Winners will receive a total of nearly 520 million PLN for basic research projects at the Polish research institutions. OPUS 24 and SONATA 18 calls concluded today attracted 3015 proposals, out of which 363 were recommended for funding.

OPUS is the most popular call in our call portfolio. It is targeted at a wide audience, placing no restrictions as to the career level, degree / title or research experience of the principal investigator.

OPUS is open to proposals for domestic research projects, projects conducted with foreign partners or with the use of large-scale international research equipment. This time OPUS was also open to funding proposals for research projects carried out in international collaboration pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure within the framework of the Weave Programme. This track made it possible for research projects to be carried out in collaboration with the foreign research teams from Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg or Belgium-Flanders that submitted funding proposals to their respective research-funding agencies participating in the Weave Programme.

1921 proposals were submitted to the OPUS 24 call with a total budget of nearly 2.7 billion PLN. Funding was awarded to 224 projects, worth nearly 364.4 million. The success rate was 11.66%. 176 of the proposals submitted and 48 proposals recommended for funding involved international projects under the LAP Lead Agency Procedure. 

SONATA 18 is addressed at researchers who hold a PhD degree conferred 2 to 7 years before the proposal submission year; its objective is to support those at the outset of their careers in innovative research. This round of the call attracted 1094 proposals with a total budget of more than 1.2 billion PLN. In the end, funding was awarded to 139 projects worth more than 155.5 million PLN. The success rate was 12.79 %.

Important and Innovative Projects  

The winning proposals in OPUS 24 included many important and innovative projects. Wioleta Kucharska (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) will research agile learning culture’s key determinants and effects comparing Polish and Finnish systems. The project outcome may contribute to the maintenance of the organisation's innovation, competitiveness and resilience to the turbulent environment (e.g. COVID-19). Michał Jan Kawulok (Physical Sciences and Engineering) will pursue research to develop new super-resolution reconstruction methods that can be used in medical imaging or remote sensing, text recognition, detecting small objects, or segmenting some specific image regions (e.g. forests in satellite images or human skin in colour images), etc. Katarzyna Donskow-Łysoniewska (Life Sciences) with her research team will identify biomarkers which determine the response to the therapy in multiple sclerosis treatment with the use of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology. The project results will allow the development of an algorithm to model the response to currently used immunomodulatory drugs. 

The winners of SONATA 18 included Jacek Kwieciński (Physical Sciences and Engineering). The aim of his studies is to better understand the processes underlying valve degeneration, which would enable early identification of patients at risk. The aim of his project is to define an optimal target population that could derive the greatest benefit from the 18F-NaF-PET scan and to optimise 18FNaF-PET protocol. Karolina Kwaczyńska’s 3D-Dual-Sens project (Life Sciences) involves the development of a modern device for the detection and/or determination of narcotic substances such as fentanyl, codeine, amphetamine or methamphetamine. Karolina Kwaczyńska believes that there is a significant gap between primitive colorimetric tests, which suffer from a lack of selectivity, and advanced techniques such as mass spectrometry or chromatography implemented in specialized laboratory centres that will change colour upon contact with the analyte, and hence, will provide immediate information about the presence or absence of the selected chemical species which can be used, for example, to drug test drivers. Karolina Majewska-Guede (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) will research an alternative transnational cultural history of the People's Republic of Poland centred on the gendered labour history in the “Fajans” factory in Wrocław. She will develop, inter alia, the concepts of artistic work, collaboration and artistic knowledge (also by using artistic strategies such as painting, performance, and installation).

All projects recommended for funding under OPUS 24 and SONATA 18 as well as project descriptions for the general public are available on the website with the ranking lists.

Evaluation of Proposals 

Proposals submitted in response to the NCN calls are evaluated by the experts selected among outstanding Polish and foreign researchers who are at least PhD holders. The evaluation procedure consists of two stages. Each stage consists of at least two individual reviews of each proposal and an expert team meeting during which the reviews are discussed, and ranking lists of proposals recommended for funding compiled. A funding decision is taken by the NCN Director.

