Researchers at any stage of research career can now submit their basic research proposals to OPUS 29 and PRELUDIUM 24. The total budget of the two calls is 600 million zlotys.
OPUS and PRELUDIUM are the flagship calls in the NCN call portfolio. Gr
ant holders will be able to pursue their projects in any research institute in Poland. Any topic may be chosen from 26 review panels, however only basic research proposals are allowed (empirical or theoretical endeavours undertaken to gain new knowledge of the foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any direct commercial use).
This edition of the OPUS call is open to researchers at any stage of their research career. They can apply for funding of research projects carried out over 12, 24, 36 or 48 months. OPUS projects can be performed with or without foreign participation, as well as with the use of large international research equipment by the Polish research teams (without LAP proposals).
There are no eligibility criteria as to the academic degrees or research career. Even researchers who are not PhD holders can apply. Principal investigators are required to have at least one paper published or accepted for publication. Although there is no upper limit of funding available to a project, the budget must be well-justified as regards the subject and scope of the research. Funds from the project budget may be used for salaries of the principal investigator and co-investigators (including post-docs), scholarships, purchase of research equipment, devices and software, materials and small equipment, outsourced services, business trips, visits and consultations as well as other costs crucial to the project.
PRELUDIUM 24 is targeted at researchers without a PhD degree who are at the onset of their research career. Grants of up to 70,000, 140,000 or 210,000 zlotys can go toward funding projects carried out over 12, 24 or 36 months.
Research teams must consist of up to three members, including the PI and the mentor. The project budget may go toward funding the salary of the research team members (the PI and (optionally) the co-investigator), purchase or manufacturing of research equipment, software and devices, materials and small equipment, outsourced services, business trips, visits and consultations, as well as compensation for collective investigators and other costs crucial to the project.
The total budget of 550 million zlotys has been designated for OPUS 29, which is 100 million zlotys more than in the previous call edition. The budget of PRELUDIUM 24 is 50 million zlotys, i.e. 10 million zlotys more than last year. The NCN Council may decide increase the budgets of each call, depending on various factors, such as a number of submitted proposals and available budget funds.
OPUS 29 and PRELUDIUM 24 proposals may be submitted from 21 March to 17 June, 4 pm via the OSF submission system.
Evaluation of proposals and call results
OPUS and PRELUDIUM proposals are evaluated by Expert Teams set up for each panel (e.g. HS1, NZ1, ST1). The PI selects the panel when the proposal is developed. Since September 2024, a new list of 26 review panels has been in place.
Proposals submitted to the call are subject to an eligibility check followed by a merit-based evaluation performed in two stages. Evaluation is performed by an expert team created by the NCN Council among outstanding Polish and foreign researchers who are at least PhD holders. Firstly, the team members draft their individual reviews of proposals based on, e.g. the short project description (at least two reviews are drafted for each proposal). Then, based on the reviews, they discuss the proposals and decide on their evaluation at the first meeting. Ultimately, the team compiles a ranking list of proposals recommended for the second stage of evaluation.
Secondly, proposals are delivered to at least two reviewers who are not members of the expert team. They draft individual reviews based on, e.g. the full project description. A ranking list of proposals recommended for funding is then compiled by the Expert Team on the basis of the reviews and discussions at the second meeting.
You can find out more about our evaluation procedure in podcast No 2/2023: Evaluation of Proposals and podcast No 3/2024: Evaluation of Proposals, part 2.
Call results will be published within 6 months of the proposal submission date, by the end of December 2025.