We have just published the most recent results of the OPUS 20 + LAP call, under which researchers at all levels of seniority vied for funding for research projects carried out within the framework of international cooperation in accordance with the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP), with the National Science Centre in the role of the lead agency. Based on expert reviews, as well as the endorsement of the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) and, for trilateral projects, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the NCN awarded grants to 10 projects, including three trilateral proposals. Researchers will receive a total of nearly 13 million PLN in funding.

In the OPUS 20 + LAP call concluded in May, NCN experts selected 342 projects with a total budget of more than 449 million PLN, including 79 OPUS LAP proposals approved by partner institutions. Approval has already been granted by agencies representing Austria (Austrian Science Fund – FWF), the Czech Republic (Czech Science Foundation – GACR), and Switzerland (Swiss National Science Foundation – SNSF). This group is now joined by the Slovenian ARRS, which has endorsed all the proposals recommended by the NCN.

Ranking lists

Out of the ten grants, six were awarded to proposals in Physical Sciences and Engineering, three in Art, Humanities and Social Sciences, and one in Life Sciences.

One of the projects that will be carried out in bilateral cooperation with a Slovenian team under the OPUS 20 + LAP call is devoted to the “Political potential of conspiracy theories. A study of Poland and Slovenia”. Headed by Dr hab. Agnieszka Turska-Kawa from the University of Silesia, the project will examine three conspiracy theory movements, the activity of which has intensified during the pandemic: (1) the anti-Covid movement, (2) the anti-5G movement, and (3) the anti-vaccine movement. The purpose is to investigate how these initiatives are exploited in Polish and Slovenian politics and identify the factors that determine whether or not they are politically attractive. The call will also fund another project, entitled “Olfactometry in cultural heritage studies: capturing, reconstructing and conserving historic smells”, in which the Polish team will be coordinated by Dr hab. Tomasz Sawoszczuk from the Kraków University of Economics. The grant will allow Polish and Slovenian researchers to analyse the odours of sites of special importance for national cultural heritage, and use the findings to reconstruct them and create an International Archive of Historical Smells.

Decisions and their delivery

Decisions for successful and rejected proposals, submitted under the OPUS call in bilateral cooperation with Slovenian teams and trilateral cooperation with Slovenian and Austrian teams, will be dispatched on 23 July 2021. The decisions of the NCN Director are delivered to the applicant in the form of an electronic document sent to the e-mail address indicated in the proposal.

If the applicant is an entity referred to in Article 27 (1)-(7) and (9) of the Act on the NCN, the decision will only be delivered to the Electronic Inbox (ESP ePUAP) address provided in the proposal. If an applicant who is a natural person lists an ePUAP inbox in the proposal, the decision will be delivered to that address; otherwise, an e-mail will be sent to the address indicated in the proposal with an address from which the decision can be downloaded.

The decision of the NCN Director is also communicated to the principal investigator, and, where the applicant is a natural person, to the host institution in the proposal.

If you have not received a decision, please verify that the electronic address (ESP, ePUAP, e-mail) you provided in the proposal is correct. If not, please get in touch with the NCN Programme Officer assigned to the proposal in the ZSUN/OSF system.

We have just published yet another ranking list in the international CEUS-UNISONO call for bilateral or trilateral research projects for research teams from the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia and Poland. This time, Dr Tomasz Skirecki is the winning candidate recommended for funding as a result of merit-based evaluation of the Austrian agency FWF (Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung). Dr Skirecki has been awarded 1,126,650 PLN for his project “Treatment of long-term effects of sepsis with mesenchymal stromal cells from adipose tissue in mouse models”.

“The mortality rate for septic shock is up to 50% but even if survived, as many as 60% of patients do not recover, in particular elderly patients who often suffer from muscle weakness as well as cognitive, anxiety and emotional disorders. As a consequence, their quality of life is reduced and sometimes they even need to resort to a nursing home” says Dr Skirecki. Therefore, his research may help to develop effective therapies to reduce mortality from sepsis and improve quality of life after sepsis. The research results will further our understanding of the pathophysiology of late effects of sepsis and help to develop clinical trials using cell therapies.

