In collaboration with the M-ERA.NET 3 network, we have just launched a call for for international research projects in material science and material engineering as well as low carbon energy technologies, and research related to materials and battery technologies to support the European Green Deal. 

M.ERA-NET 3 Call 2025 is addressed to international consortia composed of at least three research teams from various countries participating in the call. Applicants must focus on the main objectives of the M.ERA-NET programme: supporting the European Green Deal, striving to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, increasing socio-ecological benefits in the context of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), supporting the innovation chain, and strengthening interdisciplinarity.

The call covers the following subjects in material science and material engineering:

1. Sustainable materials for energy applications,
2. Innovative surfaces, coatings and interfaces,
3. Advanced composites and lightweight materials,
4. Functional materials,
5. Materials addressing environmental challenges,
6. Next generation materials for electronics.

Poland is represented by the National Science Centre and the National Centre for Research and Development to which scientists from research institutions may apply, depending on the scope of their research. The National Science Centre will fund basic research (Technology Readiness Level 1-4) without industrial participation, whereas the National Centre for Research and Development will fund projects starting from TRL 3-6 and achieving TRL 5-8, in which case involvement of an industrial partner is indispensable.

Under the call, researchers could plan their projects for a period of either 24 or 36 months. The principal investigator of the Polish research team had to be at least a PhD holder. The budget could include funds for salaries, purchase or manufacturing of research equipment, devices and software, outsourcing, business trips, visits and consultations, as well as other costs crucial to the project.

Research teams requesting funding under the call should first draft their pre-proposals in cooperation with their foreign partners and submit them by 13 May 2025, 12 noon via the international M-ERA.NET Submission System. Proposals will be evaluated by an international expert team and selected international consortia will be invited to submit full proposals. The call results will be published in February 2026.

On 12-13 May, the University of Rzeszów will host this year’s NCN Days. The NCN Days are held once per year, always in a different academic town in Poland, owing to which researchers can learn more about the NCN portfolio, evaluation of proposals and project performance.  

The event is addressed to the academic community from the Podkarpacie region and is open to students, researchers at various stages of their research career and administration officers interested in the NCN grant system, evaluation of proposals and research funding.

This year’s event will include:

• NCN’s briefing to discuss research funding, current calls for proposals and future of the grant system,
• lectures and discussions on the current challenges facing science,
• workshops for researchers in Physical Sciences and Engineering, Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences and Life Sciences (a mock panel to learn what is particularly important to experts and reviewers in NCN calls),
• workshop for administrative staff (meetings with professionals who support researchers in their application for research funding and project performance), 
• research data management workshop to discuss development of research data management plans required by the NCN and research data management principles, including safe storage and data sharing.

The programme of the event and registration information will be released in mid-March.

This year’s NCN Days will be co-organised by the University of Rzeszów and supported by the City of Rzeszów, Regional Labour Office, HE institutions and universities from the region and Podkarpackie Centre for Innovation (CTI) as partners. The NCN Days are a great opportunity to get practical information and knowledge, participate in discussions, ask questions and make contacts.

Online workshops all year round.

The NCN organises regular online workshops for researchers preparing funding proposals to discuss national and international calls and to get practical tips on proposal submission stages. They can learn about the evaluation procedure (eligibility check and merit-based evaluation) and discover what is particularly important to experts.

Schedule of this year’s meetings

In addition, online meetings are organised for officers responsible for the administrative coordination of proposals and open science professionals.

What tools and infrastructures are essential to creating an open research environment in Poland? How can Open Science tools enhance scientific collaboration? How can researchers be supported in effectively managing research data? Together with experts from across Europe, we will explore Poland's role in shaping the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) during the third edition of the EOSC National Tripartite Event Poland, on 25 March in Krakow, Poland. Join us!

EOSC NTE Poland 2025 is an opportunity to discuss Poland’s role in developing the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), share best practices in research data management, and address the challenges national and European research infrastructures face in achieving effective collaboration within the EOSC Federation.

One of the key goals of EOSC is to create an open research environment that provides access to data repositories, cloud services, and advanced analytical tools. This will enable researchers across disciplines to conduct studies more effectively, leveraging resources from European and national research infrastructures.

The following topics will be discussed during EOSC NTE Poland 2025:

• Polish contributions to EOSC: how do national research information systems, cloud infrastructure, data repositories, and research data platforms support EOSC integration and foster research collaboration?
• Participation of Polish domain-specific infrastructures in EOSC: How can research infrastructures across different disciplines effectively collaborate within the EOSC Federation?
• Domain-specific data management aspects: what tools and standards (FAIR, CARE, interoperability, knowledge graphs) enable the efficient storage, sharing, and analysis of research data?

Additionally, the event will introduce the Polish national node – EOSC PL. As one of 13 national nodes across Europe, EOSC PL will participate in developing governance and operational mechanisms of the EOSC Federation during the build-up phase.

