We are pleased to announce the results of the 19th edition of the OPUS and the PRELUDIUM calls. Polish scientists will receive more than 487 million PLN in funding for basic research projects.
For many years now, the OPUS and PRELUDIUM schemes have enjoyed enormous popularity with researchers who look to have their research projects funded. The 19th edition of the two calls attracted a total of 4096 proposals, 595 of which were awarded funding grants.
OPUS is targeted at researchers at any stage of their research career, no matter their scientific degree, and offers funding for various research projects, including those that involve the purchase or manufacturing of research equipment. In addition, the formula of OPUS 19 has now been extended to include elements of the HARMONIA call, which paved the way for the funding of proposals designed to be carried out in bilateral or multilateral international cooperation, as well as initiatives involving the use of large-scale international research equipment. The 19th edition of the OPUS call enjoyed record popularity, attracting as many as 2424 proposals for a total amount of more than 2.5 billion PLN. Following the recommendations of peer review, 352 projects were awarded a total of 451 million PLN in funding; interestingly, as many as three will be carried out by researchers who have not yet earned their PhD degree.
PRELUDIUM is a call targeted at researchers who are only at the outset of their research career and have not yet earned their PhD degree. The research team in the project may consist of a maximum of three members, including the principal investigator and the mentor. The 19th edition of the call attracted 1672 proposals for a total amount of nearly 246 million PLN, out of which 243 were qualified for funding, receiving grants of more than 36 million PLN in total.
Projects submitted for funding in NCN calls can be carried out in three disciplines: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Life Sciences; and Physical Sciences and Engineering. Proposals in each of these disciplines are evaluated by a dedicated expert team composed of outstanding Polish and foreign researchers. It is their review that provides the basis for the final decision as to which projects will be funded.
In the OPUS 19 and PRELUDIUM 19 calls, the greatest number of projects will be carried out in the field of Physical Sciences and Engineering: total funding of more than 174 million PLN was awarded to 213 projects. Researchers working in Life Sciences were awarded 203 grants of more than 228 million PLN in total, while a further c. 85 million PLN will be divided among 179 projects in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
The ranking lists of all projects qualified for funding under the OPUS 19 and PRELUDIUM 19 schemes can be found here.
Furthermore, the decisions concerning projects recommended for funding or rejected in the OPUS 19 and PRELUDIUM 19 schemes will be sent out today. The decisions by the NCN Director are delivered in the form of an electronic document to the electronic address indicated in the proposal.
- If the applicant is an entity mentioned in Article 27 (1)-(7) and (9) of the Act on the National Science Centre, the decision shall be delivered only to the Electronic Inbox (ePUAP) address indicated in the proposal.
- If the applicant is a natural person and lists the ePUAP address in the proposal, the decision shall be delivered to that address.
- If the applicant is a natural person and does not list an ePUAP address, an electronic address from which the decision can be downloaded shall be sent to the e-mail address indicated in the proposal.
The decisions of the NCN Director whether or not to award funding are also submitted to the principal investigator, and if the applicant is a physical person, to the entity indicated as the host institution in the proposal.
Should you not receive the decision, please make sure that the address (ESP, ePUAP, e-mail) you have provided is correct. If not, please contact the person in charge of the proposal, as listed in the ZSUN/OSF system.