Polish researchers awarded in the 3rd ERA-CAPS Call

Thu, 02/08/2018 - 11:36

We are pleased to announce that the V-Morph project, involving researchers from Poland, has been awarded funding within the 3rd ERA-CAPS Call for proposals. The Polish team, led by prof. Dorota Monika Kwiatkowska from the Faculty of Biology and Environment Protection of the University of Silesia in Katowice, will cooperate with researchers from France and Germany. The project will be coordinated by prof. Arezki Boudaoud from École normale supérieure de Lyon (France).

The V-Morph project aims to:

  • analyse spatial and temporal variability in sepal morphogenesis at all scales, considering growth and its effectors,
  • identify and characterise genes that regulate variability, by performing a directed screen among mutants affecting the cell wall, plant hydraulics, and mechanosensing,
  • integrate the corresponding mechanisms in mechanical models of growth and test these models experimentally, notably by local mechanical and genetic perturbations to sepals.

The 3rd ERA-CAPS Call granted funding to 12 transnational projects involving 50 research teams (5 of which are self-funded) from 10 different countries:

List of projects recommended for funding in the 3rd ERA-CAPS Call

Contact:

NCN and NCBR to intensify cooperation

Wed, 02/07/2018 - 14:54

On January 31st the National Science Centre (NCN) and the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) signed an agreement of cooperation with a view to harnessing the potential of Poland’s scientific community, so that achievements by Polish researchers can play an ever larger role in the country’s economic and social growth.

– In cooperation with the entire academic community, we have designed a reform that will unleash the full potential of the science work carried out in Poland, offering more opportunities for the results of the researchers’ work to be employed for Poland’s social and economic benefit. At the same time, we have already been using all means available to provide the best conditions for research, both basic and applied. The agreement signed today by the NCBR and the NCN is another step towards the improvement of the public funding mechanisms that benefit Polish science and the economy, said Jarosław Gowin, minister of science and higher education.

Where theory meets practice

The NCBR and the NCN are executive agencies for the Ministry of Science and Higher Education that address targets related to economic and social development using the results of research. The NCN’s mission is to support endeavours in basic research, i.e. experimental or theoretical work, whereas the NCBR’s task is to assist Polish research units and businesses in practical applications of their research. While the two agencies have already collaborated with each other, among others on the TANGO programme, the agreement signed on Wednesday will further stimulate the cooperation, thanks, in particular, to joint funding instruments and support in implementing common research projects.

Objectives of the TANGO programme

The TANGO programme builds a bridge towards linking basic research with applied and industrial research, thus generating new opportunities for the practical use of scientists’ results. It is free from thematic bias, which enables the operators to choose the best projects from various domains.

In the two TANGO funding opportunities concluded to date (editions in 2013 and 2015), 76 projects have received funding worth more than € 14.84 million. The programme’s third edition will be announced towards the end of March 2018. Its budget will exceed € 9.27 million, and the funding of up to € 46,385 will be available to research units, research centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences, as well as universities and individual researchers. The funding may amount to 100 per cent of a project’s cost.

The programme will admit only proposals drawing on the results of research projects that have been under way for at least a year or ones that have been completed, and funded under one of the NCN’s own funding schemes: OPUS, PRELUDIUM, SONATINA, SONATA, SONATA BIS, HARMONIA, MAESTRO, SYMFONIA or POLONEZ.

This year’s edition of the call introduces a new feature, allowing for submissions on a continuous basis, starting from the publication of the call.

Projects supported

Owing to the ministerial agencies’ support, scientists carry out research into, among others, the following: the technology of printing organic electroluminescent diodes, the introduction of cryopreservation of sperm to programmes improving the farming of fish of the salmonidae family, the use of Adaptive Impact Absorption (AIA) for aviation and space engineering, the technology of biotisation for commercial ecological berry breeding, the introduction of the hydrological hazard early warning system HydroProg, the delta-type parallel manipulator with pneumatic artificial muscles, and the innovative technology of purifying aquatic environments. The cooperation of research units on the implementation and commercialisation of their results is among the chief objectives in the reform prepared by the Ministry, whose tenets have been presented by minister Jarosław Gowin in the Constitution for Science document.

