The fourth edition of the EEA and Norway Grants focuses on fundamental research that helps to improve understanding of key social and environmental challenges. As the programme operator, NCN will support projects that combine different research fields and produce results that can be used in the development of public policy.

Signing of agreements for the first five programmes funded under the fourth edition of the EEA and Norway Grants: Secretary of State at the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy Jan Szyszko, Chair of the Financial Mechanisms Committee Kristin Hansen, and Dr Marcin Liana, Deputy Director of the National Science Centre, photo: MFiPR The programme agreements initiating the fourth edition for the years 2021–2028 were signed on 4 February 2026 at the Museum of Polish History in Warsaw. The budget for the “Basic Research” programme exceeds EUR 71 million, and project funding will be available until the end of April 2031.

In this edition, we have planned two research calls and two supporting calls, addressed to research teams implementing projects in collaboration with partners from Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The calls are GRIEG BIS (with a budget of EUR 50 million) and the interdisciplinary LANGSPIL (with a budget of EUR 12 million). Both will be launched in 2026 and will include three-year projects implemented on a bilateral or multilateral basis. Projects submitted to the calls will need to align with at least one of the three donor priorities specified in the Blue Book: green transition, democracy and the rule of law, and social transformations and resilience. Also this year, the first of the supporting calls will be launched — Coordination & Capacity Kick-off — aimed at supporting team formation and developing research concepts for international interdisciplinary projects. The second supporting call — Coordination & Capacity Follow-up — is planned for 2028 and will support the valorisation of knowledge generated in projects funded under the programme. We will also strengthen polar research through the predefined project SPARK, which will involve scientists from Poland, Iceland and Norway.

Going Beyond Boundaries

Presentation of the Basic Research Programme In the years 2017–2024, during the previous edition of the EEA and Norway Grants, NCN managed a budget of EUR 54 million. The resources were allocated to, among other areas: research on early risk assessment of cancer and non-invasive methods for diagnosing the circulatory system; projects on activism and alternative forms of citizenship, data privacy and the politics of law; as well as research on the effects of climate change, and the social and psychological responses to the climate crisis. The results of peatland research conducted in Poland and Norway are now forming the basis for further planning of protection measures for these ecosystems and the restoration of peatland areas.

This is precisely the kind of impact NCN aims for in the new funding cycle. “Not commercialisation or patents, but situations in which research results are genuinely used in developing regulations, educational programmes or public policy,” emphasises Joanna Węgrzycka from the NCN Team for the EEA and Norway Grants. The fourth edition places particular emphasis on transdisciplinarity, meaning going beyond academic boundaries. The key competition here will be LANGSPIL, which assumes collaboration between researchers and non-academic partners, such as local authorities and civil society organisations. “We want researchers to step out of their disciplines and work with partners from other fields and beyond academia who are genuinely interested in solving a given challenge,” adds Joanna Węgrzycka.

The increased budget in this edition of the EEA and Norway Grants is a result of NCN’s effective management in previous years. We utilised nearly 100 % of the available funds, which translated into a larger allocation for the current cycle. “We delivered not only all the planned calls, but also additional activities: a scholarship programme for early-career researchers from Ukraine, the predefined polar project CRIOS, and two bilateral initiatives — HarSval in polar research and Science & Society in the Social Sciences and Humanities,” lists Dr Marzena Oliwkiewicz-Miklasińska, Head of the EEA and Norway Grants Team at NCN.

Signing of programme agreements for the 4th edition of the EEA and Norway Grants, photo credit: MFiPR

Polish scientists from the University of Gdansk and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, together with their partners from Slovenia, will develop an innovative biomaterial to enhance bone healing as part of the Weave-UNISONO collaboration. 

Bone fractures are a major health risk in today’s ageing society, mainly among patients with osteoporosis and other bone density disorders. BONEFILL is a project aimed at developing bioactive, injectable bone fillers that closely replicate the natural composition of bone, enabling faster regeneration of particularly small bone defects without the use of antibiotics, which may reduce the development of drug resistance. Hydroxyapatite-based components enriched with metal ions and peptides will be embedded in biodegradable polymer matrix and additionally hardened using irradiation to ensure adequate strength and controlled release of active substances. The project envisages the development of two types of fillers designed for minimally invasive applications: a composite hydrogel for non-surgical applications and an in-situ formed elastomer.

