Solar-Driven Chemistry

National Science Centre, Poland is pleased to announced a new call for proposals in the field of Solar-Driven Chemistry. Subject of this call for proposals is fundamental research in all sub-areas relevant to the photochemical transformation of small, abundant molecules, such as carbon dioxide, water or nitrogen, into more valuable, storable chemicals by means of solar radiation. Focus of the proposals should be on the photochemical processes (reactions) and on solving fundamental problems. 

Typical (but not exclusive) examples include preparative, physicochemical, analytical and theoretical work (always related to the general call topic) on:

• Research on light-converting/harvesting, catalytic, electrode, membrane , etc. materials,
• Materials issues (e.g. photochemical stability of relevant materials), as long as they are used for the photochemical conversion of small molecules,
• Investigating mechanisms of catalysis and light harvesting, if focus is on photochemical conversion of small molecules,
• Heterogeneous photoelectrochemistry/ photocatalysis,
• Photocatalytic water splitting,
• Photochemical or photoelectrochemical CO₂ reduction,
• Development of new photoactive systems if related to the general call topic,
• Reaction engineering,
• Molecular model systems capable of direct conversion, e.g. for mechanistic studies.

A two-stage application procedure (pre-proposals and full proposals) will be open for consortia composed of researchers from at least two countries participating in the call: Finland, France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland.

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) acts as Call Secretariat, therefore all pre-proposals and full proposals must submitted to the DFG’s “elan” submission system. Information on the submission of pre-proposals can be found here.

Draft timetable for applications:

• Deadline for pre-proposal submission: 13^th February 2019, 23.59 CET.
• Deadline for full proposal submission: 31^th July 2019 (using the DFG’s “elan” submission system).
• Deadline for Polish applicants to submit national applications UNISONO in the ZSUN/OSF submission system: 7^th August 2019, 23.59 CET.
• Notification of accepted proposals: end of 2019 / beginning of 2020.

Polish part of the project must have a duration of either 24 or 36 months.

All applicants are advised to check the relevant national eligibility criteria and requirements, as those provide important information, for instance on how to fill out the budget tables.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CALL

Information for Polish applicants:

1. We strongly encourage all applicants to read information on rules of participation and eligible costs included in the Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution on funding granted within calls for proposals for international research projects (UNISONO).
2. Polish applicants must submit their national applications in the ZSUN/OSF submission system until 7^th August 2019, 23.59 CET. The application will include a budget that should be calculated according to the Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution on funding granted within calls for proposals for international research projects (UNISONO).
3. If one international project includes partners from two or more different Polish Host Institutions, these institutions apply as a group of projects. Each entity within the group has a separate budget, but the limit on the remuneration applies to the group as a whole (please see UNISONO). Please note that groups of projects have higher limits on the remuneration. 
4. Projects including Polish teams may last 24 or 36 months.
5. Budget of the Polish part of the research project in the ZSUN/OSF system should be given in PLN: 1 EUR= 4,3833 PLN.