Registration for the international conference “Europe and Mobilities: Challenges and Opportunities for Socio-Economic Transformations” is now open. The conference will be held at the University of Warsaw, on 4 - 6 June 2025. The conference is supported by the National Science Centre which will organise two thematic sessions.  

Registration for the international conference “Europe and Mobilities: Challenges and Opportunities for Socio-Economic Transformations” is now open. The conference is organised as part of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council. The event will bring together leading academics, policymakers, and representatives of international and non-governmental organisations who will discuss the most pressing social and economic challenges in Europe. The conference will feature expert keynote speeches and seven thematic sessions addressing, inter alia, demography, migration, digital transformation, energy transition, and future of democracy.  

The National Science Centre will co-organise two sessions. The first session (“European Economic Area potential in the Social Sciences & Humanities,” held on 5 June, 3 pm – 4:30 pm) will explore the Europe’s role in digital platforms and their impact on human and planetary well-being. The discussion, organised under the CHANSE programme and coordinated by the NCN, will examine concepts like universality, 'public good', equality, and sovereignty in digital infrastructure development. Participants will also address the lived experiences of those affected by algorithmic systems and platform economies, and the complex roles of regulators, businesses, and other actors in shaping digital development.

The second panel discussion (“Navigating opportunities and challenges: Early Career Researchers in transnational projects,” held on 6 June, 10 am – 11:30 am) will focus on early career researchers involved in transnational projects. The session will delve into key issues including research topic selection, career trajectories, job security, access to funding, as well as the role of mentors and agencies supporting the development of early career researchers.

Furthermore, the National Contact Point at the National Centre for Research and Development will organise an international info day and brokerage events as part of the conference. More information and registration form are available on the conference website.

The conference is organised by the Centre of Excellence in Social Sciences and Centre of Migration Research, with the support of the National Science Centre, National Centre for Research and Development, and Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The conference is funded by the European Union.

Over 250 guests from across Europe, discussions on the development of QT and new research funding opportunities in one of the fastest growing research areas. On 7 May 2025, the Quantum Horizons Conference: Science – Policy – Society on QT, scientific collaboration and related public policies, will be held at the European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk.

The conference is organised by the QuantERA Network and the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, in collaboration with the European Quantum Flagship, under the Polish Presidency of the EU Council.

Leading European Network to Support Quantum Research  

QuantERA is a multinational network composed of 41 research funding agencies from 31 European states, Israel and Turkey. It has supported the development of QT and technological innovations since 2016 (first as QuantERA I and then QuantERA II), by funding international research projects. Furthermore, QuantERA fosters international collaboration, monitors European strategies in that area and develops responsible research guidelines. The Network is coordinated by the National Science Centre.

Science, Public Policies and Innovations 

The Gdańsk Conference will bring together representatives of academia, companies involved in the development of QT, research funding agencies and other entities. “For the general public, tracing the development of QT can be fascinating, from very abstract and apparently unpractical original research ideas to the development of tangible technologies that can transform the future. The conference will give an insight into that process,” says Prof. Konrad Banaszek from the University of Warsaw who is the scientific coordinator in charge of the QuantERA Network at the National Science Centre. 

The agenda includes three main panel discussions:  

• “In the beginning was the Science” on basic research, moderated by Prof. Artur Ekert from the University of Oxford and Centre for Quantum Technologies Singapore; featuring Prof. Elisabeth Giacobino from the French Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and Prof. Gerd Leuchs from the QuantERA Strategic Advisory Board and Max Planck Society),
• “Quantum Coherence: The Art of Coordination” on science policy and coordination, moderated by Prof. Tommaso Calarco, member of the QuantERA Strategic Advisory Board and Chair of the European Quantum Community Network,
• “Quantum Interactions: The Joy of Collaboration” on international cooperation and experience of research teams.

“We wish to emphasise that quantum technologies stem from basic research. We will also discuss how best to support innovations, use the European QT potential efficiently, and create the best organisational framework for the potential to be fully developed and turned into real-world solutions,” says Prof. Banaszek.

