For more than a decade, the NCN Award has honoured researchers who, at the outset of their careers, have achieved significant accomplishments in basic research. The winners of this year’s edition will be announced on 15 October.
NCN 2024 Award CeremonyThis year, more than 3,800 individuals were eligible to nominate candidates for the NCN Award 2025. A total of 185 applications were submitted, covering 125 candidates:
41 individuals (53 nominations) in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences (HS),
57 individuals (87 nominations) in the Physical Sciences and Engineering (ST),
27 individuals (45 nominations) in the Life Sciences (NZ).
The Award was established by the NCN Council in 2013 as a distinction for researchers employed in Poland who have achieved significant success in the field of basic research. Each year, the Award is presented in three fields: Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences (HS), Physical Sciences and Engineering (ST) and Life Sciences (NZ). Winners receive a prize of 50,000 PLN.
Since 2022, the criterion of chronological age has been replaced with that of academic age. Candidates for the Award must be researchers within 12 years of obtaining their PhD degree. This period may be extended to account for career breaks due to illness or childcare.
Winners are selected by a committee composed of NCN Council members and the NCN Director. Nominees may be presented by, among others, former members of the NCN Council, past winners of the Award, principal investigators (PI) of MAESTRO and SONATA BIS projects, and experts who have reviewed proposals in selected calls.
The NCN Award ceremony will be held on 15 October 2025 at 6:30 p.m. at the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków. The event will be hosted by Karolina Głowacka from Radio Naukowe. A live broadcast of the ceremony will be available online.
In the following weeks, the winners will take part in the series Science at the Centre, organised by the Copernicus Centre and the NCN.
We are launching the thirtieth edition of the OPUS call for national and international research projects, as well as the twenty-first edition of the SONATA call for researchers holding a PhD degree. The total funding available amounts to 720 million PLN.
The National Science Centre funds research projects through open calls, carried out in the field of basic research, understood as experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge about the foundations of phenomena and observable facts. Basic research does not need to be aimed at immediate commercial application, yet it forms the foundation for further applied research and serves as the driving force for innovation.
In NCN calls, researchers may receive grants to conduct research at Polish institutions. Project budgets may include funding for the remuneration of the principal investigator and salaries for research team members, scholarships, post-doctoral fellowships, research equipment, devices and software, travel, visits, consultations, outsourcing and other costs crucial to the research.
OPUS with the International LAP Track
The largest NCN grant programme, OPUS, offers researchers at all stages of their careers the opportunity to secure funding for full-scale research projects.
The call allows for planning both national projects and those carried out in international collaboration. In the autumn edition of OPUS, we are additionally launching the LAP (Lead Agency Procedure) track, which enables collaboration with partners from Austria, Czechia, Slovenia, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg or Belgium–Flanders. Partners apply for funding in their own countries for carry out research within programmes organised in cooperation with the NCN. Proposals submitted to OPUS LAP will be evaluated by NCN experts alongside other OPUS proposals, and the results of their evaluation will be approved by the partner agencies.
The principal investigator’s track record must include at least one paper published or accepted for publication. The call does not impose minimum or maximum requirements regarding the principal investigator’s academic degree or research experience, the budget of an individual project or the composition of the project team.
OPUS projects may be planned for 12, 24, 36 or 48 months, while OPUS LAP projects may run for 24, 36 or 48 months, depending on the country where the partner team is based.
The total budget OPUS 30+LAP/Weave for OPUS 30 amounts to 550 million PLN.
SONATA for Researchers with a PhD Degree
The SONATA call is intended for researchers who obtained their PhD degree 2 to 7 years ago. It provides an opportunity for early-career researchers to gain experience as leaders of a research team. The principal investigator’s track record must include at least one paper published or accepted for publication.
SONATA projects can be planned for 12, 24 or 36 months. In addition to the principal investigator, any number of team members may be involved in the project, including students, PhD students and post-docs. The budget of an individual grant is not capped; however, as in other NCN calls, its relevance is assessed by experts.
