It is with nearly € 8.2 M that the National Science Centre is awarding six laureates of its just-concluded SYMFONIA 2 call for proposals.

59 principal investigators competed for funding of their projects under the SYMFONIA 2 scheme, which welcomes research projects carried out by collaborating research teams that combine theories, approaches, techniques and tools from two or more research domains. Funding was awarded to six eminent researchers, whose research stands out for its quality and boldly transcends borders between different research fields.

Cross-domain research is crucial to the advancement of science. Thanks to the combined efforts of researchers representing different disciplines and the use of various methods and research tools, we get a whole new scientific quality and a fresh outlook on research problems, said professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, director of the National Science Centre.

The largest share of funding (over € 1.6 M) has been granted to researchers from the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology. The team, led by dr Marcin Nowotny, will conduct comprehensive interdisciplinary studies of Mitochondrial RNA decay and surveillance.

More than € 1.5 M in financing is the sum given to the project titled The role of antimicrobial protein-chemerin in skin pathophysiology, led by dr hab. Joanna Cichy from the Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University. Only slightly less  funding is to provide prof. Tadeusz Holak and his team from Jagiellonian University’s Faculty of Chemistry with the means to study transient protein states in designing small-molecule inhibitors of protein-protein interactions.

For ca. € 1.4 M prof. Marek Figlerowicz and his team from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, will carry out the project Dynasty and population of the Piast State in view of integrated historical, anthropological and genomic studies.

Dr Bartosz Grzybowski will study the development of “Computational Chemical Linguistics” and its applications to the efficient planning of multistep chemical syntheses. The NCN will contribute € 1.3 M. The project will be carried out at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences. The same academic unit is represented by another SYMFONIA 2 laureate: dr hab. Dorota Gryko, with over € 700,000 in funding, she will examine the behaviour of vitamin B12 as a delivery vehicle for antibacterial oligonucleotide analogues.

We are happy that among the laureates of SYMFONIA 2 are young yet very experienced researchers who themselves are Principal Investigators to large research teams. It is proof of the great potential of Polish researchers, said prof. Michał Karoński, chair of the NCN Council.

The call was open to projects which provided new full-time employment for at least two researchers with a PhD and employment for at least four doctoral candidates. Under the SYMFONIA 2 call, applicants could also seek funding for research equipment worth up to PLN 500,000 (ca. € 118,000) for projects in the fields of Life Sciences and Physical Sciences and Engineering, and up to PLN 150,000 (ca. € 36,000) in the field of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

The National Science Centre has published a new edition of its calls for proposals addressed to advanced researchers, researchers wanting to carry out projects in international cooperation, and those who have been awarded PhDs between 2 and 12 years prior to submitting. The calls are open until the 16^th of September, 2014.

The MAESTRO funding opportunity, running for the sixth time in three years, has been designed for advanced researchers. Authors of projects submitted under this scheme must be intending to conduct pioneering research (which may include an interdisciplinary component) that is important for the advancement of human knowledge and may result in discoveries. € 16.6 million has been assigned for projects that are successful under this call.

MAESTRO 6 offers an opportunity for authors of innovative research, of import not only at home but on a global scale. With so much at stake, experts reviewing proposals submitted under this scheme are committed to the principle of recommending quality projects that are groundbreaking in nature, said professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, director of the NCN.

Eligible proposals will be from researchers with at least a doctoral degree, who – over the last 10 years – have acted as Principal Investigators to at least two research projects, had their papers published in renowned journals, and have been active scholars (e.g. took part in international conferences).

We want our funding schemes to be responsive to the actual needs of Polish researchers; when setting out to publish a new call, we make sure to to take into account all the feedback coming from the researchers themselves. For MAESTRO 6 and SONATA BIS 4, we have raised the ceiling of funding per project by one third, the director said.

HARMONIA 6 caters for the needs of researchers planning to collaborate on projects with partners from around the world or using international research facilities. Total funding in HARMONIA 6 amounts to almost € 12 million.

SONATA BIS 4 is a funding opportunity where grants are made to research projects that entail setting up a new research team. It welcomes applications from PhD holders who have received their degree between 2 and 12 years before submitting the proposal. More than € 14 million will be distributed to successful applicants.

Find out more at: www.ncn.gov.pl

On the 5^th of June, in Krakow, members of the HERA network came together. HERA is a joint initiative of research funding organisations financing research in the humanities. Representatives of 19 European countries, chaired by professor Sean Ryder from NUI Galway, discussed the position of the humanities in the EU’s new Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. The subjects of the meetings also involved a new funding opportunity set to be launched in 2015, and the agenda of the consortium for the coming years. The special guest of the conference was professor Kirsten Drotner, Chair of the Scientific Committee for Humanities at Science Europe.

The National Science Centre joined HERA in 2011. Under HERA’s Cultural Encounters call for proposals, the NCN has financed four projects by researchers from Poland and their partners from abroad.

