The National Science Centre and the M-ERA network announce the M-ERA.NET 2 call for international research projects in the area of material science and material engineeringFunding proposals may be submitted by international consortia composed of a minimum of 3 research teams from at least 2 countries participating in the call. The principal investigator of the Polish research team must hold at least a PhD degree. M-ERA.NET 2 Call 2020
We have launched new editions of the most popular calls, OPUS and PRELUDIUM, as well as a new POLS call funded from Norway Grants and addressed at researchers arriving to Poland from other countries.
POLS is one of the three calls funded from the Norway Grants 2014–2021 under the “Research” Programme. The National Science Centre is the operator of the basic research part of the Programme. The objective of the POLS call is to promote researcher mobility; it is addressed at researchers arriving from all over the world who wish to carry out their research in Poland. A principal investigator must be at least a PhD holder who have not lived, worked, studied or managed a research project in Poland in the two years prior to the closing of the call. Researchers can apply for project funding ranging between EUR 100,000 to 200,000, which can be used to finance the costs of remuneration for the research team, depreciation or purchase of equipment, materials and services, conference fees and travel expenses, as well as other project-related costs. The maximum indirect costs under the POLS call can account for up to 25% of the funds applied for in the project, including the value of the purchased research equipment, with the exception of subcontracting costs. Research projects may last either 12 or 24 months. In justified cases, the project implementation period may be extended, however no longer than by 30 April 2024. The total call budget is over EUR 7,000,000.
In the meantime, the OPUS call, addressed at researchers at any stage of their research career, has just entered its 19th edition. Research projects may be carried out over a period of 12, 24, 36 or 48 months. Since the previous edition, the OPUS call has been extended to include certain elements of the HARMONIA call, whereby researchers can apply for funding of research projects carried out in bilateral or multilateral international cooperation as well as initiatives involving large-scale international research infrastructure. A principal investigator under the OPUS call must have at least one paper published or accepted for publication or at least one artistic achievement or achievement in research in art completed. The principal investigator must reside in Poland for at least 50% of the project duration period. In addition to the principal investigator, research may be carried out by co-investigators, including students, PhD students and post-docs. However, as of the previous edition of the call, researchers who have been awarded a PhD degree by the host institution for the project cannot be employed as post-docs. Indirect costs may be a maximum of 20% of direct costs and will be calculated on the direct costs, including equipment, devices and software. The terms of the OPUS call do not specify the total minimum or maximum amount of the project budget and as much as PLN 450,000,000 in funding is available in total.
Furthermore, the 19th edition of the PRELUDIUM call has just been announced. It is addressed at researchers who are not PhD holders. The subject of the project may, but does not have to, be connected with the subject of a PhD dissertation. Young researchers are eligible to receive funding for projects to be carried out over the period of 12, 24 or 36 months. Depending on the project duration, the grants may amount to PLN 70,000, 140,000 or 210,000 PLN respectively. Indirect costs may be a maximum of 20% of direct costs. As of the previous edition of the call, the indirect costs are calculated on direct costs, including research equipment, devices and software. Apart from the principal investigator and the mentor, the research team may only include one other member. Not unlike in the OPUS call, the principal investigator must reside in Poland for at least 50% of the project duration period, and is eligible to take on that role in the PRELUDIUM call only once. The total budget of the call is PLN 35,000,000.
Proposals must be submitted electronically via ZSUN/OSF, available at https://osf.opi.org.pl. The proposal submission deadline is 16 June 2020. The call results will be announced in December 2020 at the latest.
Please note that annual reports on the implementation of research projects and post-doctoral fellowships must be submitted to the National Science Centre by 31 March 2020 scholarships and final reports, by the date set forth in the agreement. The National Science Centre may decide that entities that cannot adhere to the above deadlines due to epidemiological risk caused by coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) may submit the reports at a later date: annual reports, by 30 April 2020 and final reports, within 30 days of the initial submission date set forth in the agreement.
