Decisions for the POLONEZ BIS 1 proposals that did not meet the eligibility criteria were sent out on 3 February 2022.

Please note that decisions of the Director of the National Science Centre are served in the form of an electronic document sent to the e-mail address provided by the applicant in the proposal. 

Information was sent from the address: ncn.wnioski@ncn.gov.pl. and contained a link to download the decision of the Director of the National Science Centre. 

The correspondence was generated automatically - please do not reply to the message you received. If you have any problems with access to the document, please contact the POLONEZ BIS Team polonez@ncn.gov.pl.

The status of your proposal application can be checked in the ZSUN/OSF system.

The European Commission has published the results of the first 23 calls in the Framework Programme Horizon Europe.

Horizon Europe is a new innovative programme launched last year to support research and innovation that aims to support fight climate change, help reach the UN sustainable development goals and simulate EU competition. The budget for 2021-2027 is over EUR 95 billion.

11 out of 86 proposals recommended for funding in the first Horizon Europe calls were carried out by the Polish research institutions which constitutes 12.79% of the total number of funded projects. The total value of projects is EUR 5.11 million which places Poland in thirteenth position among the beneficiaries from the EU (first among the “new EU states” and thirteenth in the EU).

Having received EUR 688 thousand, the National Science Centre is the second Polish research institution in terms of funding. The leader (the National Center for Research and Development) has been allocated almost EUR 2.3 million so far.

The results are now available in the form of interactive statistics.

The National Science Centre announces the MINIATURA 6 call for proposals for the implementation of single research activities to develop future research projects. The total budget earmarked for the call is PLN 20 million.

Under the MINIATURA 6 call for proposals, you can apply for funding to carry out preliminary or pilot studies, library and archive searches, fellowships, research visits or consultations. The basic aim of the call is to financially support research activities aimed at developing a future research project planned for submission to NCN calls or other national or international calls.

MINIATURA 6 call announcement

The 495 winners of the last round of the PRELUDIUM call, targeted at researchers without a PhD, include nearly 40 foreigners who, thanks to NCN funding, will be able to develop their ideas in Polish research centres.

Science that leaves no-one behind

Iskandar Azmy Harahap in lab, pic. authors archive Iskandar Azmy Harahap will carry out a project that falls under the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which outlines an action plan to improve the quality of life for people all over the world and sets a number of goals that promise to “leave no one behind”.

Harahap is a PhD student at the Poznań University of Life Sciences and his project focuses on the impact of dietary isoflavones and probiotics on bone health problems, such as osteoporosis and low bone mass.

Bone calcium loss represents a major social and economic problem. It affects everyone, regardless of race and sex, but bone fractures begin to become more common in those over the age of 70. Current treatment recommendations for osteoporosis in post-menopausal women include hormone-replacement therapy and medication. While oestrogen supplementation allows bone mass to increase or be maintained sufficiently, it also elevates the risk of reproductive cancers. On the other hand, currently available drugs, such as bisphosphonates, calcitonin or denosumab, are not recommended for long-term use.

For this very reason, current treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis may be inadequate and require additional support. Research data suggest that help may come from a diet that combines isoflavones and probiotics. “Probiotics may have clinical implications in the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis, while isoflavones are likely to mitigate postmenopausal symptoms”, the researcher explains. The results of his study may help find a way to maintain bone health by replacing supplementation with specific foods or safely reducing the dosage of drugs currently prescribed to post-menopausal women.

”Winning an NCN grant represents a great step forward in my research career. It is my hope that, thanks to PRELUDIUM, I will not only learn a lot but also contribute to addressing major domestic and global challenges”, Harahap emphasises.

The scientist won PLN 210,000 for a project entitled “DOBRY: [D]aidzein and pr[OB]iotic fo[R] health[Y]” Połączenie daidzeiny i Lactobacillus acidophilus w celu poprawy gospodarki wapnia i zdrowia kości” [““DOBRY: [D]aidzein and pr[OB]iotic fo[R] health[Y] bones.” Combining daidzein and Lactobacillus acidophilus to improve calcium metabolism and bone health”]

Green marketing: a new market trend

Green marketing is a concept studied by Elnur Nabivi from the University of Warsaw. The term applies to the marketing of products that are considered safe for the environment. “It covers the promotion not only of finished products, but also their packaging and any changes and modifications to their manufacturing processes. This is taken into account at all stages of product development”, explains the researcher.

Interest in ecology is on the rise and companies increasingly include environmental issues in their marketing communication. “Consumer beliefs and values are rapidly evolving, fuelled by environmental, social and political factors. Consumers are increasingly aware of issues related to the natural environment, sustainable development, animal welfare, manufacturing and labour conditions. The need for green marketing is also dictated by the increasing clout of social media”, he adds.