Under the CEUS-UNISONO call for proposals, the Polish research team may be awarded funding for remuneration of the research team, scholarships for students and PhD students, purchase or construction of research equipment and other project-related expenses.

The call is carried out as under the multilateral CEUS programme pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP) in collaboration between the NCN and the research funding agencies from Austria (FWF - Austrian Science Fund), the Czesch Republic (GAČR - Czech Science Foundation) and Slovenia (ARRS- Slovenian Research Agency).

We already know the first results of the OPUS 20 + LAP call under which researchers at all stages of their academic careers applied for funding of their research projects carried out as international cooperation pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP) with the NCN acting as the Lead Agency. Following the decision of the NCN experts and approval of the foreign partner institutions, 20 research projects with the participation of research teams from the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland were recommended for funding. The projects totalled over 26 mln PLN.

Under the twentieth edition of the OPUS 20 + LAP call concluded on 20 May 2021, the NCN received 2122 proposal for a total amount of over 2.3 billion PLN. Researchers were invited to apply for funding of their research projects carried out without the participation of foreign partners, in bilateral and/or multilateral cooperation (including within the framework of LAP cooperation) as well as with the use of large international research equipment. Following the review, the NCN experts decided to recommend 342 projects for funding with a value of over 449 mln PLN, including 79 OPUS LAP proposals that required approval from the partners institutions.

OPUS 20 + LAP ranking lists

Lead Agency Procedure (LAP)

The Lead Agency Procedure is a new proposal review standard adopted by European research-funding agencies, designed to make it easier for international research teams to seek funding for joint research projects, as well as to streamline the process of proposal review by research-funding institutions. Research projects performed by research groups from various countries are reviewed by one institution only, known as the lead agency relevant to one of the participating research teams under a project from its regular call portfolio. The other partner institutions cooperating pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure approve the results of merit-based evaluation performed by the lead agency and award funding to research projects approved by the latter.

The LAP procedure introduced under the OPUS 20 call has enabled researchers to apply for funding of their projects carried out as bilateral or trilateral cooperation with research teams from the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia and bilateral cooperation with research teams from Germany and Switzerland. Foreign research teams applied for parallel funding of their projects to their respective research funding institutions under programmes launched in cooperation with the NCN pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure.

Research projects with the participation of research teams from Slovenia and Germany

The funding decision for OPUS LAP proposals involving bilateral cooperation with research teams from Slovenia and trilateral cooperation with research teams from Slovenia and Austria will be taken at a later date (forecasted at the end of August 2021). The funding decision for OPUS LAP proposals involving cooperation with research teams from Germany will be taken by the end of October 2021.

OPUS 20 + LAP ranking lists will be provided step by step.  

Service of the decisions

The funding decisions for proposals recommended or not recommended for funding in the OPUS 20 call involving bilateral cooperation with research teams from the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Austria will be sent on 12 July 2021. Decisions of the NCN Director will be served to the applicant electronically to the electronic address specified in the proposal.

If the applicant is an entity described in Article 27 (1) – (7) and (9) of the NCN Act, the funding decision of the NCN Director will only be served to their Electronic Correspondence Register address (ESP ePUAP) address specified in the proposal. If a natural-person applicant indicates an ePUAP address in the proposal, the decision will be sent to that address. If a natural-person applicant fails to indicate the ePUAP address, the service of decisions will be carried out by means of sending – to their email address – information containing an electronic address from which the NCN Director’s decision may be downloaded.

The funding decisions of the NCN Director are additionally communicated to the principal investigator and, if the applicant is a natural person, also to the entity named in the proposal as the host institution.

If no decision is served, you should check their electronic address specified in the proposal (ESP, ePUAP, e-mail address). If an incorrect address is provided, you should contact the proposal administrator named in the ZSUN/OSF submission system.

The European Biodiversity Partnership under Horizon Europe, (officially starting in October 2021 as the successor of Biodiversa) is pleased to announce that it will soon launch its first transnational joint research call on the following topic: Supporting the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems across land and sea.

