We would like to notify our applicants and grantees that on 11 May 2016, the Council of the National Science Centre introduced the Code of the National Science Centre on Research Integrity and Applying for Research Financing by way of Resolution No 39/2016. Pursuant to the Code, anyone aware of any fraud and/or abuse in projects financed by the NCN and proposals submitted to the NCN under its calls must report it to an NCN officer either directly at: rzetelnosc.naukowa@ncn.gov.pl or to any NCN officer at their business email address. 

Furthermore, pursuant to Order No 1/2023 of the NCN Director, a Research Integrity Committee has been established, comprising of prof. dr hab. Wojciech Dajczak as its Chair, Prof. Dr hab. Barbara Klajnert-Maculewicz, NCN Council Member, Dr Eng. Agnieszka Dobrowolska, Head of Project Monitoring Department, Dr inż. Ewelina Szymańska-Skolimowska, Scientific Coordinator and Jakub Michaluk, Legal Counsel. 

• Code of the National Science Centre on Research Integrity and Applying for Research Financing
• Order No 22/2016 of the NCN Director introducing an investigation procedure for breaches of the principles of research integrity
  • amendment of the Order (pursuant to Order No 9/2018 of the NCN Director)
• Order on the establishment of the Research Integrity Committee (former Committee for Research Integrity)
  • change of the name of the Committee (pursuant to Order No 13/2017 of the NCN Director) 
  • amendment of the Order (pursuant to Order No 2/2019 of the NCN Director) 
• Order No 1/2023 of the NCN Director appointing members of the Research Integrity Committee of the National Science Centre 

• Information on permits to perform testing on animals
• Council of the National Science Centre’s Recommendations for studies involving human participation 

The National Science Centre will allocate almost EUR 10 million for doctoral scholarships and post-doctoral internships for young researchers within recently concluded call for proposals ETIUDA 4 and FUGA 5. Out of 570 submitted proposals, 199 were granted funding.

ETIUDA is a funding opportunity for doctoral scholarships aimed at PhD students preparing a doctoral thesis. In addition to receiving financial support to the amount of EUR 700 monthly, awardees will obtain funding for the realisation of internships in excellent research institutions abroad, indicated in their proposals. In this year’s edition, funding of more than EUR 2.5 M was granted to 128 researchers.

FUGA is addressed to researchers with a doctoral degree obtained within 7 years of submission of the proposal, who want to carry out post-doctoral internships in Polish research Institutions. Each of the grantees will spend from one to three years in an institution located outside of the region (województwo) where they had been affiliated or employed. In addition to the monthly salary, the NCN will also cover the costs of the research conducted by awardees. For the 71 projects selected within this call for proposals, the NCN has allocated more than EUR 7.5 M.

- The main goal of the ETIUDA and FUGA funding opportunities is to increase the mobility of the Polish research community, in particular younger researchers - says prof. Zbigniew Błocki, the NCN director. - Encounters within a new scientific environment, other than the one where we gained our initial experience, are extremely valuable both for individual scientists, as well as for the Polish research community as a whole. The sooner you begin the process of establishing cooperation with other research centres, the greater the chance to create a large and diverse research team in the future. - Such teams are the essence of innovative research. However, moving to another city or country is an enormous financial and organisational effort. Our task is to help the most promising scientists at this difficult but crucial stage in their career development.

Within the ETIUDA funding scheme, the biggest award (over EUR 25 000 ) was granted to Jakub Zdarta from Poznan University of Technology, who conducts research on immobilisation – the process of binding of enzymes to an insoluble carrier which increases enzymes' resistance and their activity. In the field of Humanities, a big portion of funding, over EUR 24 000, went to Dominika Czerniawska-Szejdy from the University of Warsaw. In her research, she strives to describe how cooperation within the research community is initiated. Her interests also include the mobility of researchers. In the area of Life Sciences the biggest grant of ca. EUR 24 000 was awarded to Justyna Piłat from Wroclaw Medical University who will conduct research dedicated to an innovative method of cancer treatment.  

