Researchers are welcome to participate in SHENG 4, the fourth funding opportunity for joint Polish and Chinese research teams launched by the National Science Centre (the NCN) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (the NSFC).

SHENG 4 aims to support research projects in selected research fields:

Call announcement: 16 December 2024

Call deadline: 17 March 2025

Call results: November 2025

Project start date: January 2026

The NCN will adopt the terms of the call and publish them on its website in December 2024.

KEY TERMS OF SHENG 4:

• Proposals may be submitted to the call by the entities specified in Article 27 (1) of the Act on the National Science Centre of 30 April 2010 (consolidated text in Journal of Laws of 2023, item 153).
• The Polish Principal Investigator (PI) must be at least a PhD holder when submitting a proposal.
• Eligibility criteria for Chinese applicants submitting their proposals to the NSFC are available here: https://www.nsfc.gov.cn/publish/portal0/tab1356/
• A list of Chinese entities eligible to apply for funding pursuant to the requirements of the NSFC is available here: http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/publish/portal0/tab475/info70247.htm
• State aid will be available to Polish applicants.
• Research project duration will be 36 months.
• Only basic research will be funded.
• Project budgets must include the cost eligibility criteria of the NCN and the NSFC, respectively.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Funding proposals for Polish and Chinese research projects will be submitted to the OSF submission and NSFC’s submission system.

Polish applicants will submit their NCN proposals to the OSF submission system (htps://osf.opi.org.pl) pursuant to the terms set out in the call documents, together with joint Polish and Chinese proposals drafted in cooperation with the Chinese research team. NCN proposals and joint proposals must be identical.

Chinese applicants will submit a complete set of documents required by the NSFC via its electronic submission system.

Joint Polish and Chinese funding proposals submitted to the NCN and the NSFC must be identical. Joint Polish and Chinses funding proposals submitted to the NCN and NSFC containing significant differences may be rejected on the grounds of ineligibility.

Submission deadline: 17 March 2025

PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCEDURE:

The eligibility check and merit-based evaluation of proposals submitted to SHENG will be carried out in parallel by the NCN and the NSFC. Polish and Chinese funding proposals will be evaluated by the NCN and the NSFC. Only proposals approved as eligible by both agencies will be subject to a merit-based evaluation.

At the NCN, proposals recommended for a merit-based evaluation will be evaluated by at least two external reviewers. The panels will consist of recognised researchers from the relevant disciplines who are familiar with the NCN decision-making procedures.

At the NSFC, proposals recommended for a merit-based evaluation will be evaluated by the expert panels and at least 5 external reviewers.

Only proposals positively reviewed by the two agencies will be recommended for funding.

NCN CONTACT DETAILS:

Magdalena Nowak,

Coordinator for Life Sciences:

dr Mateusz Sobczyk

Coordinator for Physical Sciences and Engineering:

dr Magdalena Jarosz

Coordinator for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences:

dr Katarzyna Jarecka-Stępień

NSFC CONTACT DETAILS

• Jin Xu, tel.:
  Show number

The terms of publication of research findings, as laid down in the letter by the NCN Director of 11 October 2023, will be extended for an unlimited term. They will apply to principal investigators of research and research activities, regardless of the final report submission dates. The relaxed terms of Open Access Policy will be in force until further notice.

The National Science Centre hereby announces that the relaxed terms of Open Access Policy, adopted by the letter of the NCN Director of 11 October 2023, will be extended. The relaxed terms of OA Policy will be adopted for an unlimited term and hence will apply to principal investigators in research projects and research activities, regardless of their final report submission dates. The relaxed OA terms aimed to support wide open access to research findings and research data will be in force until further notice.

most important amended provisions are outlined below:

• Route 1: Papers published under any Creative Commons (CC) licences, including licences restricting commercial use of publications, will be accepted, . The eligibility of Article Processing Charges (APC) will continue to be eligible costs, provided that the papers are published under  CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-ND 4.0 licences.
• Route 2: Papers deposited in renowned depositories, such as arXiv or PubMed, enhance the visibility of research findings. Therefore, in order to facilitate publication under Route 2, preprints may be deposited when the final author-created version of the manuscript (AAM) cannot be published immediately. Preprints must be released under licence CC BY 4.0 licence. AAM must be published after the embargo period has ended.
• Research data: CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences as well as other licences ensuring an equivalent level ofdata openness and reusability may be used. The purpose is to ensure wide access to research findings as well as their utmost dissemination and use by the scientific community.