A researcher may serve as the principal investigator on a SONATA-funded project only once.
The total budget for SONATA 21 amounts to 170 million PLN.
Changes to Team Members’ Remuneration
With the autumn call announcement, we are updating the salary limits for team members involved in project implementation. For postdoctoral positions, the maximum annual salary may now reach 210,000 PLN (previously 140,000 PLN). The total amount of salaries and scholarships received by a student or PhD student from grants may not exceed 8,500 PLN per month (previously 5,000–6,500 PLN). We have also increased the doctoral scholarship rate to 6,500 PLN per month for the entire duration of the project.
Evaluation Process and Criteria
Applications submitted to the NCN will first undergo an eligibility check, followed by a two-stage merit-based evaluation.
In the first stage, applications will be reviewed by members of Expert Team appointed by the NCN Council. Decisions on whether to recommend an application for the second stage or to reject it will be made collectively by the Team during the first Team meeting. In the second stage, applications will be reviewed by at least two reviewers. The final recommendation will be prepared by the Team, based on the external reviews and discussions during the second Team meeting.
Experts will assess, among other factors, the scientific quality and innovative nature of the research, the potential impact of the project on the development of the discipline, the feasibility of its implementation and its prospective significance. Scientific performance of the Principal Investigator will be evaluated solely by members of the Expert Team. For OPUS LAP applications, additional evaluation will focus on the balanced and complementary contribution of all teams to the project, scientific achievements of the Principal Investigators of foreign teams and their execution of other research projects.
Deadlines
The submission of applications in the OSF system will open on 17 September and remain available until 15 December at 2:00 p.m. Decisions for OPUS and SONATA applications will be announced within six months of the close of the submission period, i.e., no later than June 2026. Results for LAP applications will be announced later, as they are approved by the partner agencies within the Weave programme.
In cooperation with the European Biodiversity Partnership BIODIVERSA+, we invite submissions for international, interdisciplinary research projects in the field of biodiversity conservation sciences.
The BiodivConnect call supports innovative research that contributes to the restoration of ecosystems and habitats in a sustainable, resilient and integrated manner, from the local to the global level. Its aim is to generate knowledge and practical solutions that enable effective biodiversity restoration, taking into account ecological, socio-economic and cultural aspects.
Call Topics:
Setting restoration targets and measuring success
Transferability and scaling of nature restoration efforts
Resilience and sustainability of restoration efforts
Applications for the call may be submitted by international consortia comprising at least three research teams from at least three countries participating in the call.
Countries participating in the call: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Israel, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, Hungary, Italy (Province of Bolzano), Faroe Islands.
Countries that have declared their participation in the call: Greece, Iceland and Portugal.
Polish research teams may receive funding for their part of the work from the National Science Centre. The budget may include funding for the salaries of the research team members, salaries and scholarships for students or PhD students, purchase of research equipment and materials, costs of services, travel and other related expenses. The principal investigator of the Polish team must hold at least a PhD degree. Projects may be planned for a duration of three years.
In the first stage of the call, the Polish team, together with its international partners, must submit a pre-proposal proposal, which will be evaluated by an Expert Team jointly appointed by the research funding agencies. The most promising teams will be invited to submit joint full proposals in the second stage. The results of the call will be announced by the end of November 2026.
A partner search tool is available for those interested in participating in the BiodivConnect call. Partner Search Tool.
Research on environmentally friendly methods for enhancing soil properties, utilising waste generated in other sectors of the economy, will be funded under the Weave-UNISONO programme. The project will be carried out jointly by researchers from Poland and Germany.
The 2023 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasises that contemporary modernisation efforts should focus on eliminating poverty in all its forms, while simultaneously pursuing a range of economic, social and environmental goals. One of the recommendations outlined in the agenda, in the context of the state and use of the planet’s resources, is to produce new materials, wherever possible, from waste generated in other sectors of the economy. The aim is to advance a circular economy.
