On 24^th and 25^th February, the director of the NCN, professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, was present at the Sixth High-level Workshop on the European Research Area (ERA). The workshop − jointly organised by Science Europe, the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and Research Councils UK (RCUK) − took place in Bath, the UK. Beside executives of European grant agencies, research institutions and associations, participants of the workshop included special guests: ministers and other high-ranking representatives of European governments, relevant for science, as well as the representatives of the European Commission. Polish authorities were represented by the Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, professor Jacek Guliński. Other notable guests of the workshop were: the president of the European Research Council, professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon; editor-in-chief of Nature, doctor Philip Campbell and the president of the European University Association, professor Helena Nazaré. Papers and discussions at the workshop covered three major problems: the role of national research and funding organisations in the European research area, the role and measurement of research impact and the reproducibility of research. In the first session, professor Andrzej Jajszczyk delivered a paper titled “The National Science Centre (NCN) in ERA,” in which he presented the structure of research funding in Poland and the efforts on the part of the NCN oriented toward deeper inclusion of Poland in international research cooperation.

On 19^th February 2014 the representatives of the National Science Centre and the German Research Foundation (DFG) met in Krakow to sign a memorandum of understanding. This bilateral agreement lays the cornerstone of work on a future common funding opportunity for  proposals on research projects in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The call will be launched in the second half of 2014. Present at the ceremony was Poland’s Minister of Science and Higher Education professor Lena Kolarska-Bobińska.

The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) is a research grant organisation, financing basic research in all disciplines. It is an association, under private law, of German research universities, non-university research institutions and scientific associations. It is financed predominantly from funding supplied by German federal states and the Federal Government.

The National Science Centre has continuously awarded funds to Polish research teams involved in international projects under the HARMONIA funding scheme as well as international multilateral ERA-NET-type programmes. This joint endeavour with the DFG will provide the first bilateral funding scheme in the history of the NCN. The German partner institution was a natural choice given the increasing volumes of Polish-German research proposals submitted to HARMONIA and the profile of the DFG − similar as it is to that of the NCN.

The agreement was signed in the Column Hall of Wawel Royal Castle. The Minister of Science and Higher Education said about the initiative: When I think about European integration, I think about such cooperation. European integration is a great idea but consists of many actions and activities in various fields, especially in the field of science, which has no borders, and should have no borders. I understand that this document will help both our countries integrate through bilateral endeavours in science but also combine our efforts towards projects in a European context.

The German party was represented by the president of the DFG − professor Peter Strohschneider, Head of the Department of Coordinated Programmes and Infrastructure at the DFG − dr Beate Konze-Thomas, director of the Humanities and Social Sciences division − dr Manfred Niessen and director of International Affairs − dr Christian Schaich.

The National Science Centre was represented by its director − professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, the chair of the Council of the NCN − professor Michał Karoński, as well as members of the Council and employees of the NCN. Also present were dr Werner Köhler, the General Consul of Germany in Poland, professor Wojciech Nowak, rector of Jagiellonian University, and professor Jan Ostrowski, director of Wawel Royal Castle.

HARMONIA 5, MAESTRO 5 and SONATA BIS 3 are the most recently concluded funding opportunities of the National Science Centre.  Research projects awarded funding under the three schemes will receive a total sum of EUR 30,642,731.

In response to calls for proposals, as many as 803 submissions were sent to panels under the general study groups of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Life Sciences.  115 have now been approved for funding.

HARMONIA, a funding opportunity for international projects, is a chance for scientists, to collaborate with foreign partners. Under this scheme, successful applicants obtain resources for research projects carried out under international programmes or as international initiatives, as well as for projects that use large-scale international research infrastructure. 54 projects worth ca. EUR 10 million were recommended for funding.

SONATA BIS is a funding opportunity addressed to researchers with a doctoral degree obtained within 2-12 years prior to submitting the proposal. They must create a new research team in which they assume the role of Principal Investigator. The 52 projects selected for funding will receive an aggregate sum of ca. EUR 14.5 million.

The MAESTRO funding scheme has been designed for advanced researchers working on pioneering and interdisciplinary research. Projects financed from the MAESTRO pool must be ground-breaking in nature and surpass the current state of knowledge.