New Edition of QuantERA

Presentation of the new QuantERA III programme, set to launch in the nearest future, will be an important highlight of the conference. South Korea will join the programme, highlighting its growing global reach.

The participants will be able to engage in a diverse array of supporting events, including:

• poster session of research projects funded under the current QuantERA
• workshop on best practices for research teams performing projects selected under QuantERA Call 2023
• networking poster sessions with the representatives of research funding organisations, an opportunity for discussions with the representatives of domestic agencies, exchange of experiences, discussions on project funding and strengthening cooperation between institutions.

The agenda is available on the website QuantERA website.

The conference will be followed by the 16th KCIK-ICTQT Symposium on Quantum Information (7-10 May 2025).

Science published an article on cold super-Earths which are common, low-mass exoplanets orbiting their host stars at large distances, written by a team of astronomers, including scientists from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) led by Prof. Andrzej Udalski. Polish team’s research is co-funded by the National Science Centre. 

In a recent paper published in the prestigious journal Science, an international team of astronomers – including scientists from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) led by Prof. Andrzej Udalski at the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw – presents a detailed study of low-mass exoplanets orbiting their host stars at large distances. The study shows that so-called "cold super-Earths" are a common component of planetary systems: on average, they are found in every third system around stars in the Milky Way.

Artist’s impression on how common planets are around the stars in the Milky Way planetary systems in the Milky Way. Just 30 years ago, no planets had yet been discovered orbiting stars similar to our Sun. Since then, the field of exoplanet research has undergone a revolution. From the first discoveries in the 1990s, astronomers have progressed to routinely identifying distant planetary systems, thanks to the development of new detection techniques such as the transit and gravitational microlensing methods. OGLE, one of the pioneers of these methods, has been conducting one of the largest photometric sky surveys for over 33 years.

A major breakthrough came with the launch of planet-hunting space telescopes like Kepler and TESS, which dramatically increased the number of known exoplanets. With this vast dataset, astronomers can now study planetary systems using statistical methods. Distributions of planet masses and their distances from host stars carry crucial information about how such systems form and evolve.

However, all current planet detection techniques have limitations. Most are especially sensitive to planets orbiting close to their stars, meaning the majority of known exoplanets are those with orbital periods shorter than one year. Among them, "super-Earths" – planets with masses between that of Earth and Neptune (~17 Earth masses) – are particularly abundant and well-characterized.

Much less is known about distant regions of planetary systems, located beyond the so-called snow line (1–2 astronomical units from the star), where water is present as ice and giant gas planets like Jupiter or Saturn are believed to form. Only gravitational microlensing enables the detection of planets in these remote regions. However, such events are rare, and the number of planets discovered via microlensing is significantly lower than by other methods.

Microlensing has already revealed how often massive, Jupiter-like planets occur on wide orbits. But whether smaller, lower-mass planets – like super-Earths – are also present there, and how frequently, has remained unclear.

In the Science study, astronomers tackled this question by analyzing distant, low-mass planets discovered through microlensing. A key part of the work is the analysis of a planet observed during the microlensing event OGLE-2016-BLG-0007, discovered in February 2016 by the OGLE team. The data show that this planet has a mass similar to Earth and orbits a 0.6-solar-mass star at a distance of about 10 astronomical units.

This is a typical, very low-mass super-Earth on an orbit similar to Saturn’s in our Solar System. A new record-holder in this category, says Prof. Andrzej Udalski, OGLE's principal investigator.

Microlensing anomalies caused by such low-mass planets are extremely brief – often lasting only a day – and require continuous, round-the-clock observations. For a broader statistical analysis, the study includes data on 64 low-mass microlensing planets: the newly described one and 63 others discovered between 2016 and 2019, which were observed by the Korean KMTNet project, capable of 24-hour sky monitoring. Thirty-eight of these events were discovered by the OGLE team.

