SONATINA 6

Proposals for funding of a research project under the SONATINA 6 call may be submitted by entities laid down in the NCN Act (hereinafter: “applicants”), for whom funding of the research project will not constitute state aid, namely:

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, as amended),
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,
6. Łukasiewicz Centre operating pursuant to the Act on the Łukasiewicz Research Network of 21 February 2019 (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 2098),
7. institutes operating within the Łukasiewicz Research Network,
8. Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences,
9. other entities involved in research independently on a continuous basis,
10. groups of entities (at least two entities mentioned in sections 1-9 or at least one institution as such together with at least one company),
11. scientific and industrial centres laid down in the Act on Research Institutes of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2020, items 1383, as amended),
12. 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, items 1796),
13. scientific libraries,
14. companies operating as R&D centre within the meaning of the Act on Certain Forms of Support for Innovative Activity of 30 May 2008 (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 706),
15. legal entities with registered office in Poland, and
16. natural persons.

The principal investigator must be an individual:

• who has been earned a PhD degree within 3 years prior to the proposal submission year (between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2021) or will earn a PhD degree by 30 June 2022. The 3-year period may be extended by any career breaks laid down in §5 (6) of the Resolution

and/or

• for whom employment is planned in the research project pursuant to a full-time employment contract, on terms and conditions laid down in the Regulations, for the research project performance period. Employment must be planned in another institution than the one from which the principal investigator has earned a PhD degree.

The applicant must meet the following terms and conditions:

1. the applicant must submit a proposal to carry out research that neither is nor was funded by the NCN nor from any other sources; and
2. employment of the principal investigator must be planned in the research project pursuant to a full-time employment contract, in a position dedicated to research tasks covered by the project, on terms and conditions laid down in the Regulations.

Restrictions on submitting proposals are described in detail in Chapter III of the Regulations.

One can act as the principal investigator in a SONATINA project only once.

The project must cover either basic research or applied research. 

Proposals may be submitted to the call covering research in any of 25 NCN review panels, within the three core areas: HS – Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; ST – Physical Sciences and Engineering; NZ – Life Sciences.

A research project can be planned for a period of either 24 or 36 months.

A foreign fellowship can last anywhere between 3 and 6 months.

The project budget must be justified as regards the subject and scope of research and based on realistic calculations. In the SONATINA 6 call, the NCN has not set a maximum or minimum amount of the project budget. If an unjustified budget is planned, the proposal may be rejected.

Costs in the project include direct costs and indirect costs.

Direct costs include:

• remuneration for the principal investigator,
• cost of principal investigator’s mandatory foreign fellowship,
• remuneration for co-investigators in the project, the so-called additional remuneration,
• purchase of materials and small equipment,
• outsourced services,
• business trips, visits and consultations,
• compensation for collective investigators and
• other costs crucial to the research project which comply with the Types of costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre.

PLEASE NOTE: The costs of publication of monographs containing project results (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 be designated only for the cost of open access to publications or research data;
• other indirect costs (up to 20% of direct costs) that may be spent on costs that are related indirectly to the research project, including the cost of open access to publications and research data. During the project implementation, the host institution will agree with the principal investigator the coverage of a minimum of 25% of the indirect costs.

Under the SONATINA 6 call for proposals, funds must be planned to cover:

1. principal investigator’s employment pursuant to a full-time employment contract for the research project performance period, in accordance with the Regulations;
2. research projects in accordance with the budget specified in the proposal; and
3. foreign fellowship of the principal investigator in a research institution selected thereby:
   • flat-rate funds of PLN 12,000 per month, multiplied by the percentage correction rate set for a given country, to cover the principal investigator’s living expenses at the research institution hosting the foreign fellowship, and
   • flat-rate funds of PLN 1,000 to PLN 10,000 to cover the travel expenses to and from the research institution hosting the foreign fellowship.

Please note that only the principal investigator may be employed with remuneration paid from the pool allocated for full-time salaries. Full-time salaries must not be paid to post-docs, senior researchers or persons employed at special auxiliary posts under SONATINA.

Additional remuneration can be used for salaries for students and PhD students.

NCN scholarships and doctoral fellowships must not be covered by the project.

PLEASE NOTE: The cost of open access to publications subject to the Open Access Policy at the NCN the must not be planned as direct costs.

Project costs must not be used for the purchase or construction of research equipment, devices or software.

State aid must not be applied for under the call. For more information, please read the State Aid section. 