This call will cover the following three non-exclusive themes:

• Knowledge for identifying priority conservation areas, establishing effective and resilient ecological networks, enhancing species-based protection, and preserving genetic diversity,
• Multiple benefits and costs of biodiversity and ecosystem protection: synergies and trade-offs,
• Effective management and equitable governance to deliver bold conservation outcome.

The call is planned to be officially launched early October 2021. A two-step application procedure will be used with a closing date for pre-proposals at the end of November 2021.

For details please see the programme website, where a Partner Search Tool is available.

SAVE THE DATE: an information webinar for potential applicants will be organized on 12 October from 11:00 to 12:30 CEST. Registration will open in September.

We have just published the guidelines for applicants to the POLONEZ BIS programme. Researchers and institutions interested in the call can also use a special search engine, the POLONEZ BIS Partner Search Tool, to establish direct contacts. Fellows funded in the previous POLONEZ programme encourage everyone to apply.

POLONEZ BIS is much more than just a grant; it is an all-around programme that combines research, secondments at non-academic institutions and soft-skills training courses. In three successive rounds, the NCN will recruit 120 experienced researchers, who will then move to Poland for 24 months to carry out their basic research projects at various public and private institutions. The programme will be supplemented by a series of attractive training courses and cooperation with start-ups and NGOs. Successful applicants can expect to receive attractive financial terms, including an annual salary of 53,500 Euro and a research grant of up to 100,000 Euro.

“If you have an excellent research idea, we encourage you to take part in the call and carry out your research in Poland. It is an opportunity for professional advancement and financial independence, as well as a great chance to create your own team”, says Jolanta Palowska from the NCN’s International Department Cooperation.

POLONEZ BIS is open to applicants who hold a PhD degree or have at least 4 years of full-time 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. The choice of subject matter and discipline is up to the applicants, who must submit their proposals jointly with their host institutions in Poland, i.e. their future employers.

POLONEZ BIS - Postdoctoral Fellowships in Poland (movie)

POLONEZ BIS is co-funded by the European Commission and the National Science Centre under the COFUND Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND grant. The first call for proposals is scheduled to start on 15 September and last until 15 December. Two more will follow in March and September 2022.

The guidelines for applicants, with a detailed programme description, as well as important information on the proposal submission procedure and the required documents are available online. 

POLONEZ BIS Partner Search Tool

Researchers and institutions in search of relevant partners can also fall back on NCN’s POLONEZ BIS Partner Search Tool. Whether you are a researcher planning to come to Poland, a potential host institution, or an institution that offers short secondments, you can create your own user profile. Registered users are asked to fill out a short questionnaire, which is then published in the open-access part of the database.

“Registration in the POLONEZ BIS Partner Search Tool is not a requirement, but we highly recommend it”, emphasises Jolanta Palowska from the NCN, “The more offers in the database, the easier it will be for applicants and institutions to get in touch and start to work together”.

POLONEZ BIS Partner Search Tool

More information about the POLONEZ BIS program

They stayed in Poland

Polonez BIS picks up the recently concluded POLONEZ programme. Three calls, announced in 2015 and 2016, allowed 109 eminent researchers from 28 countries around the globe to be recruited, who were then hired by Polish research institutions for a year or two, created new research teams and won new grants; some stayed in Poland and encourage other researchers to take part in the call.

Before he arrived in Poland, Panagiotis Theodorakis, PhD, had worked at Imperial College in London, the University of Vienna and the Vienna University of Technology, and completed post-doctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute and the University of Mainz. At one point, together with his wife, also a researcher, he decided to do his research in Poland. The POLONEZ grant, he says, was a very important factor; even though he would have stayed in Poland anyway, he wouldn’t be able to continue his research without it. Today, he recommends similar programmes to his colleagues from other centres. “Programmes like POLONEZ help to create a really open research community”, he explains. Theodorakis carried out his grant at the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, where he works to this day. “The institute is a place that attracts many PhD students from other countries; we have a very creative community here”. At present, Theodorakis is also involved in projects under NCN’s SONATA BIS and OPUS calls, researching how to control fluids with surfactants and steer fluid motion with gradient substrates.