The most important goal of Nabivi’s project is to determine what type of environmental content published by companies on social media produces the greatest consumer engagement. The researcher will also look into the factors that encourage consumers to purchase products promoted by green marketing. He will analyse annual data on content posted by seven FMCG companies on Facebook and Twitter to identify the most engaging types of green marketing content in terms of likes, shares, retweets and comments.

The results of the study should tell us how to implement the ideas of green marketing in social media communication and provide more data on consumer expectations. “I want to know to what extent it makes sense for companies to implement green marketing strategies and to identify the chief factors that shape consumers’ buying decisions”, Nabivi emphasises.

Entitled “Wdrażanie Koncepcji Zielonego Marketingu Poprzez Działania w Mediach Społecznościowych" [“Implementing Green Marketing through Social Media Activities], his project was awarded nearly PLN 140,000 in funding.

A purely philosophical project

What is the ontological status of being? What is the essence of a fictional entity? Can a fictional being cause or alter something in the real world? These are but some of the questions asked by philosophers in the context of fictional entities that abound in literature.

Hicham Jakha from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, who is particularly interested in contemporary analytic philosophy, will investigate Roman Ingarden’s solution to the problem of the existence of fictional entities. “My project is purely philosophical and draws mainly on literary criticism and aesthetics. I am trying to include the phenomenological ontology of Roman Ingarden in contemporary analytic ontologies of fictional entities”.

For Ingarden, a fictional being is first and foremost an intentional entity. It owes all of its features and its entire being to the intention and linguistic consciousness of the author. The fictional entity is initially dependent on the author who creates it, and later on readers who are able to grasp the meaning of linguistic expressions; as such, it is neither real, existing in time and space, nor merely mental, existing only in the mind. “Many contemporary analytic philosophers have already adopted certain elements of Ingarden’s ontology; my role will be to examine his vision of fictional beings with reference to the shortcomings of the analytic ontologies of such entities”.

This strategy allows certain problems that recur to be avoided in the analytic philosophy of fiction, which treats fictional beings alternately as either Platonic entities or mere artifacts.

Entitled ”Problem przedmiotów fikcyjnych w ontologii Romana Ingardena i metafizyce analitycznej” [“The Problem of fictional entities in Roman Ingarden’s ontology and analytic metaphysics”], the project was awarded more than PLN 66,000 in funding.

A history of the European spruce bark beetle

Spruce forests represent 6% of all forests in Poland. One of the worst pests which destroys thousands of trees of this species every year is the European spruce bark beetle.

Even though spruce trees can be found all over Poland, the populations of the European spruce bark beetle in the north and the south of the country are markedly different. The main objective of a project conducted by Anastasia Mykhailenko from the Jagiellonian University is to estimate how rapidly their genome accumulates mutations. To do so, the team will grow several families of the beetle in order to obtain genome sequences from parents and offspring and detect new mutations, which will then allow them to calculate the rate at which new alleles show up across the genome.

Mutation rate is one of the most important parameters in population genetics; it allows us to calculate the time at which a given species began to expand and determine how its size has changed over time. If we know the mutation rate, we can also present our calculations in the form of years and population numbers.

Bark beetle populations in the south of Europe differ genetically from those further up north. The same phenomenon can also be observed in Poland. Polish beetle populations living in the south of the country are genetically closer to southern European populations, while those identified in the north share more affinities with the Scandinavian region. “The genetic variation between these populations is rather low. The differences that we do observe, however, probably reflect the history of the species”, the researcher explains.

Coupled with the accurate timing of chromosomal inversions, the demographic history of the European spruce bark beetle will lay the groundwork for further research on the impact of changes in population size on genetic variation and the adaptation of the insect. “Our study may serve as an example for scientists studying other forest pests. Our mutation and recombination rate estimates should attract particular interest”, she adds.

The researcher won more than PLN 207,000 in funding for her project, entitled ”Tempo mutacji u kornika drukarza” [“Mutation rate in the European spruce bark beetle”]. If you want to learn out more about the insect, visit: https://genomicsofoutbreaks.com/

More than half of all NCN funds awarded last year went to young scientists. In the last six years, entry-level researchers have received a total of over 3.75 billion zlotys in funding. NCN grants give them an opportunity to strike out on their own and become independent sooner than they otherwise would.

The National Science Centre organises calls open to researchers at all levels. Its portfolio includes programmes targeted at those who are just starting out on their career, calls for mature researchers, as well as general calls, in which younger researchers compete against more experienced peers.

A recent report prepared by the Analysis and Evaluation Team shows that, over the past six years, the NCN has dedicated over 3.75 billion zlotys in funding to support the growth of young researchers who have not yet earned their PhD or have done so up to 7 years earlier; this represents as much as 46 percent of the entire call budget of the NCN over that period.

