Two NCN call winners get prestigious grants from the European Research Council.

The European Research Council awards the Consolidator Grants to researchers with 7-12 years of experience since their PhD defence. In 2021, two ERC grants went to researchers working at Polish research centres.

Thanks to ERC funding, Prof. UW Dr hab. Marta Bucholc from the Faculty of Sociology of the University of Warsaw, winner of several NCN grants under SONATA, OPUS and SONATA BIS, will be able to study the impact of international law on abortion law debates in selected countries. Her project is entitled  “Using Human Rights to Change Abortion Law: Involvement Patterns and Argumentative Architectures in the Global Figuration of Human Rights”.

Dr hab. Jarosław Wilczyński from the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Science will examine sites with large accumulations of mammoth fossils in Central Europe. The ERC will fund his project entitled “Exploring Mammoth Bone Accumulations in Central Europe”. The scientist has previously won three NCN grants: SONATA, SONATA BIS and OPUS.

Overall, in this round, the ERC awarded a total of 630 million euro to 313 projects, which will be carried out in 24 different countries. Additional information can be found on the official website of the agency.

NCN grant winners may hire Ukrainian researchers for their projects.

Several days after the Russian aggression against Ukraine, on the initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science, the National Science Centre drew up the outlines of a special programme targeted at Ukrainian researchers and other scientists, no matter their citizenship, who have sought or will seek refuge in Poland. We will be able to launch the programme and enable them to continue their research at Polish institutions as soon as we get an official commission from the Ministry of Education and Science. While we wait for the funding, however, we decided to open up an additional channel of support for researchers who are fleeing the war. The principal investigators of NCN-funded projects may use their budgets to employ Ukrainian researchers in their teams. Funds for that purpose may come from any item included in the cost estimate attached to the grant agreement signed with the NCN.

“Ever since the first days of these dramatic developments, it was clear to us that the Polish research community would not leave their Ukrainian colleagues alone”, says professor Zbigniew Błocki, NCN Director.

Teams may employ researchers who hold at least a PhD degree (known as the Candidate of Sciences under the Ukrainian system) and who worked at Ukrainian universities and other research centres before the war. Their activities and research interests must match the subject of the project.

Research centres will be obliged to assign each researcher a supervisor from the same or another related discipline and make an effort to help them integrate with the research community.

“I have no doubt that this initiative will stand as a testament to the solidarity of the Polish research community with the Ukrainian nation in this dramatic time, also allowing all NCN-funded research teams to draw on the expertise, energy and potential of our friends, who have arrived in Poland in recent weeks”, the director added.

The option of hiring Ukrainian researchers is available to winners of the MAESTRO, OPUS, SONATA BIS, SONATA, HARMONIA and SYMFONIA calls, as well as international programmes, such as OPUS LAP, SHENG, BEETHOVEN, DAINA, MOZART, ALPHORN DIOSCURI and UNISONO. The decision to hire such researchers should not interfere with the completion of scheduled project tasks.

The maximum budget for Ukrainian team members under a single grant must not exceed PLN 100,000. Within this limit, grantees may hire one person for a year or more people over a shorter term or with a lower salary.

Detailed information on how to hire Ukrainian researchers will be sent directly to specific research centres. The NCN will not require any annexes to grant agreements.

POLONEZ BIS, OPUS and PRELUDIUM are three calls that start on 15 March. They will give foreign researchers a chance to carry out their projects in Poland, but will also be open to researchers of all levels from Polish research centres.

POLONEZ BIS – for foreign researchers

POLONEZ BIS, coordinated by the Polish National Science Centre under Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND, is a postdoctoral Fellowship Programme intended for excellent, experienced researchers interested in developing their professional skills within the best research institutions in Poland.

The POLONEZ BIS programme is open to candidates of any research background, discipline or nationality. The programme plans to recruit 120 scientists with a PhD degree or equivalent research experience, and who have lived or worked outside Poland for at least 2 years within the last three years prior to the call announcement. Selected fellows will be offered 2-year full-time employment contracts to work on projects combining basic research with a cross-sectoral secondment phase.

Applicants are independent in choosing the research topic and discipline as well as the host institution in an academic or non-academic sector. The programme guarantees successful fellows attractive employment conditions – a monthly allowance of € 4,465 gross and an additional research grant up to € 100,000 for the implementation of a 2-year project.

Researchers who have had to escape their home country to save their lives or continue their research career are especially encouraged to apply.

The total budget of POLONEZ BIS 2 is PLN 55,000,000.

Full text of the call announcement

OPUS – for young and experienced researchers

OPUS 23 is targeted at researchers at any level and applicants are not required to hold a PhD degree.

To qualify as a principal investigator under an OPUS project, however, applicants need to demonstrate at least one published research paper (or one that has already been accepted for publication) or one achievement in art or art and research if they are working in an artistic or creative field. The project may employ senior researchers, PhD candidates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

OPUS projects may be carried out with or without the cooperation of foreign partners.