Webinars for JPI Urban Europe & NFSC call applicants

Tue, 02/06/2018 - 12:35

JPI Urban Europe network, whose aim is to finance international, interdisciplinary research projects that respond to the challenges of modern cities and urban areas, together with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) invite all possible applicants to the info webinars referring to the call Sustainable and Liveable Cities and Urban Areas.

The call will be presented by representatives from the call secretariat and the participating funding agencies. At the end there will be a Q&A session and the opportunity for applicants to present and pitch their idea for a project.

More information about the call

JPI AMR Call 2018: Partner Search Tool

Mon, 02/05/2018 - 14:50

Researchers and institutions looking for partners in the JPI AMR Call 2018 on antimicrobial resistance are kindly invited to register in the Partner Search Tool and complete an online form. The expressions of interest registered in the tool will be available on the same website.

More information about the Call: on the NCN website and on the JPI AMR website.

Contact:

JPI Urban Europe & Chinese NSFC call open

Thu, 02/01/2018 - 14:41

NCN together with JPI Urban Europe network and Chinese funding agency NSFC is pleased to announce a new call on Sustainable Urbanisation in the Context of Economic Transformation and Climate Change: Sustainable and Liveable Cities and Urban Areas.

Call topics

  1. Climate change and new urban economies
  2. Transformation of energy systems and strengthen urban circular economies
  3. Urban public administration and services innovation
  4. Urban data management

Funding is available for international research projects that involve at least two research teams from two different European eligible countries and two (and maximum three) Chinese partners.

Countries participating in the call:

Austria, Belgium, China, France, Latvia, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, UK

Call timetable:

  • 12 April 2018 – deadline for pre-registration
  • 20 June 2018 – deadline for full proposals
  • December 2018 – call results

One joint proposal document (in English, and following the provided template) shall be prepared by the project participants of a joint transnational proposal, and must be submitted to the Call Secretariat by the coordinator.

Call documentation

More information: https://jpi-urbaneurope.eu/calls/sustainable-urbanisation-china-europe/

Information for Polish applicants:

  1. On the full proposal stage Polish applicants must register their applications in the OSF submission system (UNISONO application). This application includes the following budget table.
  2. We strongly encourage all applicants to read information on eligible costs included in the Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution on funding granted within calls for proposals for international research projects (UNISONO, p. 5-12).
  3. If one international project includes partners from two different Polish Host Institutions, these institutions must apply as a consortium. Each Host Institution comprising the consortium has a separate budget, but the limit on the remuneration applies to the consortium as a whole (UNISONO, p. 8-9: item 2.1.2 a) and b)).
  4. Budget of the Polish part of the research project in the OSF system should be given in PLN (1 EUR= 4,2308 PLN).

Contact:

Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin takes part in NCN Council meeting

Fri, 01/26/2018 - 15:41

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Higher Education, Jarosław Gowin, was invited to join a meeting of the Council of the National Science Centre on January 18th in Jaroszowice near Wadowice. The discussion focused on the role of the NCN in the system of financing science, the main directions of the Centre’s activities in the coming years and planned changes in science and higher education.

Prime Minister Gowin presented the main premises of the Higher Education Act 2.0, developed after extensive consultations with the scientific community (a draft of the Act was made public on January 22nd). He emphasised that the National Science Centre has played an important part in the process of changing Polish science and has made a significant impact on improving the level of research carried out in Poland.

A part of the meeting was devoted to the improvements being introduced by the Centre in the process of applying for grants and their implementation. NCN Director prof. Zbigniew Błocki emphasised that the Centre has been aware of opinions that differences in the rules of individual calls for proposals make the administration of grants difficult. Therefore, the changes introduced by the Centre will apply retroactively, so that they can be applied to all ongoing projects.

- For me, the notion of deregulation is really well-founded. I listened with hope and appreciation to the solutions proposed by the NCN to make administrative processes less bureaucratic. Let us remember that the shape of the NCN calls, created by the scientists themselves, significantly affects the competitiveness of Polish science in the international arena - stressed Deputy Prime Minister Gowin.

One of the Council’s priorities in the near future is further internationalisation of the Centre’s actions, in particular, the development of new bilateral programmes and the alignment of the NCN proposal peer-review system with the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP). The Centre also plans to minimise changes introduced to the rules and regulations in subsequent editions of the calls.

