CHIST-ERA ORD

Proposals in the call may be submitted by the following entities specified in the Act on the National Science Centre (NCN):

1. universities,
2. federations of science and HE entities,
3. research institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences operating pursuant to the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1796),
4. research institutes operating pursuant to the Act on Research Institutes of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1383, as amended);
5. international research institutes established pursuant to other acts and acting in the Republic of Poland,
   • 5a. . Łukasiewicz Centre operating pursuant to the Act on the Łukasiewicz Research Network of 21 February 2019 (Journal of Laws 2020, item 2098 );
   • 5b. institutes operating within the Łukasiewicz Research Network,
6. Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences,
7. other entities involved in research independently on a continuous basis,
8. groups of entities (at least two entities mentioned in sections 1-7 or at least one institution as such together with at least one company),
9. scientific and industrial centres laid down in the Act on Research Institutes of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1383, as amended),
10. research centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences laid down in the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1796),
11. scientific libraries,
12. companies operating as R&D centres laid down in the Act on certain forms of support for innovation activities of 30 May 2008 (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 706),
13. legal entities with registered office in Poland,
    • 13a. President of the Central Office of Measures,
14. natural persons and
15. companies conducting research in other organisational form than set forth in sections 1-13a.

If research projects are to be carried out by two or more Polish partners applying for NCN funding, they must set up a group of entities (see item 8 above) and as such submit NCN proposals. An NCN proposal is submitted by a leader specified in the research project cooperation agreement concluded by the group of entities. An entity employing the principal investigator acts as the leader of the group of entities.

If, pursuant to Article 27 (1) (2) of the NCN Act, Polish entities cannot set up groups of entities, they are not eligible to apply for NCN funding of a joint research project.

The principal investigator of the Polish research team must hold at least a PhD degree when submitting a proposal. Additional restrictions are described in detail in Chapter IV of the Terms and regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded or co-funded under international calls launched by the National Science Centre and carried out as multilateral collaboration UNISONO, annexed to NCN Council Resolution No 28/2022 of 2 March 2022.

The call targets the following topic: Open & Re-usable Research Data & Software (ORD) which, according to the CHIST-ERA Consortium, is addressed to researchers representing all the disciplines, not only directly relating to information and communication technologies. The topic can also be taken up from the interdisciplinary approach.

The call tackles the challenge of open research data and software* from the perspective of their possible reuse. The objective is to create the conditions for research based on open or shared data and software. In particular, the researchers are invited to propose how to apply the principles of Open Science to promote reuse of research data and software.

The applicants should demonstrate how their project will articulate with Horizon Europe initiatives on open research data and more generally foster convergence with one or more international actions and/or infrastructures (ESFRI, EOSC, GO FAIR, RDA, etc.) by addressing in their project at least one of the following target outcomes:

1. Create, enrich or prepare ‘reference data sets’ – the objective is to favour the availability and reuse of complex data sets.
2. ‘Editorialization’ of data (Reduce the distance between data producer and expected or even unexpected data re-user) – the objective is to promote reuse for scientific, educational, economic or even journalistic purposes.
3. Processes and tools to describe, share, reference and archive software source code, in particular with the goal to enhance reproducibility of research results – the objective is to develop tools and processes that leverage existing initiatives (Software Heritage, SWH-ID, etc.).

More information on the subject of the call can be found in the CHIST-ERA call announcement.

Researchers from Poland are invited to submit their proposals to the NCN on condition that the research projects fulfil basic research criteria, as specified by Article 2(1) of the NCN Act.

NCN proposals comprising research tasks overlapping with research tasks to be carried out in another proposal that has been already submitted in any NCN call or with respect to which an appeal has been initiated, may only be submitted once the funding decision has become final.

* All types and versions of data and associated metadata (collected, captured, acquired, transformed, simulated, synthetic etc.) and the software produced by researchers and used as enablers for research activities.

Projects may be planned for a period of 24 months.

