Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin takes part in NCN Council meeting

Fri, 01/26/2018 - 15:41

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Higher Education, Jarosław Gowin, was invited to join a meeting of the Council of the National Science Centre on January 18th in Jaroszowice near Wadowice. The discussion focused on the role of the NCN in the system of financing science, the main directions of the Centre’s activities in the coming years and planned changes in science and higher education.

Prime Minister Gowin presented the main premises of the Higher Education Act 2.0, developed after extensive consultations with the scientific community (a draft of the Act was made public on January 22nd). He emphasised that the National Science Centre has played an important part in the process of changing Polish science and has made a significant impact on improving the level of research carried out in Poland.

A part of the meeting was devoted to the improvements being introduced by the Centre in the process of applying for grants and their implementation. NCN Director prof. Zbigniew Błocki emphasised that the Centre has been aware of opinions that differences in the rules of individual calls for proposals make the administration of grants difficult. Therefore, the changes introduced by the Centre will apply retroactively, so that they can be applied to all ongoing projects.

- For me, the notion of deregulation is really well-founded. I listened with hope and appreciation to the solutions proposed by the NCN to make administrative processes less bureaucratic. Let us remember that the shape of the NCN calls, created by the scientists themselves, significantly affects the competitiveness of Polish science in the international arena - stressed Deputy Prime Minister Gowin.

One of the Council’s priorities in the near future is further internationalisation of the Centre’s actions, in particular, the development of new bilateral programmes and the alignment of the NCN proposal peer-review system with the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP). The Centre also plans to minimise changes introduced to the rules and regulations in subsequent editions of the calls.

- The National Science Centre was created by scientists for scientists. For years we have been listening to voices coming to us from the scientific community and I cannot imagine not taking them into account. When modifying our call regulations, we look at them from the perspective of the Polish scientists’ needs so as to create the optimal conditions for achieving scientific excellence - said prof. Janusz Janeczek, Chairman of the NCN Council.

p> From left: Prof. Janusz Janeczek, chairman of the NCN Council, Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin and Prof. Zbigniew Błocki, director of the NCN. Photo was made during the meeting of the Council 18th January 2018 r., photo by Magdalena Duer-Wójcik/NCNMeeting of the NCN Council, 18th January 2018, general view, photo by Magdalena Duer-Wójcik/NCNMeeting of the NCN Council, 18th January 2018, general view, photo by Magdalena Duer-Wójcik/NCN

The NCN to facilitate its grant procedures

Fri, 01/19/2018 - 15:16

The National Science Centre continues to improve the process of applying for and implementing grants. In December 2017 a round-table meeting took place at the Centre’s office. Representatives of both the research community and the NCN debated on how best to streamline the cooperation between the Centre and researchers. In the aftermath of the meeting the NCN will introduce a number of improvements.

Formal notifications will shortly be sent to host institutions involved in the implementation of the NCN research grants, informing them of the scope and dates of the improvements.

  1. Costs will become eligible once the decision on funding has become final and binding (so far the practice has been to qualify the costs as eligible only upon signing the grant agreement). The change enters into force from the publication of MAESTRO 9, SONATA 13, SONATA BIS 7 and HARMONIA 9 calls.
  2. Proposals with minor irregularities in the breakdown of project costs (ineligible costs) will not be rejected at the eligibility check stage. The change enters into force from the publication of the OPUS 14, PRELUDIUM 14 and DAINA 1 calls.
  3. One will be able to propose the dates of commencement and end of one’s project by emailing or telephoning the project’s assistance officer at the NCN.
  4. One will be able to move the project to another host institution not only – as has previously been the case – during its implementation (i.e. after signing the agreement), but also before signing the agreement, once the decision on funding has become final and binding.
  5. From the publication of calls scheduled for 15th September 2018, the attachment of an additional form concerning state aid in the ZSUN/OSF system will no longer be required for every proposal.
  6. For proposals submitted by natural persons the requirement of confirming the principal investigator’s employment by the host institution will be cancelled.
  7. The short and full description of the project will constitute annexes to the proposal, so as to enable the applicants to work on the subject matter of the proposal until the date of deadline for submissions. Both annexes will be in English. Previously, the short description was in Polish, and both descriptions have constituted part of the proposal itself. The change enters into force from the publication of the OPUS 15 and PRELUDIUM 15 calls (March 2018).
  8. One will be able to extend the project’s duration by 12 months without applying for a permit from the Centre (previously this period had been 6 months). This does not apply to projects carried out in bi- and multilateral cooperation.
  9. The list of the equipment to be purchased in the project will not be deemed as final at the stage of the project’s implementation.
  10. Additional funding from the host institution for investigators receiving their salaries from the grant will be allowed.