- The National Science Centre was created by scientists for scientists. For years we have been listening to voices coming to us from the scientific community and I cannot imagine not taking them into account. When modifying our call regulations, we look at them from the perspective of the Polish scientists’ needs so as to create the optimal conditions for achieving scientific excellence - said prof. Janusz Janeczek, Chairman of the NCN Council.

p> From left: Prof. Janusz Janeczek, chairman of the NCN Council, Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin and Prof. Zbigniew Błocki, director of the NCN. Photo was made during the meeting of the Council 18th January 2018 r., photo by Magdalena Duer-Wójcik/NCNMeeting of the NCN Council, 18th January 2018, general view, photo by Magdalena Duer-Wójcik/NCNMeeting of the NCN Council, 18th January 2018, general view, photo by Magdalena Duer-Wójcik/NCN

The NCN to facilitate its grant procedures

Fri, 01/19/2018 - 15:16

The National Science Centre continues to improve the process of applying for and implementing grants. In December 2017 a round-table meeting took place at the Centre’s office. Representatives of both the research community and the NCN debated on how best to streamline the cooperation between the Centre and researchers. In the aftermath of the meeting the NCN will introduce a number of improvements.

Formal notifications will shortly be sent to host institutions involved in the implementation of the NCN research grants, informing them of the scope and dates of the improvements.

  1. Costs will become eligible once the decision on funding has become final and binding (so far the practice has been to qualify the costs as eligible only upon signing the grant agreement). The change enters into force from the publication of MAESTRO 9, SONATA 13, SONATA BIS 7 and HARMONIA 9 calls.
  2. Proposals with minor irregularities in the breakdown of project costs (ineligible costs) will not be rejected at the eligibility check stage. The change enters into force from the publication of the OPUS 14, PRELUDIUM 14 and DAINA 1 calls.
  3. One will be able to propose the dates of commencement and end of one’s project by emailing or telephoning the project’s assistance officer at the NCN.
  4. One will be able to move the project to another host institution not only – as has previously been the case – during its implementation (i.e. after signing the agreement), but also before signing the agreement, once the decision on funding has become final and binding.
  5. From the publication of calls scheduled for 15th September 2018, the attachment of an additional form concerning state aid in the ZSUN/OSF system will no longer be required for every proposal.
  6. For proposals submitted by natural persons the requirement of confirming the principal investigator’s employment by the host institution will be cancelled.
  7. The short and full description of the project will constitute annexes to the proposal, so as to enable the applicants to work on the subject matter of the proposal until the date of deadline for submissions. Both annexes will be in English. Previously, the short description was in Polish, and both descriptions have constituted part of the proposal itself. The change enters into force from the publication of the OPUS 15 and PRELUDIUM 15 calls (March 2018).
  8. One will be able to extend the project’s duration by 12 months without applying for a permit from the Centre (previously this period had been 6 months). This does not apply to projects carried out in bi- and multilateral cooperation.
  9. The list of the equipment to be purchased in the project will not be deemed as final at the stage of the project’s implementation.
  10. Additional funding from the host institution for investigators receiving their salaries from the grant will be allowed.

Changes regarding the implementation of grants will be applied RETROACTIVELY, i.e. they can be applied to projects already under way.

PLEASE NOTE:

The abovementioned modifications will have no effect in the case of projects funded under the POLONEZ programme, editions 1-3.

Modifications no 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9 do not apply to projects where state aid is involved (i.e. projects carried out by businesses or research consortia where the NCN funding constitutes state aid for at least one partner).

New JPI AMR call on antimicrobial resistance

Fri, 01/12/2018 - 13:57

NCN together with JPI AMR network is pleased to announce a new call on antimicrobial resistance: Innovation against antibiotic-resistant bacteria: new targets, compounds and tools. Fundamental and translational research, with the exception of clinical trials.Applications may be put forward by international consortia composed of a minimum of 3 partners from at least 3 different countries participating in the call. The project participants prepare one joint  proposal document (in English, and following the provided template), which is  submitted to the Joint Call Secretariat by the consortium coordinator on behalf of all the research teams in all countries, via a submission tool https://secure.pt-dlr.de/ptoutline/app/jpiamr2018..