Monika Kornacka, PhD, is the Deputy Head of the Department of Psychology at the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, where she runs an “Emotion Cognition Lab”, which uses mobile applications, VR and AR tools and video-oculography to measure psychological processes and tests them to see how these technologies can be employed in psychological interventions. Previously, she spent more than ten years in France, where she studied at the University of Poitiers and earned her PhD at the University of Lille. During her PhD programme, she also completed a six-month fellowship at the SWPS University. Even though she thought about going back to Poland after her PhD, she wasn’t absolutely sure she would. “In France, I mostly did lab research and clinical psychopathology there placed a growing emphasis on methods that we could call multiple daily sampling, that is, measuring patients’ symptoms on a daily basis with a dedicated app. The lab I joined in Poland was already doing such measurements”, the researcher says. The POLONEZ grant allowed her to assess the equipment available at Polish research centres, find out how to obtain approvals from ethics committees and recruit subjects for her research. After the grant ended, she was given an opportunity to set up her own lab and take on the role of Deputy Head at the SWPS’ Faculty of Psychology. “It’s a university that offers fantastic research opportunities, the right infrastructure and many good researchers to collaborate with”. A good research project and a carefully chosen host lab, according to Kornacka, are the most important elements of any POLONEZ proposal. “Those who picked the right host institution went on to reap real benefits”, she adds. Today, Monika Kornacka is a principal investigator under NCN’s SONATA grant; her project looks into the way in which our thoughts drift away from the task at hand (having our “head in the clouds” and ruminations, i.e. recurrent negative thoughts).

We would like to invite applicants interested in the Trans-Atlantic Platform (T-AP) for Social Sciences and Humanities Call Recovery, Renewal and Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World (RRR Call 2021), to participate in the live webinar on Thursday, 1^st of July 2021, at 16:00 (CEST). The webinar will provide detailed clarifications on the technical aspects of submitting a Full Proposal in the SAGe electronic system.

Click here for registration. The webinar will be available on YouTube after the live broadcast.

Webinar Agenda and detailed information can be found on the FAPESP - São Paulo Research Foundation website, via the following link.

On 15 September 2021, we are going to launch the OPUS 22 call for research projects, including research projects carried out within the framework of LAP cooperation under the Weave initiative. Here, you can find the most important information about this edition of the call.

OPUS 22 call opportunities

OPUS 22 is addressed at researchers at all stages of their research careers, who are planning to carry out their research projects:

• without the participation of foreign partners;
• implemented by Polish research teams with the use of large international research equipment;
• with the participation of foreign partners that are not applying for funding for that purpose within the framework of programmes launched by partner institutions and organised in cooperation with the NCN pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP) under the Weave initiative (however, the foreign teams may apply for funding under other research-funding programmes that are not co-organised by the NCN pursuant to the LAP);
• within the framework of LAP cooperation under the Weave initiative, i.e. in cooperation with foreign research teams that are applying for parallel funding of their research projects to their respective research-funding institutions under the Weave initiative;
• within the framework of LAP cooperation under the Weave initiative with additional participation of foreign partners that are not applying for funding for that purpose under the Weave initiative or with additional use of large research equipment.

Weave initiative

The Weave initiative launched at the beginning of 2021 enables multilateral cooperation between research-funding institutions associated in Science Europe.

The purpose of Weave is to simplify research project submission and selection procedures in all academic disciplines with the participation of researchers from two or three European countries. It is performed pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP) which means that research projects performed by research groups from two or three European countries are reviewed by one institution only, known as the lead agency, relevant to one of the participating research teams under a scheme from its regular call portfolio. The other partner institutions co-launching the call approve the results of merit-based evaluation performed by the lead agency and award funding to research projects recommended for funding in the course of such evaluation.

Thanks to its simplified submission and selection procedures, Weave enables researchers to collaborate across borders within the limits and in the form they regard as the most relevant for their respective research programmes.

Research teams from Poland intending to cooperate under Weave with one or two research teams from Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland and/or Germany may choose to submit their domestic proposals either: 

• under the current Weave-UNISONO call for domestic proposals (submitted to the NCN), in the case of which joint proposals must be submitted and evaluated by one of the foreign partner institutions acting as the lead agency (i.e. FWF, GAČR, ARRS, SNSF and/or, from 15 September 2021, DFG)

​or

• under the OPUS call announced on a regular basis in September for domestic proposals for funding of research projects carried out under the LAP cooperation and evaluated by the NCN as the lead agency.

