45 ERC grant holders have written a letter to the Polish Prime Minister and the Minister of Science to request an increase in our agency’s budget. A petition was also created; it can be signed by anyone who cares about the advancement of research in Poland.
“The overarching objective of any move within the Polish research system should be to increase the quality of research in our country. The National Science Centre is the most important institution that pursues that goal”, argue ERC grant holders in a letter addressed to PM Donald Tusk and Minister of Science Dariusz Wieczorek. They point out that the NCN only receives a very small proportion of the state research budget and that these “resources are widely insufficient”. “This means that many good and important projects cannot be pursued, salaries under projects that do receive funding are not competitive and gifted researchers often give up on a career in research”, they emphasise. The work currently underway on the draft 2025 budget bill, they add, is the right moment to increase the NCN subsidy.
“We wish to express our strong support for the appeal of the Council of the National Science Centre to have the NCN subsidy raised by 300 million zlotys in 2025 and continue with increases in the following years”, they write.
Full text of the letter (pdf file)
The academic community also created a petition addressed to the PM and the Minister of Science, which can be signed by anyone “who understands the need for research in Poland”. The organisers encourage researchers but also representatives of institutions, schools and local governments to sign the petition.
“We believe that science is in the Polish national interest. It fuels progress and serves as the mainspring of innovation; our society simply cannot do without it. Researchers in Poland have and want to continue having an actual impact on the advancement of science around the world. Science cannot be just an imported good. This is why we are calling on you and your government to review the Polish 2025 budget and increase spending on research, and especially the subsidy earmarked for the National Science Centre. The NCN is the oxygen of Polish science”, the appeal reads.
You can sign the petition here.
This is yet another in a string of initiatives taken by the research community in support of the NCN. In recent years, Polish researchers have repeatedly spoken out in defence of its independence and campaigned for an increase in its budget. This year, thanks to, e.g. the grassroots initiative of the top researchers under the slogan #NCNtotlen (#NCNisoxygen), the ministry decided to increase our funding by 200 million zlotys.
The new draft 2025 budget bill gives the NCN a subsidy of 1.698 billion zlotys, up from 1.643 billion this year.