This objective is embodied in the project entitled “Impact of Novel Synthesized Eco-friendly Hydrogel Composites from Insect Breeding Waste on Soil Hydraulics, Stability and Fertility,” which has received funding under the Weave-UNISONO call. The research will be conducted by a team led by Dr. hab. Katarzyna Szewczuk-Karpisz from the Bohdan Dobrzański Institute of Agrophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with a partner team from the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University in Hanover, headed by Professor Stephan Peth. The researchers will work on environmentally friendly hydrogel composites made from waste generated by the insect farming industry. They will investigate their impact on soil properties and plant growth. Their goal is to develop composites with enhanced capacity to mitigate the negative effects of drought and to improve the efficiency of degraded soil reclamation. The budget for the Polish part of the project amounts to nearly 1.1 million PLN.
The proposal was evaluated by the German Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft as the lead agency. The National Science Centre accepted the results of this evaluation and awarded funding to the Polish team.
Weave-UNISONO and Lead Agency Procedure
Weave-UNISONO is a result of multilateral cooperation between the research-funding agencies associated in Science Europe and aims at simplifying the submission and selection procedures in all academic disciplines, involving researchers from two or three European countries.
The winning applicants are selected pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure according to which one partner institution performs a complete merit-based evaluation of proposals, the results of which are subsequently approved by the other partners.
Under the Weave Programme, partner research teams apply for parallel funding to the Lead Agency and their respective institutions participating in the programme. Joint research projects must include a coherent research program with the added value of the international cooperation.
Weave-UNISONO is carried out on an ongoing basis. Research teams intending to cooperate with partners from Austria, Czechia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium-Flanders are urged to read the call text and apply for funding.
“I like to call basic research the fuel for all other types of research: industrial, translational, clinical,” said Sabina Górska, a microbiologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences, in Karpacz. “If Cooper and Miller had not studied the thymus, they would not have discovered T lymphocytes. Consequently, there would be no development of CAR-T therapy, which is revolutionising blood cancer treatment today. Basic research is an investment in the future, the effects of which we see after many years.”
Panel Discussion: Science in ActionDuring this year's Economic Forum in Karpacz the National Science Centre organised its own discussion panels for the first time. On 2 September, the debate “Science in Action. From Basic Research to Practical Solutions” took place with the participation of scientists who have founded companies and develop technologies based on research results: Prof. Piotr Garstecki from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), President of Scope Fluidics; Dr. hab. Sabina Górska, Professor at the Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Prof. Jacek Jemielity, Chemist at the University of Warsaw, founder of ExploRNA and Dr hab. inż. Alicja Kazek-Kęsik, Professor at the Silesian University of Technology and NCN Council member. The discussion was led by Anna Korzekwa-Józefowicz.
The discussion focused on the role of basic research in creating innovation, on the skills and working methods developed in academia that prove effective in business, and on the conditions Poland should establish to compete more effectively in the global innovation ecosystem.
Our Own Forges of Invention
Piotr Garstecki explained why the competitiveness of the economy depends on the level of research. “Business is a race to better meet the customer’s needs. In this race, with a given level of knowledge, we reach a certain plateau – it becomes difficult to go further and gain an advantage. That’s when we need better technological solutions. And to have them, we need to conduct science at a level that is truly innovative. We live in a globalised world. The patent system is a global system. If someone in China, India, the United States or Germany invents and patents something, it doesn’t matter that we come up with the same thing five years later in Kielce or Warsaw. We’ll have to buy that technology from them. Ergo, to have a competitive long-term economy, we need our own forges of invention.”
He also spoke about the need to concentrate resources, comparing the Polish scientific system to the Boston ecosystem. “There, ten times fewer researchers work than in Poland. They use roughly the same amount of funding as all of Polish research, yet they produce four times more high-quality publications. And when it comes to technology companies, Boston alone has dozens of times more than the whole of Poland. It’s like the Amazon jungle, where unique specimens grow that can’t be found anywhere else. And in Poland? We scatter seeds all over the country, funding ten thousand small greenhouses where no tree can fit. What we need, however, is ‘density’. If we want to have a bit of the Amazon jungle, we can’t spread vines across all of Poland,” he emphasised.