For more information, visit our webpage.

Weave has replaced our bilateral international programmes, such as BEETHOVEN (carried out in cooperation with German research teams), MOZART (carried out in cooperation with Austrian research teams) and ALPHORN (carried out in cooperation with Swiss research teams), as well as multilateral CEUS call.

LAP cooperation under the OPUS 22 call under the Weave initiative

As of 2021, the National Science Centre has continued to cooperate under Weave with the following partner institutions:

• Austrian Science Fund (FWF) from Austria,
• Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) from the Czech Republic,
• Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) from Slovenia,
• Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) from Switzerland, and
• German Research Foundation (DFG) from Germany.

The NCN as the lead agency under OPUS 22 will perform the merit-based evaluation of OPUS LAP proposals for bilateral or trilateral research projects carried out by research teams from Poland, as well as the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Germany or Switzerland under the Weave initiative.

If a research project is recommended for funding, the NCN will provide funds for the Polish research teams, while the other partner institutions (FWF, GAČR, ARRS, DFG or SNSF) will fund the foreign research teams.

International cooperation is not obligatory under OPUS 22 and proposals submitted together with foreign partners will not be given preferential treatment over those that do not involve such partnerships.

The following OPUS LAP proposals are eligible under OPUS 22:

• drafted by the Polish research teams in cooperation with foreign teams under Weave, in compliance with the requirements outlined in the OPUS 22 call announcement, which will be published on the NCN website on 15 September 2021;
• in any academic discipline covered by the NCN review panels
• involving basic research that has not been funded by the NCN or from other sources;
• based on an equal and complementary contribution by all research teams applying for parallel funding of their research projects to their respective research-funding institutions under Weave. This is to say that the contribution of each research team involved in the project must be significant and necessary and their respective tasks should complement one another to create a coherent joint research project. Any OPUS LAP proposal deemed by the Expert Team not to meet this requirement will not be eligible for funding.

An OPUS LAP proposal must be submitted to the NCN by the Polish research team via the ZSUN/OSF submission system available at: https://osf.opi.org.pl, by 15 December 2021, 4 p.m.

In addition, each foreign research team involved in the project must submit a funding proposal to the relevant research-funding institution under Weave, including a set of required documents, before the deadline and in accordance with the terms and conditions; the proposals are submitted by:

• Austrian research teams – to the FWF;
• Czech research teams – to the GAČR;
• Slovenian research teams – to the ARRS;
• German research teams – to the DFG;
• Swiss research teams – to the SNSF.

If the partner institution under Weave requires applicants to submit a copy of the OPUS LAP proposal, a complete English language version of the OPUS LAP proposal in PDF format must be generated in the ZSUN/OSF submission system and sent to the foreign research team.

PLEASE NOTE: OPUS LAP proposals submitted to the NCN must be the same as the one submitted to the partner institution.

NCN Contact Persons:

Scientific Coordinator:

Dr inż. Ewelina Szymańska-Skolimowska

e-mail:Ewelina.Szymanska-Skolimowska@ncn.gov.pl

General inquiries

Dr Magdalena Godowska

e-mail: Magdalena.Godowska@ncn.gov.pl

Magdalena Dobrzańska-Bzowska

e-mail: Magdalena.Dobrzanska-Bzowska@ncn.gov.pl

Is it true that in the early history of the Earth, over 3.6 billion years ago, Antarctica, Greenland and Labrador formed a part of a single supercontinent? This theory is investigated by Prof. Monika Kusiak from the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, author of the project “Poles together – missing links between Arctic and Antarctic early Earth records” funded under the GRIEG call. Prof. Kusiak’s project will be presented at the conference promoting the Basic Research Programme on 17 June 2021.

In the first part of the conference starting at 11 a.m., the following projects will also be presented:

• “Polish and Norwegian language and world knowledge development in mono- and multilingual children” by Dr hab. Ewa Maria Haman from the University of Warsaw and
• “Investigation into the mechanism of regulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors” by Dr Ákos Nemecz from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.

