The National Science Centre plans to launch new calls in cooperation with the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), which will give Polish researchers the opportunity to obtain funding for bilateral projects carried out jointly with partners from Spain. 

In early July, NCN and the AEI signed a Memorandum of Understanding setting out the framework for cooperation between the two institutions. Planned calls:

  • OPUS 32+LAP/Weave, in which the National Science Centre will act as the lead agency;
  • FLAMENCO, in which the Agencia Estatal de Investigación will act as the lead agency.

The joint calls will be carried out in accordance with the Lead Agency Procedure. This means that research projects will undergo merit-based evaluation at only one institution – the lead agency – competent for one of the teams participating in the project, within a call forming part of its own funding offer. Once the evaluation process has been completed, the lead agency will forward to the partner institution, for approval, the list of projects recommended for funding.

The calls will be open to proposals for funding basic research in any scientific discipline covered by one of the 26 National Science Centre panels.

The first FLAMENCO call

As early as August, together with the AEI, we will launch the first edition of the FLAMENCO call, aimed at Polish research teams planning to carry out projects in cooperation with teams from Spain.       

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS: 

  • Proposals should cover basic research and include a plan for joint Polish-Spanish research. Projects involving the purchase or construction of research equipment or activities within research networks will be funded provided that they meet the basic research criterion. Projects consisting solely in the purchase or construction of research equipment or activities within research networks do not meet the funding conditions and will be rejected.
  • No state aid will be granted under the call.
  • In any given edition of NCN calls, a person may be named as the principal investigator in one proposal only.
  • The duration of Polish-Spanish research projects may be 24, 36 or 48 months.
  • Proposals for NCN funding of the Polish part of the research project may be submitted by the entities listed in Article 27(1), points 1–2, 4–5 and 7–8, of the Act on the National Science Centre.

PLANNED CALL SCHEDULE:

  • Call announcement: 24 August 2026
  • Deadline for submitting joint proposals to the AEI: 24 November 2026
  • Deadline for submitting national proposals in the OSF system: as soon as possible after the joint proposal has been submitted to the AEI, and no later than 7 calendar days thereafter
  • Announcement of the call results: November 2027
  • Start of the research projects: January 2028

This advance notice of the call is provided for information purposes only. Detailed terms and conditions will be set out in the official call announcement.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Contact on the Polish side: NCN 

Coordinators:

General enquiries:

dr Jadwiga Spyrka