The SONATINA 8 and DAINA 3 calls are now open. It is an opportunity for new PhDs and researchers planning projects with Lithuanian partners to get their share of funding from a total budget of 36 million zlotys.
In the winter iteration of NCN calls, researchers who wish to work in Poland are once again invited to vie for funding for basic research, understood as empirical or theoretical studies undertaken to gain new knowledge of the foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any direct commercial use. Under SONATINA, the projects might also address applied research.
Proposals will be accepted for three months, until March 2024. 20 million zlotys are up for grabs under SONATINA and a further 16 million under DAINA.
SONATINA for “young” researchers
The 8th SONATINA call is targeted at young researchers. Importantly, the term “young” here applies not so much to their chronological age as to their career level. The PI must hold a PhD degree, awarded between 1 January 2021 and the date of submission, or commit to earning the degree by the end of June 2024.
SONATINA supports the careers of young researchers, enabling them to secure full-time employment contracts and conduct scientific research at Polish host institutions. Winners of the call also get an opportunity to gain new knowledge and valuable experience during 3- to 6-month fellowships at high-quality foreign research centres. The SONATINA grant cannot be managed by a person who has earned their PhD at the host institution.
SONATINA projects can be planned over 24 or 36 months. Apart from the full-time salary for the PI and the costs of the mandatory foreign fellowship, the budget may also make provisions for additional remuneration for project team members, the costs of materials and small equipment, outsourced services, business trips, visits and consultations, as well as compensation for collective investigators under the project. The budget may not include the costs of research equipment, devices or software, or full-time salaries and scholarships for other team members.
At the NCN, we really invest in young people. Every year, more than 50% of our resources go toward supporting their careers, both through calls, where they need to compete against more experienced colleagues, and through scholarships, fellowships and post-doc funding. NCN calls, such as the recently launched SONATINA 8, give young researchers financial stability and a chance to gain research independence.
Polish-Lithuanian cooperation under DAINA
In the 3rd DAINA call, the NCN resumes its successful cooperation with the Lithuanian Research Council (RCL). The call is open to Polish researchers planning to conduct research in tandem with Lithuanian partners. The PI of the Polish team must hold at least a PhD degree and their research record, depending on the discipline, must include at least one paper published or accepted for publication or at least one artistic achievement or achievement in research in art.
DAINA projects can be planned over 36 months. The maximum budget for the Polish part of the project is 1 million zlotys and may include full-time salaries for the PI and the research team (including post-docs), scholarship for students and PhD students, research equipment, as well as other costs crucial to the project.
In the last two iterations of the DAINA call, 27 projects received a total of 26.5 million zlotys in funding. The research problems covered by these successful teams can be consulted in the NCN’s project database.
Proposal and then what?
Proposals under the SONATINA and DAINA calls can be submitted by representatives of the host institution or by natural persons. Proposals should be drafted and submitted via the OSF submission system. The deadline ends on 15 March 2024 at 4 pm CET. The OSF system forms will be launched on 18 December.
The merit-based evaluation consists of two stages. Proposals are evaluated by inter-panel expert teams appointed for the given call, as well as by independent external experts. The experts are selected by the NCN Council from among outstanding researchers, Polish and international, with at least a PhD degree, based on the criterion of scientific excellence and no conflict of interest. The composition of the team is only decided after submissions close so as to best reflect the number and subjects of submitted proposals. For DAINA, the team is appointed jointly by the NCN and the RCL.
The peer-review process at the NCN conforms to the highest international standards. At stage 1, each proposal is evaluated by at least two expert team members and later discussed by the team as a whole; the team then decides whether to pass it on to stage 2 or reject it. At stage 2, the proposal is evaluated by at least two external experts; under SONATINA, the PI of the project is also interviewed. The final scores, as well as the ranking list of projects recommended for funding, are decided by the expert team in a debate during the second panel meeting.
Results will be announced by the end of September 2024 for SONATINA and by the end of November 2024 for DAINA.