Countries participating in the call

Belgium, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland

Timeline of the call

The two-step application process (pre-proposal, full proposal) will have the following timetable:

  • March 7th, 2018 (17:00 CET) – deadline for the submission of pre-proposals
  • April/May 2018 – invitation to submit full proposals
  • June 14th,  2018 (17:00 CET) – deadline for the submission of full proposals
  • October/November 2018 – call results
  • end of 2018/early 2019 – start of funded projects

Call documents

  1. Call text
  2. Pre-proposal Application Form
  3. Specific Requirements / Annex B

Additional info to download

  1. 6th Call Folder 2018
  2. Quick Guide for Dissemination of the JPI AMR Research Projects Results
  3. WHO Prioritization of Pathogens Report

For more information on the call please see the JPI AMR website.

Information for Polish applicants:

  1. At the pre-proposal stage Polish applicants are not required to send any additional documents to the NCN.
  2. At the full proposal stage they must register their projects in the OSF submission system (UNISONO proposal). The UNISONO proposal includes the following budget table: http://ncn.gov.pl/sites/default/files/pliki/UNISONO_budget_table.xlsx.
  3. We strongly encourage all applicants to read the information on eligible costs included in the Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution on funding granted within calls for proposals for international research projects (UNISONO, pp. 5-12).
  4. If one international project includes partners from two (or more) different Polish Host Institutions, these institutions must apply to the NCN as a consortium.  Please note that each consortium member will have a separate budget, but the limit on personnel costs, given in paragraph 2.1.2 of the Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution, applies to the consortium as a whole (please see UNISONO, pp. 8-9).
  5. At the full proposal stage, the budget of the Polish part of the research project in the OSF system should be given in PLN, with the exchange rate of  1 EUR= 4,2705 PLN.
  6. Projects including Polish teams may last 24 or 36 months.

Contact:

dr Jerzy Frączek, jerzy.fraczek@ncn.gov.pl, tel. 12 341 9165

Jolanta Palowska, jolanta.palowska@ncn.gov.pl, tel. 12 341 9139

 

 

Johann Christoph Liska's forgotten artworks

Principal Investigator :
Dr Emilia Kłoda
University of Wrocław

Panel: HS2

Funding scheme : PRELUDIUM 9
announced on 16 March 2015

The project entitled "Johann Christoph Liska's forgotten artworks. The conservator's examination of the Baroque paintings" was conducted between 2016 and 2017 at the Institute of Art History of the University of Wrocław. Its primary objective was to study paintings attributed to Johann Christoph Liska (c. 1650–1712). This outstanding Silesian painter learned painting at the workshop of his stepfather, Michael Leopold Willmann, and continued his education in Italy, where he stayed for several years. Upon his return, he worked in what is now the Czech Republic and Silesia, mainly on commissions from the Catholic Church. After Willmann's death, he took over his workshop at the monastery in Lubiąż and completed his unfinished commissions. Even though Liska is now recognized as a remarkable painter, no monograph and no systematic catalogue of his works are available. This research project has been an important step toward a better understanding of the painter and his oeuvre.

The project focused on seven paintings, selected from different stages of Liska's oeuvre, most of which are either completely unknown or considered mediocre copies of works that have not survived. Four paintings (St Joseph, St Mary of Egypt, St Charles Borromeo and Lamentation of Christ) come from the Czech territory and were commissioned by the Czech monastic circles at the turn of the 17th and the 18th centuries. Three Silesian paintings (Lamentation of Christ, Finding of the Holy Cross and Angel) date back to 1708-1712, the period when Liska was in charge of Willmann's workshop. The first step in the project was to carry out art historical research into the works of art and their history from the moment of creation until the present day. Subsequently, conservators from Kraków (Marcin Ciba) and Prague (Denisa Cirmaciová) used infrared, ultraviolet and X-ray radiation to analyse the chemical composition and the layer structure of the paintings.

This international cooperation allowed the most important features of Liska's painting technique to be described and his authorship of most of the analysed artworks to be verified. The findings confirmed that the works are similar in terms of the layering of paint and preparation of the underpainting. The differences in the choice of pigments among paintings may mean that the painter worked in two separate workshops: one in Silesia, and one in Bohemia. Particularly interesting among the analysed paintings is the Lamentation of Christ from the Church of St Martin in Tursko near Prague. A radical restoration that involved the replacement of one of the four panels that formed the underpainting is a fascinating example of the changes that the work underwent after its creation. Importantly, the research project enabled us to identify a major difference between the painting techniques of Liska and his master Willmann. None of the analysed paintings by Lischka showed any traces of preparatory drawing, which is always found on the canvases of the Lubiąż master. It seems that using infrared light to analyse paintings for the presence of sketches could become the most objective tool for distinguishing the works of Willmann from those of his stepson.