Changes regarding the implementation of grants will be applied RETROACTIVELY, i.e. they can be applied to projects already under way.

PLEASE NOTE:

The abovementioned modifications will have no effect in the case of projects funded under the POLONEZ programme, editions 1-3.

Modifications no 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9 do not apply to projects where state aid is involved (i.e. projects carried out by businesses or research consortia where the NCN funding constitutes state aid for at least one partner).

New JPI AMR call on antimicrobial resistance

Fri, 01/12/2018 - 13:57

NCN together with JPI AMR network is pleased to announce a new call on antimicrobial resistance: Innovation against antibiotic-resistant bacteria: new targets, compounds and tools. Fundamental and translational research, with the exception of clinical trials.Applications may be put forward by international consortia composed of a minimum of 3 partners from at least 3 different countries participating in the call. The project participants prepare one joint  proposal document (in English, and following the provided template), which is  submitted to the Joint Call Secretariat by the consortium coordinator on behalf of all the research teams in all countries, via a submission tool https://secure.pt-dlr.de/ptoutline/app/jpiamr2018..

Countries participating in the call

Belgium, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland

Timeline of the call

The two-step application process (pre-proposal, full proposal) will have the following timetable:

  • March 7th, 2018 (17:00 CET) – deadline for the submission of pre-proposals
  • April/May 2018 – invitation to submit full proposals
  • June 14th,  2018 (17:00 CET) – deadline for the submission of full proposals
  • October/November 2018 – call results
  • end of 2018/early 2019 – start of funded projects

Call documents

  1. Call text
  2. Pre-proposal Application Form
  3. Specific Requirements / Annex B

Additional info to download

  1. 6th Call Folder 2018
  2. Quick Guide for Dissemination of the JPI AMR Research Projects Results
  3. WHO Prioritization of Pathogens Report

For more information on the call please see the JPI AMR website.

Information for Polish applicants:

  1. At the pre-proposal stage Polish applicants are not required to send any additional documents to the NCN.
  2. At the full proposal stage they must register their projects in the OSF submission system (UNISONO proposal). The UNISONO proposal includes the following budget table: http://ncn.gov.pl/sites/default/files/pliki/UNISONO_budget_table.xlsx.
  3. We strongly encourage all applicants to read the information on eligible costs included in the Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution on funding granted within calls for proposals for international research projects (UNISONO, pp. 5-12).
  4. If one international project includes partners from two (or more) different Polish Host Institutions, these institutions must apply to the NCN as a consortium.  Please note that each consortium member will have a separate budget, but the limit on personnel costs, given in paragraph 2.1.2 of the Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution, applies to the consortium as a whole (please see UNISONO, pp. 8-9).
  5. At the full proposal stage, the budget of the Polish part of the research project in the OSF system should be given in PLN, with the exchange rate of  1 EUR= 4,2705 PLN.
  6. Projects including Polish teams may last 24 or 36 months.