After correcting for the detection sensitivity, the team derived the distribution of planet frequency as a function of mass. The results show that low-mass, cold super-Earths are very common, typically found around one in every three stars in the Milky Way.

Interestingly, the frequency of planet occurrence does not follow a simple power-law function of planetary mass. Instead, the observed distribution is best described by a combination of two components resembling Gaussian curves. This may point to distinct processes for forming planets of different masses – or a single process in which gas giants form only above a certain core mass threshold, while lower-mass planets remain as super-Earths.

The study represents a major advance in our understanding of planetary system architecture. Ongoing and future microlensing surveys are expected to increase the number of known planets of this type and help refine the results reported in Science.

We have high hopes for NASA’s Roman Space Telescope mission, planned for launch in 2027. It could revolutionize the field of microlensing-based exoplanet discovery – much like Kepler did for transitbased searches, says Dr. Przemek Mróz, OGLE team member, co-author of the Science paper, and discoverer of many exoplanets.

The OGLE project is one of the largest and longest-running sky surveys in the world. For over 33 years, it has been conducting regular photometric monitoring of vast regions of the sky from Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. OGLE has contributed to many areas of modern astrophysics, including the search for exoplanets, studies of the structure and evolution of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, variable stars, quasars, transient phenomena such as novae and supernovae and studies of dark matter.

The OGLE project is co-funded by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, National Science Centre (MAESTRO, OPUS, HARMONIA, SONATA and SYMFONIA grants) and Foundation for Polish Science.

Paper presenting results of these studies appeared on April 25, 2025 in Science.

The first life sciences publication in Nature in the 21st century produced entirely by Polish research institutions explains the enhanced efficacy of mRNA-based drugs and paves the way to new therapies.

On 17 April 2025, Prof. Andrzej Dziembowski and Dr. hab. Seweryn Mroczek, corresponding authors and a team of researchers from several Polish institutions, published an article in Nature. The project brought together academics from the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (IIMCB), University of Warsaw, Medical University of Warsaw and Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, PAS. It is the first life sciences publication in Nature in the 21st century produced entirely by Polish researcher institutions. Their research was funded by (inter alia) the National Science Centre.

The authors described a previously unknown principle for enhancing the efficacy of therapeutic mRNAs. They identified the stabilising effect of TENT5A on mRNAs by extending their poly(A) tails.

“The stabilising effect of TENT5A on mRNAs is little known, yet universal. It has a great value for medicine where a broad range of mRNA applications is currently researched,” says Prof. Andrzej Dziembowski in a press release by the IIMCB in Warsaw.

Nanopore sequencing was used in research as well as tools developed by the team to measure poly(A) tail lengths. The researchers focused on, inter alia, Comirnaty and Spikevax vaccines that were widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic. They noticed that the poly(A) tails are extended in the immune cells, in particular in macrophages, which may affect the efficacy of the vaccine.

“Our road to have an article published in Nature was long and bumpy. We started to work on the project during the pandemic, in the middle of 2021. After the first draft was submitted, we were often asked for new information and amendments. We are particularly proud of the fact that it is the first life science publication in Nature in the 21st century produced entirely by Polish research institutions,” says Prof. Dziembowski.

He promises to use the latest discoveries to develop even more efficacious mRNA-based drugs.  

The research described in the article was co-funded by the National Science Centre under projects performed by Seweryn Mroczek (SONATA BIS 10), Andrzej Dziembowski (OPUS 17), Agnieszka Tudek (SONATA 16), Monika Kusio-Kobiałka (SONATA 15) and Aleksandra Brouze (PRELUDIUM 19).

The researchers used the IN-MOL-CELL research infrastructure funded under the National Reconstruction Plan.