The project will be carried out by an international consortium of Polish and Slovenian scientists working at four leading institutions: the University of Gdansk and Wroclaw University of Technology in Poland, and the Jozef Stefan Institute and Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The combination of their knowledge and experience will enable the successful development of an innovative, easy-to-use, cost-effective and efficient biomaterial that will improve bone healing, reduce the number of surgeries and enhance the quality of life for many people. The Polish research team headed by Dr hab. Aneta Szymańska from the University of Gdansk will have the budget of nearly PLN 2,000,000. The Slovenian research team will be headed by Prof. Marija Vukomanovič from the Jozef Stefan Institute. The proposal was evaluated by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS), and the National Science Centre approved the evaluation results under the Weave collaboration. 

Weave-UNISONO and Lead Agency Procedure 

Weave-UNISONO is a result of multilateral cooperation between the research-funding agencies associated in Science Europe and aims at simplifying the submission and selection procedures in all academic disciplines, involving researchers from two or three European countries.

The winning applicants are selected pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure according to which one partner institution performs a complete merit-based evaluation of proposals, the results of which are subsequently approved by the other partners.

Under the Weave Programme, partner research teams apply for parallel funding to the Lead Agency and their respective institutions participating in the Programme. Joint research projects must include a coherent research program with the added value of the international cooperation clearly identified.

Weave-UNISONO is carried out on an ongoing basis. Research teams intending to cooperate with partners from Austria, Czechia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium-Flanders are urged to read the call text and apply for funding.

The European Commission, led by DG AGRI, is preparing a new EU Agricultural Research and Innovation (R&I) Strategic Approach, planned for mid-2026. This Strategic Approach aims to secure the long-term competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of the EU’s agri-food sector, forestry and rural areas, and contribute to the objectives of the Vision for Agriculture and Food and other Commission initiatives.

We invite you to take part in a short questionnaire designed to gather feedback from key stakeholders across the agricultural, forestry, and rural sectors. These includes researchers, innovators, farmers, foresters, rural communities, cooperatives and associations, advisors, businesses and private-sector actors, policy makers, NGOs and other relevant organisations.

Sharing your reflections will contribute to designing a Strategic Approach that revamps the EU innovation journey from research to market, identifies priority R&I thematic areas and bolsters the uptake of new knowledge and innovation by farmers, foresters and rural actors for the competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of the sectors.

The launch of the LUKE Joint Call for international research projects in cooperation with researchers from Ukraine has beenm rescheduled for 27 February 2026.

The call aims to support research projects implemented through international cooperation, with Ukraine as a key partner. The call will be jointly announced by 15 research funding agencies participating in the LUKE – Linking Ukraine to the European Research Area programme. It will enable joint implementation of research projects by researchers from: Ukraine, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Republic of Moldova, Romania and Türkiye.

Applications may be submitted by international consortia composed of at least three entities from different countries, including at least one partner from Ukraine.

Within the LUKE Joint Call, the National Science Centre (NCN) will fund basic research projects carried out by Polish research institutions, in accordance with NCN regulations.

The thematic scope of the call will cover four areas:

• Energy – sustainable and renewable energy and energy security
• Cybersecurity – cyber resilience of critical infrastructures and adaptive cybersecurity systems
• Medical and health research – telemedicine and biomedical research, including:
  • adoption of telemedicine solutions for remote healthcare,
  • innovative research on cellular signalling pathways for biomedical applications
• Social sciences and humanities – social reconciliation, sustainable social development and restoration of human capital

Detailed topic descriptions.

Indicative timetable (updated 30 January 2026)

• call publication: 27 February 2026
• proposal submission deadline: 15 May 2026, 11:00 CET / 12:00 EET
• project start date: January 2027 – March 2027
• project end date: December 2028 – February 2029

Further information and updates concerning the call

This pre-announcement is provided for information purposes only. Detailed conditions will be specified in the official call announcement.

