The National Science Centre, in cooperation with QuantERA II ERA-Net Cofund, hereby announces the QuantERA call 2021 addressed at the Polish researchers for international research projects in quantum technologies covering:

• Quantum Phenomena and Resources
• Applied Quantum Science.

Funding proposals may be submitted by international consortia composed of at least 3 research teams from 3 countries participating in the call. The principal investigator of the Polish research team must hold at least a PhD degree.

Countries participating in the call:

In order to facilitate the formation of research consortia, applicants can use a partner search tool available here as projects looking for partners or partners looking for projects.

In the QuantERA Call 2021, funds may be requested to cover salaries for members of the research team, remuneration and scholarships for students and PhD students, purchase or construction of research equipment and for other costs crucial to a research project.

The NCN has allocated 1,000,000 EUR for research tasks to be performed by the Polish research teams in research projects to be performed by the Polish research teams under the QuantERA Call 2021.

The application procedure comprises two stages:

• First stage
  • International level: a pre-proposal is prepared by the Polish research teams in cooperation with the international partners (in English) and submitted by the Project Leader on behalf of the international consortium.

At this stage, Polish applicants submit no documents to the NCN.

• Second stage
  • International level: a full proposal is prepared by the Polish research teams in cooperation with the international partners (in English) and submitted by the Project Leader on behalf of the international consortium.
  • National level: an NCN proposal concerning the Polish part of the project is prepared by the Polish research team and submitted to the NCN electronically via the ZSUN/OSF electronic submission system within 7 days of the submission deadline for joint full proposals (international level).

Please read the NCN proposal submission procedure.

Call Timeline:

• Submission deadline for pre-proposals: 13 May 2021 (5 p.m. CET)
• Information on proposals shortlisted for the second stage of the call: July 2021  
• Submission deadline for full proposals: 15 September 2021 (5 p.m. CET)
• Call results: December 2021

Read the call announcement and call documents.

The website of the QuantERA network programme: www.quantera.eu

Contact details:

quantera@ncn.gov.pl

Please note that the Czech agency GACR acting as the lead agency under the Weave Programme has extended its joint proposal submission deadline to 22 April 2021, hence NCN proposals under the Weave-UNISONO call must be submitted electronically via the ZSUN/OSF submission system, as soon as possible following submission of the joint proposal to GACR as the lead agency, within 7 calendar days and by 29 April 2021 at the latest.

PLEASE NOTE: Once the work on the NCN proposal has started in the ZSUN/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 ZSUN/OSF submission system.

The National Science Centre, in cooperation with 25 research funding organisations in Europe, announces the CHANSE Call – Transformations: Social and Cultural Dynamics in the Digital Age. The topics covered by the call are described in detail in the call announcement.

Funding proposals may be submitted by international consortia composed of at least 4 research teams from at least 4 countries participating in the call. The principal investigator of the Polish research team must hold at least a PhD degree.

Countries participating in the call: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Spain, Iceland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary and United Kingdom.

The application procedure:

• First stage:

• International level: a full outline proposal is drafted by the Polish research teams in cooperation with the foreign partners (in English) and submitted by the project leader on behalf of the international consortium to the electronic submission system EPSS (https://proposals.etag.ee/chanse/.).

PLEASE NOTE: At this stage, Polish applicants submit no documents to the NCN.

• Second stage:

• International level: a joint full proposal is drafted by the Polish research teams in cooperation with the foreign partners (in English) and submitted by the project leader on behalf of the international consortium to the electronic submission system EPSS (https://proposals.etag.ee/chanse/.).
• National level: an NCN proposal concerning the Polish part of the project is drafted by the Polish research team and submitted to the NCN electronically via the ZSUN/OSF electronic submission system within 7 days of the joint full proposal submission date (international level). Please read the NCN proposal submission procedure.

Call Timeline:

• Submission deadline for joint outline proposals: 7 May 2021, 2 p.m. CET
• Call for joint full proposals: September 2021
• Submission deadline for joint full proposals: 7 December 2021, 2 p.m. CET
• Submission deadline for NCN proposals in ZSUN/OSF: 14 December 2021
• Call results: May/June 2022

Under the CHANSE call, funds can be awarded to cover salaries for members of the research team, salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students, purchase or construction of research equipment and other costs crucial to the research project. The total funding allocated by the NCN for research tasks to be performed by the Polish research teams under the call is 1 000 000 EUR. More information on the eligible costs of the Polish research teams can be found in the NCN Council Resolution.

The EUR budget of the Polish part of the project in the joint proposal must be calculated according to the following exchange rate: 1 EUR = 4.2344 PLN.

The Trans-Atlantic Platform (T-AP) for Social Sciences and Humanities, an unprecedented collaboration between humanities and social science research funders from South America, North America and Europe, is pleased to announce its third joint research call on Recovery, Renewal and Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World. The National Science Centre (hereinafter: “NCN”) will join the new T-AP Call as a Partner agency, funding successful Polish research teams with the amount of EUR 600k.