Contact:

dr Jerzy Frączek, jerzy.fraczek@ncn.gov.pl, tel. 12 341 9165

Jolanta Palowska, jolanta.palowska@ncn.gov.pl, tel. 12 341 9139

 

 

Johann Christoph Liska's forgotten artworks

Principal Investigator :
Dr Emilia Kłoda
University of Wrocław

Panel: HS2

Funding scheme : PRELUDIUM 9
announced on 16 March 2015

The project entitled "Johann Christoph Liska's forgotten artworks. The conservator's examination of the Baroque paintings" was conducted between 2016 and 2017 at the Institute of Art History of the University of Wrocław. Its primary objective was to study paintings attributed to Johann Christoph Liska (c. 1650–1712). This outstanding Silesian painter learned painting at the workshop of his stepfather, Michael Leopold Willmann, and continued his education in Italy, where he stayed for several years. Upon his return, he worked in what is now the Czech Republic and Silesia, mainly on commissions from the Catholic Church. After Willmann's death, he took over his workshop at the monastery in Lubiąż and completed his unfinished commissions. Even though Liska is now recognized as a remarkable painter, no monograph and no systematic catalogue of his works are available. This research project has been an important step toward a better understanding of the painter and his oeuvre.

The project focused on seven paintings, selected from different stages of Liska's oeuvre, most of which are either completely unknown or considered mediocre copies of works that have not survived. Four paintings (St Joseph, St Mary of Egypt, St Charles Borromeo and Lamentation of Christ) come from the Czech territory and were commissioned by the Czech monastic circles at the turn of the 17th and the 18th centuries. Three Silesian paintings (Lamentation of Christ, Finding of the Holy Cross and Angel) date back to 1708-1712, the period when Liska was in charge of Willmann's workshop. The first step in the project was to carry out art historical research into the works of art and their history from the moment of creation until the present day. Subsequently, conservators from Kraków (Marcin Ciba) and Prague (Denisa Cirmaciová) used infrared, ultraviolet and X-ray radiation to analyse the chemical composition and the layer structure of the paintings.

This international cooperation allowed the most important features of Liska's painting technique to be described and his authorship of most of the analysed artworks to be verified. The findings confirmed that the works are similar in terms of the layering of paint and preparation of the underpainting. The differences in the choice of pigments among paintings may mean that the painter worked in two separate workshops: one in Silesia, and one in Bohemia. Particularly interesting among the analysed paintings is the Lamentation of Christ from the Church of St Martin in Tursko near Prague. A radical restoration that involved the replacement of one of the four panels that formed the underpainting is a fascinating example of the changes that the work underwent after its creation. Importantly, the research project enabled us to identify a major difference between the painting techniques of Liska and his master Willmann. None of the analysed paintings by Lischka showed any traces of preparatory drawing, which is always found on the canvases of the Lubiąż master. It seems that using infrared light to analyse paintings for the presence of sketches could become the most objective tool for distinguishing the works of Willmann from those of his stepson.

Our findings are an important contribution to what is known as the "technical art history" current in contemporary research. The interdisciplinary nature of the project allowed the results to be brought up for discussion among art historians and conservators from Poland and the Czech Republic, in an important step toward a more effective protection of our shared cultural heritage. The findings were presented at an international conference in Kutna Hora in November 2017 and published in Czech (Sborník z konference "Arte-fakt”) and English (Wiadomości Konserwatorskie). In addition, thanks to the project, a decision was taken to ensure the conservation of Angel from Henryków, and safeguard the deteriorated Lamentation of Christ from Tursko.

 

Project title: Johann Christoph Liska's forgotten artworks. The conservator's examination of the Baroque paintings

Dr Emilia Kłoda

Graduated in art history from the University of Wrocław. In 2017, she defended a PhD dissertation entitled "Johann Christoph Liska – Life and Oeuvre (c. 1650–1712)". Since 2018, she has worked at the Art Department of the Lubomirski Princes Museum at the Ossolineum. She has worked on numerous research projects, e.g. "Wirtualne Muzeum Barokowych Fresków" (2013), whose effects may be admired at www.wirtualnefreski.pl, and "Malarstwo Barokowe na Śląsku" (2012–2016), as well as an international digital humanities project entitled "Monuments and Artworks in East Central Europe Research Infrastructure", coordinated by the Herder Institute in Marburg (2016–2017). She has published in Polish and foreign journals ("Biuletyn Historii Sztuki", "Umění" "Journal of Art Historiography"). Her MA thesis on the Baroque painter Jeremias Joseph Knechtel was published as a catalogue for an exhibition organized at Muzeum Miedzi in Legnica.