Grant Agreement 101188315 – LUKE

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

This year, the National Science Centre will celebrate its 15th anniversary. As usual, we will continue our hard work to support Polish researchers. We also wish to share the impact of basic research on the social, economic and national development.

“Our priority remains stable, transparent and competitive research funding across disciplines under call for proposals,” says Prof. Krzysztof Jóźwiak, NCN Director. “The current level of grant funding does not reflect the state potential or the needs of the Polish researchers. Therefore, we will strive for increased funding to make sure that ambitious projects can be pursued in decent conditions. Starting in 2026, we plan to issue bonds,” he adds.

Our plans for the nearest future also include continued efforts to promote further internationalisation of Polish science by enhanced cooperation with Polish and foreign partners, increased involvement in activities aimed to implement NCN-funded project results and to support open science.  

Domestic and International Calls

We are planning to launch eight calls in 2026 from our domestic call portfolio. We will launch two OPUS calls addressed to all researchers, one in spring and one in autumn. The latter call will follow the Lead Agency Procedure under the Weave programme, whereby Polish research teams can cooperate with teams from Austria, Czechia, Slovenia, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg or Belgium-Flanders. We are also planning to launch PRELUDIUM, SONATINA, SONATA, SONATA BIS, and MAESTRO calls addressed to researchers at various stages of their research career. In February, we will launch the 10th edition of our flagship MINIATURA call for research activities. Call Portfolio. What can be funded? Check our previously funded projects (examples).

The beginning of a new year is a great opportunity to launch the 4th edition of the EEA and Norway Grants, with the NCN continuing to act as the operator of the “Basic Research” programme.  We will fund fundamental research, in particular in the area of Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences, subject to the key priorities of the 4th edition of the EEA and Norway Grants: Green Transformation of Europe; Democracy, Rule of Law, and Human Rights; and Social Inclusion and Resilience). We will launch two major calls: GRIEG BIS and (interdisciplinary) LANGSPIL and two supporting Coordination & Capacity calls, and will pursue the SPARK programme.

In 2026, we will also strive to enhance international collaboration and work towards creating new opportunities for collaboration between Polish and foreign researchers. We are now accepting proposals to two calls: OH-TREAT and LEAP-SE Cofund Call 2026. We are also planning to launch 6 other international calls in cooperation with research-funding agencies and academic and science institutions in the framework of international programmes and partnerships. New call editions involving cooperation with M-ERA.NET, T-AP, Biodiversa+ and OHAMR, will be organised alongside new initiatives, such as LUKE (Linking Ukraine to the European Research Area), a platform for cooperation and knowledge exchange, aimed to integrate Ukrainian and European researchers to strengthen the Ukrainian R&I ecosystem, and a call organised in cooperation with the European Partnership for Resilient Cultural Heritage, which the NCN entered as a partner. The ongoing cooperation with the Max Planck Association will enable us to launch the 5th Dioscuri call, whereby two new Centres of Scientific Excellence will be established in Poland to conduct interdisciplinary research. The ongoing Weave-UNISONO call, conducted in accordance with the Lead Agency Procedure, will remain open for submissions throughout the year. We will continue coordination of the QuantERA network, and CHANSE and POLONEZ BIS programmes, as well as the European partnerships EOSC, Biodiversa+ and OHAMR at national level. Preparations for launching the STR partnership will continue. Upon formation, the partnership will fund international research projects addressing major societal challenges.

Strengthening Polish Research Potential: Collaboration Between Polish and Foreign Institutions 

Our mission includes collaboration with other state agencies and science institutions. We collaborate with the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) to enhance the technological readiness of basic research results. In order to encourage foreign researchers to conduct research in Polish research institutions, we cooperate with the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) in securing funding for research components under the Polish Returns Programme and, since 2026, a new TOP200 NAWA programme aimed at supporting transnational science cooperation. We support the Medical Research Agency (ABM) in calls for basic research projects in medical and health sciences.

In 2026, we will continue our involvement in the ERC Mentoring Initiative allowing prospective ERC applicants to use mentoring support. Due to ongoing collaboration with the Polish-American Fulbright Commission, researchers returning to Poland after completing their fellowship in the USA will be offered financial support to continue their research in Poland.