Soon, guidelines related to updated OA terms will be published on the NCN website (link to be added).

45 ERC grant holders have written a letter to the Polish Prime Minister and the Minister of Science to request an increase in our agency’s budget. A petition was also created; it can be signed by anyone who cares about the advancement of research in Poland.

“The overarching objective of any move within the Polish research system should be to increase the quality of research in our country. The National Science Centre is the most important institution that pursues that goal”, argue ERC grant holders in a letter addressed to PM Donald Tusk and Minister of Science Dariusz Wieczorek. They point out that the NCN only receives a very small proportion of the state research budget and that these “resources are widely insufficient”. “This means that many good and important projects cannot be pursued, salaries under projects that do receive funding are not competitive and gifted researchers often give up on a career in research”, they emphasise. The work currently underway on the draft 2025 budget bill, they add, is the right moment to increase the NCN subsidy.

“We wish to express our strong support for the appeal of the Council of the National Science Centre to have the NCN subsidy raised by 300 million zlotys in 2025 and continue with increases in the following years”, they write.

Full text of the letter (pdf file)

The academic community also created a petition addressed to the PM and the Minister of Science, which can be signed by anyone “who understands the need for research in Poland”. The organisers encourage researchers but also representatives of institutions, schools and local governments to sign the petition.

“We believe that science is in the Polish national interest. It fuels progress and serves as the mainspring of innovation; our society simply cannot do without it. Researchers in Poland have and want to continue having an actual impact on the advancement of science around the world. Science cannot be just an imported good. This is why we are calling on you and your government to review the Polish 2025 budget and increase spending on research, and especially the subsidy earmarked for the National Science Centre. The NCN is the oxygen of Polish science”, the appeal reads.

You can sign the petition here.

This is yet another in a string of initiatives taken by the research community in support of the NCN. In recent years, Polish researchers have repeatedly spoken out in defence of its independence and campaigned for an increase in its budget. This year, thanks to, e.g. the grassroots initiative of the top researchers under the slogan #NCNtotlen (#NCNisoxygen), the ministry decided to increase our funding by 200 million zlotys.

During a special session on 28 September, the Council of Ministers approved a draft 2025 budget bill, which awards the NCN 50 million zlotys more than the original proposal.

On 28 September, the Council of Ministers adopted a new draft 2025 budget bill. Budget revenues will stand at PLN 632.85 billion, budget spending at PLN 921.6 billion and the deficit at PLN 288.77 billion.

The new draft bill differs from the proposal originally presented at the end of August. It includes financial support for the areas hardest hit by the flood that has recently swept over the south and southwest of Poland. A few corrections have also been made to some tasks in the budget and the reserves. One change involves a PLN 50 million increase in the NCN subsidy.

At present, the NCN budget stands at PLN 1.643 billion (of which 1.583 billion goes toward research funding). In the August version of the draft 2025 budget bill, the NCN was to receive PLN 1.648 billion, an amount nearly equal to what it has had at its disposal in 2024. Now, however, that sum has been increased to PLN 1.698 billion.

More information about the NCN budget can be found in Facts and Figures.

Information about the draft 2025 budget bill on the government website.

132 new researchers will now be able to pursue single research activities thanks to over 5 million zlotys in funding awarded under the MINIATURA 8 call. Here comes the fifth ranking list for proposals submitted in June.

Experts selected 38 researchers in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, who will investigate a range of issues related to our knowledge of the past, humanity and social life. Dr Hubert Mazur from the University of the National Education Commission in Krakow will conduct a library and archive research in the Polish state archives, investigating documents from the period of 1944-1951, while Dr Olga Witczak from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań is set to focus on boredom as a modulator of creativity in the alternative uses test, a measure of divergent creative thinking also known as the Guilford Test.