Proposals must include:

1. research project title (in Polish and in English);
2. project’s abstract (up to 4500 characters in English);
3. project’s abstract for the general public (up to 1 standard page in Polish and up to 1 standard page in English);
4. descriptions of the research project: short description (up to 5 standard pages in English) and long description (up to 15 standard pages in English);
5. work plan (in Polish and in English) presenting research tasks;
6. information on the research team (in English), including:
   1. information on the principal investigator, including:
      • academic and research career;
      • 1-10 most important papers published and/or accepted for publication (letter of acceptance required) in the proposal submission year and/or over the period of 10 years prior to the proposal submission year (as of 2012), which may be extended by the period of leave, sickness benefits or physiotherapy benefits specified in the Resolution; 1-3 of them must be annexed in PDF format. For research in arts, 1-10 most important papers published and/or accepted for publication (letter of acceptance required) or artistic achievements and achievements in research in art in the proposal submission year or over the period of 10 years prior to the proposal submission year (as of 2012). If one or more papers are listed, annexed 1-3 of them in PDF format;
      • information on research project management and/or other funding awarded under NCN calls or other national or international calls in the period referred to above;
      • description of the most important research achievement;
      • research experience gained in Poland and/or abroad;
      • information on the most important national and/or international distinctions and awards for research and/or other activity in research in art,
      • information on keynote speeches and presentations delivered at renowned international conferences. For research in arts, information on active participation in international exhibitions, festivals and events concerning fine arts, music, theatre and film and
      • other significant achievements in research.
   2. information on the required qualifications and scope of work planned by each investigator in the research project;
7. document confirming that the principal investigator is a PhD holder and if the principal investigator is yet to earn a PhD degree, a declaration by the PhD supervisor or certificate of the forecasted award date of the PhD issued by a competent institution;
8. information on the foreign research institution hosting the fellowship as well as justification for the choice of the institution in terms of reputation, equipment or specific scientific achievements, description of research conducted, compliance of research with research performed under the project, research/tasks to be conducted during the fellowship, and potential use of knowledge and skills acquired during the fellowship in the principal investigator’s future career as a scientist (up to 2 standard pages in English);
9. document confirming approval by the research institution to host the foreign fellowship of the principal investigator, as required by the proposal (in English);
10. research project budget (in English) in compliance with the Regulations;
11. in the case of a research project to be carried out in cooperation with a partner from a foreign research institution, information on international cooperation as well as description of benefits that may result from such international cooperation (in English);
12. information on the data management plan concerning data generated or used in the course of a research project (in English);
13. information on the ethical aspects of the project, including any consents, opinions, permits and/or approvals necessary to carry out the project in compliance with generally applicable laws and best practices (in English);
14. in the case of research projects which include clinical trials with a medicinal product or a medical device, a detailed justification of the non-commercial nature of the trials (in English);
15. in the case of research projects covering research being performed or completed by the principal investigator, or with respect to which the principal investigator applies for funding under other NCN calls or from other sources, description of similar research tasks with reasons justifying the need to have them funded under the project (in English);
16. in the case of research projects to be carried out in a host institution that does not receive any operating support for research, information on research carried out over the last 2 years, together with a list of publications and information on research equipment and other instruments crucial to research (in English);
17. in the case of research projects to be carried out by a group of entities, a research project cooperation agreement, as required by the proposal (in Polish); and
18. administrative declarations by the principal investigator and the host institution for the project, as required by the proposal.

Proposals will be subject to an eligibility check and merit-based evaluation.

The eligibility check will be performed by the scientific coordinators. Only complete proposals that meet all the requirements set forth in the call announcement will be recommended for merit-based evaluation. A proposal may also be rejected as not eligible at a later stage of evaluation.

The merit-based evaluation of proposals is performed in two stages.

During stage I, proposals are evaluated by the Expert Team established by the NCN based on the data included in the proposal and annexes thereto, with the exception of the full project description. Each proposal is evaluated by two members of the Expert Team acting independently. In the case of a proposal which is assigned an auxiliary NCN review panel specifying disciplines covered by NCN review panels other than the one to which the proposal was submitted, the chair of the Expert Team may decide to request a review from a member of another Expert Team (the so-called interdisciplinary proposals).

Following the discussions at the first meeting, the Expert Team compiles a list of proposals approved for the second stage of evaluation. Proposals with the overall costs not exceeding twice the funds agreed by the NCN Council may be approved for the second stage of evaluation.

During stage II, proposals are referred to at least two reviewers who draft their individual reviews based on the data included in the proposal and annexes thereto, with the exception of the short project description. In addition, the principal investigator will be interviewed.

An interview with the principal investigator will be held in Polish or in English in June/July 2022. 

Based on the reviews, results of the interviews and discussions at the second meeting, the Expert Team compiles a ranking list of proposals, specifying proposals recommended for funding.

To find out more on the proposal evaluation procedure, please read the Detailed proposal evaluation procedure of the Expert Teams and the video tutorial. 

The following criteria are reviewed in the proposal evaluation procedure:

1. compliance with the research criteria, as described in the Resolution;
2. scientific quality and novelty of research or tasks to be performed;
3. the project’s impact on the advancement of the scientific discipline;
4. feasibility of the research project;
5. scientific achievements of the principal investigator, including papers published in renowned academic press/ journals;
6. evaluation of principal investigator’s completion of other projects that have been funded by the NCN or from other sources;
7. justification of the choice of the host institution for the foreign fellowship, including academic rank of a foreign research institution, accuracy of the choice of the research institution and impact on the development of the principal investigator’s scientific career;
8. justification of the costs as regards the subject and scope of research;
9. development of the proposal, quality of the presentation and interview; and
10. compliance with other requirements laid down in the call announcement and detailed in the Resolution.