OPUS LAP proposals have been evaluated alongside other OPUS proposals by the same expert teams, with an additional evaluation of the research track record of principal investigators of the foreign research teams, performance of other research projects and evaluation whether the input of all research teams in the project was balanced and complementary.

The OPUS ranking lists do not include OPUS LAP proposals recommended for funding by the expert teams of the National Science Centre pending approval by the partner agencies. The projects will be added to the lists once we are notified by the partner agencies of their approvals. 

Service of Decision

Today, the funding decisions will be served concerning proposals recommended or not recommended for funding under OPUS 24 and SONATA 18. NCN decisions are served to the applicants in an electronic format to the e-mail address specified in the proposal. 

If the applicant is an entity described in Article 27 (1) – (7) and (9) of the NCN Act of 30 April 2010, the funding decision will be served to their Electronic Delivery Box (ePUAP) specified in the proposal. If an applicant who is a natural person indicates an ePUAP address in the proposal, the decision will be sent to that address. If an applicant who is a natural person fail to indicate the ePUAP address, the service of decisions will be carried out by means of sending – to their email address – information containing an electronic address from which the NCN Director’s decision may be downloaded.

The funding decisions of the NCN Director are additionally communicated to the principal investigator and if an applicant is a natural person, to the host institution for the project. 

In the absence of the decision, make sure that your electronic (ESP, ePUAP, e-mail) address specified in the proposal is correct and if incorrect address has been provided, contact the Program Officer in charge of the proposal specified in the OSF submission system. 

 

Join us for the next webinar on open access to research data. The second meeting will be dedicated to research data management in Earth & Environmental Sciences.

The training will be hosted by Dariusz Ignatiuk from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Silesia in Katowice.

The meeting will be held in Polish, on 25 May 2023, on Clickmeeting.

During the meeting, participants will be lectured about research data management in Earth & Environmental Sciences and will acquire skills enabling them to develop and implement data management plans. The following issues will be discussed:

•  research data management significance in Earth & Environmental Sciences
•  description of Earth & Environmental Sciences
•  FAIR principles
•  open access to research data
•  general information on data management plans
•  description of data and available data acquisition or reuse
•  data storage and back up
•  legal requirements, codes of conduct
•  data sharing and long-term storage
•  data management-related tasks and resources
•  implementation and reporting of data management plans

The training is addressed at all those researching broadly understood Earth & Environmental Sciences, including researchers, PhD students as well as data stewards and administrative staff supporting researchers in data management-related issues.

You can register until 24 May 2023 (subject to availability; a limit of 500 people applies) on the enrolment form. Your participation will be confirmed by e-mail. Please note that submission of an application does not confirm your participation. Participants will be admitted according to their profile and order of enrolment.

Consider your enrolment. If you decide not to take part in the webinar, let us know as soon as possible at: otwarta.nauka@ncn.gov.pl

In the next podcast episode, we are discussing centralisation of science in Poland and possibilities to support researchers from smaller research institutions.

Over 12 years of NCN’s operation, funding proposals have been submitted by 824 universities, research institutes of the Polish Academy of Science, research centres and other entities. The largest number of proposals came from the largest research institutions: the Masovian Voivodeship (województwo mazowieckie) (33 per cent) and Lesser Poland Voivodeship (województwo małopolskie) (11 per cent). “We see the same trend among the winning applicants. The largest number of winning grants go to the Masovian Voivodeship also because more entities from that voivodeship apply”, says Anna Strzebońska, Head of our Analysis and Evaluation Team. In 2022, out of all proposals recommended for funding, 30 per cent were awarded to research institutions from the Masovian Voivodeship and 19 per cent from the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, followed by the Greater Poland Voivodeship (województwo wielkopolskie) and Silesian Voivodeship (województwo śląskie) (11 per cent).