In Life Sciences, grants were awarded to 55 researchers, who will be working on projects in applied life sciences and cell biology. Dr Hanna Fuchs from the Institute of Dendrology, PAS, will conduct preliminary research on the interrelationship between the age of forest-forming tree species and their seed quality. Dr Małgorzata Jeziorek from the Medical University of Wrocław will study the efficacy of the LCHF (low-carbohydrate high-fat) diet in the treatment of lipoedema. Specifically, she will look at the levels of inflammatory tissue hormones, such as adiponectin, leptin, resistin, visfatin and vaspin.

In Physical Sciences and Engineering, 39 winners were selected. Some of these will work on chemistry and production process engineering. Dr Kinga Wzgarda-Raj from the University of Łódź will look into phenazine (a chemical compound used as a synthetic pain reliever) as an important crystal engineering material for biomedical applications, while Dr inż. Mateusz Brzęczek from the Silesian University of Technology will work on developing a new method of measuring the energy potential of wind farms in any geographical location.

Research activities recommended for funding on MINIATURA 8 Ranking List No 5

Ranking List No 5 in PDF format

Funding per panel:

• Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – PLN1,154,742
• Physical Sciences and Engineering – PLN1,431,598
• Life Sciences – PLN 2,500,994

Total: PLN 5,087,334

MINIATURA 8

The objective of the MINIATURA call is to finance research activities carried out in preparation for future research projects that will be submitted to NCN calls for proposals, as well as other domestic and international calls. Under MINIATURA 8, researchers could apply for funding from PLN 5,000 to PLN 50,000 for a research activity planned over a period of up to 12 months.

The total budget of this year’s call was PLN 20 million. Funds available for research activities were divided proportionally between the months during which proposals were accepted. A project could be qualified for funding only as long as there was enough funding available for a given month.

This round of the call, which is meant to fund preliminary/ pilot studies, library and archive searches, fellowships, research visits and/ or consultations, was open to PhD holders who had earned their degree no earlier than 1 January 2012 and had never served as principal investigators in a project funded by the National Science Centre. They had to demonstrate a research record of at least one paper published or at least one research achievement or achievement in research in art. They could not have been winning applicants of an ETIUDA call for doctoral scholarships or a call for fellowships funded by the NCN, or serve as applicants, principal investigators or fellowship candidates in proposals submitted or recommended for funding under other NCN calls.

Decisions

Funding decisions for proposals submitted under MINIATURA 8 in June, will be sent out on 26 September 2024. Justifications are available in the OSF submission system, where you can also check the status of your proposal.

Decisions are delivered electronically to the ESP ePUAP address indicated in the proposal. If you have not received a decision, please make sure that the address provided in the proposal is correct. If it is not, contact the officer in charge of your proposal identified in the OSF submission system.

“Poland has what it takes to become a future leader in technology and innovation, but it must invest in research”, said Prof. Maria Leptin, President of the ERC, at a conference with NCN representatives, which took place in Warsaw on 24 September.

History shows that basic research, i.e. research fuelled by a natural thirst for knowledge, rather than any potential practical application, is the most important source of invention and innovation. We would never have fibre-optic networks, novel materials or COVID vaccines today without prior long-term investment in basic research. At a meeting in Warsaw, Prof. Maria Leptin said that one of her top goals as the President of the European Research Council is to get the ERC budget doubled under EU’s 10th Framework Programme, so that the agency can fund many more research projects than it has until now. She has cited, e.g. the official statement that the ERC Scientific Board has published earlier this year:

Panel dyskusyjny: Key role of frontiers research in addressing global challenges of modern world Leptin also emphasised that EU funding can never replace domestic funding; only domestic investment in research and a good research policy can turn a country into a real leader in technology and innovation. “Creating robust conditions for research growth cannot be the role of a single ministry, it needs to be the job of an entire government”, she stressed. She quoted the example of countries like Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany, which have invested huge amounts in research for years, to argue that, for basic research, it often takes years before the effects can be seen. “Countries that lead the fray in research today do so only because of the investments they made in the past”, she said.

