On the 30th of March 2015 r. JPI HDHL (JPI A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life) together with the NCN will announce a call for proposals „Nutrition and Cognitive Function” (NutriCog).

The call targets research in the following topics:

1. Mechanistic / experimental research (in vitro, animal and/or human studies) focusing on how dietary factors interrelate with cognitive functions and processes.
2. Translational research (animal and/or human studies) delivering the physiological basis for the development of effective strategies to influence dietary behaviour and/or to improve cognitive function and performance.
3. Epidemiological research elucidating the relationship between diet and cognitive function across the life course, exclusively based on existing cohorts or other on-going epidemiological studies.
4. Pilot and/or proof of principle studies for interventions in humans, to develop new strategies for the maintenance and promotion of cognitive function and/or healthy dietary habits during the lifespan.

The deadline for submission is scheduled for the 8^th of June 2015.

Funding is available for research projects that involve at least three researchers from three different eligible countries.

For more information please see: http://www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu/index.php/news/177-call-for-proposals-nutrition-and-cognitive-function.

Contact:

• Dr Laura Bandura-Morgan, tel: +48 12 341 9163.

The results of the first TANGO call have just been published. Initiated by Poland’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education, operated jointly by the National Science Centre (NCN) and the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), the scheme is a funding initiative with almost € 10 million available for distribution among the authors of the best projects.

Cooperation between the NCN and NCBR is a paragon of modern and comprehensive state policy of supporting research, said the Minister of Science and Higher Education Lena Kolarska-Bobińska.  We have created a mechanism that covers the complete process of developing innovation – from the basic research level up to commercialisation. This is how to think about research if we expect it to translate directly into economic development and progress of our country.

TANGO is a joint undertaking of the National Science Centre and the National Centre for Science and Development, set up in order to accommodate the needs of research centres and universities seeking implementation of technologies, products and services, and to reinforce cooperation between researchers and entrepreneurs. Actions eligible for funding under the programme include, among other things, developing concepts for using the results of basic research in the economy, searching for partners interested in bringing these to production, as well as protecting intellectual property rights. Market analyses, industrial research, as well as research and development work will also be subsidised.   

At the National Science Centre, we are funding some 9,000 projects in basic research. Results of many are truly fascinating and offer a promising springboard for further research and development work. TANGO comes as a sort of connector between the domains of basic and applied research;  we hope it will prove instrumental in turning ideas into useful solutions and products, to the benefit of us all as a society, said professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, director of the NCN.

Experts reviewing projects submitted to the first edition of TANGO decided to award financing of nearly € 10 million to 48 out of the total number of 210 proposals. Among those awarded there are projects such as: development, simulation research and experimental studies of a parallel delta-type manipulator with artificial pneumatic muscles; work aimed to implement the innovative technology of eco-bonding composite materials that are asymmetrically veneered and applied in furniture; the implementation of cryopreservation of semen for programmes aimed to improve breeding salmonids; the introduction of a new HydroProg system – an emergency population warning on hydrological dangers.

Assisting in innovative projects requires that we ourselves be innovative and introduce innovative approaches that facilitate the optimal use of research by Polish scientists. The cooperation between the NCN and NCBR, and the contribution from private entrepreneurs gives us a chance to significantly reduce the time it takes for ground-breaking developments to be adopted by the economy, said professor Krzysztof Jan Kurzydłowski, director of the National Centre for Research and Development.

Under the TANGO scheme, the evaluation of research proposals comprised two stages and was performed by a team of Experts appointed jointly by the NCN and NCBR. In projects approved for the second stage (the R&D stage), it is required that the partnering entrepreneur support the project with 15 per cent of the state funding granted.

See the official announcement.

The National Science Centre has published the results of the MAESTRO 6, HARMONIA 6 and SONATA 4 calls for proposals. The list of the calls’ laureates consists of the names of 122 researchers from all over Poland.

There was a total number of 920 submissions to the three calls, with a success rate of 13.3 per cent.

Assessing proposals, Experts responsible for peer review give particular consideration to the quality of the proposed research and its significance for the advancement of research in their field. Very important is the global significance of the research, which by no means excludes topics addressing local problems, related to the history, geography or geology of Poland, our culture or the social problems of Polish cities and rural areas, said professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, director of the National Science Centre.