“We can afford the vision of building the Central Communication Port, while at the same time financing bus lines or local rail connections, but we can’t afford to create strong research centres. And yet it is precisely the concentration of resources – this “density” – that is critical for conducting research at the highest level,” he added.
Jacek Jemielity questioned the division between basic and applied science. “The most important thing is that it’s good research – research that truly competes with the best research centres in the world. In my field – mRNA chemistry – the line between these two types of research is fluid. I don't know where one ends and the other begins. We try to publish our results in the best possible journals, but first we patent them if they have commercial potential, and then we either license them or implement them ourselves. However, if we want to see real change in Poland, we must increase funding for the first stage – the moment when the idea for a practical application is only just beginning to take shape,” he emphasised. “To reap a rich harvest, we must first sow something – choosing the best possible seeds that can grow into something exceptional on a global scale.”
Anna Korzekwa-Józefowicz, Jacek Jemielity, Alicja Kazek-Kęsik, Piotr Garstecki, Sabina GórskaAlicja Kazek-Kęsik also highlighted the importance of funding research at this early stage. “If we enable projects at the lowest TRL levels, 1–2, some of them may turn out to be truly groundbreaking. It is worth supporting bold ideas, even if there is a risk they might not succeed – what matters is that they can be properly evaluated. It is crucial that innovation is not blocked from the very start,” she emphasised. As examples of solutions that grew out of basic research, she cited a method developed by a team at Jagiellonian University for identifying pathogens using mathematical models (combining computer science with microbiology) and T-shirts created at the Silesian University of Technology for monitoring heart activity, which use carbon nanotubes – providing a convenient alternative to traditional Holter monitors.
Researchers in business
The discussion participants also addressed the question of which skills – beyond strictly technical knowledge – gained in academia give researchers an advantage in business.
Piotr Garstecki highlighted curiosity, logic, disciplined thinking and the ability to collaborate. “In research, you have to carefully observe the world, look for opportunities and risks. You can’t stop at superficial explanations – you have to seek the truth. Even if hierarchical structures still exist in academia, good research is based on the exchange of ideas. All of this is extremely valuable in business.” Sabina Górska added: “Researchers know how to write projects – and not just scientific ones. In the PAN institutes, statutory funding is barely enough to buy gloves. So, we must be able to write a strong, convincing project, manage it and optimise resources. We are creative because we work under constrained conditions. Every zloty is examined from every angle, thinking about whether a given test can be used differently. This has made us very resourceful.” Alicia Kazek-Kęsik emphasised the ability to accept criticism: “In research, we learn that criticism is not an attack, but feedback. When entering industry, a researcher must ask: what is truly needed? Sometimes it turns out that the idea is good, but not profitable, or the market is too small. One must be able to accept this information, change direction, and devote time to strictly industrial research. At the same time, we must not lose sight of basic research, because it is the engine of development.” Jacek Jemielity added that his advantage as an entrepreneur developing his own research ideas is his deep understanding of the technology his company works on.
Where do innovations disappear?
What is the biggest obstacle for a researcher-innovator?When asked this question, the panellists pointed to bureaucracy and unstable funding. Jacek Jemielity highlighted the restrictive Public Procurement Law, which prolongs research processes, as well as low salaries and employment regulations that make it difficult to hire the best specialists. Alicja Kazek-Kęsik pointed out the unrealistic expectations placed on research. “It is often assumed that every project must end with implementation. This discourages researchers from taking on ambitious and risky topics, because they fear being held accountable if there is no commercial success,” she emphasised.