The second part (between 12.30 p.m. and 2 p.m.) will include an expert panel discussion on open access with the participation of representatives of Polish and foreign research community. The full list of speakers is available at https://ncn.wydarzeniaonline.pl/speakers/. Moreover, a Q&A session will be held. You can register to the conference here.

The first two calls (GRIEG and IdeaLab) were launched in June 2019 and the programme will come to an end in 2024. “We are ending a certain stage and entering a period of mature project implementation”, says Marzena Oliwkiewicz-Miklasińska, PhD, head of the Norway Fund Team at the National Science Centre.

The objective of the GRIEG call is to strengthen the Polish-Norwegian research cooperation, support early-stage researchers and build a positive image of science among people at large. The call covers all research domains, with particular focus on polar research and research in social sciences. 

IdeaLab is a call for research projects carried out by research teams comprising at least one Polish partner and at least one partner from Norway, Iceland or Lichtenstein. The topics covered by the call concern challenges arising from processes, such as globalisation, technological change, issues of environment and climate change, demographic change, major waves of migration and geopolitical instability.

POLS is a Small Grant Scheme aimed at researchers from all over the world who intend to conduct their research in Poland. “The internationalisation of Polish science is still insufficient, therefore not many people apply for European grants as compared to mature EU member states (low success rate). POLS can change it”, says Ms Oliwkiewicz-Miklasińska.

28 projects are funded under the GRIEG call, 3 projects under the IdeaLab call and 39 projects under the POLS call. Proposals submitted under the calls have been reviewed by international research teams.

For more information on the calls and call winners, go to: https://www.ncn.gov.pl/eeanorwaygrants/calls

The NCN has just launched this year’s MAESTRO and SONATA BIS calls, under which researchers can submit proposals for pioneering basic research projects and projects aimed at forming new research teams. A total of 170 million PLN is up for grabs.

MAESTRO 13 is open to advanced researchers who wish to conduct pioneering research that goes beyond our current state of knowledge. To qualify as a principal investigator in a MAESTRO project, applicants need to hold at least a PhD; they are also expected to have served as a PI in at least two other research projects selected within domestic or international calls for proposals in the last 10 years. In addition, they need to demonstrate at least five publications in reputable scientific journals or publishing houses, as well as documented involvement in other academic activities. MAESTRO 13 has a total budget of 20 million PLN.

“MAESTRO is a programme designed for researchers with a considerable research record, which allows them to embark on innovative projects. It also gives them an excellent opportunity to expand their team to include researchers with other types of experience and prepare to apply for ERC grants. A MAESTRO grant attests to an institution’s high research quality”, says Professor Jacek Kuźnicki from the International Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, President of the NCN Council.

Announcement of the MAESTRO 13 call for proposals

SONATA BIS 11 provides funding for projects aimed at establishing new research teams. It is targeted at researchers with a doctoral degree earned 5 to 12 years prior to the submission of the proposal; the principal investigator must also present a list of 1 to 10 of the most important publications, published or accepted for publication within the previous 10 years. Apart from the principal investigator, no other team member can hold a scientific title, a degree of associate professor or habilitated doctor, or any equivalent qualification; in addition, the team members must not include researchers who have already cooperated with each other in a call-funded research project. The total budget of SONATA BIS 11 is 150 million PLN. “This grant is an opportunity for young researchers who have an ambitious research idea and want to form their first research team. It is also a chance for institutions to use the grant to create new groups that will strengthen their potential and research infrastructure”, explains the President of the NCN Council.

Announcement of the SONATA BIS 11 call for proposals

In both MAESTRO 13 and SONATA BIS 11, the funding can go towards the costs of research team salaries, purchasing or building research equipment, as well as other necessary project expenses. There is no upper funding limit and the project may be planned for 36, 48 or 60 months.

Traditionally announced in June, MAESTRO and SONATA BIS are the highlights of the NCN’s call portfolio. Over the 10 years of the NCN’s existence, 262 grants in total have been awarded to master research projects and 728 for new research teams. Experts who review call proposals pay particular attention to the quality of the research project and its innovative character, its potential contribution to the development of the discipline and the principal investigator’s achievements.

