For the 13th time, the National Science Centre has announced a call for proposals under its OPUS and PRELUDIUM funding schemes. Researchers may apply for funding from a pool of ca € 67 million.

Researchers at the beginning of their career in research who hold no doctoral degree can submit their proposals under the PRELUDIUM 13 call. Although the funding-winning projects will be supervised by an established researcher, their authors will carry out the research themselves. The projects’ completion time may span one, two or three years, with a funding limit of ca. € 14 000, 28 000 or 43 000 respectively. In the current edition of the funding opportunity, the budget has been set at over € 7 million.

Supporting researchers at the onset of their careers is one of the National Science Centre’s priorities. In 2016, we contributed 24 per cent of the research budget towards funding beginner researchers’ projects, internships and scholarships, including the PRELUDIUM programme, said professor Zbigniew Błocki, director of the Centre. This funding scheme is the first step in a beginner researcher’s experience of the research grant system.

All researchers, regardless of their experience and academic degree, may apply for funding under the OPUS 13 call. Resources received may be used for establishing a research team and purchasing equipment required in the research. There is no cap on the funding of individual projects; projects may be carried out within 12, 24 or 36 months. The total funding of the 13^th edition comes to nearly € 60 million.

Proposals must be submitted via the OSF system (https://osf.opi.org.pl) by 16^th June 2017.

The Electronic Submission System (ESS) for the QuantERA Call 2017 is now open. Guidelines and further information can be found under the following link: QuantERA Electronic Submission System.

The Financial Form that should be used for preparing the budget of an international consortium has been approved and is now ready for downloading: QuantERA Call 2017 Financial Form.

Contact:

• In case of any further questions please contact Mr. Mathieu Girerd, +33 1 7354 8213
• Contact at National Science Centre: Marlena Wosiak, tel. +48 12 341 9093

The National Science Centre has announced the results of its MAESTRO 8, HARMONIA 8 and SONATA BIS 6 calls for proposals. The list of awardees includes 161 researchers from all across Poland; they will receive total funding of some € 54 million.

The concluded opportunities grant resources to extensive research requiring the collaboration of a larger body of scholars. SONATA BIS allows researchers to form a new research team, while the awardees of the HARMONIA call collaborate with research teams abroad on joint projects; under MAESTRO, the most experienced researchers act as leaders to projects pioneering in nature. The three funding opportunities have seen a total of 672 submitted proposals, of which 161 earned funding. This translates into an almost 24 per-cent success rate, 4 per-cent higher than in the previous editions of the programmes.

Just as in the previous year, we can claim an increase in the success rate related to an increase in NCN’s 2017 budget. Also, of no small significance are the changes that have been taking place in the research community, said professor Zbigniew Błocki, director of the NCN.

Applicants have a better understanding of how the grant system works, added professor Janusz Janeczek, Chair of the NCN Council. There are ever greater numbers who won’t be easily discouraged by their first rejected attempts, but instead draw on reviewers’ critical remarks to improve their projects and try once again in future editions.

MAESTRO is a funding opportunity for experienced researchers who want to conduct pioneering research that seeks to go beyond the state of the art. Eligible for funding are projects by individuals with previous achievements documented by renowned international journals. They will have been principal investigators to other research projects financed on a competitive basis, actively involved in the actions of the research community, e.g. as members of scientific boards of international conferences or of international associations. In the eighth edition of the call, funding of more than € 10 million will be distributed between 14 of the 88 projects submitted.

MAESTRO’s projects are often interdisciplinary in nature. A fine example is the research initiative by professor Tomasz Ważny of Nicolaus Copernicus University on dating prehistory and verifying history using dendrochronology in the studies of Southern-Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. The Toruń researchers will use methodologies from archaeology, history, geography, climatology, forestry etc. to compile a “biological archive,” a stock of incremental chronologies to be set against conventionally dated historical events. The research has received funding of ca. € 719 000.

The HARMONIA funding opportunity is a call for research projects to be carried out in international collaboration. The collaboration may have the form of a direct agreement between research institutions, participation in a bi- or multilateral international programme, or the use by Polish research groups of large-scale international research facilities. The eighth edition saw 196 projects, of which 51 will receive funding in excess of € 9.6 million.

One of the proposals awarded in HARMONIA 8 is the project by dr hab. Paweł Lisowski of the Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Polish Academy of Sciences. The Poles will collaborate with the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, to study a genetic predisposition to develop rare neurodevelopmental disorders. Their work will be supported with almost € 360 000.

SONATA BIS is a call for research projects that entail establishing new research teams. The principal investigator in the newly formed research unit may be a person with a doctorate degree obtained within 2 to 12 years before submitting the research proposal. Funding of ca. € 34.4 million will be distributed among 96 of the 388 projects submitted in the call.