Within the FUGA funding scheme, one of the largest grants of ca. EUR 139 000 was awarded to dr Aleksandra Jaworska from the University of Warsaw, who investigates SERS spectroscopy – a technique which may help in early detection of gene mutations leading among others to the onset of melanoma and colorectal cancer. Among FUGA grantees, there is also dr Urszula Doboszewska from the University of Warsaw who will analyse the development and treatment of epilepsy. In the field of Humanities and Social Sciences, the biggest award of more than EUR 105 000 was obtained by dr Marta Marecka from Jagiellonian University who will look into the issue of foreign language acquisition.

We would like to invite researchers to submit proposals under ERA-CAPS call for proposals in all areas of molecular plant science.

Consortia for funding should consist of a minimum of three partners from three different countries. At least two of these must be ERA-CAPS partner countries contributing funding to the call. There is no upper limit on the number of partners.

ERA-CAPS partner countries:

Austria, Belgium*, France, Germany, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland*, United Kingdom, USA

(*Belgium and Switzerland do not participate in the data sub-call)

TIMETABLE:

• Due-date pre-proposals: 28 September 2016, 12.00 CET
• Invitation full proposals: 07 January 2017
• Due-date full proposals: 31 March 2017, 12.00 CET
• Results expected: autumn 2017
• Start selected research projects: spring 2018

Call documentation

Please see also NCN Eligibility Requirements: National Annex Poland -NCN- 3rd ERA-CAPS Call.

Please note:

1. On the full proposal stage Polish applicants must register their applications in the OSF submission system (UNISONO application, please see Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution no. 44/2016). This application includes the following budget table: http://ncn.gov.pl/sites/default/files/pliki/ERA-CAPS_budget_table.xlsx.

2. We strongly encourage all applicants to read 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, p. 6-13).

EURO exchange rate: 1 EUR = 4.3440 PLN

3. If one international project includes partners from two different Polish Host Institutions, these institutions must apply as a consortium (please see also UNISONO – p. 2: IV, § 8 and p. 9:  footnote 16). Each Host Institution comprising the consortium has a separate budget, but the limit on the remuneration, referred to in paragraph 2.1. of the above mentioned document, applies to the consortium as a whole.

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Contact:

• dr Magdalena Kowalczyk, tel: + 48 12 341 9160
• dr Malwina Gębalska, tel: +48 12 341 9017

The National Science Centre together with the National Science Foundation (NSF), an American agency aiming to fund basic research, invites researchers to apply under the PIRE (Partnership for International Research and Education) funding opportunity.

Call documentation:

1. PIRE call announcement
2. Detailed information about PIRE
3. NCN Panels and NSF Program Areas
4. Eligibility criteria (UNISONO application)
5. Eligible costs and the UNISONO application form

Under this call for proposals, applicants may submit projects involving basic research in subject areas included in the NCN Panels and NSF Program Areas, i.e.: Biological Sciences, Computer Sciences, ICT and Engineering, Education and Human Resources, Environmental Research and Education, Geosciences, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences.

The proposal must be submitted by a project leader – a researcher affiliated in a U.S. academic institution, who can invite researchers for collaboration based in countries participating in the PIRE programme.

Researchers based in Polish Host Institutions should abide by the rules included in NCN Council Resolution no. 56/2016 (UNISONO).

A project's duration may be:  24, 36, 48 or 60 months.

Partners from other countries should follow the regulations specified by the appropriate funding institutions included in the PIRE call announcement.

The budget of the Polish part of the project should be calculated according to the NCN eligibility criteria. We strongly encourage applicants to read the information regarding remunerations in projects funded by the NCN (UNISONO, p. 2-5).  

The timetable for applications is:

• Deadline for submitting preliminary proposals: September 14 2016
• Shortlisted applicants to submit full proposals: April 24 2017

The budget for Polish research teams amounts to PLN 2 M.

At the full proposal stage, Polish applicants should submit the UNISONO application via the OSF submission system. The deadline is scheduled for the 25^th of April 2017.

We invite all researchers who plan to apply under the PIRE call for proposals to contact the NCN.

Contact:

dr Marcin Liana, tel. +48 12 341 9161

Anna Plater-Zyberk, tel. +48 12 341 9016

The National Science Center (NCN) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) will launch their second joint call for proposals within the funding initiative “Beethoven” on 15 September 2016. The submission deadline will be 15 December 2016.Following up on its successful first round, NCN and DFG are extending the funding initiative “Beethoven” to cover new disciplines, now inviting proposals in the Humanities, Social Sciences and selected disciplines of Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics.