Our findings are an important contribution to what is known as the "technical art history" current in contemporary research. The interdisciplinary nature of the project allowed the results to be brought up for discussion among art historians and conservators from Poland and the Czech Republic, in an important step toward a more effective protection of our shared cultural heritage. The findings were presented at an international conference in Kutna Hora in November 2017 and published in Czech (Sborník z konference "Arte-fakt”) and English (Wiadomości Konserwatorskie). In addition, thanks to the project, a decision was taken to ensure the conservation of Angel from Henryków, and safeguard the deteriorated Lamentation of Christ from Tursko.

 

Project title: Johann Christoph Liska's forgotten artworks. The conservator's examination of the Baroque paintings

Dr Emilia Kłoda

Graduated in art history from the University of Wrocław. In 2017, she defended a PhD dissertation entitled "Johann Christoph Liska – Life and Oeuvre (c. 1650–1712)". Since 2018, she has worked at the Art Department of the Lubomirski Princes Museum at the Ossolineum. She has worked on numerous research projects, e.g. "Wirtualne Muzeum Barokowych Fresków" (2013), whose effects may be admired at www.wirtualnefreski.pl, and "Malarstwo Barokowe na Śląsku" (2012–2016), as well as an international digital humanities project entitled "Monuments and Artworks in East Central Europe Research Infrastructure", coordinated by the Herder Institute in Marburg (2016–2017). She has published in Polish and foreign journals ("Biuletyn Historii Sztuki", "Umění" "Journal of Art Historiography"). Her MA thesis on the Baroque painter Jeremias Joseph Knechtel was published as a catalogue for an exhibition organized at Muzeum Miedzi in Legnica.

Dr Emilia Kłoda

Recognition of environmental sounds by musicians and non-musicians

Principal Investigator :
Dr hab. Andrzej Miśkiewicz
Fryderyk Chopin University of Music

Panel: HS6

Funding scheme : OPUS 6
announced on 16 September 2013

Experiments conducted by various researchers have shown that music education and experience in music performance not only develop musical hearing, but also improve various auditory abilities not related with music. Published studies suggests that, in comparison with non-musicians, musicians more accurately discriminate the timbre of voices in speech, have better ability of understanding speech in noisy environments, better discriminate foreign language sounds and possess more selective auditory attention.

Photo by Michał ŁepeckiPhoto by Michał Łepecki The objective of the present project was to determine whether musicians outperform non-musicians in the perception of environmental sounds. The project studied the accuracy of recognizing environmental sounds played back at various loudness levels in the background of different auditory scenes and the speed of sound recognition. The results suggest that musicians do not outperform non-musicians neither in the accuracy nor in the speed of sound recognition.

The lack of agreement of the present findings with published studies is explained by the nature of the so-called listening modes which reflect the characteristics of the auditory cognitive processes. Researchers have distinguished three categories of listening modes: causal listening (everyday listening) aimed at auditory orientation in the environment, semantic listening focused on extracting information conveyed through speech sounds or by means of a certain acoustic code, and reduced listening (musical listening) aimed at the perception of the inherent sonic characteristics, with no connotations to any sound sources. The present data suggest that music education facilitates auditory perception in the semantic and in the reduced listening modes and has no clearly pronounced effect in auditory tasks belonging to the category of causal listening, aimed at the recognition of sound sources and gathering information about the events in the environment that are reflected by the sounds.

Project title: Recognition of environmental sounds by musicians and non-musicians

Dr hab. Andrzej Miśkiewicz

Professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, Department of Sound Engineering. His scientific activity is interdisciplinary and is concerned with the fields of musical acoustics, psychoacoustics, music theory and sound engineering. His research is focused on the psychoacoustic foundations of sound perception in music, methodology of sound quality assessment and timbral ear training of sound engineers.

dr hab. Andrzej Miśkiewicz
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