The applicants in the MAESTRO 6 call were advanced researchers seeking to conduct ground-breaking (e.g. interdisciplinary) research, important for the advancement of science or surpassing the current state of the art. Funding was awarded to 14 projects whose Principal Investigators will carry out research worth over € 10 million. Among other things, they will investigate the causes of dyslexia, test an approach to difficult protein targets using new spectrometry-based methods, they will try applying hyphenated and combined separation techniques in metabolic studies and search for cancer markers. The biggest grant in the MAESTRO 6 call, € 946,578, was awarded to OGLE-IV: The Largest Sky Variability Survey, led by prof. dr hab. Andrzej Udalski from the Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw. The success rate, i.e. the ratio of the proposals qualified for funding to the proposals submitted, in MAESTRO 6 approached 9 per cent.

HARMONIA 6 was another edition of the NCN’s offer extended to authors of international non-co-financed research. Under the HARMONIA scheme, Polish researchers apply for funding of research carried out in direct cooperation with a partner from a research institution abroad, within the framework of international programmes involving a number of participant countries, and projects using large-scale international research infrastructure. In the aftermath of the call, funding of ca. € 12.5 million will be given to 51 projects, among them will be research consisting of participation in the upkeep, data collection and data analysis of the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in CERN; works on the role of visual displays and gestures in deductive reasoning; research on restoring brain functions in mice by neuronal transplantation. The recipient of the largest grant in the call was the project titled CDKG/Ph1: is there a common process that regulates genomic stability in grass species, led by dr hab. Robert Hasterok from the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Silesia in Katowice: the NCN has earmarked the sum of € 472,241 for its realisation. The success rate in HARMONIA 6 equalled 14.5 per cent.

SONATA BIS 4 was addressed to researchers with a doctoral degree obtained within 2-12 months of submission of the proposal. The chief purpose of the projects carried out under this scheme is to create new research teams consisting of researchers without habilitation. Funding in SONATA BIS 4 was awarded to 57 projects, worth in total more than € 17 million. The project with the largest budget, dr Rafał Czajkowski (Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences) and his team’s The Role of the retrosplenial cortex in spatial memory and navigation, received ca. € 470,000. Other laureates will conduct research on such problems and topics as the ecological genetics of the great tit in a new, long-term population study set along a rural-urban environmental gradient, the Eurolect: an EU variant of Polish and its impact on administrative Polish, or quantum information processing with severely limited memory and communication. In the SONATA BIS 4 call 13.8 per cent of the submitted proposals were approved for funding.

The HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) Network is pleased to announce a new HERA Joint Research Programme (HERA JRP) on “Uses of the Past”. With up to €20 million available, the research programme will fund new and exciting humanities-centred projects involving researchers from four or more countries.Funding is available for research projects addressing the theme of “Uses of the Past” that involve at least four researchers from four different eligible countries. The application process will be in two stages.

The draft timetable for applications is:

• Outline Proposals to be submitted 9 April 2015, 19:00 Central European Time/18:00 Greenwich Mean Time
• Shortlisted applicants to submit Full Proposals in October 2015.

The following countries have committed to the HERA JRP on Uses of the Past:

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

Funding is provided from HERA partners and The European Union is providing top-up funding via a COFUND grant to the HERA JRP UP initiative.

Before applying please read carefully the following documents:

• HERA UP Call for Proposals 2015 (PDF), including the detailed thematic text and the guidelines for applicants
• HERA UP General and National Eligibility Requirements 2015 (PDF) these must be adhered to in addition to the HERA requirements outlined in the call for proposals (UPDATED 19/01/2015)
• HERA UP Frequently Asked Questions 2015 (PDF)
• HERA UP Glossary 2015 (PDF)
• HERA UP Outline Proposal Template template 2015 (WORD)
• HERA UP Budget template 2015 (Excel)

For more information please see: http://heranet.info/hera-jrp-documents-1.

Polish applicants should also submit a short application via OSF system (UNISONO application).

Budget of the Polish part of the research project in the OSF system should be given in PLN. The Euro exchange rate should be calculated according to the NCN Council’s Resolutions no 7/2013 and 21/2014 (1 EUR= 4,2277 PLN). 

Contact

Dr hab. Wojciech Sowa, tel: +48 12 341 9171

Malwina Jabczuga-Gębalska, tel: +48 12 341 9017

The National Science Centre and Infect-ERA consortium invites researchers to a new edition of the call for international research projects.

The following themes are covered (equal in relevance):

• The host-pathogen interaction in regards to clinically relevant strains and the assessment of factors influencing this interplay.
• Diagnostics based on components of host-pathogen interaction, including development of markers for a clinical and personalized setting and detection of high risk clones in various diseases.

Proposals with topics HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B/C, malaria and tuberculosis are not in the scope of the call.