NCN before ERC

Scientists affiliated with Polish research centres have carried out a total of 87 ERC-funded grants. Most have previously worked on projects funded by the National Science Centre and report that their experience in heading an NCN-funded project has crucially contributed to their success at the ERC, allowing them to start out on their independent research paths, develop research skills and gain experience in independent research and research team management.

Professor Maria Leptin emphasised that the success rate of Polish researchers taking part in ERC calls has grown from 2 to 7% since the 7th Framework Programme.  However, that number is still well below expectations. At the conference in Warsaw, attendees discussed how it could be increased. “Without funding for basic research, we won’t be able to make a contribution to world science. At the current level of funding available to the NCN, we can’t even begin to think of new initiatives to increase the participation of our researchers in the international arena”, lamented Prof. Anetta Undas, President of the NCN Council. Her words were echoed by the president of the Polish Academy of Sciences. “Unless the NCN’s budget is increased to 2 billion zlotys and its success rates climb to 25%, we can forget about more ERC grants”, said Prof. Marek Konarzewski.

“This debate has been going on for more than 10 years now and the outcomes are still far from what we would expect”, said Prof. Justyna Olko from the University of Warsaw, former NCN Council  member (2018-2022) and winner of two ERC grants. “The main challenge is that there is no clear system-level support for excellence in Polish research policy”, she said. She also pointed out that NCN funding must be increased if we want to enable researchers to maintain their research continuity; unless the success rates in NCN calls is increased, Polish success rates in ERC calls won’t budge either.

The meeting with the President of the European Research Council, “Focus on Frontier Research with ERC”, was organised by the Polish Academy of Sciences and the ERC. The agenda of the event also included workshops for researchers interested in applying for ERC grants.

Prof. Mariola Łaguna from the Catholic University of Lublin, NCN Council member received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Polish Social Psychological Society (PSPS).

Prof. Łaguna works at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. Her research is located at the interface of personality psychology and social psychology. It concerns the motivational mechanisms guiding human behavior in various domains, such as work (including entrepreneurship), prosocial activities, and sports. In her analyses, she focuses on intentional human activity and the role of personal resources in the goal achievement process. She also investigates psychological measurement issues and is the author or co-author of psychological tests and their Polish adaptations.

Prof. Mariola Łaguna has been an NCN Council member since December 2022, heading the work of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Committee.

The PSPS Lifetime Achievement Award is a prestigious recognition of significant achievements in social psychology on an international level. It has been awarded since 2012 and has so far been bestowed upon 12 researchers, including Prof. Małgorzata Kossowska from the Jagiellonian University, President of the NCN Council between 2018 and 2020 and Prof. Mirosław Kofta, member of the first NCN Council between 2010-2012.

The NCN Council has modified the NCN panel list to better reflect the one in place at the European Research Council (ERC). The new classification will apply to most NCN calls starting in December.

The NCN Council has spent a long time discussing possible changes to the NCN panel list, especially in Life Sciences (NZ) and Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (HS), to make its structure better reflect current research realities. In its deliberations, it was guided by the need to better align the list with the one in place at the European Research Council (ERC), as well as by the postulates raised by the Polish research community.

During a meeting held on 5 September, the NCN Council passed resolution no. 83/2024, which officially modified the NCN panel list used in the proposal review process. Resolution No. 83/2024, Annex.

The total number of discipline panels remains the same, i.e. there are 26 panels: six in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; eleven in Physical Sciences and Engineering; and nine in Life Sciences. What has changed is their internal structure.

In Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (HS), more precise identifiers (descriptors) were added to better describe panels, while some research areas were singled out or moved between panels to better match subpanels and individual descriptors. The previous division into six main discipline panels was maintained; more important changes were made to the descriptions of the HS3 panel, “The Study of the Human Past”, e.g. in the context of archaeological sciences, HS5 “Law and Political Science”, which will now include new technologies in law and public policies, as well as HS2 “Culture and Cultural Production” in the context of media and social communication.

