On the 13th of December, the National Science Centre hosted another "round table" meeting, during which researchers and NCN officials debated how to facilitate cooperation between the NCN and the research world.
The purpose of the meeting was to analyse the grant application processes, as well as project implementation and accounting, and to identify areas where legal provisions or NCN policy measures create requirements that unnecessarily impede or protract them. Round table participants took an especially close look at the terms and conditions, procedures and agreements that require researchers or host institutions to take superfluous administrative steps.
The meeting was attended by Polish researchers and research organization authorities that had previously submitted their postulates to the NCN. After listening to their experiences and suggestions, the director, the Council and the leaders of grant-handling NCN units, in cooperation with their guests, went on to consider possible improvements that would streamline the proposal review process and subsequent project administration. Issues on the table included, for instance, a number of proposed changes to the structure of proposals, the review procedure, the call portfolio, reporting, cost estimates and project accounting.
Some of the topics brought up during the meeting, e.g. a call to support Polish researchers applying for ERC grants, have already been discussed extensively at the NCN.