Sabina Górska spoke about the difficulties of valuing technology and communicating with business. “When it comes to sales, there’s always the question: are we pricing too low or too high? Often, we don’t speak the same language as business. And when it comes to initiating start-ups, although start-up culture in Poland is developing, there is still a lack of early-stage funding. Investors expect a prototype right away, or better yet proof that something is already being sold, while at this stage scientists often have only an idea,” she explained. She pointed to the TANGO programme, previously run by the NCN and NCBR, as a model example of support. “I used it twice. Thanks to it, we were able to verify our assumptions and sell a licence for a rapid diagnostic test for infections in pregnant women. This programme made it possible to check whether discoveries had industrial potential. Today, such a programme is sorely missing,” she emphasised.
One decision by the Minister
Science as an Investment. How to Win the Future? From the left: Krzysztof Jóźwiak, Wojciech Fendler i Krzysztof PyrćThe panellists were also asked by an audience member what single decision they would recommend to the Minister of Science. Alicja Kazek-Kęsik emphasised that ‘her heart lies with basic research’. “If a long-term plan for financing basic research were created, it would allow the NCN Council to work over a longer horizon on changes to the grant programs, tailoring them to the needs of the scientific community,” she noted. Jacek Jemielity supported Piotr Garstecki’s earlier remarks about the improper distribution of available funds. “I would advise the Ministry of Science and Higher Education to fund research more boldly in a quality-oriented way. If we want to spread money thinly across everyone, we won’t generate any real effect. If financial instruments were designed to promote quality, we could expect better results,” he said. Piotr Garstecki added that it is worth fully embracing the fact that the Ministry’s name combines both science and higher education. “These are two different worlds and should be supported differently. We fund public transport, but when it comes to space travel, instead of a network of regional airports, we need one cosmodrome that can at least get us to the Moon,” he illustrated. “The most important thing is to increase funding and ensure greater stability of the system,” summarised Sabina Górska. “Let’s not change the rules every year or two. We need predictability and support for basic research.
Research as an investment
On the last day of the Economic Forum, 4 September, the panel “Science as an Investment. How to Win the Future?” was held, featuring Professor Wojciech Fendler, President of the Medical Research Agency; Krzysztof Jóźwiak, Director of the National Science Centre (NCN); and Krzysztof Pyrć, President of the Foundation for Polish Science. The discussion focused on the role of the state in funding research and how decisions made today will shape Poland’s position in the coming decades. This topic was also addressed in the first episode of the 4th season of the NCN podcast – available for the first time in video format – featuring the heads of the agency. Krzysztof Jóźwiak also took part in the panel “In Search of Scientific Excellence.” He also discussed work on the National Strategy for the Internationalisation of Science and Higher Education, organised by NAWA.
ERC Starting Grants have just been awarded to six researchers with Polish affiliations. Five of them are NCN grantees.
The ERC Starting Grants is one of the most prestigious grant programmes designed to support early-career researchers with 2-7 years of post-PhD experience, outstanding academic track record and ideas for their own ambitious research projects. This year, the European Research Council received nearly 4,000 proposals from researchers across the continent, totalling EUR 761 million. This time, the maximum grant is EUR 1.5 million.
NCN Grantees With ERC Funding
In this edition of ERC Starting Grants, six winning applicants are affiliated with Polish research institutions, including Dr Mykhailo Batiuk (Łukasiewicz – PORT Polish Centre for Technology Development), Dr Damian Dąbrowski (Institute of Mathematics, Polish Academy of Sciences), Dr inż. Wojciech Krauze (Warsaw University of Technology), Dr Dominik Paprotny (University of Szczecin), Dr Rene Poncelet (Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences) and Dr hab. inż. Anna Siekierka, University of Wrocław Professor (University of Wrocław). Prof. Anna Siekierka and Dr inż. Wojciech Krauze are former NCN grant winners, whilst proposals submitted by Dr Damian Dąbrowski, Dr Dominik Paprotny and Dr Rene Poncelet were recommended for funding under the calls launched last year.
Congratulations to all of them!