“Our proposal review system, which prioritises quality over quantity in assessing the applicants’ research record, is favourable to young researchers. They take part in calls that are specifically addressed to their group, but also successfully compete with more senior researchers in other programmes”, says Professor Zbigniew Błocki, Director of the National Science Centre, and goes on to add that he is “impressed by the statistics”.

For instance, in the OPUS calls that ended in 2021, young researchers accounted for 18 percent of all successful applicants; 26 percent were researchers without a habilitation degree.

Thanks to funds from different NCN calls, young researchers all over Poland get a chance to carry out their projects, set up their own research teams, receive PhD scholarships, work in Polish research centres and, in cooperation with the National Agency for Academic Exchange, complete fellowships at major foreign research centres.

In 2021, nearly 827 million zlotys were awarded for projects, scholarships and postdoctoral fellowships for young researchers under domestic and international calls, nearly 51 percent of the total sum paid to all applicants in that period. The Centre decided to support young researchers by selecting 845 projects submitted in calls targeted specifically at this group and 629 more submitted to general calls open to applicants at all levels. The total budget of PRELUDIUM, PRELUDIUM BIS, SONATA and SONATINA was 331 million zlotys, while that of projects run by young researchers under calls like OPUS, SONATA BIS, MINIATURA, BEETHOVEN and DAINA equals 247 million. Postdocs and PhD scholarships were funded by the NCN with, respectively,  117 and 131 million.

“Funding young researchers in NCN calls” – a report [in Polish] prepared by the Analysis and Evaluation Team.

The National Science Centre has adopted global code developed by an EU initiative to prevent the export of unethical research practices to low- and middle-income countries. From now on, researchers applying for NCN funding will have to apply the Global Code of Conduct to their projects.

The Global Code of Conduct was launched in 2018 as a result of the TRUST project (Creating and enhancing TRUSTworthy, responsible and equitable partnerships in international research) funded by the EU Research and Innovation Programme (Horizon 2020). The goal of the project was to prevent ethics dumping by improving the implementation of high ethical standards in research around the world.

The phenomenon of ethics dumping broadly refers to the exportation of ethically unacceptable and non-compliant research practices to poor countries. These involve carrying out research without ethical approval or insurance for harm that may occur during a study. These include conducting tests that exploit vulnerable populations or undertaking research in a low- and middle-income country that would normally be prohibited in a high-income one with stringent regulations.

Thanks to the TRUST project a code addressing the unevenness in ethical and legal research standards has been developed. The TRUST project utilised a new framework based on the values of fairness, respect, care and honesty. The GCC covers all research disciplines. It is also an educational tool, since the practice of ethics dumping could also be unintentional, for example, when there’s insufficient expertise among researchers and in research support systems.

The National Science Centre has joined the other 11 adopters of the Global Code of Conduct. The NCN includes the provisions of the Global Code Conduct in its call documents. At the proposal submission stage, each applicant must complete the ethics issues form that includes references to the GCC.

Guidelines for Applicants to Complete the Ethics Issues Form in the Proposal including references to the GCC

Global Code of Conduct website

The TRUST project info

The European Research Council (ERC) has just announced a new round of winners of the Starting Grants (2021). Projects are carried out by eight researchers from the Polish research centres. They have previously won NCN grants.

Since 2007, the ERC has awarded 27 Starting Grants to researchers affiliated with Polish institutions. Eight more have just joined the ranks of this prestigious group in what was a record edition for Poland.

Dr hab. Michał Tomza from the University of Warsaw, winner of the NCN Award for 2020, as well as four NCN grants, including UWERTURA, targeted at researchers planning to apply for ERC funds, will carry out a project entitled “Ultracold polyatomic molecules for controlled chemistry and precision physics”. “The purpose of this project is to understand and apply the growing complexity of ultracold polyatomic molecules to the study of the foundations of chemistry and physics. We will propose new molecules, new methods to produce and control them, as well as their new applications in controlled chemistry and precision spectroscopy. The project will open cold chemistry to new quantum effects and bring unprecedented complexity intro ultracold physics, providing new insights into the physical underpinnings of chemistry and the basic laws of nature”, the scientist explains.

Winners of this round include Dr Dorota Skowron and Dr Paweł Nowakowski. Dr Skowron is an astrophysicist; she has previously won a SONATA grant. The goal of her project is to design a new method for detecting extrasolar planetary systems. “The methods we currently rely on are limited in range, which means that the majority of exoplanets discovered thus far are found in our vicinity. If we want to get a complete picture of how planets are formed, we need to look for them in different environments, including remote regions of our galaxy, and if possible, also other galaxies. The method I am planning to develop is meant to allow us to discover such remote planetary systems”, she explains.