Dr Emilia Kłoda

Recognition of environmental sounds by musicians and non-musicians

Principal Investigator :
Dr hab. Andrzej Miśkiewicz
Fryderyk Chopin University of Music

Panel: HS6

Funding scheme : OPUS 6
announced on 16 September 2013

Experiments conducted by various researchers have shown that music education and experience in music performance not only develop musical hearing, but also improve various auditory abilities not related with music. Published studies suggests that, in comparison with non-musicians, musicians more accurately discriminate the timbre of voices in speech, have better ability of understanding speech in noisy environments, better discriminate foreign language sounds and possess more selective auditory attention.

Photo by Michał ŁepeckiPhoto by Michał Łepecki The objective of the present project was to determine whether musicians outperform non-musicians in the perception of environmental sounds. The project studied the accuracy of recognizing environmental sounds played back at various loudness levels in the background of different auditory scenes and the speed of sound recognition. The results suggest that musicians do not outperform non-musicians neither in the accuracy nor in the speed of sound recognition.

The lack of agreement of the present findings with published studies is explained by the nature of the so-called listening modes which reflect the characteristics of the auditory cognitive processes. Researchers have distinguished three categories of listening modes: causal listening (everyday listening) aimed at auditory orientation in the environment, semantic listening focused on extracting information conveyed through speech sounds or by means of a certain acoustic code, and reduced listening (musical listening) aimed at the perception of the inherent sonic characteristics, with no connotations to any sound sources. The present data suggest that music education facilitates auditory perception in the semantic and in the reduced listening modes and has no clearly pronounced effect in auditory tasks belonging to the category of causal listening, aimed at the recognition of sound sources and gathering information about the events in the environment that are reflected by the sounds.

Project title: Recognition of environmental sounds by musicians and non-musicians

Dr hab. Andrzej Miśkiewicz

Professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, Department of Sound Engineering. His scientific activity is interdisciplinary and is concerned with the fields of musical acoustics, psychoacoustics, music theory and sound engineering. His research is focused on the psychoacoustic foundations of sound perception in music, methodology of sound quality assessment and timbral ear training of sound engineers.

dr hab. Andrzej Miśkiewicz

ForestValue Electronic Submission System is now open

Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:04

The Electronic Submission System (ESS) for the ForestValue Call 2017 is now open and available here: https://secure.pt-dlr.de/ptoutline/app/fore.

Guidelines and further information can be found in the following document:

The deadline for submission of pre-proposals to the ForestValue Call for proposals is January 23rd 2018 13:00 CET.

Contact:

  • Magdalena Łopuszańska Rusek, magdalena.lopuszanska-rusek@ncn.gov.pl, tel. 12 341 9164
  • Marlena Wosiak, marlena.wosiak@ncn.gov.pl, tel. 12 341 9093

NCN named as operator of EEA and Norway Grants

Wed, 12/20/2017 - 13:26

On 20th December, Poland signed a memorandum of understanding that will endow it with € 809.3 million under the third edition of Norway Grants and EEA Grants. One of the largest portion of the resources is intended to support research, and the National Science Centre has taken on the responsibility of its execution.

The NCN will cooperate with the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) in organising and running funding opportunities under the third edition of the Norway Grants. The organisation charged with the distribution of the funds for research will be the programme’s partner, the Research Council of Norway.

EEA and Norway Grants are non-repayable financial aid granted by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to over a dozen EU countries. In Poland, the body responsible for implementing the programme is the Ministry of Economic Development. The EEA and Norway Grants’ main objective is to reduce social and economic disparities in the EEA and strengthen bilateral relations between donor countries and beneficiary countries. Poland is the largest beneficiary of Norway Grants.

Sources: NCN, Ministry of Economic Development

NCN 2018 call timeline

Wed, 12/20/2017 - 00:00

The table below presents a preliminary timeline for calls operated by the National Science Centre in the year 2018.