Dealing With Used batteries
Dr hab. inż. Anna Siekierka is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Chemistry, Wrocław University of Science and Technology. He focuses her scientific work on electromembrane processes used for selective separation of metal ions and energy recovery. She currently heads is a SONATA project and is a former PRELUDIUM grant winner. The ERC grant will enable her and her team to work on the ReHeal4waste project aimed to handle battery waste. A specially designed membrane will be constructed to separate valuable raw materials from the solution derived from used batteries so that they can be reused.
Improved Holographic Tomography
Dr inż. Wojciech Krauze is a member of the BioPhase Imaging Team at the Faculty of Mechatronics, Warsaw University of Technology. His research interests include quantitative phase imaging algorithms, tomographic reconstruction methods, and inverse problems. From the beginning of his research career he has been involved in optical tomography, also under an NCN-funded PRELUDIUM project. He will lead the awarded Re.HOG project aimed to enable holographic tomography to work effectively in reflection mode to allow researchers to obtain the same detailed information as in classical holographic tomography, but without the need to isolate patient samples.
Geometric Measure Theory/h3>
Dr Damian Dąbrowski from the Institute of Mathematics, Polish Academy of Sciences will focus on geometric measure theory (GMT), an area of analysis seeking to solve geometric problems using the tools of measure theory. The ERC grant was awarded for his QPROJECT aimed to prove quantitative projection results, with special focus on Vitushkin's conjecture from 1967, conjecture of Besicovitch about the radial projections of purely uncertifiable sets and visibility conjecture from fractal geometry, which is closely related to quantifying Marstrand’s classical slicing theorem. In May, Dr Dąbrowski joined the ranks of SONATA 20 grantees.
Community’s Responses to Flooding
Dr Dominik Paprotny works at the University of Szczecin and his scientific interests focus on the risk of fooding, socio-hydrology, risk management and climate changes. As part of the ERC grant, he will develop a dynamic model of community’s response to flooding. Using scenario-based projections of climate and socio-economic changes, he aims to estimate potential flood damages by 2100. In February, he received SONATA BIS 14 grant.
Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider
Dr Rene Poncelet works at the Department of Theoretical Particle Physics of the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences. As part of the ERC grant, he will carry out experiments at the Large Hadron Collider. The STAPLE project aims at creating a new, highly precise computer simulation of particle collisions. This tool will be an extremely important element of research, offering opportunities for groundbreaking discoveries and, consequently, a more complete understanding of the universe around us. Dr Poncelet has recently been awarded SONATA 20 funding.
On behalf of the QuantERA network, the National Science Centre (NCN) is pleased to announce the fifth call for international research projects in the field of quantum technologies.
Funding will be provided for projects in one of the following two topics:
Quantum Phenomena and Resources (QPR)
Applied Quantum Science (AQS)
In Poland, researchers may apply for funding from the National Science Centre (NCN) or the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), depending on the scope of the proposed research. NCN provides funding for basic research projects in QPR.
Polish research teams applying for NCN funding must prepare joint proposals with their foreign partners, and national proposal for the Polish part of the project. The principal investigator of the Polish research team must be at least PhD holder.
The QuantERA Call 2025 follows a single-stage procedure, with a total budget of approximately EUR 53 million. Projects may be performed over 24 or 36 months.
5 December 2025, 17:00 CET:Joint proposal submission date
12 December 2025: National proposal submission date at NCN
May 2026: Notification of accepted proposals
June-September 2026: Expected start of funded projects
The Call 2025 is a part of the third edition of the QuantERA programme – QuantERA III Research and Innovation Action: Cofund in Quantum Technologies, launched in June 2025, and aims to support researchers’ bold ideas and transforming them into tangible technological solutions.
The second project submitted to Weave-UNISONO 2025 has been awarded funding. Nearly PLN 2 million was slated for research on enzymes that catalyse RNA synthesis. The project will be performed by Dr hab. Tomasz Turowski and his team from the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences.