Within the MAESTRO funding opportunity in the Life Sciences study group a record breaking funding was granted to research led by professor Artur Jarmołowski. For the sum of ca. € 710,000, he will carry out a project titled Crosstalk between MicroRNA Biogenesis Complex, Splicing and Polyadenylation Machineries in Plants. In the Physical Sciences and Engineering study group, 8 projects were qualified for funding, totalling almost EUR 5 million. In Physical Sciences and Engineering an equally high grant was awarded to a team of researchers led by professor Ewa Łokas from the Nicolas Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of Sciences. Under the MAESTRO funding scheme, they will investigate the dynamics and morphology of interacting galaxies.

In the Humanities, the recipient of the largest grant, awarded within the SONATA BIS funding scheme, was the research team of doctor Anna Zalewska from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, titled Archaeological Revival of the Memory of the Great War. Material Remains of Life and Death in the Trenches of the Eastern Front and  the Ever-changing Battlescape of the Rawka and Bzura Region (1914-2014). The research will be financed with ca. € 350,000.

“I like to think that behind the ever-increasing interest in the NCN calls, is the trust researchers have for our peer review method of proposal evaluation. The paramount criterion here is always the quality of the planned research. Therefore, if the criteria of pioneering and groundbreaking work are not met by any of the proposals submitted under the MAESTRO scheme, we award none”, said professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, director of the NCN.

In a breakdown by study group, nearly EUR 4.5 million went to the Humanities and related study areas, over EUR 8.5 million to Life Sciences and ca. EUR 17.5 million to Physical Sciences and Engineering.

The full list of laureates can be found here (available only in Polish)

The National Science Centre has opened new calls for proposals under the SONATA, ETIUDA and FUGA funding schemes, including the debut call under the TANGO funding opportunity organised in cooperation with the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR). The aim of this joint initiative is to present researchers with a comprehensive opportunity to apply the results of basic research, for the benefit of the economy and society.  The sum of resources allocated in all four funding opportunities amounts to PLN 105 million.

The TANGO funding opportunity is intended to support the innovative endeavour of developing advanced technologies and bringing them to the market, as well as to strengthen the cooperation between research institutions and corporate entities.

TANGO is a chance for Polish researchers willing to put the results of their basic research to direct, practical use. The need to launch this kind of scheme stems from a gap in the system of funding the portion of basic research that yields ready for practical application results, said prof Michał Karoński, the Chair of the Council of the National Science Centre.

The application procedure in TANGO consists of two stages: the first one takes place at the NCN, the other at the NCBR. At both stages, proposals undergo evaluation by the same Expert Team. The NCBR has set the budget of TANGO at PLN 40 million.

It is no news that discoveries resulting from basic research offer the richest soil for the development of innovative practical applications. Without the theory of electromagnetic fields we wouldn’t have radio or TV; findings in thermodynamics are behind the construction of the internal combustion engine, coding theory made possible large-scale use of mobile phones, and the physicists’ invention of the laser revolutionised eye surgery. I am positive that the TANGO funding opportunity, a joint venture of the NCN and the NCBR, will soon yield beneficial solutions and products, said prof Andrzej Jajszczyk, director of the NCN.

Apart from launching the new funding opportunity, the Centre opened new editions of the SYMFONIA, ETIUDA and FUGA funding schemes.

SYMFONIA is a funding opportunity addressed to exceptional established researchers who wish to carry out research that is interdisciplinary in its nature and contributes to the opening of new perspectives. Projects submitted under this scheme, proposed by collaborating research teams and individual researchers, must combine information, data, methods, techniques and research tools, perspectives, ideas and theories from two or more fields of research. For the funding of SYMFONIA projects, the National Science Centre has allocated the total sum of PLN 30 million.

The ETIUDA funding opportunity for young researchers has a budget of PLN 10 million. Applications will be accepted from researchers beginning their academic career who have had successes academically and while working on their PhD.

FUGA is a funding opportunity open to PhD holders interested in internships in research centres other than their alma maters. The duration of the internship should not exceed 36 months but can be no shorter than 12 months. The budget in this funding opportunity has been set at PLN 25 million.

We are pleased to announce the launch of new NCN funding opportunities:

• PRELUDIUM – for pre-doctoral researchers starting their career in research,
• OPUS – for a wide range of applicants at every stage of their research career,
• SONATA – targeted at emerging researchers with up to 5 years scientific experience since their PhD award.

Proposals are requested by the deadline of 16^th December 2013.

