The NCN Council emphasises the urgent need to increase NCN funding by 400 million PLN in 2026. Without this increase, the grant system cannot continue to grow, opportunities for early-career researchers will be curtailed and the overall innovativeness of Polish research will decline. This statement refers to the draft state budget released on August 28.
In its resolution of September 21, the Council of the National Science Centre expressed deep concern that the draft state budget for 2026, initially adopted by the Council of Ministers at the end of August, maintains funding for NCN research projects at an unchanged level.
The Council firmly states that the level of the earmarked subsidy set out in the draft means that:
- the success rate in NCN’s main calls in 2026 will be twice as low as the corresponding rate in national calls run by European grant agencies,
- it will not be possible to adequately adjust project budgets, including remuneration and the equipment purchase limit, which has remained unchanged since 2012,
- the NCN Council will be forced to maintain restrictions on the frequency of calls for proposals and may even have to consider reducing the range of funding opportunities.
The NCN Council stresses that the low success rate in calls, caused by insufficient funding by the Centre:
- excludes a significant part of the research community from competing for grants, which considerably reduces the innovativeness of scientific research in Poland as well as the quality of education at universities;
- in the case of open calls, reduces the chances of younger researchers;
- privileges stronger research centres and limits the expansion of islands of excellence at universities that do not receive funding under the Excellence Initiative;
- prevents the development of doctoral schools at PAS institutes, which can in practice finance scholarships almost exclusively through research projects;
- disrupts the process of reliable evaluation of scientific disciplines.
The NCN Council therefore calls for an increase of 400 million PLN in NCN funding, stressing that additional resources for grant competitions will not only strengthen the national research system but also enhance the ability of Polish researchers to secure European funding. At the same time, the Council notes that the advantage of countries such as the United States and China in the field of key innovations – both civilisational and defence-related – results above all from consistent support for scientific research, including fundamental research.
Full text of the NCN Council resolution
