In 2023, the state subsidy for the NCN will amount to 1.392 billion zlotys. “This represents yet another year of stagnation in NCN funding”, comments Professor Błocki.
In 2015, the subsidy for NCN’s research-funding operations equalled 871 million zlotys. Three years later, it went up to 1.226 billion. This year, it stands at 1.392 billion and will remain the same next year. This means that between 2015 and 2018, the domestic budget of the agency grew by more than 40%, but only increased by a meagre 13% between 2018 and 2023.
The Director of the National Science Centre discussed the repercussions of this situation with the Polish Press Agency. The dispatch was released on 5 December.
“If the budget of the NCN is not increased, our success rate, that is, the proportion of applicants who win grants, will continue to fall. At 15%, it is already unacceptably low, and shows a marked decreasing trend”, Professor Błocki said.
The Director emphasised that the research policy of the state should prioritise investment in people. He pointed out that the NCN lends significant support to young researchers. “In the highly hierarchical environment of our universities, our agency allows the playing field to be levelled for a competition between young and more experienced researchers. If the best among the young don’t have the opportunities for growth that the NCN affords them, they will just leave Poland and look for greener pastures elsewhere”, he warned.
Between 2015 and 2023, young researchers won a total of more than 3.75 billion zlotys in research funding from the NCN.
In his interview with the PAP, Professor Błocki also mentioned that in Poland, too many resources in the previous years have been slated for infrastructure and direct investment subsidies, even though it is basic research that really provides the strongest impulse for innovation.
The NCN budget was also discussed in an article published in “Forum Akademickie” by the President of the NCN Council , Professor Jacek Kuźnicki, in November.