A list of experts who evaluated in 2024 proposals submitted to the following calls of the National Science Centre as Expert Team members:

• MAESTRO 15, SONATA BIS 13, PRELUDIUM BIS 5 announced on 15 June 2023
• OPUS 26+LAP/Weave, SONATA 19 announced on 15 September 2023
• SONATINA 8, DAINA 3 announced on 15 December 2023
• MINIATURA 8 announced on 1 February 2024
• OPUS 27, PRELUDIUM 23 announced on 15 March 2024

List of experts in alphabetical order

List of experts in alphabetical order: MINIATURA 8

We wish to acknowledge all the Experts for their commitment and contribution in the evaluation of proposals submitted to the above calls for proposals.

Participants of the workshop in Warsaw, dedicated to the candidate for the European Partnership on Social Transformations and Resilience (STR) and future NCN calls for proposals funded under the Norway Grants and domestic resources, addressed the future research topics in social sciences and humanities, more effective connection between science and societal needs, social institutions and decision-makers. The outcome will help us include the Polish priorities in the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) drafted by the STR Partnership, and design calls for research projects in the next edition of the Norway Grants.

The meeting “Connecting Research and Policy for a Greener, Inclusive and More Resilient Europe” was attended by researchers representing a diverse array of disciplines from various research centres and at various stages of their research career, as well as civil servants, and representatives of NGOs and business. Participants were divided into three groups: European Green Transition; Democracy, Rule of Law, Human Rights; and Social Inclusion and Resilience.

“Rarely do we have an opportunity with such a lineup to talk about vision, not actions. Research planning and cooperation are only considered when a project is developed. The meeting allowed us to see the big picture, recognise the available resources and see their value”, says Maksymilian Bielecki from the SWPS University, moderator of the Green Transition Group.

European Green Transformation

The European Group Transition Group focused on individual, social and systemic changes. As regards individual changes, it was stressed that knowledge of climate changes should be increased and skills must be developed to support conscious and efficient actions. “We are dreaming of citizens who would be aware of climate changes and their implications, with sufficient resources and tools to combat them, capable of understanding that in taking climate-oriented actions, their personal interest coincides with the social interest”, says Maksymilian Bielecki.

“Participation was the term most frequently referred to in terms of social changes”, he adds, noting that it was closely connected with the scientific policy since science should not dominate when “addressing people and groups but should focus on listening to and cooperating with them”. He refers to societies that have a real impact on the policy and are equipped with the tools of a mature civic society. 

In terms of public policies, the need to develop long-term solutions resilient to political changes was identified. “We should refrain from a “climate ADHD” where former strategies are abandoned every time a new government comes”, the moderator says.   

Democracy, Rule of Law, Human Rights

A group moderated by Katarzyna Walczyk-Matuszyk from the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, PAS focused on education for democracy, public institutions, digital agenda as well as equality and non-discrimination. With regard to equality, the participants developed a vision of a society where equality is a virtue. The idea was supported with the motto “Make Equality Great Again” (MEGA) which was summarised by the moderator as a “change of social attitude to socially excluded groups and equality-related aspects”. In terms of civic education, the group opted for “a knowledge based society, competent, capable of critical thinking, action-oriented, valuing tolerance and mutual respect.” Involvement of citizens and teaching institutions was regarded as the key condition for any change in this regard. It was thought that public institutions, such as courts, police or ombudsman offices should be funded, protected from any political pressure and should develop self-awareness and communication with citizens. Discussions on the digital agenda included references to the unpredictability of technological progress, challenges related to the freedom of speech and regulations of the sector increasingly impacting social life. 

Social Inclusion and Resilience 

A group moderated by Agnieszka Chrząszcz from the AGH University of Science and Technology addressed the issues of age and democracy, polarisation and social innovations, labour market, migration and multiculturalism, trying to create a positive vision of the future.

As regards demography, intergenerational society was opted for, with young and old people interacting on an equal footing. Popper’s open society was mentioned when talking about migration as well as a wise and friendly state where diversity is an asset, the state understands migration and develops effective, fair and evidence-based policies. Discussions on the labour market evolved towards the need to develop decent employment conditions based on gender equality and reduced polarisation. With reference to social innovation and division, a society that “draws on diversity, is not afraid of conflict and can harness its energy” was pictured.   