Our guests today include Prof. Joanna Golińska-Pilarek, NCN Council Member, Prof. Łukasz Okruszek from the Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences and NCN grant winner, and Anna Strzebońska and Renata Mazurkiewicz from our Analysis and Evaluation Team. Our guests are talking to Anna Korzekwa-Józefowicz about centralisation of science in Poland and possibilities to support researchers from smaller research institutions.

Anna Strzebońska draws attention to the importance of accounting for various sizes of voivodeships in analysing the NCN support. The highest success rate in NCN calls over the last 12 years has been generated by research institutions from the Łódź Voivodeship (województwo łódzkie) (56 per cent), Greater Poland Voivodeship and Lublin Voivodeship (województwo lubelskie) (55 per cent).

“Comparing groups that are diverse and differ in terms of size can lead to wrong conclusions (...). The analysis of our grant distribution shows that it is not as much as the voivodeship but the type of the institution that matters. Voivodeships in which the Polish Academy of Science has its research centres are doing much better. Over the last 12 years they have generated a success rate of 29 per cent as compared to universities that have generated a success rate of 20 per cent and research institutions, 16 per cent”, she says.

Our guests have mentioned the mission of the National Science Centre which is funding the best research projects. The National Science Centre also supports smaller research institutions by promoting research mobility, introducing quota on the number of grants awarded and organising training courses for applicants and NCN Days in smaller cities. “Without ministerial support and national research policy, the National Science Centre has very few tools to considerably change the situation”, says Prof. Joanna Golińska-Pilarek.

“Fostering national mobility is appreciated but certainly not at the expense scientific excellence. A postcode must never be the key criterion for awarding grants”, says Prof. Łukasz Okruszek.

 

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49 researchers from all over Poland to receive funds from the National Science Centre for preliminary/pilot studies, library and archive searches, fellowships, research visits and/ or consultations. The National Science Centre to allocate over 2 million PLN for single research activities.

A research activity on a housing market is among 11 winning projects in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. It will be carried out by Ewelina Badura from the Cracow University of Economics who will research housing cooperatives - a new tool in the development of housing construction and their potential to improve access to housing.

20 scientists will join the group of MINIATURA 7 winners in Physical Sciences and Engineering. The winning projects will include research activities focusing on the current environmental problems. Aleksandra Wdowczyk from the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences will conduct preliminary research on the treatment of leachate from municipal waste landfills in vegetation activated sludge systems.

18 winning projects were selected in Life Sciences. A single research activity on food production will be pursued by Piotr Eljasik from the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin. His research will include preliminary characteristics of water microbiome in carp pond aquaculture.

All topics of research activities recommended for funding are published on the ranking list.

Ranking Lists for MINIATURA 7

Funding allocated:

• Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences: 376,795 PLN
• Physical Sciences and Engineering: 780,753 PLN
• Life Sciences: 831,060 PLN

The total value of research activities that made it to the second ranking list in MINIATURA 7 is over 2,038,112 PLN.

The purpose of the MINIATURA call is to support research activities promoting the development of a concept for projects submitted to NCN calls or other national or international calls. MINIATURA 7 offers funding of 5,000 PLN to 50,000 PLN, with the total call budget of 20 million PLN.

The funds will be divided proportionally throughout the call period and proposals will only be recommended for funding if they are within the pool of funds available for a given month.

Funds for preliminary/pilot studies, library and archive searches, fellowships, research visits and/ or consultations of up to 12 months may be requested by researchers who had their PhD degree conferred after 1 January 2011, have not acted as principal investigators in any of the projects funded by the National Science Centre, and whose scientific achievements include at least one paper published or at least one artistic achievement or achievement in research in art. Researchers chosen to perform a research activity must not be winning applicants of an ETIUDA call for doctoral scholarships or a call for fellowships funded by the NCN, and must not be applicants, principal investigators or fellowship candidates in proposals submitted to or recommended for funding in other NCN calls. Furthermore, on the proposal submission date they must be employed by the host institution for the research activity pursuant to an employment contract.

