Mon, 06/20/2022 - 16:17

On 15 September 2022, we will announce the OPUS 24 call for research proposals, including projects submitted under the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP) within the framework of the Weave programme.

Read on to get the most important information on this year’s edition of the call.

The OPUS 24 call is addressed at researchers at all stages of their academic careers, who are planning:

  • research projects without the participation of foreign partners,
  • research projects implemented by Polish research teams with the use of large international research equipment,
  • research projects with the participation of foreign partners that are not applying for funding for that purpose within the framework of the Weave programmes (however, the foreign teams may apply for funding under other research-funding programmes that are not co-organised by the NCN pursuant to the LAP),
  • research projects carried out in cooperation pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure (“LAP cooperation”) under the Weave programme, i.e. in cooperation with foreign research teams that apply for funding to their respective research-funding institutions under the Weave programme,
  • research projects within the framework of LAP cooperation under the Weave programme, with the participation of foreign partners that do not apply for funding for that purpose under the Weave programme or with the additional use of large international research equipment.

What is the Weave programme?

Launched in early 2021, the Weave programme relies on multilateral cooperation between the research-funding institutions that make up the Science Europe association. It is designed to simplify the submission and selection procedures for research proposals in all disciplines of science that involve researchers from two or three European countries. The selection process is based on the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP), under which projects that involve research teams from two or three countries are only assessed at one partner institution, known as the lead agency, appropriate for one of the teams, within the framework of a domestic call from its portfolio. The other partner institutions agree to accept the results of this merit-based review and award funding for projects approved by the lead agency. Thanks to this simplified procedure, Weave allows researchers to cooperate internationally in any way or form they believe best matches the research project at hand.

As of 2022, the National Science Centre is cooperating with partner institutions from:

  • Austria (FWF – Austrian Science Fund),
  • Czech Republic (GAČR – Czech Science Foundation),
  • Slovenia (ARRS – Slovenian Research Agency),
  • Switzerland (SNSF – Swiss National Science Foundation),
  • Germany (DFG – German Research Foundation),
  • Luxembourg (FNR – Luxembourg National Research Fund),
  • Belgium – Flanders (FWO – Research Foundation – Flanders).

The NCN accepts proposals under:

  • the current Weave-UNISONO call – for domestic proposals, where joint proposals will be submitted to and reviewed at one of the foreign partner institutions as the lead agency;
  • the regular OPUS call announced every September – for domestic proposals submitted within the framework of the LAP cooperation, which will be reviewed at the NCN as the lead agency

The Weave programme replaced NCN’s bilateral cooperation programmes with Germany (BEETHOVEN), Austria (MOZART) and Switzerland (ALPHORN), as well as the multilateral cooperation scheme known as CEUS.

For more information, visit the website of the programme: Weave.

 LAP cooperation under OPUS 24

In its capacity as the lead agency, the National Science Centre will perform a merit-based review of OPUS LAP proposals submitted under OPUS 24 within the framework of the Weave programme, which involves research teams from Poland and countries such as Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium-Flanders. The NCN will award funding to the Polish team; the foreign teams will receive their grants from relevant partner institutions.

International cooperation is not a prerequisite in OPUS 24 and proposals that involve foreign partners will not be given preferential treatment over those that do not.

OPUS 24 will accept OPUS LAP proposals:

  • prepared by Polish research teams in cooperation with foreign teams within the framework of the Weave programme and in accordance with the requirements specified in the call announcement, which will be published on the NCN website on 15 September 2022;
  • in any discipline included under an NCN panel;
  • for basic research projects that have never been funded from the NCN’s or any other resources;
  • with a balanced and complementary contribution of all research teams that simultaneously apply for funding to their relevant research-funding institutions under the Weave programme. This means that the contribution of each team involved in the project must be considerable and necessary, and their respective research tasks should complement one another to form a coherent joint research project. OPUS LAP projects that are judged not to meet this criterion by the expert team cannot qualify for funding.

Polish research teams can submit OPUS LAP proposals electronically via the OSF system (available online at https://osf.opi.org.pl) until 4 pm on 15 December 2022.

In addition, all foreign research teams involved in a given project must submit a funding application to their relevant institution, in accordance with its specific principles and deadlines under the Weave programme.

If a partner institution requires a copy of the OPUS LAP project, you may generate a complete English-language copy of the OPUS LAP proposal submitted to the OSF system in PDF format and submit it to the foreign research team.

PLEASE NOTE: the English-language versions of OPUS LAP proposals submitted to the NCN and the partner institution must be identical.

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