Research team: composed of research teams from at least 3, but no more than 6, countries participating in the call

Countries participating in the call:

• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Hungary
• India
• Italy
• Israel
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Spain

Project duration: up to 3 years

NCN budget for the call: € 500 000

Timeframe:

Pre-proposal application deadline: 18th of March 2015 (17:00, CET)

Full proposals application deadline: 17th of July 2015 (17:00, CET)

Final results:  December 2015       

Proposals should be submitted via Infect-ERA submission system: https://www.submission-infect-era.eu/.

Polish applicants should also submit a short application via OSF system: www.osf.opi.org (UNISONO application). Deadline: 25^th March 2015.

Budget of the Polish part of the research project in the OSF system should be given in PLN. The Euro exchange rate should be calculated according to the NCN Council’s Resolutions no 7/2013 and 73/2014 (1 EUR= 4,1935 PLN). 

Call documents:

1. Infect-ERA Call 2015 Call Text 3rd Call
2. Infect-ERA Call 2015 Guidelines for Applicants
3. Infect-ERA Call 2015 PreProposal Example and Hints

For more information please click here: https://www.submission-infect-era.eu/3rd-call. 

Applicants are also invited to use a partnering tool (http://www.infect-era.eu/collaborations) in order to search partners for Infect-ERA projects. 

Contact:

Dr Magdalena Kowalczyk, +48 123419161

Sylwia Kostka, +48 123419018

Recently concluded OPUS 7, PRELUDIUM 7 & SONATA 7 calls contribute over € 67 million to basic research in Poland.

In response to the three calls, the NCN received over 5,000 proposals, of which 715 have qualified for funding.

OPUS continues to remain the most popular of the National Science Centre’s funding schemes. Its calls are open to all researchers, regardless of their research experience. The funding from the NCN may help finance different types of research activity: the purchase of equipment, employment of co-investigators, research expeditions etc. In the seventh edition of the OPUS calls, as many as 362 research projects across all three research domains (Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering) received aggregate funding of over € 50 million.

Dedicated to early-stage researchers is the PRELUDIUM funding scheme. A person submitting a proposal under the PRELUDIUM call has to be a researcher before completion of their doctorate, therefore it is doctoral candidates who make up the majority of applicants. In the recent edition, funding worth ca. € 6 million was granted to 240 proposals.

In the third of the concluded calls, SONATA 7, proposals were sent in by researchers who had been holders of a doctoral degree for no longer than 5 years. Under this funding scheme grantees may purchase equipment that could be instrumental in developing a unique approach or method. This time funding was granted to 113 projects, with the total sum exceeding € 10 million.

Proposals are assessed by our Experts, in the course of a 2-stage peer review, with additional evaluation carried out by External Reviewers from abroad. We are happy to see the number of foreign reviews steadily increase. In the case of OPUS 7, PRELUDIUM 7 & SONATA 7, the second stage of evaluation had a considerable share of reviews made by Experts from abroad: nearly 50 per cent in Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, 94 per cent in Life Sciences, and 62 per cent in Physical Sciences and Engineering, said professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, director of the NCN.

Regarding distribution of the funding between research domains, Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences received ca. € 11 million, Life Sciences – over € 28 million, Physical Sciences - Engineering – over € 27 million.

Among the projects in Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, the largest portion of funding was awarded to Settlement History of Iraqi Kurdistan 2, led by dr hab. Rafał Koliński from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, a continuation to the research of the history and cultural heritage of the Aqrah-Bardarash plain, which started in 2012. The project, worth € 355,000, will be carried out under the OPUS scheme.

The largest grant in the domain of Life Sciences, amounting to ca. € 473,000, was awarded to the project on metabolic profiling of individuals with classic and genetic risk factors of coronary artery disease, led by doctor Tadeusz Osadnik. It will be carried out at the Silesian Centre for Heart Disease in Zabrze.

The top funding in Physical Sciences and Engineering was given to the project Intelligent Radiation Detector with Inter-pixel Communication and Time of Arrival Measurements for Implementation in Technologies of Extreme Scale of Integration. The Principal Investigator of the project, worth over € 350,000, is professor Grzegorz Deptuch from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow.

The full list of awardees can be found here (available only in Polish).

We are extremely happy to join in congratulating a team of doctors from Wroclaw Medical University. Thanks to the pioneering course of treatment they administered to a 40-year-old patient whose spinal cord had been severed, the man could resume walking with the help of orthopaedic equipment.

The therapy involved a method of implanting the patient’s ensheathing olfactory cells into the damaged area. The cells, normally responsible for the replenishment of frequently damaged and renewed olfactory neurons, stimulate the regeneration of the severed spinal cord; their particular properties were discovered and described by professor Geoffrey Raisman from University College London’s Institute of Neurology.