The grant may go toward purchasing or generating research equipment, devices and software or carrying out research with the use of large international equipment. Projects may take 12, 24, 36, or 48 months. There is no upper budget limit for any single project and the total budget of OPUS 23 is set at PLN 400,000,000.

Detailed terms and conditions (to be published in English soon)

PRELUDIUM – for beginning researchers

PRELUDIUM 21 is targeted at researchers who do not hold a PhD degree. Its objective is to support individuals at the outset of an academic career, enabling them to purchase or create specialised equipment, devices and software worth up to 30% of the total budget of the project.

The research team under a PRELUDIUM project may be made up of max. three researchers, including the principal investigator and the research advisor.

Projects may take 12, 24, or 36 months and are eligible to receive grants of, respectively, PLN 70,000, PLN 140,000 or PLN 210,000; the total budget of PRELUDIUM 21 is set at PLN 30,000,000.

Detailed terms and conditions (to be published in English soon)

Application forms will be published in the OSF system at a later date. Proposals may be submitted until 4 pm on 15 June (CEST).

The European Research Council published its list of winners on 10 January. Eight of the Starting Grants went to researchers employed at Polish centres. We have already written about these scientists in Good StG ERC round.

In February, another grant was awarded to a researcher from the waiting list, Professor Piotr Grabacz from the University of Warsaw. The winner is a chemist and studies how the atomic nuclei of chiral molecules interact with magnetic and electric fields. In the past, he has also won two NCN grants   – SONATA and OPUS. The ERC decided to fund his project entitled “Chirality-sensitive Nuclear Magnetoelectric Resonance” (NMER).

In March, yet another prestigious grant went to Dr hab. Michał Bogdziewicz from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, who studies forest ecology and the biology of mast years. Bogdziewicz has authored several dozen publications devoted to the complex phenomena associated with mast years. Several days ago, he received one of the most important awards in plant science, the Tansley Medal 2021, which is awarded to outstanding young researchers who are still at the outset of their research career. The European Research Council will fund his project entitled “Climate change impacts on trees reproduction”.

Bogdziewicz has carried out (or is currently carrying out) six NCN-funded projects, including a grant awarded under an UWERTURA call, within the framework of which the ERC proposal was prepared. As he says, the NCN has played a “key role” in his research development. “NCN grants have enabled me to build up a research record you need to have to apply for an ERC grant. NCN-funded projects have also allowed me to try out and improve many experiments and other research tools. The NAWA also played an important role. The analytical part of my ERC grant crucially enlists the skills I have gained and developed under the Bekker programme”, he adds.

Researchers are welcome to participate in SHENG 3, the third funding opportunity for joint Polish-Chinese research teams launched by the National Science Centre (the NCN) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (the NSFC).

SHENG 3 aims to support research projects in selected research fields:

Call announcement: 15 December 2022

Call deadline: 15 March 2023

Call results: November 2023

Joint research project start date: January 2024

The terms of the call will be adopted by the NCN Council and published on the NCN website in the second half of 2022.

OUTLINE OF SHENG 3 CALL:

Eligibility:

• Eligible Host Institutions in Poland: NCN proposals may be submitted by the entities specified in Article 27 (1) of the NCN Act; the Polish Principal Investigator (PI) must have at least a PhD degree when submitting a proposal;
• Eligibility Rules in China:  please refer to the NSFC rules: https://www.nsfc.gov.cn/publish/portal0/tab1100/
• State aid will be available to the Polish applicants;
• Only basic research projects will be funded;
• Research project duration: 36 months;
• According to the national eligibility requirements, all costs must be eligible;
• The budget of the Polish part of the project must be at least 250 000 PLN; there will be no maximum limit for the Polish part of the project;
• The budget of the Chinese part of the project must not exceed 1 500 000 RMB.

Application process:

The joint proposals must be submitted online to the proposal submission systems of the two agencies, together with all necessary documents conforming to the formal requirements of the respective funding organisations set out in the call documents. Joint proposals must be identical.

Submission deadline: 15 March 2023

Proposal review and evaluation procedure

Proposals will be subject to an eligibility check and merit-based evaluation. The eligibility check of proposals will be carried out by the NCN and NSFC. The merit-based evaluation will be open only to proposals approved as eligible by both agencies.

Eligible proposals will be reviewed separately by the two organisations.

At the NCN, eligible proposals will be evaluated by the expert panels as well as 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, each eligible proposal will be evaluated by the expert panels and at least 5 external reviewers.

Funding will be granted to proposals recommended for funding by both the NCN and the NSFC.

Contact details

POLAND, the NCN:

General affairs:

• Magdalena Dobrzańska-Bzowska,
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  (office hours: 9:00-13:00)

Coordinators:

• Coordinator for Physical Sciences and Engineering

  Dr Anna Koteja

• Coordinator for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

  Dr Katarzyna Jarecka-Stępień

CHINA, the NSFC:

Jin Xu, 

In response to Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine, the National Science Centre pledges its solidarity to Ukraine and its people. We would like to address our support to our grant winners, experts participating in the evaluation procedure and research partners. 