On 27^th and 28^th of May, in Beijing, heads of public national research funding organisations from around the globe took part in the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Global Research Council (GRC). The meeting has been a significant step forward in two particular respects. Firstly, a report on Open Access to Publications was adopted, another milestone on the road to making the results of publicly financed research available to the public. Secondly, the participants endorsed the Statement of Principles for Shaping the Future, which will serve as a reference document for research funding agencies to support the next generation of researchers.

It was brought to attendees’ attention by Pascale Briand, Director General of the French National Research Agency (ANR), that it [was] crucial that researchers - at any stage of their careers - are recognised as professionals. Addressing this issue, Director of the NCN Andrzej Jajszczyk gave a presentation on the National Science Centre’s funding schemes for researchers at early stages of their career: PRELUDIUM, SONATA, ETIUDA and FUGA.

The report on Open Access comes as a follow-up to the endorsement of the GRC Action Plan towards Open Access to Publications published in 2013 and a series of preparatory meetings. Paul Boyle, President of Science Europe, commented: “Public research agencies worldwide support the principle that all results originating from research they have funded should be open access and that activities related to Open Access should be monitored in a systematic way. This is the first time this wide range of agencies have agreed on a common approach to their respective policies. ”

Among the guests of the opening session was the Premier of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang. The participants of the Annual Meeting, co-hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, included leaders of fifty research funding institutions worldwide.

The Global Research Council is a virtual organisation, comprised of the heads of science and engineering funding agencies from around the world, dedicated to promoting the sharing of data and best practices for high-quality collaboration among funding agencies worldwide.

On the 20^th of May, the National Science Centre acted as host to the General Assembly of Science Europe, an association promoting the collective interests of European Research Funding Organisations (RFO) and Research Performing Organisations (RPO), comprising 52 such organisations from 27 countries.

One of the key events of the assembly was the election of the new President of Science Europe. The incumbent president, Professor Paul Boyle, is ending his term in August 2014. The representatives of member organisations of SE convening in Krakow unanimously chose Professor Miguel  Seabra as the next president. He will assume his duties on the 1^st of September 2014.

Professor Seabra is President of the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) and a renowned researcher in the field of membrane trafficking and diseases, academically active at the Medical School of the Universidade de Lisboa.

Professor Boyle said of his successor: Miguel has already played an instrumental role in the General Assembly and as a member of the Governing Board. He will undoubtedly lead the organisation from strength to strength

In his address after the election, Professor Seabra said that his idea for the future desired path of the organisation was to establish Science Europe as a pivotal stakeholder in shaping European science policy.

Other points on the assembly’s agenda included discussions and decisions on changes to the organisation’s Scientific Committees and Governing Board, and on various components of its budget.

The National Science Centre, a member organisation of Science Europe since 2012, was represented by its director, Professor Andrzej Jajszczyk.

CHIST-ERA together with the National Science Centre invite researchers interested in the field of Information and Communication Sciences & Technologies to the CHIST-ERA Strategic Conference 2014, which will take place on the 17^th and 18^th of June, 2014, in Istanbul.

The conference offers a unique opportunity to meet representatives of the CHIST-ERA programme and researchers with expertise in Information and Communication Sciences and Technologies. Those planning to set up research projects will be able to meet prospective partners and discuss particulars of future cooperation.

Participants of the conference are welcome to engage in creating the next call, to be published by CHIST-ERA in October, 2014, with sessions devoted to aligning the scope of the topics chosen for the new edition, and the definition of the call. The new call for international research projects will address the following:

• Resilient Trustworthy Cyber-Physical Systems;
• Human Language Understanding.

Participation in the conference is free; travel and accommodation costs have to be covered by the participant.

Further information:

Conference: http://conference2014.chistera.eu/

Topics: http://www.chistera.eu/topics-keywords-chist-era-conference-2014

Contact:

Ezgi Bener: ezgi.bener@tubitak.gov.tr

Sylwia Kostka: sylwia.kostka@ncn.gov.pl

Dr Eng. Jakub Gadek: jakub.gadek@ncn.gov.pl

The National Science Centre (NCN) together with the German Research Foundation (DFG) will launch a bilateral Polish-German call for proposals in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

The aims of the call are:

• to support research in the Humanities and Social Sciences carried out by Polish-German teams;
• to strengthen cooperation between Polish and German researchers in basic research.

The proposals must be written in English and submitted by a joint Polish-German research team. The duration of the projects must not exceed 3 years.

The research projects will undergo a joint evaluation by both External Reviewers and members of an Expert Panel selected by the DFG and the NCN.

Funding will be granted from the regular budgets of NCN and DFG.

The detailed call for proposals is planned for September with a deadline in December 2014.

Contact:

Dr. Anna Marszałek, Scientific Coordinator, anna.marszalek@ncn.gov.pl

Anna Plater-Zyberk, Head of International Cooperation Team, anna.plater@ncn.gov.pl

Malwina Jabczuga-Gebalska, International Cooperation Officer, Malwina.gebalska@ncn.gov.pl

In the seventh edition of the OPUS, PRELUDIUM and SONATA funding schemes, researchers can apply for funding worth € 57 million. Calls for proposals will be open until 17^th June 2014.