As an institution, the NCN will remain an active member of Science Europe, giving an even stronger voice to Polish researchers owing to Director Krzysztof Jóźwiak’s appointment to the Science Europe Governing Board last November.

We have supported open science for many years and have been involved in the formation of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), aimed to create an open trusted virtual multi-disciplinary international environment where researchers can store, share, process and reuse digital objects used in research. We are the National Mandated Organisation in the EOSC Association. Our 2026 activities will include the EOSC cooperation under the 10th Framework Programme and continued participation in the build-up phase of development of the EOSC Federation.

Where To Meet Us?

The 10th NCN Days will be organised in Katowice. As usual, the event will include meetings, panel discussions, workshops for applicants, workshops on administrative and financial support for NCN-funded projects, and workshops on research data management. Throughout the year, we will also offer meetings and workshops online.

What Was 2025 Like?

Panel discussion: Science in action, Economic Forum in Karpacz Panel discussion: Science in Action; Economic Forum in Karpacz. Last year, we discussed the importance of basic research for the development of innovation and of the state.  The government has considered research one of Poland’s development priorities. An extra PLN 500 million received at the end of 2024 in the form of bonds enabled us to gradually increase our call budgets, which is still not enough to meet Poland’s development needs and sufficiently reinforce the Polish scientific community. In view of the draft 2026 budget bill which keeps the NCN’s grant for research at its current level, last September, the NCN Council requested that NCN funding be increased by PLN 400 million.

Regardless of the budget issues, we managed to accomplish our mission. We launched 8 domestic calls and 7 international calls in collaboration with research funding agencies and institutions worldwide. We completed 9 domestic calls, awarding over 1.3 thousand grants for research projects and research components, and over 600 grants for research activities. We published the results of 7 international calls, funding 71 projects with Polish participation. In 2025, we awarded a total funding of over PLN 1.9 billion to researchers working in Poland. Database of Project Funded by the NCN.

2025 NCN Award Winners For the thirteenth time, the NCN Award was presented to outstanding early-career researchers. This time, the award went to Bartosz Szyszko, Łucja Kowalewska, and Maciej Stolarski. 

Over the year, in consultations with the scientific community, we modified the implementation procedure of NCN-funded projects. We no longer require that research results be published in open access, although we still strongly advocate for open access: open science is more transparent and is of greater benefit to society. The NCN Council issued the recommendations to disseminate research results, e.g., to publish in journals where papers are published by experts in the field, and to avoid publishing in the so-called predatory journals.

NCN Days in Rzeszów We advocated for further funding opportunities for Polish researchers. Apart from resuming the role of coordinator in the Basic Research programme under the 4th Edition of EEA and Norway Grants, we agreed upon the terms of the 5th call for the Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence, together with the German Max Planck Association. We also joined two European partnerships: One Health Antimicrobial Resistance (OHAMR) and Resilient Cultural Heritage.

In 2025, we organised the NCN Days in Rzeszów. We were also present at numerous conferences, seminars, workshops and online courses. Until 2026, then!

In the first episode of our podcast this year, with the economists, Prof. Joanna Tyrowicz from the University of Warsaw and GAPE Research Centre and Prof. Łukasz Woźny from the SGH Warsaw School of Economics, discuss private research funding.

The podcast guests point out to a significant loophole in the Polish innovation landscape, a severe lack of private-sector investments in basic research. Public research funding in Poland is still below the country’s potential. At the same time, private-sector investments in basic research are virtually non-existent, setting us apart from the most developed countries.

Prof. Joanna Tyrowicz studies the labour market and business sector. She is a member of the Monetary Policy Council. Prof. Łukasz Woźny analyses the use of game theory in economics. His research findings were applied for consulting projects for large companies.

The discussion begins with a common question regarding the “usefulness” of the research. Our guests point out to the fact that this way of thinking fails to capture the process of generating new knowledge. Basic research evolves at the boundaries of human understanding where specific application is not yet determined. Application comes later, often with a delay.

Prof. Łukasz Woźny refers to the history of economics and physics where major advances occurred when research was free from constraints of ongoing improvement of industrial processes. A theory and understanding of a certain phenomenon are usually followed by practical application, often years later.