In case of annual and final reports on the implementation of POLONEZ research projects, possibility of postponement of the deadline will be the subject of individual arrangements:
Please note that the National Science Centre is not planning to change the proposal submission deadline in the ETIUDA 8 and SONATINA 4 calls (16 March 2020, 4 p.m. ). Proposals must be submitted electronically via ZSUN/OSF, available at https://osf.opi.org.pl. Anyone that cannot have their documents signed due to epidemiological risk caused by coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) may append their proposals with a written statement of the applicant undertaking to submit the required documents at a later date.
Any missing documents with required signatures must be submitted electronically by 15 April 2020 to: /ncn/SkrytkaESP with the proposal number stated in the title.
Please note that as of Monday, 16 March 2020, NCN officers can only be contacted by e-mail until further notice.
For any project-related matters, including annual and final reports, please contact the mentors named in the OSF system. For other matters, please contact the Information Staff at informacja@ncn.gov.pl.
Email addresses are available here.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
With reference to the announcements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chief Sanitary Inspectorate concerning epidemiological risk caused by coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the National Science Centre recommends to consider rescheduling trips to foreign research centres funded under the calls announced by the National Science Centre.
If research stays can be rescheduled, the National Science Centre must be notified of the new dates in order to annex the funding agreements for doctoral scholarships and funding agreements for fellowships in foreign research teams using ERC grants.
A foreign fellowship carried out in a foreign research centre located in a state at epidemiological risk can be shortened or continued at another time. In such a case, the National Science Centre must be notified about it as soon as possible in order to appropriately amend the agreements implemented under the ETIUDA and UWERTURA calls.
Any travel expenses incurred due to traveling to the states at epidemiological risk to carry out NCN-funded research projects will be deemed eligible costs.
DAINA 2 is a funding opportunity for joint Polish-Lithuanian research teams to be launched by the Research Council of Lithuania (Lietuvos mokslo taryba, LMT) and the National Science Centre (NCN). The programme aims to support research projects in all fields of science.
Within the DAINA 2 scheme, the NCN and LMT fund only projects involving basic research.
Call announcement: 15 June 2020
Call deadline at the NCN: 15 September 2020
Call deadline at the RCL: 22 September 2020
Results: April 2021
Start of joint research projects: mid – 2021
The joint proposals (consisting of the Joint Project Descriptions and the CVs together with publication lists) must be submitted online to both agencies’ respective submission systems, together with all necessary documents conforming to the formal requirements of the respective funding organisation set out in the call documentation:
All project proposals will be assessed against three sets of criteria:
Funds for Polish research teams within the joint project are allocated on the basis of the decisions issued by the Director of the NCN. Funds for Lithuanian research teams within the joint project are allocated on the basis of decisions issued by the Chairman of the LMT.
POLAND, NCN:
Dr Eng. Ewelina Szymańska-Skolimowska, e-mail: ewelina.szymanska-skolimowska@ncn.gov.pl, tel.: +48 12 341 9155
Magdalena Dobrzańska-Bzowska, email: Magdalena.Dobrzanska-Bzowska@ncn.gov.pl , tel.: +48 12 341 9094
Dr Magdalena Godowska, e-mail: Magdalena.Godowska@ncn.gov.pl, tel.: +48 12 341 9016
LITHUANIA, LMT:
Asta Aleksandraviciene, e-mail: asta.aleksandraviciene@lmt.lt, tel.: +370 676 18 297
[1]As for language requirements, please also check the respective national agency’s rules regarding submission to the ZSUN/OSF and the JUNKIS electronic submission systems concerning the DAINA 2 call.
At the February session of the Council of the National Science Centre, upon the motion of the NCN Director, members of the Council expressed their approval for a new open access policy to publications created as a result of research projects funded entirely or in part from NCN resources. The obligation to ensure open access to published research findings will apply to all projects recommended for funding under calls announced on 16 June 2020.
Together with open access to research data, open access to published research findings represents a coherent policy of the National Science Centre as part of a broader framework of Open Science, aimed at transparency in the dissemination of research findings by researchers funded from public funds.