“It is very difficult to design future research with the world changing so much”, says the moderator. “Rapid changes in social policies, migration, cultural wars, digitalisation or Big Data are hard to predict. We are not working with medieval English literature but are dealing with a living organism which is changing so quickly. This is why it is so important to build social and institutional resilience to situations we cannot foresee now”. She stresses that “the workshop results should be flexible enough to capture certain problems and challenges, even if some will change in the future”.

Prof. Paweł Kaczmarczyk from the Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw who participated in the work of the group emphasises the value of cooperation in a diverse team. “This is a great platform to create research projects and design public policies”, he says, adding that “appreciation of diversity in many aspects, from demography and education to migration, was often referred to”. He also points out the gap between the public debate and more complex perception of reality by researchers, practitioners and stakeholders.    

Socially-Involved Science 

Greater involvement of non-academic partners in research projects (as soon as they are scheduled) was recurring in the workshop summary. “It seems crucial to me to involve actors such as NGOs in research projects. When they are involved in research from the very beginning, they can use the knowledge immediately or even co-create it alongside the scientists. This way, the research outcome is put into practice so much faster”, says Prof. Witold Klaus from the Institute of Law Studies, PAS who emphasises that “cooperation, nowadays mainly in European projects, should also be promoted and supported as regards NCN funding of basic research”.

An increased collaboration with non-academic partners was also noted by Maksymilian Bielecki. “External stakeholders should be involved in basic research projects more freely; the knowledge of NGOs and business could also be used for basic research project purposes. The doors to our laboratories must be wide open”, he says, adding that “interdisciplinarity must not only be seen as collaboration across disciplines but also across sectors and levels, from an individual to community and finally to politics”.

The workshop organised by the National Science Centre and the Research Council of Norway under the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021, was held in Warsaw, on 1 April 2025, at the Institute of of Fundamental Technological Research, PAS.

In our podcast, Malwina Gębalska and Barbara Świątkowska talk about initiatives supporting science: the candidate partnership on Social Transformations and Resilience and the Science & Society Initiative.

Research must respond to the most important social challenges as well as include a wide array of stockholders, including decision makers, social organisations and citizens. This approach is supported by the European candidate partnership on Social Transformations and Resilience (STR) coordinated by the National Science Centre, and the Science & Society Initiative funded under the EEA and Norway Funds. The two initiatives are discussed by Malwina Gębalska and Barbara Świątkowska in the latest NCN podcast hosted by Anna Korzekwa-Józefowicz.

European Partnership on Social Transformations and Resilience

The Social Transformations and Resilience partnership will be formed on the initiative of the European Commission to respond environmental, technological, and demographic changes and unexpected shocks, such as pandemic or war in Ukraine.

“The Partnership aims to make Europe more resilient to changes that are already happening and help societies overcome them fairly and efficiently,” says Malwina Gębalska, STR coordinator at the National Science.

The Partnership will focus on four impact areas: 

1. modernisation of social protection systems and essential services,
2. future of work,
3. fostering education and skills development,
4. fair transition towards climate.

“We believe political decisions should be based on knowledge, evidence and research. Evidence-based policy making is the key element of the partnership,” says the coordinator. “At the STR, research must impact public policies and be performed in close cooperation with the stakeholders”.

The STR is a long-term initiative. The partnership will operate for a period of 10 years and be co-budgeted by the Member States and European Commission (the latter will provide funding of 30%). At present, the partnership is co-created by 9 countries, including Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Italy and France. The National Science Centre will coordinate the partnership as the first institution from the widening countries (i.e. countries that joined the EU after 2004 as well as Greece and Portugal).

“European partnerships are more than just calls for research projects, they are a step ahead – towards the society,” says Malwina Gębalska. “In the calls, we will require scientific excellence but also involvement of non-academic partners and social implications of research”.