The next questions concerned the experience of other countries. How is basic research funded by the private sector in systems where it is a permanent feature? Prof. Joanna Tyrowicz refers to the systems of Western Europe and USA where academic chairs are sponsored by companies, and research teams and long-term basic research programmes are supported by family foundations. In these approaches, it is crucial that sponsorship and financial support do not come with any expectations regarding specific topics or quick results. Instead, support is directed to researchers and their research potential.

An important part of the discussion is whether private funding might lead the state to cut its already limited spending on science. Łukasz Woźny points to the so-called multiplier effects in countries like Japan and Korea. Every public penny invested in high-quality research can trigger additional private funding, creating a snowball effect. Observing the achievements of researchers publishing in top journals, businesses start to appreciate their prestige and see the point of supporting their work. 

Private sponsorship of science, as with the arts and sports, merely creates the conditions necessary for the development of talent and knowledge. Prof. Joanna Tyrowicz emphasises that enterprises can benefit from the scientist’s unique perspective to see certain business aspects that are not necessarily seen by consultants. Experts suggest that enterprises should take the first step by sponsoring specific academic positions for doctoral students, thereby creating new academic chairs with relatively low outlays.  

Our podcast is available on our YouTube channel, Spotify and Apple Podcast.

An international team of astronomers, among them researchers from the OGLE sky survey run at the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw, as well as from the Gaia Alert System, announced in Science the discovery of a new class of exoplanets: free-floating planets. Research was co-funded by the National Science Centre.

Free-floating planets are objects that roam the Milky Way on their own, not gravitationally bound to any star. The discovery was made possible by directly “weighing” a planet detected through a phenomenon known as gravitational microlensing, designated KMT-2024-BLG-0792/OGLE-2024-BLG-0516. Its mass is estimated at about 70 times the mass of Earth.

Artist’s impression of the microlensing event KMT-2024-BLG-0792/OGLE-2024-BLG-0516, observed simultaneously from ground-based observatories and by the Gaia satellite. Credit: J. Skowron / OGLE The possibility of worlds beyond Earth, or even extraterrestrial civilizations, has fascinated humanity for centuries. However, it was only about 30 years ago that the first planets orbiting Sun-like stars were discovered, giving rise to a new field in experimental astronomy: the study of exoplanets. Over the past few decades, this field has developed at an astonishing pace, revealing ever more secrets of alien worlds and demonstrating that our Solar System is just one of many planetary systems in the Universe, and not necessarily a unique one. Until now, however, all known exoplanets were found in systems gravitationally bound to their host stars, orbiting around them.

For many years, astronomers have realized that planets do not have to exist only in such bound systems. As a result of various processes, such as gravitational interactions with other planets during the formation of planetary systems or close flybys of neighboring stars, planets can be torn from their parent systems and ejected into interstellar space. These solitary planets, known as free-floating or rogue planets, then wander through the Milky Way without being tied to any star. Theoretical estimates suggest that their number could be very large, possibly even exceeding the number of planets bound to stars.

The idea of free-floating planets, and even the possibility that some form of life might exist on them, has fired the imagination not only of scientists, but also of science fiction writers. In recent years, many novels and film scripts have been set on such lonely, starless worlds drifting through the vast emptiness of the Milky Way.

But how can such planets be discovered and proven to exist if they do not emit light and do not interact with a parent star? The answer lies in gravitational microlensing, a technique that allows astronomers to measure the mass of an object that bends light. In practice, microlensing occurs when the light from a distant star is bent and amplified by the gravity of a closer object, called the lens. Because this effect does not depend on how bright the lens itself is, the method can detect dark, non-luminous bodies, even if the planet itself emits no light at all. The duration of a microlensing event generally depends on the mass of the lens. For objects with planetary masses, such events are very short, lasting only a few to several hours.

In 2017, astronomers from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) project published results from a search for free-floating planets based on several years of intensive observations of about 50 million stars toward the Milky Way bulge. Among these, they discovered several thousand gravitational microlensing events with timescales ranging from hours to hundreds of days.

These observations indicated that free-floating planets should be quite numerous, but contrary to earlier claims, most of them should likely be low-mass planets rather than more massive, Jupiter-like ones, says Dr. Przemek Mróz, the first author of this groundbreaking study published in Nature.