Aim and scope of the call

The COVID-19 pandemic is a major crisis that touches on all aspects of health, social, economic, political, and cultural life. The T-AP research call on Recovery, Renewal and Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World (RRR) aims to address key gaps in our understanding of the dynamic and complex interaction of medium and long-term societal effects of COVID-19 pandemic. This understanding, in turn, should advance knowledge of how to mitigate the negative societal effects of COVID-19 pandemic and support recovery and renewal in a post-pandemic world. Applicants are required to submit novel interdisciplinary and significant SSH research proposals that address one or more of the following five challenges:

1. reducing inequalities and vulnerabilities;
2. building a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable society;
3. fostering democratic governance and political participation;
4. advancing responsible and inclusive digital innovation; and

ensuring effective and accurate communication and media.

Eligibility

Applicants must apply as a transnational research project partnership. Each project must comprise at least three eligible Principal Investigators from at least three different T-AP participating countries from both sides of the Atlantic. Applicants are encouraged to start discussing possible projects with prospective partners.

The following funding organizations intend to support the RRR call**

• Academy of Finland (Finland)
• Croatian Science Foundation (Croatia)
• Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (Colombia) 
• Federal Ministry of Education and Research/ The German Aerospace Center (Germany)
• Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (Canada)
• French National Research Agency (France)
• International Development Research Centre (Canada)***
• National Research Foundation (South Africa)
• National Science Centre (Poland)
• São Paulo Research Foundation (Brazil)
• Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (Canada)
• Swiss National Science Foundation (Switzerland)
• The German Research Foundation (Germany)
• UK Research and Innovation – Arts and Humanities Research Council (United Kingdom)
• UK Research and Innovation – Economic and Social Research Council (United Kingdom)

** Final decision pending

*** International Development Research Centre Canada is providing funding for researchers from Belize, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Peru.

Tentative Timeline

The RRR call is expected to be launched on 12^th April of March 2021. Please note that this pre-announcement is for information purposes only. It does not create any obligation for the T-AP nor for any of the participating funding organizations. All information provided in this pre-announcement is subject to change. The official call announcement (Call for Proposals and additional information) will be published on the T-AP (https://transatlanticplatform.com/) and NCN (https://ncn.gov.pl/) websites.

If you have any questions, please contact:

• Call Secretariat: Tapcovid19call@esrc.ukri.org

or NCN’s Officers

• dr Michał Futyra, Scientific Coordinator for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (Michal.Futyra@ncn.gov.pl);
• Przemysław Puchała, International Cooperation Officer (Przemyslaw.Puchala@ncn.gov.pl).

We have published the second ranking list under the call for proposals for funding of Research Components in projects funded under the “NAWA Chair Programme (1st edition)” launched by the NAWA. Only one project was found eligible and recommended for funding.

See the Ranking List

The “NAWA Chair Programme (1st edition)” was launched by the NAWA on 1 June 2020. he objective of the NAWA Chair programme is to support outstanding scientific and research as well as teaching activity of Polish scientific entities by inviting world-class foreign scientists to participate in those activities. The first edition of the call was addressed at researchers who carry out research in the areas of humanities as well as social and theological sciences. Proposals could have covered basic Research Components funded by the NCN. 

The NAWA evaluation team has selected five projects containing a Research Component. Before starting the projects, the researchers whose projects contained a Research Component must submit a proposal for NCN funding of such Components under the call. Their proposals will be subject to an NCN eligibility check only. The eligibility check will be carried out on a continuous basis until the last proposal containing a Research Component funded under the “NAWA Chair Programme (1st edition)”, is submitted to the NCN.

List 2 of NCN-funded Research Components in projects funded under the “NAWA Chair Programme (1st edition)” launched by the NAWA.

We would like to invite applicants interested in the CHANSE Call Transformations: Social and Cultural Dynamics in the Digital Age, to participate in the live webinar. During the webinar, we will bring closer all the detailed information about the call including research theme, eligibility requirements, application and evaluation procedure, and Q&A session.

• Date: 15.03.2021 (Monday)
• Start: 10:00 CET
• Registration has been closed. The webinar will be live-streamed at: https://www.facebook.com/EUCHANSE. 

Save the date!

M-ERA.NET 3 will launch the co-funded Call 2021 in mid-March, addressing materials research and innovation for low carbon energy technologies, in addition to supporting materials research for future batteries technology in line with the European Green Deal.

45 national and regional funding organisations will participate with an indicative total call budget of around 57 Million € including EC top-up funding.

Details on topics, participating countries/regions and call procedures will be published soon.

More information can be found at the programme website.