Current state of affairs and involvement

The partnership is currently under preparation and will be formed by the end of 2026. The National Science Centre’s responsibilities include the development of an action plan and budge, while the German research agency coordinates the development of the Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda (SRIA).

“We consult the agenda with a wide array of stakeholders and encourage researchers, as well as representatives of ministries, business and social organisations to take part in the surveys and workshops,” says Malwina Gębalska.

Each priority will be the subject of a separate survey and workshop. Poland was among the three most active respondents of a survey on the future of work.

“We aim to make the Polish environment heard and impact the final wording of the agenda. This is an opportunity for us to have our experience, challenges and strengths included,” underlines Malwina Gębalska.

Calls for proposals under the STR Partnership will be launched at the end of 2027 and beginning of 2028.

Science and Society

The Science & Society Initiative is performed under the third edition of the EEA and Norway Grants. It is not just a research project but a range of actions to foster cooperation between the researchers and society, where research results are co-developed instead being merely disseminated,” says Barbara Świątkowska from the EEA and Norway Grants Team at the National Science Centre.

Owing to savings and reimbursements in previous projects, the NCN provided a grant opportunity to 11 Polish and Norwegian research teams that have formerly performed projects under GRIEG and IdeaLab. Additional funding can be allocated to social activities, such as:   

• workshops with teachers
• cooperation with NGOs and public institutions
• development of educational materials or online tools
• organisation of debates, events, exhibitions

“This is not promotion of science as such but true cooperation with teachers, hospital and museums. We work together to put knowledge into practice,” says Barbara Świątkowska.

Examples of actions under the Science & Society Initiative:

• In the project on civil society and well-being, researchers and teachers work together to produce an exercise book for students to develop openness, social involvement and curiosity
• A team studying disinformation works on an online test to help users identify their vulnerability to manipulation and better understand online disinformation.

The outcome will be known in May, upon the completion of the initiative and analysis of the final reports. 

“For us, it is not only a conclusion but also also a starting point to plan new operations for the next edition of the EEA and Norway Grants,” says Barbara Świątkowska. “We are interested in exploring what cooperation would be possible and how we could support it.”

What next?

The EEA and Norway Funds will be continued. The MoU for the new edition will be signed in Spring 2025 and the first calls for proposals will be launched in 2006 .

“We are hoping for the two programmes to be complementary. Green transition, education, democracy and social resilience are common and equally important to the STR partnership and the EEA and Norway Grants,” emphasises Barbara Świątkowska.

The two teams (STR partnership and EEA and Norway Grants) conduct joint analyses, meetings and workshops. We are intending to better understand the needs of the scientific community and design calls for proposals and additional activities to address the current challenges. The first workshop was held in Warsaw, on 1 April. 

“We will start with social sciences and humanities which are indispensable for understanding and supporting social changes,” says Malwina Gębalska. “It is the purpose of the STR partnership and future initiatives to change the way of thinking about research and see it as a tool fostering society rather than an end in itself.”

You can find out more on the Social Transformations and Resilience Partnership and Science & Society Initiative in our latest podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Dr Mateusz Łełyk from the University of Warsaw, alongside researchers from Poland and Austria, will carry out a research project under Weave-UNISONO. He will receive over 1.6 million zlotys for his research.

Dr Mateusz Łełyk with Dr techn. Dino Rossegger from the Vienna University of Technology as the principal investigator of the Austrian research team, will carry out the project “Structural complexity measures for foundational theories”. They will try to answer the question of when foundational theories can represent intended models and what it is caused by. They will also analyse the properties of “unintended” models and how they can be distinguished from the intended models. For this purpose, they will apply the Scott analysis which has been hardly used to analyse foundational theories. The researchers predict that an interesting “byproduct” can be delivered - new models of first-order logic, such as the simplest model property that will give intuitive and meaningful means for classifying foundational theories.

The proposal was evaluated by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and the evaluation results were approved by the National Science Centre 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. 

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.