Soon afterward, more promising candidates for free-floating planets were identified. Unfortunately, to directly determine a planet’s mass, astronomers need to know the distance to the lensing object. From Earth-based observations alone, this is possible only in exceptional and extremely rare cases. As a result, these objects remained candidates: depending on their unknown distance, their masses could be larger (even exceeding the range usually associated with planets) or smaller. Today, about a dozen such candidates are known. The least massive among them can have a mass as small as that of Mars. Nevertheless, despite being highly likely, the existence of free-floating planets had not yet been conclusively proven. No one had managed to directly measure the mass of such an object and confirm that it was truly a planet rather than a more massive body, such as a brown dwarf.

A free-floating planet gravitationally microlensing a distant star in the Galactic center. Two magnified images of the source star surround the Einstein ring of the event. All previously known planets orbit their host stars in gravitationally bound systems. Credit: J. Skowron, K. Ulaczyk / OGLE. A breakthrough came with observations made on May 3, 2024. Using telescopes from the Korean KMTNet network (located in Australia, South Africa, and Chile), together with the OGLE telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, astronomers recorded a short-lived gravitational microlensing event involving a bright star near the center of the Galaxy. According to convention, the event was named KMT-2024-BLG-0792/OGLE-2024-BLG-0516. Soon after the event ended, it became clear that the shape of the brightness variations matched predictions for microlensing caused by a free-floating planet. The event immediately joined the list of the most promising free-floating planet candidates.

Astronomers soon realized that the region of the sky where this microlensing event occurred was being observed at the same time by the European Space Agency’s flagship mission, Gaia, which between 2014 and 2025 carried out regular photometric observations of about two billion stars across the entire sky. Gaia was not designed to observe very short-lived events, as it typically revisits the same region of the sky only every 30 days. Once again, however, extraordinary luck was on the astronomers’ side. Not only did the satellite observe this region during the brief, two-day-long event, but due to a particularly favorable orbital configuration, it collected as many as six photometric measurements within 15 hours, precisely during the most important moments, when the light amplification caused by the lensing object was strongest.

At that time, the Gaia satellite was located nearly two million kilometers from Earth, at the so-called L2 Lagrange point, a location especially well-suited for long-term astronomical observations from space. The simultaneous observations of the microlensing event KMT-2024-BLG-0792/OGLE-2024-BLG-0516 from Earth and from Gaia created a unique opportunity to measure the distance to the lens through the so-called microlensing parallax. The idea is similar to triangulation on Earth or to measuring distances to nearby celestial bodies by observing them from two different locations. Gaia’s photometric data were transmitted to Earth only in July 2024, at which point the Gaia Alert System team announced the event as an alert named Gaia24cdn.

An analysis of the microlensing data collected from the ground by the KMTNet and OGLE telescopes, together with the space-based data from Gaia, showed that the overall shape of the event as seen from both observatories, separated by about two million kilometers, was similar. However, the event recorded by Gaia occurred about two hours later than the one seen from Earth. This time shift made it possible to precisely determine the distance to the lensing object and the parameters of the microlensing event, which in turn allowed a direct and accurate measurement of its mass. The result showed that the object has a planetary mass of about 0.22 Jupiter masses, i.e., 70 Earth masses – slightly smaller than the mass of Saturn in our own Solar System. No evidence was found for the presence of a possible host star within more than 20 astronomical units (the Earth–Sun distance) of the planet. With very high confidence, the newly discovered object can therefore be considered unbound to any star - it is the first precisely “weighed” free-floating planet.

The discovery and direct mass measurement of a free-floating planet marks a major breakthrough in exoplanet research. It represents the first fully documented detection of an entirely new category of exoplanets: a vast and previously unexplored population of planetary objects whose study is essential for a complete understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve.

This is the discovery of the decade, comparable to the discovery of the first well-documented exoplanets in the 1990s, says Prof. Andrzej Udalski, leader of the OGLE project and corresponding author of the Science paper. Astronomers can finally be sure that objects of this kind really exist in the Universe.