The research on the use of ensheathing olfactory cells in treating spinal cord injuries has been carried out by a team led by professor Włodzimierz Jarmundowicz in collaboration with professor Raisman. The research is co-financed by the NCN under its HARMONIA 3 funding scheme.

Paralysed man walks again after cell transplant - BBC News

The HERA (“Humanities in the European Research Area”) Network invites researchers to apply for the participation in the “Uses of the Past – Matchmaking Event” taking place in Tallinn on 29 January 2015.The aim of the Matchmaking Event is to present the Call for transnational humanities-led research proposals under the theme “Uses of the Past” to be formally announced in January 2015 and to facilitate the building of international research partnerships.

The deadline to register your interest in attending the Matchmaking Event is 5 November 2014, 14:00 CET (Central European Time).

For more information please click here: http://www.b2match.eu/hera-up-mme.

Contact

dr hab. Wojciech Sowa, tel: +48 12 341 9171

Malwina Jabczuga-Gębalska, tel: +48 12 341 9017

The National Science Centre and the CHIST-ERA consortium invite researchers to a new edition of the call for international research projects. Topics of the 2014 opportunity are: Resilient Trustworthy Cyber-Physical Systems (RTCPS) and Human Language Understanding: Grounding Language Learning (HLU).

The deadline for submitting applications is 13 January, 2015, 5 p.m. (CET).

It is also required that Polish applicants send in an initial application, along with attachments, by  20 January, 2015, using the OSF electronic submission system (www.osf.opi.org – please use the UNISONO form).

Funding:

Within this call the NCN Council has allocated 500 000 EUR for Polish research projects.

Call documentation:

1. CHIST-ERA Call 2014 Anouncement
2. CHIST-ERA Call 2014 Eligibility Requirements
3. CHIST-ERA Call 2014 Proposal Form
4. CHIST-ERA Call 2014 Financial Template
5. CHIST-ERA Call 2014 Leaflet

For detailed information please see: http://www.chistera.eu/call-2014-announcement

Applicants are also invited to use Partner Search Tool (http://www.chistera.eu/node/add/call-2014-eoi), in order to express interest either in joining a research project proposal or to search partner(s) for joining an existing proposal idea.

Contact:

dr Jakub Gadek, jakub.gadek@ncn.gov.pl, tel. +48 12 341 9152

Sylwia Kostka, sylwia.kostka@ncn.gov.pl, tel. +48 12 341 9018

Professors Janusz Bujnicki, Michał Horodecki and Marcin Miłkowski received the National Science Centre (NCN) 2014 Award. Each will receive PLN 50,000 in recognition of their excellent research achievements.

The NCN Award was founded as a form of special acknowledgement of scientific research by Polish researchers under 40. It is awarded to those who carry out basic research in Polish research centres which have resulted in publications. The Award is conferred by a jury that includes representatives of the National Science Centre and the sponsors’ representatives.

In the area of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the Award was given to professor Marcin Miłkowski from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, for his original version of the computational theory of the mind, which he discusses in Explaining the computational mind, a book published by MIT Press.

For 14 years now, I have been compelled by science’s attempts to explain the operations of the human mind. In my book I seek to understand how  scientists who pursue the computational theory of the mind actually work. My point of departure was to describe the practice, said professor Miłkowski.

The Award in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences was sponsored by Meble Vox Sp. z o.o.

In the area of Life Sciences, the Award was conferred on professor Janusz Bujnicki from the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw. He was awarded for designing innovative bioinformatic methods for the research of RNA-protein complexes, and for determining the structure and mechanics of the human enzymes responsible for synthesis of RNA.

RNA molecules are extremely important both for medicine and biotechnology. Understanding their structure may contribute to the development of new drugs and new biotechnological tools. It is my dream as a scientist to make a major discovery or invent something that will benefit all humans, said professor Bujnicki.

The Award in Life Sciences was sponsored by Adamed Sp. z o.o.

In Physical Sciences and Engineering, the Award was given to professor Michał Horodecki from the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, University of Gdańsk, for his discovery of the quantum state of bound entanglement and for his investigations into the non-additiveness of quantum channels’ capacity.

What gives me most joy in my job is that it is about the basics of quantum mechanics, in fact the very basics of physics. Thanks to quantum cryptography, we can go about what scientists like best: trying to understand nature, said professor Horodecki.

The Award in Physical Sciences and Engineering was sponsored by EDF Polska S.A.

Present at the NCN Award gala in Kraków's Cloth Hall was Director of the NCN professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, Chair of the NCN Council professor Michał Karoński, and Mr Jacek Guliński, Under-secretary of State in the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.