NZ panels were modified to better align with the list in place at the ERC. Some panels were consolidated to reduce the unnecessary fragmentation of research areas and disciplines. Issues in neurobiology were all brought under a single panel, NZ5 “Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System”, while veterinary medicine was subsumed under NZ9 “Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering”. The number of discipline panels remains unchanged, but in seven of these, the number of subpanels was increased. These changes represent an important step toward a new vision of science that transcends the rigid boundaries between disciplines, and the application of ERC solutions will make it easier for researchers to draw up grant proposals across disciplines.

The NCN Council believes that changes in the structure of ERC panels should be continually monitored so that NCN panels can be adapted accordingly, including in the field of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. This approach will help increase the odds of success of Polish researchers in ERC calls.

The new NCN panel list will come into force starting with the new rounds of international calls,  BiodivTransform, IMPRESS-U and Weave-UNISONO, which will undergo peer review in 2025, and for domestic calls – starting with calls announced on 16 December 2024.

A short reminder of how to prepare proposals in the Weave-UNISONO call for the Polish research teams. 

1. Under the Weave-UNISONO call, if a joint proposal is submitted to the SNSF as the lead agency by 1 October 2024, an NCN proposal must be submitted electronically via the OSF submission system as soon as possible following the submission of the joint proposal to the SNSF, by 8 October 2024 at the latest.

2. Once the work on the NCN proposal has started in the OSF submission system, the Polish research team has 45 calendar days to complete the proposal and submit it to the NCN. After that, the proposal can no longer be edited, in which case a Polish research team that has not sent its proposal to the NCN must prepare a new proposal and complete it in the OSF submission system which may impact the budget for research tasks performed by the Polish research teams specified in the NCN proposal (see points 3 and 4 below).

The 45-day period applies only to the period during which NCN proposals may be edited in the OSF submission system. Under Weave-UNISONO, NCN proposals must be submitted to the NCN via the OSF submission system as soon as possible following the submission of joint proposals to the lead agency, within 7 calendar days at the latest.

3. NCN proposals processed in the OSF submission system:

• by 30 September 2024 (inclusive), may include research projects that will be carried out by the Polish research teams from 2025 onwards. The following years will be included in the project budget, depending on the project implementation period:
  • 2025-2026 for two-year projects,
  • 2025-2026-2027 for three-year projects and
  • 2025-2026-2027-2028 for four-year projects;
• from 1 October 2024 (inclusive), may include research projects that will be carried out by the Polish research teams from 2026 onwards. The following years will be included in the project budget, depending on the project implementation period:
  • 2026-2027 for two-year projects,
  • 2026-2027-2028 for three-year projects and
  • 2026-2027-2028-2029 for four-year projects.

4. In the case of joint proposals submitted to the lead agencies covering Polish team budgets from 2025 onwards, make sure that:

• the work on NCN proposals in the OSF submission system starts before 30 September 2024 and
• NCN proposals are submitted to the NCN within 45 days of the date that the work on the proposal has started in the OSF submission system.

If the work on NCN proposals in the OSF submission system starts before 30 September 2024, with project performance scheduled beginning in 2025, and the NCN proposal is not completed and submitted within 45 days of the date the work on the proposal has started in the OSF submission system, a new proposal must be created. A new NCN proposal (created after 1 October 2024) may cover research projects with a start date in 2026. If a joint proposal has already been submitted to the lead agency for a research project involving 2025 funding, information in the NCN proposal will be inconsistent with information in the joint proposal and may result in the proposal being rejected on the grounds that it does not meet the eligibility criteria.