Contact:

• Klaudyna Śpiewak-Wojtyła – klaudyna.spiewak@ncn.gov.pl
• Anna Kotarba – anna.kotarba@ncn.gov.pl

We are pleased to announce that five projects involving Polish researchers have been awarded funding in the M-ERA.NET2 call for proposals. Within the call applicants have submitted 236 proposals. Over EUR 32,3 million have been granted to 42 research projects.

Complete list of the M-ERA.NET 2 Call 2020 projects recommended for funding

Polish projects awarded within the call:

MOGLiS: MOF@rGO-based cathodes for Li-S Batteries. Polish Principal Investigator: prof. dr hab. inż. Marek Łukasz Marcinek (Project Leader), Warsaw University of Technology. The project will involve research teams from Norway.

TAGGED: Research, development and characterization of a tunable Graphene light emitting hybrid MOEMS Device. Polish Principal Investigator: dr hab. inż. Anna Kozłowska, The Łukasiewicz Research Network - Institute of Microelectronics and Photonics. The project will involve research teams from Czech Republic and Germany.

LaSensA: 2D regular nanostructures for lasing and sensing applications. Polish Principal Investigator: prof. dr hab. Stefan Jurga, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The project will involve research teams from Germany, Japan, Lithuania.

NanoBainControl: Accelerated nano-bainitic transformation in low-alloy steels processed by incremental forging. Polish Principal Investigator: dr hab. inż. Magdalena Barbara Jabłońska, The Silesian University of Technology. The project will involve research teams from Germany and Poland (AGH University of Science and Technology).

DePriSS: Development of “3D print-thermal spray” systems for applications with dynamic and impact loading. Polish Principal Investigator: dr hab. inż. Adam Jan Niesłony, Opole University of Technology. The project will involve research teams from Czech Republic and Germany.

Congratulations to all the laureates!

A new website, newsletter and a publication summarising the results of previous calls. The POLONEZ BIS programme, which gives foreign researchers arriving in Poland the promise of an attractive salary as well as an opportunity to conduct their own research project and advance their career, is on its way.

Co-funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant, the POLONEZ BIS programme is addressed to applicants from abroad. In three successive calls, the first scheduled in half a year’s time, the National Science Centre will select 120 outstanding researchers, who will then move to Poland for 24 months to carry out their basic research. The programme is open to applicants who hold a PhD degree or have 4 years of research experience, and who have lived and worked outside Poland for at least 2 years within the last 3 years prior to the call launch. For detailed information about the programme, as well as regular updates, please visit its new website.

What projects will be eligible for funding? What benefits can host institutions expect? We encourage you to read „The POLONEZ experience – why it matters”, which showcases 24 out of 109 research projects funded under previous POLONEZ calls. In their own articles, Fellows present their research and their personal experience of living and working in Poland. The publication also features interviews with research partners, as well as statistics that describe various aspects of the projects.

POLONEZ BIS once again offers very attractive financial terms. Besides a gross monthly salary of 4,465 euro, researchers will receive up to 100,000 euro to cover the direct costs of their research projects. The choice of subject and discipline is up to the applicants, who will submit their proposals in tandem with their host institutions in Poland, i.e. their future employers. Fellowships can be hosted by research centres, universities, research libraries, museums, non-governmental organisations, hospitals and businesses, as well as any other institution registered in Poland. Importantly, the profile of the host institution should reflect the nature of the research project.

The research component will be supplemented by secondments at non-academic institutions and an attractive training programme, supported by partner organisations: the Careers Research and Advisory Centre will conduct workshops, the Startup HUB Poland Foundation will help to establish contacts with the world of business, the Women Scientists – Polish Women Scientists Network will promote project results, and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computer Modelling at the University of Warsaw will offer advice on the practical implementation of the policy of open access to research publications and data.

The first POLONEZ BIS call will be launched on 15 September 2021; the second and the third calls will follow in March and September 2022. To keep updated, visit the official website of the programme, subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us in social media.

We have the pleasure of presenting the ranking list for the call for research components in projects funded under the “Polish Returns 2020 Programme – COVID 19 edition”, launched by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA). In this edition of the call, the NAWA review team selected only one project with the research component. The proposal submitted to the NCN was underwent only an eligibility check.

The research component to be funded is part of a project entitled “Functional properties of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, the main target of COVID-19 therapy”, carried out by Dr Tomasz Turowski from the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The research results will provide new and valuable information on COVID-19 and its possible treatment.

The objective of the “Polish Returns” programme is to enable outstanding Polish researchers working abroad to return to Poland and take up employment at Polish research centres. Last year, in response to the global pandemic, the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange announced a special edition of the programme in order to expand our knowledge of and solve major problems related to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its consequences. Within the framework of the cooperation between the NAWA and the NCN, the costs of basic research within the research component, in the form of a starting grant, are covered by the National Science Centre.