The proposal is evaluated pursuant to the proposal evaluation criteria applicable to the SONATINA call.

Proposals are evaluated by inter-panel teams comprising experts appointed under a given research domain, i.e. HS, ST or NZ.

Experts are selected by the NCN Council among outstanding Polish and foreign researchers holding at least a PhD degree. Expert Teams are set up for each individual edition of the call. The composition of the Expert Team depends on the number and subjects of proposals submitted under a specific domain. 

The call results will be announced on the NCN website and communicated to the applicants by way of a decision by the NCN Director within 6 months of the proposal submission date, by the end of September 2022 at the latest.

Together with other European cOAlition S research funding agencies, the National Science Centre is a member of cOAlition S. Pursuant to the Open Access Policy  adopted by the NCN, all research results produced under NCN-funded research projects must be made available in full and immediate open access. The policy does not cover the publication of monographs, monograph chapters and peer-reviewed collected works.

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 transformation 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).

Articles must be made available using the CC-BY licence (in the case of transformation journals, the CC-BY-SA licence can also be used). The CC-BY-ND licence can also be used (regardless of the publication route selected).

For more information on the Open Access publication rules/ instructions, please go here.

Should you have any questions or queries, please contact us by e-mail: informacja@ncn.gov.pl or by phone: +48 532 083 408 or +48 532 083 796.

If you plan to submit a proposal under the SONATINA 6 call:

1. read all call documents included in the call announcement, in particular:
   • Resolution amending the terms and conditions of the SONATINA call for proposals the terms and conditions of the SONATINA call for proposals,
   • specimen proposal form, where you can find out about information and annexes required to complete the electronic proposal form in ZSUN/OSF;
   • Regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded by the National Science Centre as regards research projects;
2. read the proposal submission procedure;
3. decide how long the project should last: 24 or 36 months;
4. decide on the research institution to host the foreign fellowship and duration thereof: 3 to 6 months;
5. obtain a document confirming approval by the mentor from the research institution hosting the fellowship (in English);
6. draw up a document confirming that the principal investigator has earned a PhD degree and if the principal investigator is yet to earn a PhD degree, a declaration by the PhD supervisor or certificate by a competent institution of the forecasted PhD award date;
7. obtain data from the host institution that is required to complete the proposal and find out about the internal procedures that may affect the proposal and the project (procedure for acquiring signature(s) of authorised representative(s) of the institution to confirm submission of the proposal);
8. draw up the following documents:
9. in Polish:
   • description for the general public (up to 1 standard page);
   • work plan presenting research tasks;
   • in the case of research projects to be carried out by a group of entities, a research project cooperation agreement;
   • administrative declarations by the principal investigator and the host institution for the project;
10. in English:
    • project’s abstract (up to 4500 characters);
    • description for the general public (up to 1 standard page);
    • work plan presenting research tasks;
    • descriptions of the research project: short description (up to 5 standard pages) and full description (up to 15 standard pages);
    • information on the research team, including information on the principal investigator, specified in the call announcement;
    • information on the foreign research institution hosting the fellowship and justification therefor (up to 2 standard pages);
    • document confirming research institution’s approval to host the foreign fellowship of the principal investigator;
    • research project budget;
    • in the case of a research project carried out in cooperation with a foreign partner, information on international cooperation as well as description of benefits that may result from such international cooperation;
    • information on the data management plan concerning data generated or used in the course of a research project;
    • information on the ethical aspects of the project, including any consents, opinions, permits and/or approvals necessary to carry out the project in compliance with generally applicable laws and best practices;
    • in the case of research projects which include clinical trials with a medicinal product or a medical device, a detailed justification of the non-commercial nature of the trials;
    • in the case of research projects covering research being performed or completed by the principal investigator, or with respect to which the principal investigator applies for funding under other NCN calls or from other sources, a description of similar research tasks with reasons justifying the need to have them funded under the project; and
    • in the case of research projects to be carried out in a host institution that does not receive any operating support for research, information on research carried out over the last 2 years, together with a list of publications and information on research equipment and other instruments crucial to research.

Before the proposal is submitted to the NCN, please:

1. check if all information in and annexes to the proposal are correct. Verification of the proposal for completeness in ZSUN/OSF by pressing the Sprawdź kompletność [Check completeness] button does not guarantee that all information has been entered correctly and that the required annexes have been attached;
2. disable editing of the final version of the proposal to NCN;
3. download and sign the confirmation of submitting the proposal in the call (signature of the principal investigator and authorised representative of the institution); and
4. attach the confirmation of submitting the proposal with a signature.

Once you have filled out the form and attached the required annexes, the electronic proposal must be submitted to the National Science Centre in ZSUN/OSF via the Wyślij do NCN [Send to NCN] button.

Once the call for proposals has been closed:

1. evaluation of proposals will be carried out;
2. after each stage of evaluation, the funding decision of the NCN Director will be served;
3. if the proposal is recommended for funding, a research project funding agreement will be entered into; and
4. project will be performed pursuant to the funding agreement.

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 must be lodged within 14 days of the effective delivery of the decision.