We hope to see Ukraine safe again and our colleagues to continue their work for the benefit of research and our societies.  

At least 29 national and regional funding organisations from 22 countries have preliminarily committed to participate with an indicative total call budget of at least 25 Million €.

The Call 2022 will provide additional support to the thematic priorities of previous M-ERA.NET calls, addressing materials research and innovation including materials for energy generating and storing elements in line with the European Green Deal and supporting the Sustainable Development Goals.

M-ERA.NET will develop responsible research and innovation processes to systematically address socio-ecological, ethical and political dimensions of material research, development and use.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

Please note that under the Weave-UNISONO call, if a joint proposal is submitted to ARRS as the lead agency by 28 February 2022, an NCN proposal must be submitted electronically via the ZSUN/OSF submission system as soon as possible following the submission of the joint proposal to the ARRS, by 7 March 2022 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.

Five projects involving Polish research teams were awarded grants in an international Call on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social life organised by the Trans-Atlantic Platform for Social Sciences and Humanities (T-AP)

The Trans-Atlantic Platform for Social Sciences and Humanities operates as a self-funded cooperation network for humanities and social science research funders from Europe and the Americas.

Announced in July 2021, the call entitled Recovery, Renewal and Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World (RRR Call 2021) is co-funded by 16 agencies from 12 countries from both sides of the Atlantic. Research proposals submitted in this Call addressed the following 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;
5. ensuring effective and accurate communication and media.

The Call attracted huge interest from the research community. 19 out of a total of 315 international projects submitted under the call were awarded funding. These included 5 Polish projects, which received more than 2.85 million zlotys from the NCN.

The successful projects:

1. PANCOPOP: Pandemic Communication in Times of Populism: Building Resilient Media and Ensuring Effective Pandemic Communication in Divided Societies

Polish team led by Dr. hab. Beata Klimkiewicz from the Jagiellonian University, in cooperation with partners from Brazil, the UK and the USA, will carry out a research project on political communication and public health. The researchers will conduct the first comprehensive, comparative study of health crisis communication in the context of populist politics.

2. ENDURE: Inequalities, Community Resilience and New Governance Modalities in a Post-Pandemic World

Historically, crises – both natural and man-made – have exacerbated problems, but have also been one of the main drivers of mobilisation and societal transformation. Together with his Polish team, Dr. Mateusz Karolak from the University of Wrocław will examine the phenomena of social resilience and resistance in a post-pandemic world. The research will be carried out in cooperation with partners from Brazil, Croatia, Finland, Canada, Colombia, Germany, the UK and the USA.

3. ERAC-DP: Exploring the Role of Adaptive Capacity on Democratic Performance. Governmental and Non-profit Organizations in the Pandemic

The research of the Polish team led by Dr. Piotr Modzelewski from the University of Warsaw, will focus on two areas: reducing inequalities and vulnerabilities and fostering democratic governance and political participation. The research project will involve partners from Canada, the UK and the USA.

4. CRRSE: The Changing Role of Religion in Societies Emerging from Covid-19

Polish researchers led by of Dr. hab. Sławomir Mandes from the University of Warsaw will examine how various religions contribute to building more resilient, inclusive and sustainable societies, and study the changing role of majority and minority religions in the “global north”, i.e. Canada, Germany, Ireland/Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) and Poland, in the context of a growing interest in spirituality observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project will be carried out in cooperation with partners from Canada, Germany and the UK.

5. GENMIGRA: Gender, Mobilities and Migration during and post COVID-19 Pandemic – Vulnerability, Resilience and Renewal

Polish team led by Prof. Krystyna Slany from the Jagiellonian University, in cooperation with partners from Brazil, Germany and the UK, aims to broaden our knowledge on the phenomenon of marginalisation experienced by female migrants and their coping strategies. Researchers will explore how migrant women have faced those challenges and produced movements of resistance and renewal. The project is transnational, comparative and cross-sectional.

With a month to go until the POLONEZ BIS call 2 launches, you can read the updated “Guide for applicants” and register in the programme’s Partner Search Tool. 

How to prepare and submit a proposal for the POLONEZ BIS 2 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Poland? The updated “POLONEZ BIS 2 Guide for applicants” will help you through the application and evaluation processes and explain the terms and conditions of the programme. 

Thanks to the feedback provided by the applicants from the first POLONEZ BIS call the Guide was updated with new elements, such as: examples in eligibility and budget sections, proposal checklist and links to particular sections of the Resolution on the programme’s terms and regulations.

Scientists and institutions interested in the programme and searching for relevant research partners are welcome to use a dedicated POLONEZ BIS Partner Search Tool. Whether you are a POLONEZ BIS candidate, a prospective host institution or an organisation offering a short-term secondment, just create a profile and answer a few questions. Then, with one click, you can publish your expression of interest in the open part of the database.

The POLONEZ BIS call 2 opens on 15 March 2022 and closes on 15 June 2022.

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