The discovery of the first free-floating planet will undoubtedly provide a strong impetus for further intensive research on this class of objects. As early as 2026, NASA’s Roman Space Telescope mission is scheduled for launch, with the detection and study of free-floating planets as one of its main goals. During this mission, many such objects are expected to be discovered and characterized, allowing their properties to be studied in detail. Another upcoming mission is the Chinese Earth 2.0 satellite, planned for launch in 2028, which will also search for free-floating planets. There is therefore a strong chance that within just a few years we will know how numerous these lonely planetary wanderers of the Milky Way truly are.

Paper presenting results of these studies appeared on January 1, 2026 in Science.

The first transnational Dioscuri Symposium in Krakow showcased the achievements of the Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence to date, and sparked discussions on the responsibility of science towards society, as well as science communication. The fifth Dioscuri call will be launched in the first half of 2026.

Dioscuri Symposium The first transnational Dioscuri Symposium took place at the National Science Centre in Kraków on 3–4 November 2025, bringing together around one table the leaders of the Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence from Poland and the Czech Republic, members of their research teams, administrative coordinators of the Dioscuri Centres, research partners from Germany and representatives of the Scientific Advisory Boards. The discussions were also attended by members of the Dioscuri Committee, chaired by Prof. Joachim Sauer with Vice-Chair Prof. Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, as well as the Director of the National Science Centre Poland (NCN), Prof. Krzysztof Jóźwiak, and the Vice President of the Max Planck Society (MPG), Prof. Christian Doeller. Representatives from the diplomatic sphere, including delegates from the German Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Sport, Culture and Youth of the Czech Republic, followed the deliberations. The research-funding organizations were represented by the Dioscuri Programme Coordinators at NCN and MPG, responsible for the symposium: Dr Małgorzata Jacobs-Kozyra (NCN), who chaired the event together with Dr Agnes Limmer (MPG).

Dioscuri – high impact

Presentation by Mikołaj Frączyk, Jagiellonian University The aim of the Dioscuri Symposium was not only to showcase the frontiers of research conducted at the Dioscuri Centres at both PI and early-career levels, but also to address the topic of science communication and to provide targeted training sessions. In a session moderated by Prof. Ulman Lindenberger, the audience heard ten presentations by leaders of the Centres of Scientific Excellence and ten presentations by ECRs, spanning the wide scientific spectrum represented in the Centres - from cell biology and optics to theoretical and applied mathematics. Discussions highlighted the substantial impact of the ongoing research on the development of their respective disciplines, as well as the high-risk, high-gain nature of the projects. Particular attention was drawn to the poster session featuring early-career researchers, who presented their sub-projects and thereby demonstrated the Centres’ broad research scope - further emphasising the autonomy of the Leaders in their supervision and the creation of new leadership in science through the funding of these Centres of Excellence.

Science communication in an era of declining trust in science

Keynote by Christian Doeller, Max Planck Gesellschaft Prof. Christian Doeller, Vice President of the Max Planck Society honored the symposium with a keynote speech. He introduced the relevance of science-communication mechanisms not only from the perspective of individual scientists but also from the vantage point of research-performing and research-funding institutions. The keynote highlighted the responsibility of science towards society as a key aspect of science communication. Therefore he advocated for communication channels tailored to specific audiences but also encouraged to proactively seek opportunities for communication. Prof. Doeller illustrated the importance of science communication by showing how scientific work can be framed in relation to current events or societal phenomena.

His narrative referenced the forthcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro: while the scientists’ paper focused on achieving electron-microscopic resolution of the human actomyosin complex, the research news began with Usain Bolt and the question of why he is the fastest person on Earth - explaining that this can be understood by examining the interplay of muscle proteins at such high resolution.

Finally, the keynote addressed the issue of declining public trust in science. He pointed out that the algorithms on social media do not distinguish between serious, fact-based information and misinformation. A study investigated how many climate-change-related videos produced by scientific institutions reach 100,000 views: only two did. By contrast, twenty chemtrail-conspiracy videos reached that threshold. Raising the threshold to one million views removes scientific organisations from the sample entirely - leaving one video by a YouTube influencer and three conspiracy videos. Prof. Doeller clearly stressed the importance of science communication performed by both communication professionals as well as professional scientists to counter this global trend.