One of the new teams established under the SONATA BIS 6 scheme will be led by dr Michał Drahus of Jagiellonian University. Astronomers from Krakow will analyse the spontaneous disintegration of small bodies in the Solar System, such as comets and planetoids. The research, which has received over € 431000 in funding, will use the world’s top-class telescopes.

Ranking lists of the projects approved for funding

We would like to inform all JPI AMR 2017 call applicants that Czech Republic has joined the call. Therefore, call documents, including pre-proposal application form, have been updated.

More information about the call

Contact:

dr Jerzy Frączek, tel. +48 12341 9165

dr Malwina Gębalska, tel. + 48 12 341 9017

We are pleased to announce that the 3S RECIPE project, involving researchers from Poland, has been awarded funding within the Era-Net Smart Urban Futures call for proposals. The Polish team, led by dr hab. Szymon Marcińczak from the University of Łódź, will cooperate with researchers from France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and the UK.

The aim of this project is to identify factors that help to stop and reverse urban shrinkage in Europe and that contribute to the creation of more sustainable and resident-friendly cities. In Poland, the empirical research will be conducted in Łódź, the most rapidly shrinking city in the country.

The JPI Urban Europe call “Era-Net Smart Urban Futures”, published in 2015, has awarded EUR 15.17 M to 15 research projects to respond to the challenges of modern cities and urban areas.

The New JPI Urban Europe and Belmont Forum call “The Sustainable Urbanisation Global Initiative (SUGI)/Food-Water-Energy Nexus” was launched in December 2016. The call includes three topics to address urgent and long-term challenges within the Food-Water-Energy Nexus.

More information about the SUGI call

Contact:

dr Kinga Sekerdej, kinga.sekerdej@ncn.gov.pl, tel. 12 341 9172

Joanna Komperda, joanna.komperda@ncn.gov.pl, tel. 12 341 9138

NCN together with JPI AMR network is pleased to announce a new call on antimicrobial resistance: Comparison of prevention, control, and intervention strategies for AMR infections through multidisciplinary studies, including One Health approaches. Funding is available for international research projects that involve at least three researchers from three different eligible countries.

Countries participating in the call:

Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain,  Sweden, Switzerland

Call timetable:

21 March 2017 r. – deadline for pre-proposals

May 2017 – invitation to submit full proposals

4 July 2017 r. – deadline for full proposals

October 2017 r. – call results

One joint proposal document (in English, and following the provided template) shall be prepared by the project participants of a joint transnational proposal, and must be submitted to the Joint Call Secretariat by the coordinator.

Call documentation:

1. Call Text
2. Proposal Application Form
3. Specific Regulations

Partner search tool

Applicants are also invited to use Partner Search Tool, a development facilitating matches between potential partners with similar ideas. It gives the opportunity to express interest either in joining a research proposal or to search for partner(s) for an existing proposal.

Information for Polish applicants:

1. On the full proposal stage Polish applicants must register their applications in the OSF submission system (UNISONO application). This application includes the following budget table.
2. Budget of the Polish part of the research project in the OSF system should be given in PLN (1 EUR= 4,3728 PLN).
3. 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).
4. If one international project includes partners from two different Polish Host Institutions, these institutions must apply as a consortium. Each Host Institution comprising the consortium has a separate budget, but the limit on the remuneration applies to the consortium as a whole (UNISONO, p. 9-10).
5. Projects including Polish teams may last 24 or 36 months.

Contact:

dr Malwina Gębalska, malwina.gebalska@ncn.gov.pl, tel. +48 12 341 9017

dr Jerzy Frączek, jerzy.fraczek@ncn.gov.pl, tel. +48 12 341 9165

QuantERA Network is pleased to announce that the Call 2017 for Transnational Research Proposals supporting the topics of Quantum Information and Communication Sciences & Technologies is now open.

Thematic scope of the Call:

1. Quantum communication
2. Quantum simulation
3. Quantum computation
4. Quantum information sciences
5. Quantum metrology sensing and imaging
6. Novel ideas and applications in quantum science and technologies

Two stages application procedure (pre-proposals and full proposals) is open for consortia composed of researchers from at least three QuantERA Partner countries.

Applicants are obliged to comply with the national/regional eligibility criteria defined by each participating funding organization.

The deadline for submitting the pre-proposals is March 15^th, 2017, 17.00 Central European Time.

Call documents and further details are available on the website: www.quantera.eu.

Contact:

• Sylwia Kostka, tel: +48 12 341 9018
• Marlena Wosiak, tel: +48 12 341 9018

We would like to inform all applicants that from December 23 from 6 p.m. to December 27 until 8 a.m. there will be a maintenance break in the OSF submission system. We apologize for any inconvenience.