Dr Paweł Nowakowski specialises in ancient history and the epigraphy of late antiquity. He is a winner of NCN’s PRELUDIUM and SONATA grants. The ERC decided to fund his project entitled “Masters of the stone: The stonecutters' workshops and the rise of the late antique epigraphical cultures (third-fifth century AD)”.

Dr hab. Kinga Kamieniarz-Gdula, a biologist from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań will carry out a project devoted to “Alternative gene ends: the crosstalk of RNA cleavage and transcription termination”. “Most human genes have several alternative ends. An alternative gene end usually modulates gene function, but in some cases, it can alter it in extreme ways. For example, a gene that prevents cancer may begin to stimulate its growth. My project is designed to find out what determines which gene end is used under specific circumstances”, the researcher says. Last year, Dr hab. Kinga Kamieniarz-Gdula won an EMBO Installation Grant. She is also a winner of NCN’s SONATA grant.

Dr Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska will carry out research on “Recycling the German Ghosts. Resettlement Cultures in Poland, Czechia and Slovakia after 1945”. She specialises in cultural studies and Czech studies and works at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. She has previously completed a MINIATURA project and recently won an OPUS grant. Dr Ćwiek-Rogalska is planning to look into the role of bureaucracy and documentation in shaping social and political life in Pomerania and Northern Czechia in the first decades post-WWII and examine how they processed, erased and recycled their German past. The same areas of Poland and Czechoslovakia are also the focus of her StG ERC grant. “I am asking myself what we may discover if we conceive of the material vestiges left behind by the regions’ dispossessed inhabitants as ghosts, which will allow us to bring to light overlooked aspects of the past and understand experiences other than our own. I will focus on the way in which new settlers experienced the objects left behind by previous residents: German speakers who had once lived in Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia. The language and ways of thinking associated with the world of ghosts will help us capture an important aspect of the resettlement experience, which has until now eluded other forms of description or has been simply side-lined in research”, she explains.

ERC grants will also go to two researchers from the Jagiellonian University. Dr Krzysztof Szade will carry out a project entitled “What does your blood remember? The memory of haematopoietic stem cells”. Dr Szade is a winner of PRELUDIUM and HARMONIA grants, as well as the MOZART call for Polish-Austrian research projects, which was organised by the NCN in tandem with the Austrian Science Fund – FWF.

LUMIFIELD, a project headed by Dr hab. Szymon Chorąży, will look for next-generation molecular materials, whose optical properties, including photoluminescence and circularly polarised luminescence, can be switched on and off by a number of physical stimuli, such as magnetic fields, electric fields and electromagnetic radiation (light). “The goal of the project is to obtain advanced switches that rely on luminescent response and several external stimuli, which makes them prime candidates for building high-density optical memories. The expected switchability will be induced by introducing several optical, magnetic and electric properties within a single, homogeneous material built from carefully selected molecular components. I will design and obtain chiral metal-based luminophores and then functionalise them by selecting additional building blocks, such as lanthanide ions or polar organic cations”, he explains.

Another Starting Grant was awarded to Dr Piotr Dworczak’s project “Inequality-aware Market Design”, affiliated at the Foundation of Admirers and Mavens of Economics (FAME). The economist is a contractor in the OPUS project.

From NCN to ERC

Faculty of Physics of UW, photo by M. Kaźmierczak “Without the support of NCN grants, I would never be able to carry out research in Poland. I wouldn’t have been able to secure an ERC grant for a Polish research centre”, says Dr hab. Michał Tomza.

Dr Dorota Skowron confesses that her experience as an NCN grant coordinator and research team leader has had a very positive impact on her CV, which is an important element in the proposal review process at the ERC. Dr hab. Kinga Kamieniarz-Gdula also says that the SONATA grant contributed to her success; it helped her win the StG in two ways. “First, the formula of the NCN call was very similar to that of the ERC, which made it much easier to write the proposal. I’d simply done it before. Second, the fact that I was a principal investigator and PhD thesis supervisor under an NCN grant reassured the panel and the reviewers that I was an independent researcher and competent team leader, mature enough to take on the challenge of an ERC grant”, she says. This sentiment is echoed by Dr hab. Szymon Chorąży, who has previously won three NCN grants. “The first of these allowed me to start out on my own research career; the following two helped me develop my methodology, gain experience in conducting independent research, learn team management and achieve valuable results. Without these grants, I wouldn’t have been able to come up with the research topic that I will now investigate under the ERC grant”.

An initial failure can also act as an impulse to try again. This was the case of Dr Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska, whose SONATA proposal was turned down at the second stage. “Long, diligent and inspiring reviews that highlighted the potential of the project idea encouraged me to apply for an ERC grant. I remember how, after reading them, I thought that this was exactly the project I wanted to work on, and I am very grateful to all the anonymous reviewers of that early proposal”, she says.