Dioscuri as a European success story

The symposium also provided space for a critical and constructive discussion on the opportunities, challenges and future of the Dioscuri Programme, chaired by Prof. Marta Miączyńska, Head of IIMCB.

The National Science Centre opened this discussion by announcing the upcoming fifth call for proposals for two interdisciplinary Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence in Poland. Prof. Krzysztof Jóźwiak, Director of NCN, together with Prof. Christian Doeller, Vice President of the Max Planck Society, invited the scientific community to apply - emphasising the programme’s openness to all scientific disciplines and its focus on research excellence and interdisciplinarity.

The debate further addressed expectations regarding the Dioscuri Programme from the perspectives of the scientific communities in Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the programme’s achievements to date, which could form the basis for a future initiative of this kind.

To round up the Symposium Programme a set of training sessions offered opportunities to acquire new skills: a Planck Academy workshop led by communication professional Rhea Wessel, in which Dioscuri Leaders focused on practical aspects of thought leadership and science communication; a training session delivered by NCN Discipline Coordinators for ECRs, who were introduced to NCN funding opportunities and the principles of the evaluation process; and a meeting led by the Dioscuri Programme Coordinators from Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, during which administrative coordinators discussed current issues related to the day-to-day operation of the Centres and benefited from an international platform for knowledge exchange.

The research team headed by Prof. Dr. hab. Włodzimierz Zwonek from the Jagiellonian University has received funding of their research into Complex Analysis, PDE, geometry and the pluripotential theory. The project “Analysis and Geometry in Several Complex Variables” involves collaboration of three leading Central European groups working in Complex Analysis, represented by the Jagiellonian University, University of Vienna and University from Wuppertal. The Austrian research team will be headed by Bernhard Lamel and the German research team, by Stefan Nemirovski. The proposal was evaluated by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and the evaluation results were approved by the NCN and the German Research Foundation (DFG) under the Weave collaboration. The potential areas of research collaboration includes holomorphically invariant functions (for instance Bergman kernel and metric), Lempert Theorem, pluripotential theory, MongeAmpere equation, properties of plurisubharmonic functions, uniformization problem and Bergman and Kobayashi hyperbolicity of special domains.

Weave-UNISONO and Lead Agency Procedure 

Weave-UNISONO is a result of multilateral cooperation between the research-funding agencies associated in Science Europe and aims at simplifying the submission and selection procedures in all academic disciplines, involving researchers from two or three European countries.

The winning applicants are selected pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure according to which one partner institution performs a complete merit-based evaluation of proposals, the results of which are subsequently approved by the other partners.

Under the Weave Programme, partner research teams apply for parallel funding to the Lead Agency and their respective institutions participating in the Programme. Joint research projects must include a coherent research program with the added value of the international cooperation clearly identified.

Weave-UNISONO is carried out on an ongoing basis. Research teams intending to cooperate with partners from Austria, Czechia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium-Flanders are urged to read the call text and apply for funding.

1. The budget of the Polish part of the project in the joint proposal should be calculated according to the following exchange rates:
   • in joint proposals, for which NCN proposals are processed in and submitted via the OSF submission system by 31 December 2025: 1 EUR = 4,2717 PLN;
   • in joint proposals, for which NCN proposals are processed in and submitted via the OSF submission system from 1 January 2026: 1 EUR = 4,2626 PLN.
2. NCN proposals processed in the OSF submission system in 2025, with the exchange rate of 1 EUR = 4,2717 PLN, must be completed in and submitted via the OSF submission system by 31 December 2025 at 23:59:59. Otherwise, the proposal can no longer be edited, in which case the Polish research team must prepare a new proposal, with the exchange rate 1 EUR = 4,2626 PLN, and complete it in the OSF submission system. If a joint proposal has already been submitted to the lead agency, with the budget of the Polish part of the project calculated according to another exchange rate, the NCN proposal will be inconsistent with the joint proposal and as a consequence the proposal may be rejected on the grounds that it does not meet the eligibility criteria.
3. As of 1 January 2026, the updated Regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded by the National Science Centre under international calls carried out as multilateral cooperation pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure shall apply.
4. Please consult the updated call documents.