5. The budget of the Polish part of the project in the joint proposal should be calculated according to the following exchange rate:

• In joint proposals, for which NCN proposals are processed and submitted via the OSF submission system by 31 December 2024: 1 EUR=4.5940 PLN;
• In joint proposals, for which NCN proposals are processed and submitted via the OSF submission system from 1 January 2025 onwards: 1 EUR=4.2717 PLN;

6. NCN proposals processed in the OSF submission system in 2024, to which the exchange rate of 1 EUR=4.5940 PLN applies, must be completed and submitted via the OSF submission system by 31 December 2024, 23:59:59. Otherwise, the proposal can no longer be edited, in which case the Polish research team must prepare a new proposal and complete it in the OSF submission system, to which the exchange rate 1 EUR=4.2717 PLN will apply. If a joint proposal has already been submitted to the lead agency, in which the budget of the Polish part of the project was calculated according to another exchange rate, information in the NCN proposal will be inconsistent with information in the joint proposal and may result in the proposal being rejected on the grounds that it does not meet the eligibility criteria.

Proposals are now being accepted under OPUS 28+LAP/Weave and SONATA 20. The total budget of the two calls is PLN 600 million and the deadline for submission is 16 December.

OPUS is the largest grant programme at the National Science Centre that allows scientists to pursue research projects at Polish host institutions. All researchers, regardless of how far ahead they are in their careers, are eligible to apply. Just like other NCN calls, OPUS offers funding for projects from all disciplines of science.

The call is open to domestic projects but also those conducted with partners from international research institutions or with the use of large international research equipment. The September round of the call will additionally offer the LAP/Weave scheme, offering Polish researchers an opportunity to secure funds for projects conducted in partnership with teams in Austria, Belgium-Flanders, Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Slovenia or Switzerland, who will be applying in parallel with their own domestic funding agencies. Under the LAP arrangement, proposals are evaluated by NCN expert teams, while foreign partner agencies formally approve their evaluation results and award resources to the relevant partner teams.

OPUS projects may take 12, 24, 36 or 48 months to complete; OPUS LAP projects may last 24, 36 or 48 months, depending on the country of residence of the partner team. There is no lower or upper limit of funding available to a single OPUS project. Grants may go toward funding PI and team member salaries, scholarships, equipment, devices, software, materials and services, as well as project-related trips, visits and consultations.

The budget of OPUS 28+LAP/Weave is PLN 450 million. OPUS 28+LAP/Weave announcement.

SONATA is designed to support young researchers who have earned their PhD 2 to 7 years prior to submitting their proposal. To qualify as a PI under this round, the applicant must have earned their degree between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2022; the eligibility period can be extended to account for justified periods of sick leave or childcare. The PI’s record must include at least one paper published or accepted for publication, and in the field of art and creative arts, at least one achievement in art or art and research. SONATA projects may take 12, 24 or 36 months. The team may include additional members, such as students, PhD candidates and post-docs. A SONATA grant can only be received once.

The budget of the SONATA 20 call is PLN 150 million. SONATA 20 announcement.

Post-doc jobs – changes

The September round of NCN calls comes with important changes to project funding principles. In response to community voices, the NCN Council decided to modify the rules governing how post-doc positions are filled. Until now, such jobs could only be offered to researchers who have earned their PhD up to 7 years prior (a period that could be extended to account for documented career breaks); this period has now been increased to 12 years. In addition, individuals who had the project PI as their thesis advisor or assistant advisor will no longer be barred from entering the competition for the job, provided they meet all other eligibility requirements.

Proposal review and results

Proposals submitted under OPUS 28+LAP/Weave and SONATA 20 will be evaluated in a quality-focused process of two-stage merit-based peer review.

At stage 1, proposals are assessed independently by at least two expert team members, appointed by the NCN Council expressly for that purpose. The final score is agreed on collectively during the team’s first panel session. Proposals passed on to stage 2 of peer review are then evaluated individually by at least two reviewers, i.e. researchers specialising in the relevant field. The final score for each proposal at stage 2, once again, is decided by the team of experts as a whole during a second panel meeting, taking into account both individual peer reviews. The team then draws up a ranking, including proposals recommended for funding.

OPUS 28 and SONATA 20 results will be announced up to 6 months after the proposal submission deadline, i.e. by June 2025. Results for OPUS LAP projects will be announced successively as partner agencies formally approve review results, by November 2025 at the latest.