The results of the sixth edition of the ETIUDA call are in. Successful doctoral students will receive a total of ca. PLN 15 million in research scholarships. Out of the 355 young researchers who vied for funding, 147 were selected.
ETIUDA is a grant call offered by the National Science Centre, targeted at researchers who are still taking their first steps in academia. Within the framework of the programme, selected doctoral students receive regular research scholarships of PLN 4,500 per month. They also get the opportunity to complete an internship at a foreign research centre of their choice. To cover their expenses abroad, they are paid a further PLN 9,000 every month.
"Ever since its inception, the National Science Centre has aimed to increase researcher mobility as one of its priorities", says Professor Zbigniew Błocki, the director of the NCN, "Exchanging experiences and transferring knowledge are the only effective ways to help Polish researchers play a greater role in the international arena. The sooner they start cooperating with other research centres, the greater the chance they stand to build large and diverse research teams in the future. The ETIUDA call has already proven its worth in activating the young generation of researchers".
Doctoral students can choose to complete their foreign internship during the grant period, or within a year after its end. They also commit themselves to obtaining their doctorate no sooner than 6 months from the beginning of receiving the scholarship and no later than a year after the last scholarship payment.
Representatives of different academic disciplines vied for grants available within the ETIUDA 6 call. The largest number of submissions, as many as 152, came from the physical sciences and engineering; out of these, experts chose 64 projects to recommend for funding of nearly PLN 6.5 million. 108 applications were submitted in the arts, humanities and social sciences; 44 received scholarships of PLN 4.3 million in total. Last but not least, 39 out of 95 submissions in life sciences will soon be funded with a total of PLN 4.1 million.