Apart from the principal investigator, research tasks in research projects may be performed by co-investigators, including students and PhD students as well as post-docs.

A post-doc type post is a full-time post designated by the principal investigator for a person who has been awarded a PhD degree in the year of employment in the project or within 7 years before 1 January of the year of employment in the project. This period may be extended pursuant to the Types of costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre.

PLEASE NOTE: A post-doc type post can be occupied by a person who has been awarded a PhD degree by another entity than the one planning to employ him/her at this post or has completed a continuous and evidenced post-doctoral fellowship of at least 10 months in another entity than the participating entity and in another country than the one in which he/she have been awarded a PhD degree. A prospective post-doc must be selected in an open call.

A PhD student who will receive an NCN scholarship for research must be selected in an open call.

Scholarship grantees and post-docs must not be named in joint proposals or NCN proposals.

The rationale for involvement of individual members of the research team in the project shall be evaluated by an international expert team. The project must include the description of competencies and tasks to be performed by individual members of the research team. For more information on the budget for remuneration and scholarships, go to the Types of costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre under international calls carried out as multilateral collaboration UNISONO.

The terms of the call do not specify the maximum number of research team members.

Creating a project budget is one of the most important aspects in the project planning which aims at identifying the required resources and estimating the costs required to perform the research tasks. The project budget must be based on realistic calculations and must comply with the guidelines provided in the Types of costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre within the multilateral collaboration UNISONO. The maximum budget of the Polish research team is not pre-determined; however, the justification of the expenses versus the scope of tasks is assessed by an international expert team.

The terms of the call do not specify the maximum or minimum amount of funding to be applied for.

The budget in NCN proposals must be quoted in PLN, while the budget in joint proposals, in EUR.

The EUR budget for the Polish part of the research project in the joint proposal must be calculated according to the following exchange rate: 1 EUR = 4.5826 PLN.

The project budget (eligible costs) includes direct and indirect costs.

Direct costs include:

1. remuneration:
   • full-time employment: funds for full-time employment of the principal investigator or post-doc(s);
   • additional salaries for members of the research team; if the principal investigator is not to be employed full-time in the project, his/her remuneration is paid from the pool allocated for additional remuneration;
   • remuneration and scholarships for students and PhD students;
2. purchase or manufacturing of research equipment, devices and software;
3. purchase of materials and small equipment;
4. outsourced services;
5. business trips, visits and consultations;
6. compensation for collective investigators;
7. other costs crucial to the project which comply with the Types of costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre under international calls carried out as multilateral collaboration UNISONO.

PLEASE NOTE: The costs of publication of monographs resulting from research projects, as defined in §10 of the Regulation on evaluation of the quality of research activity issued by the Minister of Science and Higher Education on 22 February 2019 (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 392) are not eligible until positively reviewed by the NCN.

Indirect costs include:

• indirect cost of Open Access (up to 2% of direct costs) that may only be spent on the cost of open access to publications or research data;
• other indirect costs (up to 20% of direct costs) that may be spent on the costs that are related indirectly to the research project, including the cost of open access to publications and research data.

PLEASE NOTE: The cost of open access to publications may only be incurred as indirect costs. The cost of open access planned as direct costs will be regarded as a formal error. If unjustified costs are planned, a proposal may be rejected.

PLEASE NOTE: Polish applicants are recommended to consult with the NCN the budget table of the Polish research team as attached to this call announcement (see the Budget table of the Polish research team) by 30 November 2022. The budget table should be delivered to alicja.dylag@ncn.gov.pl

Together with other European research-funding institutions, the National Science Centre is a member of cOAlition S. Therefore, the NCN has adopted its Open Access Policy pursuant to which all research results stemming from NCN-funded research projects must be made available in immediate open access.

In accordance with the principles of Plan S, the National Science Centre recognizes the following publication routes as compliant with its open access policy:

1. publication in open access journals and on open access platforms registered, or with pending registration, in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ);
2. publication in subscription journals (hybrid journals), as long as the Version of Record (VoR) or the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) is published, by the author or publisher, in an open repository immediately upon the article’s online publication;
3. publication in journals covered by an open access licence within the framework of so-called transformative agreements, inscribed in the Efficiency and Standards for Article Charges registry (ESAC-registry).

