“When it comes to research funding, the National Science Centre may be the most transparent institution in Poland. This is evident throughout proposal review. Applicants enjoy access to information at every stage of the process; they can also consult peer reviews and panel opinions”, said Professor Zbigniew Błocki in an interview with the Polish Press Agency. The NCN Director was responding to the words of Deputy Minister Włodzimierz Bernacki, who, earlier in November, announced the introduction of new measures meant to ensure “the end-to-end transparency of call procedures at the National Science Centre”.
The Minister also announced the establishment of a special committee of appeals for applicants who, for one reason or another, have been denied an NCN grant. Professor Błocki responded by pointing out that such a committee already exists; it is the Appeals Committee of the NCN Council, which looks into more than a hundred cases every year. “I just want to point out that the right of appeal against an unfavourable decision is not even a standard in foreign research agencies. By definition, it is a competitive procedure, where decisions are taken by experts...The selection is made based on merit”, Professor Błocki said.
The dispatch of the Polish Press Agency was released on 1 December. The interview also touched on the issues of transparency in expert teams set up to evaluate call proposals and the involvement of foreign experts in the peer review process. The changes announced by the Ministry of Science and Education were also the focus of an article by Professor Jacek Kuźnicki, the President of the NCN Council, published in “Forum Akademickie” on 25 November 2022. Among other issues, Professor Kuźnicki also addressed the plan to reveal the identity of experts who evaluate call proposals. “First, most experts and peer reviewers will refuse to take part in such procedures, dismissing them as yet another Polish anomaly. This will make it hard to find enough competent experts. Second, those who will, after all, agree to sit on such a panel, will be working under extreme pressure from applicants, with the result that the transparency called for by the Minister will turn into a lobbying campaign rather than diligent merit-based review”, he warned.
You can read the full article on the website of “Forum Akademickie”.