The aims of the call are:

• to support research in the above-named disciplines carried out by Polish-German teams;
• to strengthen cooperation between Polish and German researchers in basic (knowledge-oriented) research.

Proposals for research projects in the above-named disciplines must be written in English and submitted by a joint Polish-German research team. The duration of the projects must be either 24 or 36 months. The proposals will undergo a joint evaluation by both external reviewers and members of an expert panel selected by NCN and DFG.

Further information will be made available on 15 September 2016.

Contact:

dr Małgorzata Jacobs

Tel. 12 341 9090

malgorzata.jacobs@ncn.gov.pl

Anna Plater-Zyberk

tel. 12 341 9016

anna.plater@ncn.gov.pl

On May 18-20 the National Science Centre hosted an international Expert Panel evaluating proposals in ERA-NET Smart Urban Futures (ENSUF) call for proposals. The Expert Panel was followed by a meeting of representatives of funding organisations from countries participating in this programme.

The ENSUF call, launched in December 2015, targeted the following topics:

• Concepts and strategies for smart urban transformation, growth and shrinkage;
• New dynamics of public services;
• Inclusive, accessible and vibrant urban communities.

In the first phase of the call for proposals 187 international pre-proposals were submitted. Applicants, whose projects were selected by the panel for the second stage, will be invited to submit full proposals. The deadline for full proposals is scheduled for the 20th September 2016, 12:00 CET.

ERA-NET Smart Urban Futures (ENSUF), established by JPI Urban Europe, is an initiative of 25 organisations from 18 European countries, whose aim is to finance international, interdisciplinary research projects that respond to the challenges of modern cities and urban areas. The network supports research involving researchers, as well as innovators, practitioners, representatives of civil society, NGOs, municipalities, urban utilities and other stakeholders.

POLONEZ 2 info chat in English will start today, the 23^rd May at 2 pm CET at: https://ncngovpl.clickwebinar.com/polonez.

More information about POLONEZ.

CONTACT:

Beata Krasnopolska

tel. +48 12 341 9091

Agata Mendrek

tel. +48 12 341 9139

polonez@ncn.gov.pl

The National Science Centre is pleased to present list of projects qualified for funding in NCN POLONEZ 1 call for proposals.

POLONEZ 1 ranking list

We are pleased to invite researchers interested in applying for the POLONEZ 2 fellowship for a web chat in English, that will be held on the 23^rd May 2016 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. During the chat we would be happy to answer all questions regarding the call documentation, the submission system, etc.

All technical details regarding access to the chat will be announced on the NCN website on Monday, the 23^rd of May 2016 by 12 pm. We strongly encourage applicants to read the call documentation before joining the chat.

Please read the technical instructions regarding the web chat.

Technical instructions for the POLONEZ 2 info chat

1. You do not have to register to participate in the web chat. Please provide your name and e-mail address in order to join the chat.
2. The language of the web chat interface is determined by your IP-address. If the language of the web chat is other than English, please click on the flag in the upper right corner of the login window and then switch it to English (print screen 1).
3. To participate in the web chat please install the latest Adobe Flash Player plug-in. In order to check the validation of the connection and the compatibility of Adobe flash player please go to the web-chat, give your name and e-mail address and click “Enter”. If you pass the test positively, you will see a brief instruction regarding the web chat. When the web chat becomes active (23^rd  May, 2 p.m.), you will see the correct chat window. If you have an older version of the plug-in, you will receive an appropriate message to update your Adobe flash player plug-in.
4. In order to maximize the font during the web chat, please click on “gear” icon, then click on “font” and choose the right size, e.g. 14 pt (print screen 2).
5. If you have problems with the connection, please note that the web chat platform uses the port 1935 and the RTMP protocol which must be unblocked in your “firewall”.

The National Science Centre is pleased to present list of projects qualified for funding in NCN calls:

• OPUS 10 – for a wide range of applicants. The research proposal submitted under this scheme may include the purchase or construction of research equipment.
• PRELUDIUM 10 – for pre-doctoral researchers about to embark on their scientific career.
• SONATA 10 – for scientists holding a doctoral degree starting their career in research.

Funding scheme