EOSC NTE Poland 2025 will be preceded by the EOSC Steering Board meeting and the EOSC European Tripartite Event, both organised under Poland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. These events will bring together experts from the EOSC Partnership, the European Commission, and the EOSC Association, representing 42 HE member and associated countries, to discuss strategic directions for the further development of the EOSC Partnership, including long-term perspectives beyond 2027.

EOSC National Tripartite Event Poland 2025 is organised by the National Science Centre, which serves as Poland’s mandated organisation in the EOSC Association and coordinates the national EOSC PL node.

Full agenda: [EVENT AGENDA] (Download PDF)

Registration and Participation

The event will take place at the Auditorium Maximum of Jagiellonian University, located at 33 Krupnicza Street.

Participation is free of charge, both on-site and online, but prior registration is required.

The registration form will be available until March 17, 2025.

The event will be livestreamed on YouTube.

Fifteen research teams with the participation of Polish researches have been awarded funding for research projects in material science and material engineering under a call launched by the M-ERA.NET network.

Grants were available to international research consortia comprising at least three research teams from at least three countries participating in the call, i.e. Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Spain, Israel, Canada, South Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Germany, Poland, South Africa, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Taiwan, Turkey, Hungary and Italy.

382 pre-proposals were submitted to the call, followed by 101 full proposals. Funding was awarded to 31 projects involving 156 research teams.

A total of 15 research projects involving Polish researchers received funding, of which seven (for a total of 2.5 million EUR) will be funded by the National Science Centre and eight by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR).

Out of seven projects funded by the NCN, four will be coordinated by the Polish research teams and three will be carried out with the participation of Polish research teams:

• HerAqua: Innovative nano-carbon based electrochemical monitoring of female hormones. PI in the Polish research team and project coordinator: Dr hab. inż. Katarzyna Siuzdak, Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery, PAS
• RESH: Renewable Energy via Sustainable Hydrogen. PI in the Polish research team: Prof. dr hab. Wojciech Macyk, Jagiellonian University in Krakow
• BIONAFE: Bio-derived nanocarbon-based functional materials for next generation electroceutical devices. PI in the Polish research team and project coordinator: Dr hab. inż. Katarzyna Krukiewicz, Silesian University of Technology
• GREEN-MEM: Green materials for sustainable magneto-electronics memories: Dr inż. Anna Mandziak, Jagiellonian University in Krakow
• SMARTPIEZO: Smart Piezoelectric Bio-based Osteochondral Construct as a Model for Drug Testing and Implantation into Joint Defects. PI and project coordinator: Dr hab. inż. Dorota Kołbuk-Konieczny, Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, PAS
• PECZIB: Photo-electrochemical Hydrogen Generation Integrated with Photo-chargeable Zinc Ion Battery, PI in the Polish research team: Dr Mykola Pavlenko, Adama Mickiewicz University in Poznań
• AH-Nano-Cat: Advanced Hybrid Nanomaterials for Efficient Photo(electro)catalytic Water Purification and Hydrogen Production. PI in the Polish research team and project coordinator: Dr Marta Mazurkiewicz-Pawlicka, Warsaw University of Technology

7 grants for well-established and outstanding researches and 63 grants for researchers with a PhD degree conferred within 5 to 12 years prior to the proposal submission year have been awarded under MAESTRO and SONATA BIS. The winning applicants will carry out basic research projects with a total value of nearly 235.7 million zlotys.

MAESTRO 14 and SONATA BIS 16 are addressed to researchers experienced in independent academic work who wish to are acquire funds for the most advanced undertakings requiring involvement of many researchers and purchase or manufacturing of research equipment. MAESTRO and SONATA BIS projects can be carried out over a period of 36, 48 or 60 months. There are no caps on funding for single projects and the rationale of the budget is subject to experts’ evaluation. 

MAESTRO funding can be used for pioneering, including interdisciplinary , research significant for the development of science that goes beyond the current state-of-the-art and may result in scientific discoveries. Eligible applicants must be well-established and outstanding researchers with a PhD degree, who have managed at least two research projects funded under national or international calls over the last ten years, published at least five papers in renowned Polish or foreign academic press/ journals and meet the other call requirements (delivered lectures and speeches at conferences, received awards, have been members of associations, etc.).

SONATA BIS aims to support the formation of new research teams to conduct basic research. The latest call was addressed at researchers with a PhD degree conferred between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2019. Eligible applicants had to demonstrate that their research track record included at least one paper published or accepted for publication and in the case of research in art, at least one paper published or accepted for publication or at least one artistic achievement or achievement in research in art.

69 funding proposals have been submitted to the latest edition of the MAESTRO call, of which 7 received funding: 1 in Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences, 2 in Life Sciences and 4 in Physical Sciences and Engineering. The total funding awarded to the winning proposals amounts to over 29.7 million zlotys. The success rate was 10.14%.