Service of decisions

On 15 May 2023, decisions on proposal submitted to MINIATURA 7 in February 2023 were served.

Justifications are available in the OSF submission systems. Please check the proposal status in the OSF submission system.

The decisions are served to the applicant in an electronic format, to the address of the Electronic Delivery Box (ESP (ePUAP) address) specified in the proposal. Applicants who have not received a decision should check if their ESP (ePUAP) address specified in the proposal is correct and those who provided a wrong address should contact the NCN Program Officer in charge of the proposal specified in the OSF submission system.

The nineth edition of the NCN Days is now over. The two May days were filled with inspiring lectures, vivid discussions, and interesting workshops.

Wrocław University of Science and Technology Congress Centre, fot. Łukasz Bera for NCN The NCN Days are held on an annual basis, each time in a different academic city in Poland. This spring, the representatives of the NCN Council and Office visited Wrocław at the invitation of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology and thanks to the cooperation with the College of Vice-Rectors for Science of Wrocław and Opole (KRUWiO). The purpose of the event is to present the operation of the National Science Centre to the local researchers and exchange experiences and views on the NCN’s operation and portfolio.

“Wrocław is a strong academic centre, and our universities and institutions have confirmed high quality research, even during the last evaluation. The NCN Days allow us to present the achievements of outstanding researchers who have successfully applied for NCN funding; on the other hand, researchers and officers supporting the application procedure will be able to gain knowledge and improve their competences in this area," said Prof. Andrzej Ożyhar, Vice-Rector for Science at the University of Wrocław.

Dialogue with the Academic Environment

“We are here for you! This is a unique opportunity to discuss your needs and problems with the call regulations, grant implementation and our operation at large,” said Prof. Robert Hasterok, President of the NCN Council. “We want our call portfolio to address the real needs of the scientific community. This is why we will listen to any comments and suggestions you may have,” he added.

The local scientific community could express their views at the Council meeting with the participation of the heads of the local research institutions and at the “We Can Do It” meeting. The main purpose of the meetings was to discuss the grant system and challenges related to the current state of science and research work in Poland. The topics for the discussions collected via, inter alia, an application form included project budgeting, post-doc employment and scholarships allocation, evaluation of interdisciplinary projects and open access to research data.

Participants of the meeting of the NCN Council with the participation of the management and representatives of the scientific community of the region, fot. Łukasz Bera for NCN Another important point of discussions in Wrocław was underfunding of the National Science Centre, an institution which has supported basic research in the Polish research institutions for the last 12 years. Based on the European Research Council, the National Science Centre has maintained the highest standards of peer-review and efficiently fostered Polish researchers by allocating over one billion PLN to the best research projects each year. Between 2015 and 2018, the NCN budget increased by 40%. For the next five years, the budget increased by only 13%. In 2023, the budget is the same as in 2022.

“At this point, out budget for research is not expanding to meet the growing needs: project costs, researchers’ needs and inflation. In order to continue our mission, it is imperative for our grant budget to grow, something we have been urging for a very long time,” says Zbigniew Błocki, acting Director of the National Science.

From its very beginning, the National Science has been apolitical, transparent, prioritised early-stage researchers, and promoted scientific excellence and internationalisation of research. Over 28,000 projects have been funded so far, with a value of nearly 14.4 billion PLN. 

INFORMATION ON LOWER SILESIA AND OPOLE

dr hab. Grzegorz Soboń, prof. PWr, fot. Łukasz Bera for NCN Why and how to do good science?

The event included presentations by the Wrocław-based NCN call winners who have achieved significant research results due to the NCN support. Prof. Grzegorz Soboń from the Faculty of Electronics, Photonics and Microsystems at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, who studies laser technology, talked about finding one’s research path, choices that can take us to (or away from) our goals, and casual lift conversations or seminar participations that can change one’s career.