In January 2017 the QuantERA Consortium, coordinated by the National Science Centre, will announce a Co-funded Call for Proposals in the field of quantum technologies.Thematic scope of proposals should include one or more of the following areas:

1. Quantum communication
2. Quantum simulation
3. Quantum computation
4. Quantum information sciences
5. Quantum metrology sensing and imaging
6. Novel ideas and applications in quantum science and technologies

Two stages application procedure (pre-proposals and full proposals) will be open for consortia composed of researchers from at least three QuantERA Partner countries.

Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. Excellence,
2. Impact,
3. Quality and efficiency of the implementation.

The national/regional eligibility criteria will be defined by each participating funding agency.

The anticipated deadline for pre-proposals is 15th of March 2017.

For details please see the attached document and website.

Contact:

• Sylwia Kostka, tel: +48 12 341 9018
• Marlena Wosiak, tel: +48 12 341 9018

The National Science Centre has issued its fifth call for proposals under the ETIUDA programme, and launched the first edition of the SONATINA and UWERTURA programmes. Researchers will be given the opportunity to apply for funding of fellowships in research institutions abroad, including postings with research teams carrying out European Research Council (ERC) projects. The Centre has also announced the MINIATURA funding opportunity for specific single research activities; the call is scheduled to open in April 2017.

International mobility

In December the well-known ETIUDA funding opportunity, addressed to researchers working on their doctoral dissertation, will be complemented by two new NCN funding opportunities for the first time: SONATINA (in the place of the formerly ministerial Iuventus Plus) and UWERTURA, a programme operating in close cooperation with ERC’s own Fellowship to visit ERC grantee opportunity. In April 2017 a call will be opened for research proposals under the third new development of the NCN’s offer: MINIATURA, a funding scheme supporting single research activities.

With the funding opportunities to be announced in December, emphasis is being put on developing cooperation between Polish and foreign research centres  – explained professor Zbigniew Błocki, director of the NCN. Today it is essential for one to build a CV from the very beginning of their research career. One of its most salient elements is mobility and the experience gained in the best research centres overseas. I have no doubt that in the future Poland’s university research personnel will be comprised of such people.

Scholarship programmes: ETIUDA, SONATINA, UWERTURA

ETIUDA 5 is a funding opportunity for doctoral scholarships. Doctoral candidates preparing their dissertations receive a monthly allowance of ca € 1,000 and visit a research centre abroad as a fellow. The budget of the fifth edition of ETIUDA has been set at nearly € 2.4 million.

Prospective entrants in the SONATINA 1 programme are researchers within 3 years of receiving their doctorate. Funding under the programme includes full-time employment in Polish research institutions, realisation of the research project, and a visiting fellowship at a research centre abroad of 3 to 6 months. The aggregate budget of the call will total over € 7 million.

UWERTURA 1 is an opportunity for researchers with a doctorate, who have carried out an NCN-funded research project as a principal investigator. The programme’s aim is to help Polish researchers successfully apply for European resources, and to increase their share among laureates of ERC grants. Within the UWERTURA scheme, Polish researchers will be visiting research teams abroad who are working on ERC-financed projects; subsequently, within 18 months of returning, the visiting researchers themselves  are required to prepare and submit a research proposal to ERC. The Centre’s contribution to the programme is close to € 1.2 million.

MINIATURA or “small grants”

And last but not least, MINIATURA, will enable researchers to secure financing of single activities that serve as parts of a larger research project. Winners of the so-called “small grants” will be able to direct the resources to e.g. initial and pilot studies, library and archival research, consultations, research travels and conferences. This funding offer is being extended to researchers holding a doctorate degree who have not been laureates of NCN programmes yet.

Working with a “small grant” will increase the chances of securing means for larger initiatives on the part of those researchers who haven’t carried out their own projects at earlier stages of their career, said professor Michał Karoński, chair of the Council of the NCN. The programme may prove particularly useful for researchers representing smaller research centres, with less robust institutional assistance in seeking funding. In this manner we wish to expand the circle of beneficiaries of grant programmes.

Laureates in MINIATURA will receive from ca € 1,200 to ca € 12,000. Proposals will be accepted on a continuous basis, with a simplified review procedure, thus bringing the time of issuing the funding decision down to three months. This programme will be funded with ca. € 6.8 million.

Proposals for ETIUDA 5, SONATINA 1 and UWERTURA 1 should be submitted through the OSF electronic system (https://osf.opi.org.pl) by 15^th March 2016. Results will be published by September 2017. The call for MINIATURA applications starts on 3^rd April 2017. From the December edition onwards, research proposals in all NCN calls will be submitted solely on-line.