Researchers whose Fulbright Senior Award -nominated project falls within the purview of basic research, i.e. empirical or theoretical endeavours undertaken to gain new knowledge of the foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any direct commercial use, can apply for funding for a so-called “research component” once they have finished their Fulbright fellowship and returned to their home institution.
The objective of the research component is to enable them to continue their cooperation with their US partners following the Fulbright Senior Award. The cooperation may involve, e.g., conducting joint research, paying visits to the partner institution or hosting its representatives, or promoting the completed project and its outcomes.
More information on the research component:
- proposals may be submitted by candidates employed at science and HE entities, including research institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences (except employees of the Polish Academy of Sciences, mentioned in Article 7 (1) (3) of the Act on Higher Education and Science of 20 July 2018);
- the component is funded by the National Science Centre (NCN);
- the max. budget can be PLN 200,000;
- the maximum funding period: up to 18 months from the date of signing of the agreement between the NCN and the host institution (the institution that hires the Fulbright fellow).
- research component funding is available to Fulbright Senior Award 2025-26 fellows.
NCN’s funding may be used to fund the following costs:
- research (e.g. materials, small lab and IT equipment, access to analytics, reports or polls/surveys);
- trips (e.g. consultation meetings with partners, participation in conferences/seminars related to the subject matter of the research component);
- publication fees for research articles, except publication fees charged by hybrid journals, as well as the costs of sharing research data on open access platforms, in accordance with the OA Policy of the National Science Centre, which regulates all matters concerning open access to publications;
- actions to promote the project and its outcomes.
Full information on eligible costs can be found in the annex “Costs in research components funded by the National Science Centre within the framework of projects financed under programmes organised by the Polish-American Fulbright Commission”.
In order to apply for the research component:
- prepare and attach two annexes to your Fulbright Senior Award proposal: a description of your planned research component and its cost estimate. Detailed instructions to help you prepare both documents can be found here;
- confirm you want to apply for research component funding in the supplementary form added to your Senior Award application.
Annexes:
- Fulbright Senior Award 2025-26 for Polish Citizens: Terms and Conditions.
- Costs in research components funded by the National Science Centre within the framework of projects funded by the Polish-American Fulbright Commission.
- How to prepare supplementary forms required of research component applicants under the Fulbright Senior Award 2025-26.