The NCN Days also comprise a very practical part. Administrative staff of the research institutions discussed the proposal processing procedures. Participants of the proposal evaluation workshops played the part of experts who evaluate proposals in NCN calls. Before the meeting, they were requested to review two real proposals drafted by the experts participating in the workshops who agreed that they be used for training purposes. Furthermore, a mock expert team meeting was held during the workshop.

“Workshop participants who draft reviews will be able to see the proposal development process from a different perspective, from an expert’s perspective. One gets the best insight into one’s academic work when evaluating somebody else’s funding proposal,” says Ewelina Szymańska-Skolimowska, NCN Coordinator.

During a meeting on open access to research data held at the end of the NCN Days, researchers found out about NCN’s Open Access Policy, publication routes compliant with the Policy, significance of open access and open access in NCN proposals.

The first NCN Days in 2013 were held in the Upper Silesia. Then, we have visited other academic cities, such as Lublin, Szczecin, Olsztyn, Kielce, Gdansk, Lodz, and in 2022, after a pandemic break, Bialystok. Next year, Bydgoszcz will host the NCN Days.

Galeria zdjęć

Together with the ForestValue2 network (HORIZON EUROPE Coordination and Support Action), we have just launched a call for international research projects aiming to produce knowledge to support the best possible use of forests and forest resources as well as to provide multiple benefits for society and the economy.

Research proposals must cover at least one of the following subjects: 

1. Resilient sustainable forest systems and management
2. Sustainable timber building systems

Proposals may be submitted by international consortia composed of at least three research teams from at least 3 countries participating in the call. The principal investigator of the Polish research team must be at least a PhD holder. Countries participating in the call include: Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain.  

Under the ForestValue2 Call 2023, funds may be requested to cover remuneration for the research team members, salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students,  purchase or manufacturing of research equipment and for other costs crucial for the project.

The National Science Centre has allocated a total of 500,000 EUR for research tasks performed under the call by the Polish research teams.

Call timeline:

Submission deadline for joint full proposals: 1 September 2023, 13:00 CEST

Submission deadline for proposals in the OSF submission system: 8 September 2023, 23:59 CEST

Call results: December 2023  

Join us for the first webinar this year on research data opening in academic disciplines. The first training will be dedicated to research data management in linguistics.

The training will be hosted by Dr Agnieszka Dziob-Zadworna and Dr Jan Wieczorek from the Department of Artificial Intelligence of the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology / CLARIN-PL.

It will be held on 5 May 2023, between 12:00 and 13:30, in Polish, on Clickmeeting.

During the webinar, participants will be lectured about research data management in linguistics and will acquire skills allowing them to develop and implement data management plans. The following issues will be discussed:

• Research data management significance for linguistics.
• Data characteristics in linguistics.
• FAIR principles.
• Research data opening principles.
• General information on data management plans.
• Description of data and available data acquisition or reuse.
• Data storage and back up.
• Legal requirements, codes of conduct.
• Data sharing and long-term storage.
• Data management-related tasks and resources.
• Implementation and reporting of data management plans.

The training is addressed at all those researching broadly understood linguistics, including researchers, PhD students as well as data stewards and administrative staff supporting researchers in data management-related issues in linguistics.

You can register until 4 May 2023 (subject to availability; a limit of 500 people applies) on the enrolment form. Your participation will be confirmed by e-mail. Please note that submission of an application does not confirm your participation. Participants will be admitted according to their profile and order of enrolment.

Consider your enrolment. If you decide not to take part in the webinar, let us know as soon as possible at: otwarta.nauka@ncn.gov.pl

 

We are pleased to inform that CHANSE (Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe) consortium in collaboration with HERA (The Humanities in the European Research Area) and NORFACE (The New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Cooperation in Europe) Networks pre-announce calls for international research projects in the following themes:

• Crisis - Perspectives from the Humanities – organised jointly by CHANSE and HERA
• Enhancing well-being for the future – organised jointly by CHANSE and NORFACE

Information about the calls

Full calls topic description is available here:

Crisis - Perspectives from the Humanities – theme description

Enhancing well-being for the future – theme description

Project team: Composed of at least four and maximum six Principal Investigators, i.e. partners, eligible to receive funding from the CHANSE and HERA/NORFACE funding organisations from four or more different countries participating in the call.