In September 2018, the NCN Director, together with 10 leaders of European research-funding agencies established what is now known as the cOAlition S, which prioritises a shift toward full and instant (no temporary embargo) access to publications presenting the results of studies carried out as part of research projects funded or co-funded from public sources. cOAlition S has laid down its priorities in a document known as Plan S. More information about Plan S can be found on the cOAlition S website and in a file entitled Publication routes in accordance with Plan S.
The first signatories of cOAlition S also include the Research Council of Norway, which means that, due to the cOAlition S's requirements and the national open access policy introduced by Norway in 2017, the obligation to ensure full access to published research findings will already apply to projects funded under the GRIEG call.
CEUS-UNISONO is organized within the framework of the CEUS programme, in multilateral cooperation with foreign partner agencies from Austria (Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung, FWF), the Czech Republic (Grantová agentura České Republiky, GAČR), and Slovenia (Javna agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije, ARRS). Proposals must meet the criterion of basic research and be carried out in bi- or trilateral cooperation between research teams from the countries participating in CEUS. Submitted in any discipline, the projects may last 24, 36 or, only in the case of an Austrian partner, 48 months. The first will start at the beginning of 2021.
"We believe that there is a lot of potential in regional Central European cooperation. Of course, it is essential for Polish scientists to have the best possible relations with the global leaders in science, such as the US, Great Britain, France or Germany, but it is also worthwhile strengthening our ties with the countries of the region, which boast many important research centres as well. We hope that the partnership will soon expand to include more countries, especially Hungary", says Professor Zbigniew Błocki, the NCN Director.
The call is organized under the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP). The role of the lead agency, responsible for the merit-based review of submitted proposals within the framework of each national call, will be played by FWF, GAČR or ARRS and, from September 2020 onward, by the NCN under the OPUS call. The procedure will make it possible to submit an international grant proposal and carry out a merit-based review of it as part of a standard national call in one agency and then secure its funding by the other partner agencies.
The role of the lead agency can be played by the partner agencies that funds at least 40% of the total budget for research projects carried out by teams from two countries, and at least 25% of the total budget for those conducted by teams from three countries.
"Research consortia will decide to which agency they wish to submit their proposal. Projects that require the funding of research teams from two or three countries will compete on a level playing field and academic excellence will serve as the key criterion in their assessment", adds Professor Małgorzata Kossowska, President of the NCN Council.
The research team affiliated in the home country of the lead agency will be the one responsible for submitting the joint proposal to that agency. The proposal must be prepared together by all the teams involved in the project and meet the lead agency's requirements. In addition, if required to do so by the agency in question, each of the research teams must submit a complete set of documents, including the joint proposal, to the appropriate partner agency, other than the lead agency. The deadlines for the submission of joint proposals are specified in the call announcement (available in English soon).
Proposals submitted under the CEUS-UNISONO call to the NCN must conform to the requirements specified in the relevant NCN call documents. NCN proposals must be submitted via the OSF electronic submission system (https://osf.opi.org.pl) as soon as possible following submission of the joint proposal to the lead agency, within 7 calendar days at the latest. The joint proposal drafted jointly with the foreign partner teams and submitted to the lead agency must also be attached to the NCN proposal.
Proposals submitted under the CEUS-UNISONO call are subject to an eligibility check performed at the NCN and the foreign partner agencies appropriate for the research teams involved in the project and merit-based evaluation at the lead agency in accordance with its terms. The funding for Polish research teams will be awarded to research projects that rank among the 20% top proposals in a given lead agency's domestic call and those in which partner agencies also award grants to foreign research teams. The first results of the proposal review will be announced in the second half of 2020.
M-ERA.NET Network will shortly launch a new multinational call for proposals on material science and engineering. The M-ERA.NET 2 Call 2020 is expected to be launched in March 2020, with a likely pre-proposal submission deadline in June 2020.
Further details will be provided with the launch of the call.
More information can be found at the programme website.
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