Another 78 researchers have joined the group of MINIATURA 10 grantees, who will carry out preliminary studies, conduct library and archive searches, or go on research visits. We present the results for proposals submitted in March.
The small grants can be used to fund research activity that does not yet amount to a full-scale research project but helps researchers plan, test and develop research ideas in preparation for applying to regular national or international grant calls.
The call is open to researchers who obtained their PhD between 1 January 2014 and the proposal submission date. They must have at least one published or accepted-for-publication work to their name, or at least one artistic or artistic-and-scholarly work or achievement.
A single grant has a budget of up to PLN 50,000 and may run for no longer than one year. There are no thematic restrictions: the activities may concern any discipline, but they must fall within basic research. They may take the form of preliminary studies, research visits or library and archive searches and, in justified cases, more than one of these.
MINIATURA includes a mentoring programme through which those carrying out an activity can receive expert support from an experienced mentor in preparing a full-scale research project. NCN mentor database
The grantees and their research
The second ranking list covers proposals submitted to NCN in March. Of 190 proposals, the experts selected 78 research activities for funding, worth a total of over PLN 2.9 million. The vast majority of the funded activities are preliminary studies (66). Twelve people will go on research visits thanks to a MINIATURA grant, and eight will conduct library and archive searches.
In the Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences (HS) group, the recipients include Dr Rafał Młyński, a linguist from the Jagiellonian University. During his research visit, he will analyse the macrostructure and microstructure of narratives produced by Polish-English bilingual teenagers. Dr Anna Kowalik from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, an art conservator and restorer, will carry out preliminary studies on digital and hybrid methods of preserving the dispersed “Kosmobajki” collection (Se-ma-for, 1966). The main focus of her research will be animation puppets in the role of boundary objects. Dr inż. Piotr Smolnicki from the Gdańsk University of Technology, an architect and urban planner, will diagnose and assess the scope for reintegrating fragmented urban fabric by analysing the opportunities for, and constraints on, implementing pro-urban remedial measures that mitigate the effects of large-scale transport infrastructure in city centres.
In the Life Sciences (NZ) group, the MINIATURA grant recipients include Dr Marta Tkacz from the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, who will carry out preliminary studies under an activity entitled “The kinetics of endothelial progenitor cell mobilisation and the proangiogenic potential of circulating cells in response to maximal physical exertion in athletes”. Dr Katarzyna Zdanowicz from the Medical University of Białystok will study changes in the fatty acid profile of erythrocyte membrane phospholipids in the course of inflammatory bowel disease in children. Dr Magdalena Żegleń from the Bronisław Czech Academy of Physical Education in Kraków will examine problems related to excess body weight and latent obesity and their significance for body-image self-perception.
Among the grantees in the Physical Sciences and Engineering group is Dr inż. Michał Piłat from the Gdańsk University of Technology. He will go on a research visit during which he will develop the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock method – one of the most advanced computational methods in quantum mechanics – to determine the parameters of inelastic electron-atom collisions. Dr inż. Stanisław Hożyń from the Polish Naval Academy of the Heroes of Westerplatte in Gdynia will conduct research on the resilience of methods for detecting and tracking divers, and for recognising the divers’ gestures, to changing optical conditions across different bodies of water. In the course of the research, he will create a pilot database from a lake, the Baltic Sea and the Adriatic Sea. Dr inż. Justyna Dzięcioł from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences will use her MINIATURA grant to develop a standardised, multimodal characterisation of hybrid cement binders containing bio-based and recycled components.
The topics of all the activities selected for funding under MINIATURA 10 are available in the ranking lists.
Ranking list No 2 in the MINIATURA 10 call (pdf)
Funding by science group:
- Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences – 24 activities worth a total of PLN 571,991
- Life Sciences – 31 activities worth a total of PLN 1,389,933
- Physical Sciences and Engineering – 23 activities worth a total of PLN 957,370
Total value of the funded activities: PLN 2,919,294.
MINIATURA Still Open
The MINIATURA 10 call is open until the end of July. Proposals are accepted on an ongoing basis and reviewed by a panel of experts, with the results published once a month.