The project titled “Molecular mechanisms underlying the biogenesis of RNA polymerases I and III” will be carried out in bilateral collaboration with German researchers headed by Prof. Christoph Engel from the University of Regensburg. Researchers representing two research groups will join their forces to study RNA polymerases I and III, so-called molecular machines involved in the production of structural and functional RNAs which are essential for the generation of ribosomes that catalyse protein synthesis.
The researchers aim to understand the staps that lead to the formation of these complex structures and to identify the proteins that support their assembly. The findings may help us understand the fundamental cellular processes and be of critical importance to medicine. Mutations in the genes encoding subunit RNA polymerases are directly linked with a variety of rare genetic diseases, including Treacher-Collins syndrome and Hypomelynating Leukodystrophy. Understanding how RNA polymerases I and III are assembled may improve the diagnostics and treatment of these diseases in the future.
The proposal was reviewed by the German Research Foundation (DFG), and the results of their review were accepted by the National Science Centre under the Weave collaboration. The second ranking list for proposals submitted to the 2025 call has just been published.
Weave-UNISONO and Lead Agency Procedure (LAP)
The Weave programme builds on the multilateral international cooperation between the research funding agencies associated in Science Europe and aims at simplifying the submission and selection procedures of research proposals in all academic disciplines involving researchers from two or three European countries.
The winning projects are selected pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure which means that only one partner institution performs the merit-based evaluation, while the other partners must accept the evaluation results.
Under the Weave programme, partner research teams apply for parallel funding of their projects to the Lead Agency and their respective research funding institutions participating in the Weave programme. Joint projects must include a coherent research program with the added value of the international cooperation clearly defined.
The Weave-UNISONO call is carried out on an ongoing basis. Research teams intending to cooperate with partners from Austria, Czechia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Luxemburg and Belgium-Flanders, are encouraged to read the call text and apply.
Investment in research pays off – in the most literal sense. Thanks to research, we save lives, extend their length, and improve their quality. Solutions that shape everyday life stem from basic research – from digital technologies and innovations in energy or climate protection to social and humanities research that shows how to introduce these changes fairly and effectively.
This is the subject of the first episode of season 4 of the NCNpodcast, now available for the first time in a video format. Anna Korzekwa-Józefowicz talks with Prof. Wojciech Fendler, President of the Medical Research Agency, Prof. Krzysztof Jóźwiak, Director of the National Science Centre, and Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć, who in September will take on the role of President of the Foundation for Polish Science. It is a conversation about why without basic research there can be no innovation, and why investing in research determines the kind of country we will live in 10, 20 or 30 years from now.
Research changes everyday life
Professor Wojciech Fendler gives an example that best illustrates how research transforms our lives:
“If, 100 years ago, my child had developed leukaemia, they would have died within a month, and the only thing I could do would be to make sure they didn’t suffer. Today, if a child develops leukaemia, the probability of surviving and growing into a healthy adult is around 90%. That’s a higher chance of survival than an elderly person breaking their hip just stepping out of the bathtub. All of this happened over the course of 100 years – but actually faster than that. In 1947, Farber used aminopterin and methotrexate to achieve the first remissions of the disease in children in Boston. Then an entire field of chemotherapy and oncological treatment emerged. Today, many cancers have become chronic conditions with a high probability of cure. All of this is the result of basic research – a transfer of scientific ideas from the laboratory to the clinic. Without funding for such discoveries at the very beginning, this simply wouldn’t have been possible.”
Professor Krzysztof Pyrć recalls the history of HIV:
“In the early 1980s, the disease was essentially 100% fatal. No one knew why people were suddenly dying. Only thanks to prior scientific work – basic research – were we able to understand what viruses are, develop molecular biology methods to detect them and create diagnostic tests. Within ten years, a treatment was successfully developed that brought people back to life. Doctors told me that it was absolutely terrifying: all patients were dying, until suddenly the first drug appeared, and those same patients began to recover. Today we have dozens of therapies that allow people to live normal lives. Moreover, preventive drugs have appeared, acting somewhat like a vaccine – taken twice a year, they significantly reduce the risk of transmission. This is the first real chance to stop the greatest pandemic of the 20th century.”