Detailed information on the funding schemes (Polish only)

In the last week of August, the National Science Centre hosted a meeting of NORFACE consortium representatives. During the two-day visit to Krakow, members of the Management Team, representing 13 European research funding agencies, discussed the evaluation process of projects submitted under the Welfare State Futures (WSF) funding opportunity and the future of the network. During the meeting NORFACE network members also talked about research projects selected under the NORFACE  Migration in Europe: Social, Economic, Cultural and policy dynamics call for proposals. For more information please click here: http://www.norface.net/program_pagina.asp?id=522.

On 11^th September 2013 the NCN Director took part in a meeting of the Science Europe Governing Board Search Committee held in Munich, Germany. Science Europe (SE) is an association of European Research Funding Organisations (RFO) and Research Performing Organisations (RPO), based in Brussels. The task of the Search Committee is to propose a slate of candidates to the SE Governing Board, including the presidency and vice-presidency positions. The following six individuals participated in the meeting: President of the European Science Foundation, Pär Omling from Sweden, President and Director of INSERM (l'Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale), André Syrota from France, Director of the Swiss National Science Foundation, Daniel Höchli, President of the Austrian Science Fund, Christoph Kratky, Director of Science Europe, Amanda Crowfoot, and Director of the National Science Centre (NCN), Andrzej Jajszczyk. The slate of candidates proposed by the Search Committee will be subject to approval by the SE General Assembly.

On Thursday, 25^th July, Prof. Andrzej Jajszczyk, Director of the National Science Centre met with the President of the Max Planck Society, Prof. Peter Gruss. The meeting, which took place in Warsaw, was arranged by the Foundation for Polish Science. Present at the meeting were also Prof. Maciej Żylicz, the President of the foundation, Prof. Krzysztof Kurzydłowski, Director of the National Centre for Research and Development, Prof. Robert Hołyst, Director of the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Prof. Jacek Kuźnicki, Director of the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Prof. Tomasz Dietl from the University of Wrocław and the Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, and Prof. Leszek Roszkowski from the National Centre for Nuclear Research.

The chief topic of the meeting was cooperation between Germany and Poland in terms of research − the use of financial resources in the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme being one aspect of this. The focus of the talks were teaming and twinning initiatives in which researchers from both countries are to participate. They sought adequate ways of increasing the competitiveness of Polish research as well as improving the existing model of research funding. Prof. Guss talked about the experience of the Max Planck Society which runs 82 institutes conducting some of the world’s highest-level research. Employees of these institutes have accumulated a total of 32 Nobel Prizes and are ranked third in the world for publications in Nature (after Harvard and Stanford).

On the 18^th of July the NCN hosted a visit from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Poland. During the meeting the NCN Director Prof. Andrzej Jajszczyk, Counseller for Science and Technology Dr Ye Xiangdong and Shao Yinghong talked about the Polish and Chinese research funding system, as well as NCN’s funding portfolio. During their visit to Krakow the guests had an opportunity to visit the Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics  and Biotechnology of Jagiellonian University. Prof. Józef Dulak guided them around the laboratories where research in stem cell, medical, vascular and cancer biology as well as genetic engineering  and gene therapy is carried out. The professor also pointed out the faculty’s major achievements and introduced various international projects conducted in cooperation with European research institutions.

Neutrinos are the most elusive particles as they have extremely weak interactions with all other particles. They have rather unique properties and are even expected to be identical with their own antiparticles. So far this property is, however, not experimentally verified even though many studies of neutrinos undertaken over the last 60 years have already boosted our understanding of elementary particle physics. Now scientists from the GERDA collaboration have obtained new strong limits for the so-called neutrino-less double beta decay which tests if neutrinos are their own antiparticles. The result has various important implications for cosmology, astrophysics and particle physics and it adds information about neutrino masses.

Besides photons, neutrinos are the most abundant particles in the Universe. They are often called `ghost particles’, because they interact extremely weakly with matter. They are therefore an invisible, but very important component of the Universe and could carry as much mass as all other known forms of matter put together − albeit traveling at almost the speed of light over vast distances. Their tiny mass also has important consequences for the structures in the Universe and they are a driving element in the explosion of Supernovae. Yet their most remarkable and important property was proposed by Ettore Majorana in the 1930s: Unlike all other particles that form known matter around us, neutrinos may be their own antiparticles.

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