Launch of the new call by the TRANS-ATLANTIC PLATFORM for Social Sciences and Humanities: Recovery, Renewal and Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World

NCN proposals may be submitted by the following entities specified in Article 27 (1) of the NCN Act (hereinafter: the “applicants”):

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 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 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, item 534);

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 Centres (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 736),
10. research centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences laid down 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 innovation activities of 30 May 2008 (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 141),
13. legal entities with registered office in Poland,
14. natural persons and
15. companies conducting research in other organisational form than set forth in sections 1-13.

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 137/2020 of 11 December 2020.

The call is open to projects covering one or more of the following topics:

Recovery, Renewal and Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World

1. Reducing inequalities and vulnerabilities;
2. Building a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable society;
3. Fostering democratic governance and political participation;
4. Advancing responsible and inclusive digital innovation; and
5. Ensuring effective and accurate communication and media.

More information on the subject of the call can be found in the call announcement and call documents available on the website of the TRANS-ATLANTIC PLATFORM.

Polish researchers may apply for NCN funding of their basic research projects for the purposes of 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.

Research projects may be planned in the call for a period of either 24 or 36 months.

When creating a project budget, it is necessary to focus on 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 budget in the NCN proposal should be quoted in PLN, while the budget in the joint proposal, 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 = 4.5023 PLN.

Eligible costs in the project include 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;
• 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. outsourcing;
5. business trips, visits and consultations;
6. compensation for collective investigators;
7. other costs crucial to the project.

Indirect costs may not exceed 20% of direct costs. Additionally, indirect costs of up to 2% of direct costs may be spent on open access to publications and research data.

Remuneration of administrative staff and costs of conference organisation (rental of rooms, catering) may be financed solely 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-docs in the project must be recruited in an open call procedure. Please read the Regulations for awarding scholarships in NCN-funded research projects.

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

Yes. Detailed information can be found in the State aid rules.

Joint Full Proposals are subject to an eligibility check performed by the Call Secretariat and national funding organisations participating in the RRR Call 2021 launched by the TRANS-ATLANTIC PLATFORM. Eligible proposals are first reviewed by the Peer Reviewers. Then, the Adjudication Panel established by the Call Secretariat and national funding organisations participating in the call conducts the second merit-based evaluation based on the proposals and external reviews. Following the recommendations of the Adjudication Panel, the Funders Forum makes a list of proposals recommended for funding to be approved by the (co) chair of the Adjudication Panel. 

At the Full Proposal submission stage, the Polish applicants must submit their NCN proposals to the ZSUN/OSF submission system which are subject solely to an NCN eligibility check carried out by the coordinators.

The eligibility check of NCN proposals involves verification of the proposal for completeness, compliance with all terms set forth in the call documents and Resolution No 137/2020 of the NCN Council, including compliance of the budget with the Annex (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 Full Proposals must be consistent and joint Full Proposals annexed to NCN Proposals must be consistent with joint Full Proposals submitted on the international level.

Only joint Full Proposals are subject to merit-based evaluation which is performed by the Adjudication Panel and Peer Reviewers recruited jointly by the funding organisations participating in the RRR Call 2021 launched by the TRANS-ATLANTIC PLATFORM.

Together with other European cOAlition S agencies, the National Science Centre has drafted its open access policy. In accordance with its vision of open access to research results and publications, the NCN requires that all research results should be made available in full and 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:

• publication in open access journals and on open access platforms registered, or with pending registration, in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ);
• publication in subscription journals (hybrid journals), as long as the Version of Record (VoR[1]) or the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM[2]) is published, by the author or publisher, in an open repository immediately upon the article’s online publication;
• 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).

The RRR Call 2021 launched by the TRANS-ATLANTIC PLATFORM will be concluded by the time specified in the call documents. Firstly, the Lead Principal Investigators will be informed about 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 within 14 days of the date the decision has been served.

Before submitting an NCN proposal to the NCN on the national level:

1. make sure that the information in and annexes to the proposal are correct. Checking the proposal for completeness in ZSUN/OSF with the Sprawdź kompletność [Check completeness] button does not guarantee that all information entered is correct and the required annexes have been attached;
2. disable the final version of the proposal to the NCN;
3. download the confirmation of proposal submission which must be signed by the principal investigator and authorised representative(s) of the entity;
4. upload the signed confirmation of proposal submission.

Once the proposal is completed and all the required annexes attached, use the Wyślij do NCN [Send to NCN] button to submit the proposal to the NCN electronically via the ZSUN/OSF system.

For more information on the call, please go to the website of the TRANS-ATLANTIC PLATFORM. For detailed terms and regulations on awarding NCN funding in the call, please refer to the Annex to NCN Council Resolution No 137/2020.Should you have any questions, please contact us by e-mail or by phone:

• Dr Katarzyna Jarecka-Stępień, katarzyna.jarecka-stepien@ncn.gov.pl,
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• Przemysław Puchała, przemyslaw.puchala@ncn.gov.pl,
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