2018
TYPE OF CALL CALL ANNOUNCEMENT CALL DEADLINE CALL RESULTS

OPUS 15

PRELUDIUM 15

 15 March 15 June December 2018

SONATA 14

SONATA BIS 8

HARMONIA 10

MAESTRO 10

 15 June 17 September March 2019

OPUS 16

PRELUDIUM 16

BEETHOVEN 3

 14 September 17 December

June 2019

October 2019 (BEETHOVEN 3)

SONATINA 3

ETIUDA 7

UWERTURA 3

 14 December 15 March 2019 r. September 2019

TANGO 3

 continuous call, to be announced in early 2018

MINIATURA 2

 continuous call, specific terms to be set out in the call text*

*because of ongoing work on the terms of the MINIATURA 2 funding opportunity, information on the exact date of the call’s announcement will be made public at a later date

Specific information on the terms and start dates for individual calls will be published on the NCN’s website once they have been approved by the relevant resolutions of the Council of the NCN.

The NCN to contribute € 11.25 million towards funding research projects, scholarships and fellowships

Fri, 12/15/2017 - 13:29

The National Science Centre (NCN) has launched a new round of its funding programmes: the second edition of the UWERTURA and SONATINA funding opportunities, and the sixth edition of the ETIUDA call. Polish researchers may compete for over € 11.25 million for research projects, doctoral scholarships and fellowships in institutions abroad.

ETIUDA 6 is a funding opportunity addressed to those at the beginning of their academic career, preparing their doctoral dissertations. The young researchers can receive a monthly allowance of ca € 1,000 over 6 to 12 months, a time devoted to the completion of their theses. Additionally, the grant provides for a 3 to 6 month fellowship at a research centre abroad. In response to the enormous popularity of the programme in its former editions, and because of the high level of the submissions received, the Council of the NCN has contributed nearly € 1.2 million of additional funding. The total budget of ETIUDA’s sixth edition will be ca € 3.6 million.

SONATINA 2 welcomes entries from researchers with a doctorate who have received their degree within 3 years of submitting the research proposal or who will have received it by the end of June 2018. The call’s mission is to provide young researchers with the opportunity to work at Polish research centres as principal investigators in projects of their own design. Apart from this, the beneficiaries of the programme may go on a fellowship to a foreign research centre of their choice. The call’s budget is ca € 7.2 million.

UWERTURA 2 is a call for more experienced scholars, aimed to help them successfully apply for the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grants. Under this scheme, Polish researchers may join research teams abroad working on ERC-financed projects, so as to gain precious hands-on experience, invaluable in applying for funds and conducting international research projects. Within 18 months of completing their fellowships abroad, the visiting researchers themselves are required to prepare and submit a research proposal to the ERC. The budget for this year's edition has been set at ca € 479,000.

The intention behind the December calls is to bring the Polish research community and the international community more closely together said professor Janusz Janeczek, Chair of the Council of the NCN. All three calls allow the researchers to develop vital contacts and cooperations with leading institutions in their respective fields. Each programme has been tailored for researchers at a given level of their academic career, enabling doctoral candidates to work on their theses, young doctorate-holders to find firm ground at their chosen research centre, and those who are more experienced to set out on international-scale projects.

Submissions under the calls launched by the National Science Centre will be accepted by 15 March 2018. The proposals will undergo a two-stage evaluation procedure by the NCN’s Expert Teams comprising eminent scholars with expertise in their given field, supported by external reviewers, including those from abroad.

The results of ETIUDA 6, SONATINA 2 and UWERTURA 2 will be published in the summer of 2018.

Call announcements

ForestValue Call 2017: networking opportunities

Mon, 12/11/2017 - 15:19

Researchers interested in applying within the ForestValue Call 2017 are kindly invited to visit the program website which presents more than 70 cooperation proposals, including project presentations and a summary table with contact details and offers for cooperation.

If you have further project ideas or are looking for partners you are welcome to complete the ForestValue partnering survey. New entries will be compiled and uploaded to the website on a weekly basis.

More information about the Call: https://forestvalue.org/joint-calls/joint-call-2017-jc-2017

Contact:

  • Magdalena Łopuszańska-Rusek, magdalena.lopuszanska-rusek@ncn.gov.pl, tel: +48 12 341 9164
  • Marlena Wosiak, marlena.wosiak@ncn.gov.pl, tel: + 48 12 341 9093
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