Yes. For more information, please read the State aid rules.

Joint proposals are subject to an eligibility check performed by the NCN, other members of CHIST-ERA network participating in the call and the Secretariat of the CHIST-ERA ORD Call.

Joint proposals successfully evaluated during the eligibility check are subject to merit-based evaluation carried out by an international expert team pursuant to the call announcement.

NCN proposals are subject solely to an NCN eligibility check carried out by the scientific coordinators.

The eligibility check of NCN proposals involves verification of proposals for completeness, compliance with all terms set forth in the call documents and Resolution No 28/2022 of 2 March 2022, including compliance of the budget with the Annex thereto, i.e. “Costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre in international calls carried out as multilateral collaboration Unisono”.

PLEASE NOTE: The information provided in NCN proposals and in joint proposals must be consistent and joint proposals annexed to NCN proposals must be the same as joint proposals submitted internationally.

Only joint proposals are subject to a merit-based evaluation. A merit-based evaluation is performed by an international expert team appointed by the CHIST-ERA network agencies participating in the call. For more information on the evaluation of proposals, please go to the call announcement available at the website of the CHIST-ERA network.

The CHIST-ERA ORD Call will be concluded in June 2023. Firstly, project coordinators will be notified of the outcome. Polish research teams will be notified by way of decisions of the NCN Director.

In the event of a breach of the call procedure or other formal infringements related to actions performed by the NCN, the applicant may lodge an appeal against the decision of the NCN Director with the Committee of Appeals of the NCN Council.

For more information on the call, please go to the website of the CHIST-ERA network. The detailed terms and regulations on awarding NCN funding in the call are laid down in the Annex to NCN Council Resolution No 28/2022.

Should you have any more questions or queries, please contact us by e-mail or by phone:

• Alicja Dyląg
  Pokaż numer
  Pokaż numer

  (between 9 a.m. and 12 noon)

• Dr Oskar Wolski

If you are intending to submit a proposal to CHIST-ERA ORD Call, you should:

1. read all call documents, in particular:

• announcement of the CHIST-ERA ORD Call available on the website of the CHIST-ERA network;
• terms of and regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded or co-funded under international calls launched by the National Science Centre and carried out as multilateral collaboration UNISONO;

Before submitting an NCN proposal on the national level:

1. collect data from the applicant that is required to complete the proposal and find out about the internal procedures that may affect the proposal and project performance (project costs, procedure for acquiring signature(s) of authorised representative(s) of the institution to confirm submission of the proposal); if the proposal is submitted by a group of Polish entities, draw up a Research Project Cooperation Agreement,
2. make sure that the information in and annexes to the proposal are correct. Checking the proposal for completeness in the OSF submission system with the Sprawdź kompletność [Check completeness] button does not guarantee that all information entered is correct and the required annexes have been attached;
3. check if the tabs have been completed in the correct language;
4. disable the final version of the proposal to the NCN;
5. download the confirmation of proposal submission which must be signed by the principal investigator and authorised representative(s) of the institution.

Once the proposal has been completed and supplemented with the required annexes attached, use the Wyślij do NCN [Send to NCN] button to submit the proposal to the NCN electronically via the OSF submission system.

Once the call for proposals has been closed:

1. evaluation of proposals shall be carried out;
2. if the proposal is recommended for funding, a funding agreement shall be entered into;
3. the project shall be carried out pursuant to the funding agreement and Regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded or co-funded under international calls launched by the National Science Centre and carried out as multilateral collaboration UNISONO.

In the event of a breach of the call procedure or other formal infringements, the applicant may appeal against the decision of the NCN Director with the Committee of Appeals of the NCN Council. The appeal shall be lodged within 14 days of the effective delivery of the decision.