BiodivClim Biodiversity and Climate Change Announcement

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

1. universities,

2. federations of science and HE institutions,

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 2018, item 1475),

4. research institutes operating pursuant to the Act on Research Institutes of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 736),

5. international research institutes established pursuant to separate Acts, operating in the Republic of Poland,

5a. the Łukasiewicz Centre,

5b. Institute operating within the Łukasiewicz Research Network,

6. Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences,

7. other institutions involved in research independently on a continuous basis,

8. groups of entities comprising 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 as defined in the Act on Research Institutes of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 736),

10. research centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences as defined in the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences of 30 April 2010,

11. scientific libraries,

12. companies operating as R&D centres laid down in the Act on Certain Forms of Support for Innovative Activities of 30 May 2008 (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 141),

13. legal entities with registered office in Poland,

14. companies conducting research in another organisational form than laid down in sections 1-13.

The Principal Investigator (PI) of the Polish research team must hold at least a PhD degree when submitting a proposal. Additional restrictions are detailed in Chapter IV, Articles 12-16 of the NCN Council Resolution of 2 September 2019 laying down the 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.

The call covers the following subjects:

• Consequences of climate change on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people
• Climate-biodiversity feedback processes
• Potential of nature-based solutions for mitigating and adapting to climate change
• Synergies and trade-offs between policies on biodiversity, climate and other relevant sectors, and the role of agents of change.

NCN proposals in which research tasks overlap with research tasks planned in other proposals submitted earlier in any other NCN call may only be submitted once the assessment process or appeal proceedings concerning such earlier proposal has been completed and no funds were granted.

In the call, research projects may be planned for a period of 36 months.

We recommend that Polish applicants should send the budget table of the Polish part of the project to the NCN by 3 April 2020 in order to consult it with the NCN.

Creating a project budget is one of the most important aspects in project planning, which aims to identify and estimate the costs of the resources required to perform the planned research work. The calculations must be realistic and compliant with the guidelines provided in the Types of costs in research projects funded by the NCN within the multilateral collaboration UNISONO. The maximum budget of the Polish research team is not pre-determined; however, please remember that the justification for the planned expenses versus the scope of tasks is assessed by an international expert team.

The budget in the NCN proposal should be prepared in PLN, whilst the budget in the joint international proposal should be given in EUR.

The budget of the Polish part of the project in the joint proposal should be calculated according to the following exchange rate: EUR 1 = PLN 4.3055.

Eligible costs in the project include direct and indirect costs.

Direct costs include:

1. remuneration:

• full-time salary: funds for full-time employment of the principal investigator or person employed as post-doc(s);
• additional salaries for members of the research team;
• remuneration and scholarships for students and PhD students

2. purchase or construction 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; and
7. other costs crucial to the project.

Indirect costs may not exceed 40 per cent of direct costs excluding costs of purchase or manufacturing of research equipment, devices and software. During the project implementation, the host institution shall arrange with the principal investigator for the distribution of at least 25 per cent of the indirect costs’ value. 

Remuneration of administrative staff and costs of conference organisation (rental of rooms, catering) may only be financed as indirect expenses.

The terms of the call do not specify the minimum or maximum number of the research team members. Detailed information on the costs of remuneration and scholarships is provided in the Types of costs in research projects funded by the NCN within the multilateral collaboration UNISONO.

Please note that recipients of NCN scholarships or persons employed as post-doc(s) in the project must be recruited in an open call. Prospective scholarship recipients and persons employed as post-docs cannot be named in joint proposals and NCN proposals.

Yes. Detailed information can be found in the Rules governing application for state aid.

Joint proposals are subject to an eligibility check performed by the NCN, other members of the BiodivERsA  network and the secretariat of the BiodivERsA  Call 2019.

Joint proposals successfully evaluated during the eligibility check are subject to merit-based evaluation.

NCN proposals are subject solely to eligibility check carried out by the Scientific Coordinators.

The eligibility check of NCN proposals shall comprise verification of proposal for completeness, compliance with all terms set forth in the call documents and Resolution No 88/19, including compliance of the planned budget with the annex “Costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre in international calls carried out as multilateral collaboration Unisono”.

The information provided in NCN proposals and in joint proposals must be consistent.

Only joint proposals are subject to merit-based evaluation. Merit-based evaluation is carried out by an expert team appointed by the BiodivERsA network.  

The BiodivClim  Call 2019 shall be concluded within the time frame set forth in the call documents (Q4 2020). Firstly, project coordinators shall be informed about the outcome of the call. Polish research teams shall be notified by way of NCN Director’s decisions.

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 BiodivERsA network website. For detailed terms of and regulations on awarding NCN funding in the call please refer to the NCN Council Resolution.

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

Anna Kotarba, tel. 12 341 9091

Dr Monika Pobiega, tel. 12 341 9176