national partnership and the EOSC node — to discuss the development of the European Open Science Cloud to date and Poland’s role in the initiative. The main topics were progress in building the EOSC Federation, its transition to the operational phase, and development prospects for the coming years.

The meeting was opened by Marcin Liana, NCN Deputy Director, who emphasised the importance of cooperation within the research community in developing open science and digital infrastructure. “We are meeting at a crucial moment in the development of the European Open Science Cloud. EOSC has moved beyond a project-based initiative and is becoming a lasting component of the European research and innovation ecosystem, firmly embedded in key EU strategies and policy directions. Its role is increasingly emphasised both in the context of research and technological infrastructure development and in discussions on AI in science and large-scale use of research data,” he noted, adding that the federated model of EOSC is particularly important, as it enables national and institutional resources to be combined into a coherent, interoperable whole. “In this context, cooperation with research infrastructures, e-infrastructures, data infrastructures, as well as competence centres — both national and European — plays a key role,” Marcin Liana stressed. “They can significantly strengthen the potential of open science, increase the visibility of Polish resources, and facilitate their reuse.”

The EOSC Federation enters the operational phase

In the next part of the meeting, Aneta Pazik-Aybar, Head of the Open Science Team at the National Science Centre and Coordinator of the EOSC Poland national node, took the floor. She explained the fundamentals of the EOSC Federation, the current stage of its development, and clarified the position of the Polish node. The Federation is currently transitioning from the build-up phase to the operational phase. In 2025, several organisations were involved in the work, and the signing ceremony of the Letter of Intent during the Symposium in Brussels formalised cooperation mechanisms. On 16 January, the director of the National Science Centre, Prof. Dr hab. Krzysztof Jóźwiak, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Polish EOSC node.

Aneta Pazik-Aybar also presented the benefits of EOSC Poland, a project intended to provide support for the integration of national research data infrastructure. “To date, many resources have not been interoperable or compliant with standards; there has been no federated AAI, and smaller research teams have lacked access to technical support,” she said. “EOSC Poland responds to these needs by integrating Polish institutions with the European cloud, promoting FAIR standards, offering unified access to services, and supporting multi- and interdisciplinary research.” Concluding her speech, she outlined a plan for 2026, which anticipates intensive development of the Federation — transition to operational mode, inviting additional institutions to join the nodes, introduction of monitoring and cybersecurity standards, development of participation rules, and work on a governance and funding model after 2027. The first quarter of 2026 also saw a meeting called Winter School EOSC 2026, with this year’s format supporting the expansion of the Federation.

EOSC EU Node – the first European EOSC node

Dr inż. Norbert Meyer, Head of the Data Processing Technologies Division at the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Centre, presented the EOSC EU Node: the European Commission's first European EOSC node, which initiated the creation of the European federation — an access point to open science services. Participants were able to see, in practice, how data resources, computing tools, and analytical environments work. Numerous questions from the audience demonstrated growing interest in the practical aspects of integration with EOSC.

Norbert Meyer emphasised that EOSC involves not only open research data, but also data relating to the economy, administration, and society. “The European Commission's policy concerns openness and equal access to results, publications, and experimental data from EU-funded R&D activities,” he said. “This opens up access to repositories, providing opportunities for big data analytics supported by AI and machine learning algorithms, together with LLM models. A new level of access to data enables the extraction of information and the acquisition of knowledge. At the same time, we are seeing new areas opening up in science and the economy thanks to open data sources supported by AI.”

A support platform for Polish researchers

In the next presentation, Roksana Wilk, Head of the Data Processing Laboratory at the Academic Computer Centre CYFRONET AGH, spoke about the eosc.pl platform, which supports Polish researchers in accessing EOSC resources.

“EOSC.pl significantly strengthens the implementation of standards and interoperability, without which open science remains a mere promise,” she noted. “The platform facilitates publishing, organising, and finding research resources, as well as their reuse in research projects. A well-designed national node allows Poland to participate coherently and reliably in the EOSC Federation, genuinely speeding up and improving the quality of scientific collaboration across Europe.”

Gateways to EOSC Federation services

In the second part of the event, Dr Monika Góral-Kurbiel, representing the EOSC Gravity project funded under Horizon Europe and the NCN Open Science Team, discussed calls related to the development of the Federation. The second call for EOSC nodes will identify institutions ready to act as “gateways” to Federation services, providing access to data and tools for research communities. The call is selective in nature, with no direct funding.

Monika Góral-Kurbiel emphasised that, in parallel, preparatory and inter-project calls are being run under the Gravity project, supporting candidates in preparing documentation, pilot implementations, and training materials. Both calls provide a budget of EUR 50,000 per project.

EOSC Handbook

Finally, Natalia Galica from the NCN Open Science Team presented the EOSC Handbook — a practical guide for organisations joining the Federation, designed to facilitate understanding of operating models, services, and participation procedures.

“The EOSC Handbook is a much-needed and practical guide for institutions wishing to join the EOSC Federation,” she noted. “It clarifies the nature and operation of Nodes, along with the EOSC Federation's participation rules and mechanisms. I am delighted to be part of this initiative and to co-create solutions that genuinely advance science.”

The meeting concluded with a summary and a discussion about the next steps. Informal discussions continued for a long time, focusing on directions for further cooperation, new opportunities, and Poland’s role in building the European research data infrastructure. The dynamic and energetic atmosphere showed that for many institutions the event marked the start of new initiatives and joint projects.