417 proposals were submitted to SONATA BIS 14. Funding was awarded to 63 researches: 13 in Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences, 18 in Life Sciences and 32 in Physical Sciences and Engineering. The total budget was nearly 206 million zlotys and the success rate was 15.11%.

In January 2025, the NCN Council decided to increase the budgets of MAESTRO 16 and SONATY BIS. As a result, more projects can be funded.

RANKING LISTS

MAESTRO 16 Ranking List in pdf format, SONATA BIS 14 Ranking List in pdf format

Evaluation of proposals 

Proposals submitted to MAESTRO and SONATA BIS undergo a two-stage merit-based evaluation performed by expert teams established by the NCN Council.

Firstly, proposals are reviewed by at least two team members acting individually. The team then agrees on the final score and decides whether or not the proposal it is eligible for the next stage. At stage two, proposals are reviewed by at least two (usually foreign) reviewers who are not members of the team. Furthermore, in MAESTRO and SONATA BIS principal investigators are interviewed in English on NCN’s premises. The final score is agreed by the team at the second meeting based on all individual reviews and interview results. The team is responsible for drafting the final ranking lists of proposals recommended for funding and the funding decision is taken by the NCN Director. 

Delivery of decisions modified 

As of MAESTRO 16 and SONATA BIS 14, decisions by the NCN Director will be delivered to the applicants only and will no longer be communicated to the principal investigators if applicants are entities specified in Article 27 (1) – (7) and Article 27 (9) of the NCN Act. If individuals apply, funding decisions must be delivered to the participating entity specified in the proposal. More on delivery of decisions.

Shaping the future of work is one of the four key Partnership Impact Areas which the Social Transformations and Resilience Partnership aims to tackle – how evolving trends will shape employment, skills, and workforce dynamics in the coming years. The Partnership is now developing its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) to guide future research and policy efforts and create a transformative research and innovation programme.

Anyone interested in the subject (researchers, ministry officials, labour market experts, think-thank representatives, etc.) may fill in the survey. Contribute your insights on the future of work by:

• Analyzing and validating trends identified through research,
• Assessing their impact on the future of work, and
• Identifying any missing trends or overlooked developments.

The survey takes 5–20 minutes, depending on the level of detail you wish to provide. Your responses are anonymous and will directly inform the development of the SRIA. Take the survey here

The survey will be open until 17 March 2025.

Take your chance to contribute to this important initiative. DLR Project Management Agency is in charge of conducting the survey. In case of questions, feel free to contact STR-Foresight@dlr.de !

“We are now at the crossroads. A certain development model of countries such as Poland is coming to an end and new economy engines must be focused on,” says Prof. Krzysztof Jóźwiak. In an interview published in “Forum Akademicke,” he underlines the importance of basic research for the development of competitive economy and pinpoints the shortcomings of the innovation policy to date.

“Recent years have shown that the innovation support strategy has not yielded the expected results,” says Prof. Jóźwiak. He believes that neglecting basic research and focusing on later stages of deployment were the key problems. Modern economy cannot be built without a strong science base. “Basic research is the source of innovation, especially in the 21st century,” he emphasises.

In the interview, the NCN Director refers to the NCN budget which constitutes merely 5% of funds for science. He emphasises that the competitive system of research funding is the best to way to ensure that high-quality projects are submitted. However, he points out that the rate success in NCN calls is rather low which can discourage researchers from applying. The NCN Director points out that “the NCN budget is so low that only one in eight or one in ten projects can be funded, which is very frustrating.”

Moreover, Prof. Jóźwiak addresses the issue of internationalisation of Polish research. He claims that Poland should strive to attract foreign researchers and create an environment for free exchange of ideas. The grant system of the National Science Centre has been appreciated all around the world. However, stable funding and clear career path are vital to attract talent.

According to the NCN Director, science should be pivotal to country’s development strategy. “I have noticed that politicians have recently changed their narrative on science and began to understand the importance of science for the future of Poland. Now is the time to take concrete actions,” Prof. Jóźwiak concludes.

What determines ERC call success? What does the ERC evaluation process entail and how does it differ from our domestic approach? These issues are discussed by our guests today, Prof. Grażyna Jurkowlaniec and Prof. Ewelina Knapska.

Our new podcast episode hosted by Anna Korzekwa-Józefowicz features a discussion on the ERC evaluation of grant proposals and strategies to increase researchers’ chances of success.