Proposals must be submitted via the ZSUN/OSF system by 4 pm on 15 September 2021. Detailed information about the calls can be found in the MAESTRO 13 and SONATA BIS 11 call announcements published on the website of the National Science Centre.

Among the projects carried out within the framework of NCN calls, those dealing with ecology and the natural environment are particularly topical. One such project will be implemented by Dr Maciej Liro from the Institute of Environmental Protection of the Polish Academy of Sciences, who will analyse the pollution of Carpathian mountain rivers with macroplastics.

Caring for the environment

The Carpathians have always stunned visitors with their beauty and nature, which is why it may come as a surprise that the amount of plastic waste in their rivers is on the rise. These changes have not escaped the notice of Dr Liro, who spent ten years doing other research in the region. “I collected data on morphology, hydrodynamics, and vegetation along several river sections. With every passing year, I got more and more alarmed by riverine litter. I began to notice certain regularities”, he recollects. He observed, for instance, that a much greater amount of plastic waste could be found in riverine areas that had thick tree cover. He began to leaf through the literature on the subject in search of more information. It turned out, however, that the publications he was looking for were rather few and far between, and hardly any were devoted specifically to mountain rivers.

Litter piled up on a beaver dam. Czarny Dunajec, photo by Maciej Liro

To remedy this situation, Maciej Liro decided to study the waters of the Carpathians to gauge their pollution with macroplastics (plastic pieces with a diameter of more than 5 mm) and hopefully determine the factors that promote the accumulation of plastic waste. The project will involve a thorough analysis of four rivers, each with a different level of anthropic pressure. ”Our objective is to identify the places in river valleys that suffer particularly heavy pollution with macroplastics and explain why this happens on a local and regional scale”, Liro explains. To answer these questions, the team will need to collect field data and interpret them against existing maps, flood simulations and high-resolution drone images of riparian zones. ”Our research team includes not only physical and socio-economic geographers, but also a hydrotechnical engineer and a geologist. The research we want to conduct will mostly involve the manual collection of different fragments of macroplastics deposited by river waters on sediments and vegetation in the vicinity of the river bed”, he adds.

Future benefits

Research thus far has focused primarily on microplastics (pieces with a diameter of less than 5 mm) and their accumulation in seas and oceans. The results of this project will furnish the first data on the level of macroplastic waste pollution in the mountain rivers of the Carpathians and allow a comparison with rivers in other parts of the world.

The study may also have a practical dimension: “As part of the project, we want to map the places along the river bed where plastic waste is most frequently retained, so that we can remove it more efficiently. We want to do this on a local scale, e.g. by identifying the river formations that suffer the heaviest pollution, but also on a regional level, by showing, for instance, which part of the catchment basin receives the greatest amount of plastic waste. This information may be very useful when we decide which areas to clean up or where to install waste removal infrastructure”, explains the researcher. If the project reveals any interrelationships of this kind, we will be able to predict where the macroplastics are likely to accumulate in the future and where they are likely be transported further down the river.

One Earth only

June 5 marks World Environment Day, established on 1972 by the UN General Assembly. It is one of the oldest and the most important celebrations designed to raise ecological awareness and increase involvement in environmental protection.

In this context, we would all do well to ask ourselves what each of us can do to revive our planet. Maciej Liro suggests one idea: ”It is crucial that we understand we have a problem and realize its scale. Plastics have been dumped into rivers for around seventy years now and have already accumulated in really large quantities in river sediments and waters. A plastic bottle dropped into a mountain stream in the Tatras, after many years, may break down into microplastics, flow downstream, and end up in a glass of water that someone drinks in Warsaw.” This is why it is so important to continue raising public awareness about environmental pollution and reach out with the results of scientific research to local communities and tourists in a way that is clear and accessible. “I trust that our project will allow us to get to the root of the problem and come up with real solutions for plastic waste management that can be employed by local communities living in the proximity of rivers, as well as to raise the ecological awareness of our society at large”, Liro emphasizes. What each of us does today may also have an impact on whether the areas with attractive natural features, such as the Carpathians, will still give joy to future generations.