Project duration: 24-36 months

Cap on funding for one international project: 1 500 000 EUR (across all partners)

Indicative timeline

Official calls announcement and launch of the submission system: May 26th, 2023

Deadline for outline proposals: September 21st, 2023, 14.00 CET

Deadline for invited full proposals: March 26th 2024, 14.00 CET

Call results: October/November 2024

Earliest funded project start: End of 2024/Beginning of 2025

Countries participating in the calls

Crisis - Perspectives from the Humanities: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia*, Denmark*, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Enhancing well-being for the future: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia*, Estonia, Germany*, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

*The participation in the calls will be confirmed in the Call announcement on 26 May 2023. The participation of France will also be confirmed in the Call announcement.

PARTNER SEARCH TOOL

In order to facilitate the process of forming research consortia, we offer applicants a partner search tool available here. This tool can be used by projects looking for partners and partners looking for projects.

Zapowiedź tematów konkursów ma charakter informacyjny. Szczegółowe warunki zostaną określone w treści oficjalnych ogłoszeń.

Contact

Call Crisis - Perspectives from the Humanities:  crisis@ncn.gov.pl

Call Enhancing well-being for the future:  wellbeing@ncn.gov.pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHANSE Programme has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101004509.

We now know the winning project recommended for funding under the ARTIQ call of the National Science Centre and the National Centre for Research and Development. The Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (CE AI) will be created at the AGH University of Krakow and Ayan Seal, researcher from India will act as its leader. Since 2014, Ayan Seal has been an assistant professor at the Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing in Jabalpur. He will come to Krakow to research integration of application, learning, optimisation and interpretation to speed up commercialisation of intelligent new generation software systems.

CD AI leaders must be researchers who have earned their PhD within 8 years before the call start date and have international experience and achievements in the field of artificial intelligence, including accomplishments in commercialisation and business cooperation. Furthermore, they must have not lived, worked, studied or managed a grant in Poland within two years prior to the call end date. 

Artificial intelligence is considered one of the most important technologies of the future and actions in support of AI are one of European Union’s priorities. It is the objective of the National Science Centre and the National Centre for Research and Development to increase Poland’s potential in this area by creating the Excellence Centres in Artificial Intelligence in Poland. The National Science Centre will fund basic research covered by the winning project whilst the cost of applied research and formation of companies will be financed by the National Centre for Research and Development.

54% of funding awarded by the National Science Centre last year fostered the development of early-stage researchers. It was 3% more than in 2021 and 11% more than in 2016, when the measurements started.

In 2022, over PLN 875 million was awarded to early-stage researchers in national and international calls for proposals, for research projects, scholarships and post-doctoral fellowships. As of 2016, they have received funding of nearly PLN 10 billion (PLN 9.8 billion).

NCN funding allows early-stage researchers to carry out research projects, create their own research teams, benefit from scholarships at doctoral schools and employment at Polish research institutions as well as foreign fellowships at renowned research institutions, the latter due to collaboration between the NCN and the Polish Agency of Academic Exchange.

NCN support for early-stage researchers is discussed by our guests today: Prof. Joanna Golińska-Pilarek, NCN Council Member, Prof. Łukasz Okruszek from the Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences and NCN grant winner as well as Anna Strzebońska and Renata Mazurkiewicz from our Analysis and Evaluation Team. They are addressing the terms of NCN calls, funding awarded to early-stage researchers in particular years, as well as possible modifications of the terms of NCN calls as a result the budget freeze and their implications for early-stage researchers’ careers.

“The NCN is currently the best option for research development. As a community, we honestly hope that the current trend will change” says Prof. Łukasz Okruszek in view of NCN budget cuts.

The podcast is hosted by Anna Korzekwa-Józefowicz.

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