The National Science Centre is committed to supporting the growth of science by means of funding basic research ˗ the very essence of science. Let’s not forget that science is so much more than just accomplishing one research project after another. Science is learning about the world so that we can one day change it. In the National Science Centre, we care about basic research, which by definition is directed toward understanding the ways of nature and the ways of humans and societies. Of course,  it is only a matter of time that this understanding yields practical results. Daring science is worth every effort as this is how the world advances, says professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, director of the NCN.

The Centre seeks to cater for the needs of different categories of researchers. PRELUDIUM is a scheme addressed to pre-doctoral researchers. Over € 7 million is allotted to this category of researcher in the current edition. The duration of the projects must be at least 12 months and the cost of a single project should be between PLN 50,000 and 150,000.

When outlining the terms of the new edition, The NCN Council was particularly intent on stabilising the current terms of application and proposal evaluation. Mostly fine corrective changes have been introduced in the current edition of calls. One major change, however, is the decision to stress the quality of the project itself rather than the achievements of the Principal Investigator or their supervisor when assessing proposals. Similar changes have been suggested by researchers themselves, says professor Michał Karoński, chair of the Council.

The scheme which has continually seen the largest participation is OPUS. It is open to all categories of researchers. Proposals submitted under this funding opportunity may include the purchase or construction of research equipment. In the new launch of the scheme, the National Science Centre will offer nearly € 43 million to those who are successful.

The third scheme, SONATA, welcomes the participation of Principal Investigators with a doctorate (held no longer than 5 years). Financial support worth ca. € 7 million euros  will facilitate the forging of an innovative scientific approach or piece of research equipment.

Please find out more at: http://www.ncn.gov.pl/finansowanie-nauki/konkursy/typy?language=en.

On 24^th and 25^th February, the director of the NCN, professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, was present at the Sixth High-level Workshop on the European Research Area (ERA). The workshop − jointly organised by Science Europe, the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and Research Councils UK (RCUK) − took place in Bath, the UK. Beside executives of European grant agencies, research institutions and associations, participants of the workshop included special guests: ministers and other high-ranking representatives of European governments, relevant for science, as well as the representatives of the European Commission. Polish authorities were represented by the Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, professor Jacek Guliński. Other notable guests of the workshop were: the president of the European Research Council, professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon; editor-in-chief of Nature, doctor Philip Campbell and the president of the European University Association, professor Helena Nazaré. Papers and discussions at the workshop covered three major problems: the role of national research and funding organisations in the European research area, the role and measurement of research impact and the reproducibility of research. In the first session, professor Andrzej Jajszczyk delivered a paper titled “The National Science Centre (NCN) in ERA,” in which he presented the structure of research funding in Poland and the efforts on the part of the NCN oriented toward deeper inclusion of Poland in international research cooperation.

On 19^th February 2014 the representatives of the National Science Centre and the German Research Foundation (DFG) met in Krakow to sign a memorandum of understanding. This bilateral agreement lays the cornerstone of work on a future common funding opportunity for  proposals on research projects in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The call will be launched in the second half of 2014. Present at the ceremony was Poland’s Minister of Science and Higher Education professor Lena Kolarska-Bobińska.

The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) is a research grant organisation, financing basic research in all disciplines. It is an association, under private law, of German research universities, non-university research institutions and scientific associations. It is financed predominantly from funding supplied by German federal states and the Federal Government.

The National Science Centre has continuously awarded funds to Polish research teams involved in international projects under the HARMONIA funding scheme as well as international multilateral ERA-NET-type programmes. This joint endeavour with the DFG will provide the first bilateral funding scheme in the history of the NCN. The German partner institution was a natural choice given the increasing volumes of Polish-German research proposals submitted to HARMONIA and the profile of the DFG − similar as it is to that of the NCN.

The agreement was signed in the Column Hall of Wawel Royal Castle. The Minister of Science and Higher Education said about the initiative: When I think about European integration, I think about such cooperation. European integration is a great idea but consists of many actions and activities in various fields, especially in the field of science, which has no borders, and should have no borders. I understand that this document will help both our countries integrate through bilateral endeavours in science but also combine our efforts towards projects in a European context.

The German party was represented by the president of the DFG − professor Peter Strohschneider, Head of the Department of Coordinated Programmes and Infrastructure at the DFG − dr Beate Konze-Thomas, director of the Humanities and Social Sciences division − dr Manfred Niessen and director of International Affairs − dr Christian Schaich.

The National Science Centre was represented by its director − professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, the chair of the Council of the NCN − professor Michał Karoński, as well as members of the Council and employees of the NCN. Also present were dr Werner Köhler, the General Consul of Germany in Poland, professor Wojciech Nowak, rector of Jagiellonian University, and professor Jan Ostrowski, director of Wawel Royal Castle.