Prof. Grażyna Jurkowlaniec, photo M. Kaźmierczak/UW Prof. Grażyna Jurkowlaniec from the Faculty of Culture and Arts, University of Warsaw, studies art and art historiography from late Medieval to Early Modern period. She is the Chair of the Foundation for Polish Science’s Council and former member of the board of the National Program for the Humanities (Narodowy Program Rozwoju Humanistyki, NPHR”). She is also a former winner of three NCN grants. As part of the SAIGA project (ERC Advanced) she has analysed the relationship between the research on the fauna of Eastern European and the ways in which the region was perceived in the Early Modern period. Prof. Ewelina Knapska is a neuroscientist from the Nenecki Institute of Experimental Biology, PAS, who researchers emotions and how they are socially transmitted. She is the Head of the Laboratory of Emotions Neurobiology and Co-Head of the MAB Brain City. She is also a former recipient of NCN Grants and ERC Starting Grant (2016) for a project on how the amygdala controls emotions.

Expert researchers on the evaluation process

Both scientists are former members of the ERC review panels. In our podcast, they are talking about their experience as grant recipients and experts, and explore what makes a grant proposal successful. 

Prof. Jurkowlaniec says that “a proposal must be ambitious, bold and must go beyond the conventional approach.” “My experience shows that a research project in humanities is often thought to be nothing more but an outline of a monograph, whereas the ERC requires a wider and more comprehensive approach. Not just a table of contents of a future monograph,” she adds.

According to Prof. Knapska, many proposals are simply not bold enough in their hypotheses and extent, which is their main problem. “I often read and comment on proposals when requested to do so and have noticed that they are just too conservative. As a panel member I know that they will be rejected at the first stage,” she adds.

She stresses that the key is to properly define a research problem. “A significant research question must be posed and one must not be afraid to take a bold approach. A project  should bring new insights in a specialisation as well as entire research field,” she says.

General quality of proposals

The experts were asked about the general quality of evaluated proposals.  dr hab. Ewelina Knapska, prof. IBD PAN, photo One HD dla FNP

Prof. Knapska says that “in some countries, where the ERC is regarded as an additional source of funding, preselection takes place when one decides to apply. But there are also countries where funding for research is very modest and researchers have no choice but to try their luck at the ERC. Italian researches, for example, apply to the ERC because they have no other choice.”

The second stage of evaluation is yet another story. “At this stage, we nearly always deal with excellent proposals, so it is incredibly difficult to choose the best ones. It is so hard to take the final decision because we are choosing from the very top proposals,” Prof. Knapska says.

A proposal is not a school essay

The ERC rewards boldness, originality and determination. The scientists advise that one must not give up after the first unsuccessful submission of a grant proposal but emphasise that applicants must not correct their proposals by addressing the reviewers’ feedback only. “Researchers often improve their proposals like an essay at school and address nothing more but the reviewer’s feedback. This is a mistake,” says Prof. Jurkowlaniec. “You can never be sure that your proposal will be re-evaluated by the same persons, while new reviewers may have completely different feedback. Instead of addressing every single feedback, one should thoroughly consider which modifications are crucial and which result from the reviewer’s current view. Scientists must be certain that their ideas are valuable, otherwise it is probably better to wait a couple of years and draft a new proposal.”  

This view is shared by Prof. Knapska who claims that “one must not give up on the first rejection or correct their proposal automatically,” and “the best way is to thoroughly analyse the feedback and decide what needs to be modified. A new approach and fresh interpretation can be the key to successful submission in the future.”

You can listen to the entire discussion in our latest podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcast and You Tube, where automatic transcription is also available.

The National Science Centre, in cooperation collaboration with the CHIST-ERA network, has launched the call “Science in Your Own Language” for international research projects on the automatic translation of scientific knowledge in order to overcome language and cultural barriers.  

The call aims at promoting multilingualism among science and technology producers and users and is open to funding proposals in one or more of the following areas:

• Machine translation of scientific knowledge to and from different languages including the translation of research metadata and data where applicable, documents, protocols, paper and project reviews, other academic or technical outputs such as outreach materials and press releases, blogs and other web-based content.
• Design of tools for seamless and interoperable access to multilingual scientific and technology data hubs and repositories for stakeholders who chose to approach and use them in their own language.
• Tools for multilingual detection of scientific frauds and plagiarism.

Funding proposals may be submitted by international consortia composed of at least three, and no more than six, research teams from at least three countries participating in the call, i.e. Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. 

The principal investigator of the Polish research team must hold at least a PhD degree. The project budget may cover salaries for members of the research team, salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students, purchase or manufacturing of research equipment and other costs crucial to the research project. The total funding allocated for the Polish research teams under the call is 750 thousand euro. 

This is a one-stage call, which means that a full joint proposal (in English) must be drafted at international level and submitted by 15 April 2025, 5 pm CEST. Polish research teams must also submit an NCN proposal concerning the Polish part of the project, by 22 April 2025.

Only joint proposals are subject to an eligibility check performed by an international team of experts specialising in the call subject. The call will be concluded in July 2025.