Professor Krzysztof Jóźwiak adds an example from another field:
“It turns out that plants emit sounds in response to stress. Only recently has it been possible to decode them using artificial intelligence. It seems that very soon, technology will emerge where microphones placed in crop fields will capture plant sounds and inform farmers: it's too dry here, and a pest has appeared here. This is proof that even the most basic research can soon lead to practical solutions that change our lives.”
What is needed for research to really pay off
For such discoveries to emerge, three things are necessary: stable funding, a long-term strategy, and a system that rewards quality.
Professor Wojciech Fendler: “The strategy must be long-term and coherent. A comprehensive system – say, for funding science – should promote the same goals and behaviours across all areas. We have institutions funding research at various levels, but this pyramid rests on weak foundations. There is a lack of money. We need to direct our best talent into research to carry out the highest-quality basic research, because otherwise innovations simply will not emerge.”
Professor Krzysztof Pyrć: “The motto of the Foundation for Polish Science is: support the best so they become even better. And this is key – there will always be too little money. If we don’t focus on quality, we will dilute the system. In Poland, the linear model persists: a researcher is supposed to come up with an idea, then implement it themselves and develop a company. But that doesn't work. The most effective models are open, iterative ones – where everyone sits at the same table and collaborates, from universities to business.”
Professor Krzysztof Jóźwiak: “Very often we encounter a bottleneck when basic research ends, and the stage of first prototypes or patent protection begins. Here we have a gap. The National Science Centre has always recognised this problem – we were co-initiators of the TANGO programme, which was meant to address it. But what is needed are systemic, continuous solutions, not temporary fixes.”
Research as an investment
The guests agree: research is not a cost, but an investment with the highest rate of return.
“Without strong basic research, there will be no strong applied research that can be implemented in practice and that can lead to new drugs or technological solutions,” emphasises Prof. Fendler.
“Everything that surrounds us – from mobile phones to modern therapies – is the result of research. The world is racing forward, and we need to conduct research well, fund it wisely and communicate it clearly,” says Prof. Pyrć.
"We have researchers in Poland ready to compete with the world. What’s needed is a system that allows them to carry their ideas from basic research to solutions that impact societal development,” Jóźwiak says.
Podcast and Economic Forum in Karpacz
The episode “Research that pays off” opens the new season of the NCN podcast, available in both audio and video format. The debate will continue during the Economic Forum in Karpacz – the podcast guests will participate in the panel “Research as an Investment. How to Win the Future?”
During the Economic Forum we are also organising the panel “Research in Action: From Basic Research to Practical Solutions.” Throughout the event, you can also visit us at the Polish Science Pavilion, organised by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
The National Science Centre can use the Treasury bonds released by the PM. The interpretation provided by the Ministry of Finance and clarification of legal doubts will allow the funds to be gradually released starting in 2026.
On 17 December 2024, the National Science Centre received assets with a nominal value of PLN 500 million, with maturities between 2027 and 2034. However, new doubts have arisen as to whether the funds can be allocated for research without an amendment to the NCN Act. Further legal and financial analyses were required. On 20 August 2025, after received the opinion from the Ministry of Finance, it was decided that the bonds can be incorporated into the NCN’s financial planning for the coming years.
“The scientific community has high and well-justified expectations as regarding additional funding. Therefore, we are pleased the issue will soon be resolved. PLN 500 million is an investment in early-career researchers and basic research that paves the way for progress – the future of Polish science and country’s growth,” says Prof. Krzysztof Jóźwiak, NCN Director.
The support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Ministry of Finance and representatives of the academic community was key to resolving the issue.
We are currently working on how to allocate proceeds from the bonds to finance research projects. Further details will be communicated in upcoming updates.
NCN 2024 Award Ceremony
This year, more than 3,800 individuals were eligible to nominate candidates for the NCN Award 2025. A total of 185 applications were submitted, covering 125 candidates:
