OPUS 27

15 March 2024

The National Science Centre has launched the OPUS 27 call for research projects addressed at researchers at any stage of their research career. Research projects may be carried out over a period of 12, 24, 36 or 48 months. Under OPUS 27, funding may be requested for research projects carried out:

  • in collaboration with partners from foreign research institutions;
  • without foreign partners;
  • with the use of large-scale international research infrastructure by the Polish research teams.

Please note: Under OPUS 27, funding must not be requested under the Lead Agency Procedure, i.e., in collaboration with partners from foreign research institutions that apply for project funding under programmes launched in collaboration with the National Science Centre pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure.

The call budget is 450,000,000 PLN.

Proposals must be submitted electronically via the OSF submission system (https://osf.opi.org.pl) pursuant to the Proposal Submission Procedure.

The call for proposals in the OSF submission system closes on 17 June 2024, at 4 p.m.

SIGNIFICANT MODIFICATIONS:

  • the maximum amount of doctoral scholarship for PhD students at doctoral schools in the Salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students category, which scholarships may be disbursed after the mid-term evaluation, shall be modified. For more information, please refer to the How can the project budget be planned section.
  • the Regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded by the National Science Centre as regards research projects shall be amended in particular as regards the Evaluation of proposals in the calls for research projects and Costs in research projects. For more information, please refer to the What is reviewed in the evaluation of proposals and How can the project budget be planned sections.

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, pursuant to a Resolution adopted by the NCN, proposals submitted to the National Science Centre must not provide for any collaboration between Polish and Russian entities. Where any such collaboration is planned, the proposals shall be rejected as ineligible.

Please read the call documents included in this call text.

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Who may submit proposals?

Proposals in the call may be submitted by any entity defined in the NCN Act, namely:

  1. universities;
  2. federations of science and HE entities;
  3. research institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, operating pursuant to the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1796, as amended);
  4. research institutes operating pursuant to the Act on Research Institutes of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 498);
  5. international research institutes established pursuant to separate Acts, operating in the Republic of Poland;

5a.       Łukasiewicz Centre operating pursuant to the Act on the Łukasiewicz Research Network of 21 February 2019 (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 2098);

5b        institutes operating within the Łukasiewicz Research Network;

  1. Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences;
  2. other entities involved in research independently on a continuous basis;
  3. groups of entities (at least two entities mentioned in sections 1-7 or at least one institution as such together with at least one company);
  4. scientific and industrial centres within the meaning of the Act on Research Institutes of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 498);
  5. research centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences within the meaning of the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences of 30 April 2010;
  6. scientific libraries;
  7. companies operating as R&D centres within the meaning of the Act on Certain Forms of Support for Innovative Activity of 30 May 2008 (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 2474);
  8. legal entities with their registered office in Poland;

13a.     President of the Central Office of Measures;

  1. natural persons; and
  2. companies conducting research in another organisational form than laid down in sections 1-13.

Who May Act as the Principal Investigator?

Researchers at any stage of their research career (PhD degree not required) may serve as principal investigators if they have at least one research paper published or accepted for publication. For research in arts, the principal investigator must have at least one paper published or accepted for publication or at least one artistic achievement or achievement in research in arts completed. Papers and/or artistic achievements included in the proposal should cover the period of 10 years prior to the proposal submission year (as of 2014). In specific cases, this period may be extended. (It can be extended by any long-term (in excess of 90 days) documented sick leave or physiotherapy leave granted on account of being unfit to work. This period may also be extended by the number of months of a childcare leave granted pursuant to the Labour Code and in the case of women, by 18 months for every child born or adopted, whichever manner of accounting for career breaks is preferable.)

A narrative CV is allowed in this edition of the call. We recommend that you use the annexed (optional) template of the principal investigator’s academic and research track record.

Please note: The principal investigator must reside in Poland for at least 50% of the project duration period and be available to the host institution for the project. The foregoing obligation does not apply to evidenced project-related business trips or holiday, time off work and other excused absence at work governed by the applicable laws.

The principal investigator must be a person employed at the host institution for the entire project duration period pursuant to at least a part-time employment contract. The foregoing does not apply to persons receiving a pension under the social insurance scheme.

Are there any restrictions on submitting proposals for research projects under NCN calls?

Restrictions on submitting proposals are described in Chapter III of the Regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded by the National Science Centre as regards research projects, adopted by the NCN Council on 4 March 2024.

In a specific edition of the calls, the same person may be named as the principal investigator in one proposal only, i.e., in this edition of the calls, one may be named as the principal investigator in either an OPUS proposal or PRELUDIUM proposal.

Proposals covering research tasks overlapping tasks specified in another proposal submitted earlier may only be submitted after the funding decision has become final.

Please note: The total number of NCN projects managed by a researcher and proposals submitted to the NCN that are pending evaluation or have been recommended for funding, in which the researcher in question is named as the principal investigator, must not be more than two, or three if the researcher manages at least one project funded under an OPUS call within the framework of LAP cooperation or under a call launched by the NCN in collaboration with foreign research-funding agencies or is named as the principal investigator in at least one proposal submitted to the NCN that is pending evaluation or has been recommended for funding under an OPUS call within the framework of LAP cooperation or a call launched by the NCN in collaboration with foreign research-funding agencies.

The foregoing limits does not apply to any projects or proposals submitted to PRELUDIUM BIS and/or DIOSCURI.

Please see the eligible funding requests in the call. 

Possible combinations are shown in the table below:

Number of NCN research projects I manage1 and proposals2 I have submitted to the NCN Can I submit another funding proposal?
Total Research projects OR proposals under domestic calls3 Research projects OR proposals under international calls4 under domestic call under international call
0 0 YES YES
1 1 YES YES
2 2 0 NO YES
2 1 1 YES YES
2 0 2 YES YES
≥3 3 NO NO

1 Project management applies to the period from the date of signing the funding agreement under NCN calls until the date of submitting the final report on the project performance.

2 The limit does not apply to proposals pending evaluation or recommended for funding.

3 Research projects or proposals under NCN calls: Opus, Preludium, Sonatina, Sonata, Sonata Bis, Maestro and research projects under Harmonia, Symfonia and Covid-19.

4 The calls launched by the NCN in collaboration with foreign research-funding agencies include: calls launched under EU-funded programmes, e.g., ERA-Net and European Partnerships (UNISONO, POLONEZ, POLONEZ BIS):

  • calls launched by the networks of research-funding institutions not co-financed from the EU funds, including within the framework of LAP cooperation (OPUS LAP/ WEAVE, WEAVE UNISONO);
  • bilateral calls of the NCN and foreign partner institutions (GRIEG, POLS, IDEALAB, BEETHOVEN, BEETHOVEN CLASSIC, BEETHOVEN LIFE, CEUS, MOZART, ALPHORN, ALPHORN COVID-19, DAINA, SHENG);

The limits shall not apply to:

  • PRELUDIUM BIS, Dioscuri, TANGO and ARTIQ proposals/ projects,
  • MINIATURA proposals/ research activities,
  • NAWA proposals/ research components,
  • FUGA and UWERTURA fellowships,
  • ETIUDA scholarships, NCN Programme for researchers from Ukraine to continue research in Poland and NCN special scholarship programme for Ukrainian students and young researchers .

What is the subject-matter of the call?

Basic research proposals may be submitted to the call in any of 26 NCN panels comprising three groups:

  • HS – Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences;
  • NZ – Life Sciences; and
  • ST – Physical Sciences and Engineering.

Proposals are reviewed within the panels to which they have been submitted (e.g., HS1, ST1, NZ1). The principal investigator selects the panel. The panel cannot be changed once the proposal has been submitted. If an incorrect panel is selected, proposals may be rejected in the course of a merit-based evaluation.

What is the project duration?

Funding may be requested for projects lasting:

  • 12 months,
  • 24 months,
  • 36 months or
  • 48 months.

What posts can be occupied by research team members?

In research projects, in addition to the principal investigator, research tasks may be carried out by co-investigators, including students, PhD students, post-docs and/or senior researchers.

A post-doc type post is a full-time post, scheduled by the project’s principal investigator for a person who has been conferred a PhD degree within 7 years before 1 January of the year of employment in the project. This period may be extended pursuant to the terms laid down in the Types of costs in research projects funded by the NCN.

A post-doc must be a person who has been awarded their PhD degree by another institution than the one employing them in this capacity or must has completed a continuous and evidenced post-doctoral fellowship of at least 10 months in another institution than the host institution for the project and in another country than the one in which they have been conferred their PhD degree. A post-doc in the project must be recruited in an open call procedure.

Please note: The NCN Council calls attention to the organisation of open calls for post-docs. According to the Regulations, call organisers must respect the eligibility criterion of 7 years from the date of award of the first PhD.

PhD student(s) who is/are NCN scholarship recipient(s) must be recruited in an open call procedure.

A senior researcher post is a full-time position co-funded by the host institution, scheduled by the project’s principal investigator for a person who has been conferred a PhD degree within at least 7 years before submission of the proposal, has expertise, unique skills and experience necessary to carry out the research tasks entailed by the project.

The rationale of employment of particular members of the research team in the project will be evaluated by the Expert Team. The competences and tasks to be performed by particular members of the Expert Team must be described in the proposal. For more information on the budget for salaries and scholarships, please refer to the Types of costs in research projects funded by the NCN.

The terms of the call do not specify the maximum number of research team members.

How can the project budget be planned?

The project budget must be justified as regards the subject and scope of research and must be based on reasonable calculations. The NCN does not specify the minimum or maximum amount of the project budget for OPUS calls. Expenditure must be relevant to the research plan and project tasks. A proposal may be rejected if unreasonable costs are planned.

The project budget includes direct costs and indirect costs.

Direct costs include:

  1. full-time remuneration for the principal investigator: PLN 170,000 per annum if the principal investigator is employed full-time and up to PLN 3,000 per month if the principal investigator is employed otherwise;
  2. remuneration for co-investigators in the project:
  • full-time remuneration for post-docs: PLN 140,000 per annum (which may be increased in well justified case),
  • senior researcher position: PLN 70,000 per annum.

Please note: The senior researcher position must be co-financed by the participating entity in the amount of at least PLN 70,000 per annum;

  • salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students (up to PLN 10,000 per each month of project performance),
  • additional remuneration for members of the research team; if the principal investigator is not to be employed full-time in the project, their remuneration is paid for from the pool allocated for additional remuneration;
  1. purchase of research equipment, devices and software;
  2. purchase of materials and small equipment;
  3. outsourced services;
  4. business trips, visits and consultations;
  5. compensation for collective investigators; and
  6. other costs crucial to the project which comply with the Types of costs in research projects funded by the NCN.

Please note: The costs of publication of monographs resulting from research projects, as defined in §10 of the Regulation on the Evaluation of the Quality of Research Activity issued by the Minister of Science and Higher Education on 22 February 2019 (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 392) may only be incurred following a positive review by the NCN.

Indirect costs include:

  • indirect cost of Open Access (up to 2% of direct costs) that may be designated only for the cost of open access to publications or research data;
  • other indirect costs (up to 20% of direct costs) that may be spent on costs that are related indirectly to the research project, including the cost of open access to publications and research data.

In the case of entities applying for state aid, indirect cost including indirect cost of OA and other indirect cost must not exceed a total of 20 % of direct cost and the following categories of other direct costs are disregarded in the calculation of indirect costs: materials and small equipment, business trips, visits and consultations, collective investigators, and other.

Furthermore, during the project performance, the host institution shall arrange with the principal investigator in the project for the distribution of at least 25 % of the funds arising from the other indirect costs actually incurred in the project.

PLEASE NOTE: The Salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students category has been modified.

The maximum doctoral scholarships for PhD students at doctoral schools may be paid after their mid-term evaluation.

If the principal investigator intends to engage a PhD student from a doctoral school at the proposal submission stage, a doctoral scholarship may be paid from the budget for salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students in the amount of no more than:

  • PLN 5,000 up to the month of the mid-term evaluation of a PhD student;
  • PLN 6,500 after the month of the mid-term evaluation of a PhD student.

The budget for salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students under OPUS shall remain the same and shall be PLN 10,000 per each month of project performance set forth in the proposal. Additional PLN 1,500 may be set in the proposal per each doctoral scholarship recipient to cover the cost of doctoral scholarship after their mid-term evaluation. The total amount of an increase per each month of project performance set forth in a proposal submitted to the OPUS call must not exceed PLN 3,000.

PLEASE NOTE: If the budget for salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students set forth in the proposal exceeds the limit of PLN 10,000 per each month of project performance under the proposal, the funds above the limit can only be used for the cost of doctoral scholarship of a PhD student after the month of their mid-term evaluation. Otherwise, the funds must be returned to the National Science Centre.  

The maximum amount of

  • doctoral scholarships for PhD students before their mid-term evaluation,
  • NCN scholarships for students and PhD students and
  • salaries for students and PhD students,

shall remain the same.

Open access publication of research results

Together with other European cOAlition S agencies, the National Science Centre has drafted its Open Access Policy. In accordance with its vision of open access to research results and publications, the NCN requires that all research results should be made available in full and immediate open access. In accordance with the principles of Plan S, the National Science Centre recognizes the following publication routes as compliant with its open access policy:

  1. publication in open access journals and on open access platforms registered, or with pending registration, in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ);
  2. publication in subscription journals (hybrid journals in which some of the articles are open access and some require payment of a publication fee), as long as the Version of Record (VoR, i.e. a version of record published in a journal with its own typeface and branding. Other terms: published version or publisher’s pdf) or the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM, i.e. the final manuscript version created by the author, including all the revisions introduced after the peer review, and accepted for publication in the journal. Other terms: post print, author accepted manuscript) is published, by the author or publisher, in an open repository immediately upon the article’s online publication;
  3. publication in journals covered by an open access licence within the framework of so-called transformative agreements that must be inscribed in the Efficiency and Standards for Article Charges registry (ESAC-registry) and in transformative journals (i.e. journals actively committed to transitioning from a subscription journal to a fully open access journal. The current list of transformative journals is available here). Transformative journals must meet the criteria laid down in the Guidelines on the Implementation of Plan S and must allow open access publication of original scientific articles.

PLEASE NOTE: This publication route applies to papers accepted for publication or published before 31 December 2024.

Manuscripts must be published using the CC-BY licence. In the case of transformative journals, the CC-BY-SA licence can also be used. The CC-BY-ND licence may also be used (regardless of the publication route selected).

More information on open access publication terms/instructions can be found here, as amended.

For more information, please refer to the Open Access Instructions.

PLEASE NOTE: Projects for which final reports are submitted to the NCN by 31 December 2025 may benefit from transitional provisions mitigating the NCN’s Open Access Policy (read more). We recommend that you read the presentation of the Open Access Team addressing available publication routes and any modifications (recording, presentation).

In grant agreements concluded after 1 January 2021, the data underpinning the scientific publications resulting from the project funded by the NCN must be well-documented pursuant to the FAIR Principles standing for machine or manual Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability or Reusability (the so-called “FAIR Data”). Where possible, data must be made available in the repository, according to the Creative Commons Public Domain CC0 licence (that allows the distribution of data to public domain. Pursuant to the licence, authors can give up their right to data under the intellectual property rights to the extend allowed by domestic law; the licence does not affect patent rights, rights of publicity or privacy). The data citation principles laid down in the Declaration of Data Citation Principles by FORCE 11 and the TOP Guidelines must be complied with. Metadata describing the data sets must be in line with the OpenAIRE.

Proposal form

All parts of the proposal form are described in Point I of Annex 1 of the Regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded by the National Science Centre as regards research projects to NCN Council Resolution No 23/2024 of 4 March 2024 („Evaluation Criteria in the OPUS call).

Information required in English:

  1. details of the principal investigator, including information on their academic and research career and research experience as well as 1-10 papers published in the proposal submission year or over the period of 10 years prior to the proposal submission year (including applicable breaks); for research in art, 1-10 of the most important papers published or artistic achievements and achievements in research in art in the proposal submission year or over the period of 10 years prior to the proposal submission year; information on research project management or other research funding under NCN calls in the proposal submission year or over the period of 10 years prior to the proposal submission year; information on research project management funded under other national and international calls in the proposal submission year or over the period of 10 years prior to the proposal submission year (up to 5 projects);
  2. key information on the proposal and host institution for the project (also in Polish);
  3. work plan (also in Polish);
  4. information on the scope of work carried out by the co-investigators in the project;
  5. summary of the project;
  6. abstract for the general public (also in Polish);
  7. short project description (no more than 5 pages, A4) with bibliography which does not count to the page limit;
  8. full project description (no more than 15 pages, A4) with bibliography which does not count to the page limit;
  9. information on research projects carried out in international cooperation and advantages thereof (required only for projects involving research carried out in international cooperation);
  10. information on the ethical aspects of the research;
  11. information on the data management plan concerning data generated or used in the course of the research project, as required by the proposal; and
  12. project budget drafted pursuant to the Regulations.

The proposal form is available here.

PLEASE NOTE: In the Oświadczenia administracyjne [Administrative declarations] tab, under Osoby wskazane we wniosku [Persons named in the proposal], enter the data of all persons who have been involved in the preparation of the proposal or will be involved in the project performance. At this point, enter the names of all persons whose data (name, affiliation) has been entered in another part of the proposal. The applicant is required to notify such persons that their details have been disclosed in the proposal and will be processed by the NCN. This section is not subject to a review. 

Can proposals in this call include application for state aid?

Proposals in the call may include an application for state aid, except where a natural person applies for funding. For more information, please refer to the State aid section.

In the case of research projects carried out in institutions for which project funding will constitute state aid, funds for students and PhD students can only be planned in the form described as “Salaries for students and PhD students” category under the Types of costs in research projects funded by the NCN.

PLEASE NOTE: All documents concerning proposals for state aid must be signed with a qualified electronic signature in the PAdES format.

What is the proposal evaluation procedure?

Proposals are subject to an eligibility check and merit-based evaluation.

Eligibility checks are carried out by the coordinators. Only complete proposals that comply with the criteria set out in the call text can be accepted for a merit-based evaluation. A proposal may also be rejected as ineligible at the later stage of evaluation.

Proposals approved as eligible are subject to a merit-based evaluation performed in two stages:

Stage I: An evaluation is performed by the Expert Team formed by the NCN Council NCN, based on the data included in the proposal and annexes thereto, with the exception of the full project description. Each proposal is evaluated by two members of the Expert Team acting independently. In the case of a proposal which is assigned an auxiliary NCN review panel specifying disciplines covered by NCN review panels other than the one to which the proposal was submitted, the Chair of the Expert Team may decide to seek an auxiliary review from a member of another Expert Team (interdisciplinary proposals).

After the evaluation, the experts meet at the first Expert Team meeting. Based on the review of the proposals and discussions, a list of proposals recommended for the Stage II of evaluation is compiled by the Expert Team.

Stage II: Proposals are addressed to at least two reviewers who draft individual reviews based on the data included in the proposal and annexes thereto, with the exception of the short project description. Based on the reviews drafted by the reviewers and discussions at the second meeting, a ranking list of proposals recommended for funding is compiled by the Expert Team.

For more information on the proposal evaluation procedure, please refer to the Proposal evaluation procedure for the Expert Team and tutorial video.

Proposals are reviewed within the panels to which they have been submitted (e.g. HS1, ST1, NZ1). The principal investigator selects the panel. The panel cannot be changed once the proposal has been submitted. We recommend that you precisely identify an auxiliary review panel as this may help to selects experts and reviewers for a merit-based evaluation of proposals. The Chair of the Expert Team may decide that interdisciplinary proposals undergo an auxiliary review by an expert from another panel.

What is reviewed in the evaluation of proposals?

The evaluation of proposals focuses in particular on:

  1. compliance with the basic research criteria;
  2. scientific relevance, importance, originality and novelty of research or tasks to be performed;
  3. relevance of the methodology and work plan in relation to the scientific objectives of the project;
  4. impact of the project results and for high-quality scientific publications and other research outputs of the project, taking into account the specifics of the research field and the variety of forms of impact and output.
  5. assessment of the feasibility of the proposed project;
  6. scientific achievements of the principal investigator, including publications in renowned academic press/ journals;
  7. assessment of other projects conducted by the principal investigator, funded by the NCN or from other sources;
  8. relevance of the costs to be incurred with regards to the subject and scope of the research; and
  9. preparation of the proposal and compliance with other requirements set forth in the call text.

The proposal evaluation criteria are now available here.

PLEASE NOTE: The competences, track record and expertise of the person to be employed as a senior researcher as well as justification of the senior researcher position, as described in the proposals submitted to the OPUS call, will be subject to a merit-based evaluation. If the conditions are not met and justification is not substantive, a proposal may be rejected.

Proposals with a zero score or “no” decision agreed by the Expert Team in any reviewed criterion subject to an evaluation (except for the data management and ethics issues in research) shall not be recommended for funding.

Who performs the merit-based evaluation of proposals?

Proposals are evaluated within the review panels (i.e., HS1, NZ1, ST1).

Experts are selected by the NCN Council from among outstanding Polish and foreign researchers who are at least PhD holders. Expert Teams are established for each call edition. The composition of the Expert Team is subject to the number and subjects of proposals submitted to each panel.

When and how are the call results announced?

The call results will be announced on the NCN website and communicated to the applicants by way of a decision by the NCN Director within 6 months of the proposal submission date, by December 2024 at the latest.

More information

Please, read the Information for Applicants on the NCN website.

Should you have any more questions or queries, please contact us by e-mail: informacja@ncn.gov.pl.

Useful information

If you are intending to submit a proposal to OPUS 27:

  1. read all call documents included in the call text, in particular:
  2. obtain data from the host institution for the project that is required to complete the proposal and find out about the internal procedures that may affect the proposal and project performance (cost planned in the project, procedure for acquiring signature(s) of authorised representative(s) of the institution to confirm submission of the proposal);
  3. if the applicant is a group of Polish entities, an agreement on collaboration for the purposes of completion of the requested research project must be drafted;
  4. prepare acceptance letters from publishers confirming that the paper has been accepted for publication (when the scientific achievements section includes papers accepted for publication that have not been published yet).

Before the proposal is submitted to the NCN:

  1. make sure that all information in and annexes to the proposal are correct. Verification of the proposal for completeness in the OSF submission system by pressing the Sprawdź kompletność [Check completeness] button does not guarantee that all information has been entered correctly and that the required annexes have been attached;
  2. make sure that all tabs have been completed in the correct language;
  3. disable the final version of the proposal to the NCN;
  4. download the confirmation of proposal submission – to be signed by the principal investigator and authorised representative(s) of the host institution; and
  5. upload the signed confirmation of proposal submission.

Once the proposal has been completed and all the required annexes attached, use the Wyślij do NCN [Send to NCN] button to submit the proposal to the NCN electronically via the OSF submission system.

Once the call for proposals has been closed:

  1. evaluation of proposals will be carried out;
  2. after each stage of evaluation, the funding decision by the NCN Director will be delivered;
  3. if the proposal is recommended for funding, a funding agreement will be entered into;
  4. the project will be carried out pursuant to the funding agreement and Regulations on the implementation of research projects, fellowships and scholarships.

In the event of a breach of the call procedure or other formal infringements, the applicant may appeal against the decision of the NCN Director with the Committee of Appeals of the NCN Council within 14 days of the effective delivery of the decision.

Call documents

  1. Terms of the OPUS call
  2. Regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded by the National Science Centre
  3. NCN review panels
  4. Regulations for awarding scholarships in the NCN-funded research projects
  5. Costs in research projects funded by NCN  
  6. OPUS proposal form template
  7. Guides for Applicants to complete the proposal in the OSF submission system
  8. Agreement on collaboration for the purposes of completion of the requested research project
  9. State aid
  10. Guidelines for applicants to complete the Data Management Plan form in the proposal
  11. Guidelines for applicants to complete the Ethics Issues form in the proposal
  12. NCN’s Open Access Policy, as amended
  13. Guidelines: NCN’s Open Access Policy
  14. The Code of the National Science Centre on research integrity and applying for research funding
  15. Proposal submission procedure

Documents concerning evaluation of proposals:

  1. Proposal evaluation criteria
  2. Expert Teams of the National Science Centre - formation and appointing
  3. Detailed procedure for evaluating proposals by the Expert Teams
  4. Service of decisions of the NCN Director
  5. Guidelines for appealing against the NCN Director’s decisions

Documents to be read after the call for proposals is concluded:

  1. OPUS agreement template
  2. Order establishing a procedure for conducting audits on host institution’s premises
  3. Guidelines for entities auditing the implementation of research projects funded by the National Science Centre
  4. Evaluation of monographs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre
  5. NCN Council Resolution on collaboration with the Russian Federation within the framework of NCN-funded grants

Quantum Poland awaits a strategy

Mon, 03/18/2024 - 11:00

Medical diagnostics will be faster and more accurate, online data security will get incomparably better and we already see the advent of new materials with properties that are nothing short of revolutionary. Scientists predict the development of quantum technologies will redefine our reality within the next ten to twenty years.

Today, the world is witnessing a rapid growth in these technologies, and Europe wants to become its first “Quantum Valley”. With their impressive record of foundational research and increasing focus on experimental results, Polish researchers are among some of the leading scientists in the field. Poland is also the coordinator of QuantERA, the largest European quantum research-funding network. Now, researchers are hoping Poland will soon adopt a long-term quantum technology development strategy modelled on programmes already in place in other countries.

First Quantu QuantERA Strategic Conference, Kraków 2022 | Photo by Błażej GórczyńskiQuantERA Strategic Conference, Kraków 2022 | Photo by Błażej Górczyński m Valley

Five years ago, the European Union started one of the most important endeavours in the field of research and innovation: the Quantum Technologies Flagship, with a budget of more than a billion, designed to put Europe at the forefront of quantum technology development. In December 2023, 15 states adopted the European Declaration on Quantum Technologies; the signatories to the agreement included, e.g. Denmark, Finland, Germany and Sweden, but also Central European countries such as Hungary and Romania. They underscored the strategic importance of quantum technologies for the scientific and industrial competitiveness of the EU and committed to working together to turn Europe into the global leader for quantum excellence and innovation.

Last month, representatives of the Quantum Technologies Flagship presented a new quantum development agenda 2030, in which they defined their ultimate goal as turning Europe into the world’s first “Quantum Valley” thanks to its scientific and industrial potential, qualified workforce and multi-billion investments. “Many concepts and ideas in quantum technology were born on our continent”, says Prof. Konrad Banaszek, a world-renowned expert in the field, winner of the MAB programme of the Foundation for Polish Science and author of multiple articles and patent applications.

The largest network with a seat in Poland

Prof. Konrad Banaszek is the scientific coordinator of the QuantERA funding initiative, the largest European programme developed to support quantum technology research, which works in close cooperation with the Quantum Flagship.

The QuantERA Network promotes and funds ambitious, foundational and cutting-edge engineering research projects in quantum technologies (QT), supports collaboration between researchers and research-funding agencies, monitors public policies and strategies in quantum technologies, and creates responsible research guidelines. The network brings together 41 research-funding agencies from 31 countries. Poland plays a key role within the organisation, as the network is coordinated by the National Science Centre. “We are well aware of what’s going on in quantum technologies, we know what projects are underway in Europe at the moment and, most importantly, we can influence the directions of development in the field”, comments Sylwia Kostka, the programme’s coordinator.

Since its establishment in 2016, one of the members of the Strategic Advisory Board of the network has been Prof. Alain Aspect, who, alongside Profs. John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger, won the Nobel Prize for pioneering quantum information research in 2022. Poland is represented on the board by Prof. Marek Żukowski from the University of Gdańsk, a long-time collaborator of Prof. A. Zeilinger’s.

Thus far, QuantERA has funded more than 100 international basic and applied research projects carried out by nearly 550 research teams. In the last call, concluded at the end of 2023, the highest-ranked proposals included research into quantum imaging, colour-centre quantum sensors and quantum-dot single-photon sources.

Scientists from Polish research centres have been involved in nearly 40 of the projects funded by the network. “The fact that the NCN is its coordinator has placed us right at the centre of things and contributed to the promotion of the Polish quantum community”, says Dr Radek Łapkiewicz, Head of the Quantum Optics Lab at the University of Warsaw. Łapkiewicz studies how quantum effects can be used in imaging; he earned his PhD degree in Vienna, working with a team led by Prof. Anton Zeilinger, and specialised in experiments with entangled photons. In the 2023 QuantERA call, he won a grant for his applied research project entitled Quantum Multi-Modal Microscopy, which he will be working on with his collaborators from France, Germany and Switzerland.

When asked what changes quantum technologies may bring to imaging in the nearest future, Dr Łapkiewicz says that it would be only natural to use quantum instruments to move the frontiers of what can be done in biomedical imaging. “Advanced biomedical imaging is often limited by the amount of light available. For instance, if you want to look at the structures deep inside a tissue, it is often difficult to introduce enough light there in a non-invasive way and it is just as hard to detect the light coming out. Quantum optics scientists specialise in detecting even very weak light pulses, while quantum metrologists know how to plumb each photon for maximum information”, he explains, and then adds that the scientific community has already witnessed the first demonstrations of the quantum advantage and is now focused on trying to “find applications in imaging, where quantum technologies will prove the most useful”.

Dr inż. Anna Musiał from the Wrocław University of Technology heads the FiGanti project, bringing together scientists from Finland, Sweden, France and Germany. Working with an international consortium, she emphasises, allows her to explore the potential of her partners and contributes to boosting the recognisability of her university. “A good joint project is a very important boost to how a centre is perceived in Europe and the best form of advertising. Importantly, it is also an opportunity to exchange experiences when it comes to research, lab organisation and team work”, says Musiał.

Centre for Quantum Optical Technologies, University of WarsawCentre for Quantum Optical Technologies, University of Warsaw Outstanding achievements since the 1990s

Polish scientists have had an outstanding track record in terms of foundational research. A lot of theoretical work on quantum entanglement was done in the 1990s at the University of Gdańsk, where Prof. Ryszard Horodecki and his team built a lab that soon became the world’s chief centre of quantum information technology research. Research institutions in Warsaw and Kraków have had a long tradition of research into quantum optics, the springboard for most current research into new means of communication, detection, metrology and imaging. Scientists from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń work at the FAMO Laboratory to develop next-generation optical atomic clocks, the world’s most precise time measurement devices, which can be used in geodesy and navigation. They also work on other quantum metrology applications.

Besides theory, Polish labs are also producing more and more experimental results. Last year, a team led by Dr hab. Michał Parniak from the Centre for Optical Quantum Technologies at the University of Warsaw, constructed a device that can convert quantum information between single microwave and optical photons. This device may become an infrastructure element for a quantum internet and find new applications in microwave radio astronomy. Also last year, another group, led by Dr Michał Karpiński from the Quantum Photonics Lab of the same university, developed a new technique of quantum information transfer that is several dozen times faster. Both inventions have opened up new technical avenues and the research results in question were published in a prestigious journal, Nature Photonics.

“All our research centres have enormous potential, as evidenced by their participation in European projects, publications, their awards, patents and industrial contacts”, estimates Prof. Konrad Banaszek.

The Polish quantum community is also tightening its internal cooperation. In May 2022, on the initiative of Prof. Banaszek, nearly 20 research institutions and economic entities set up Cluster Q – a Quantum Technologies Cluster, which now consists of nearly 30 members. The mission of the cluster is to develop quantum technology research and lend scientific and practical support to the entire Polish quantum industry.

Austria invests resources. Hungary starts a second quantum program

The “Quantum Technologies Public Policies, 2023” report, published by QuantERA, concludes that most European countries already recognise the potential benefits of quantum technologies and invest significant resources in developing their competitive advantage. Just three years earlier, only a few out of the 29 countries in the network had put national quantum technology development programmes in place. Today, most countries already have a strategy or at least a set of priorities, and five (Austria, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland) have slated significant domestic resources for the development of quantum technologies.

A lot of activity in this area can also be observed in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Hungary has already developed its second domestic quantum technologies programme. Slovakia has set up a national centre, QUTE, designed to prepare the country for the quantum industry. Latvia has adopted a national strategy and developed the Latvian Quantum Initiative, which brings together scientists working in the field.

Poland is not a signatory to the European Declaration on Quantum Technologies of December 2023. Nor does it have a national strategy. “We have all the assets in hand, but we need a political decision to consolidate the idea that quantum technologies are a priority”, says Sylwia Kostka. Scientists hope that the document will be adopted in the nearest future. They have already held initial talks with representatives of the government which, the NCN coordinator argues, “could provide an impulse for further action”. The push for a strategy was initiated by Cluster Q.

“Defining long-term goals will help organise and integrate currently-scattered activities. For me, what matters is that everyone realises quantum technologies are an important domain that needs to be supported in the long term”, says Dr Anna Musiał.

If adopted, the programme would be a huge opportunity for the development of science, business and the economy.

Anna Korzekwa-Józefowicz

QuantERA Strategic Conference, Kraków 2022 | Photo by Błażej Górczyńsk

QuantERA Strategic Conference, Kraków 2022 | Photo by Błażej Górczyński

Weave-UNISONO call for proposals: closure of the call for proposals with the Flemish FWO, Czech GAČR and Swiss SNSF acting as the lead agencies

Mon, 03/18/2024 - 10:50

Please note that the call for proposals at the Flemish agency FWO ends on 2 April 2024 while the call at the Czech GAČR and Swiss SNSF agencies acting as the lead agencies ends on 3 April 2024.

If a joint proposal is submitted to the Flemish FWO acting as the lead agency, an NCN proposal must be submitted electronically via the OSF submission system as soon as possible, by 9 April 2024, 11:59 p.m. at the latest.

If a joint proposal is submitted to the SNSF or GAČR acting as the lead agency, an NCN proposal must be submitted electronically via the OSF submission system as soon as possible, by 10 April 2024, 11:59 p.m. at the latest.

Once the work on an NCN proposal has started in the OSF submission system, the Polish research team will have 45 calendar days to complete the proposal and submit it to the NCN. After that, the proposal will be blocked for editing, in which case the Polish research team that has not sent its proposal to the NCN will have to draft a new proposal and complete it in the OSF submission system.

Spring NCN calls

Fri, 03/15/2024 - 13:00

Proposals are now being accepted under OPUS 27, our call for researchers at all career levels, and PRELUDIUM 23, for pre-PhD researchers. The total budget of the two calls is 490 million zlotys and proposals may be submitted until mid-June.

Under the new calls, researchers can apply for grants to fund basic research projects in any scientific discipline.

Of all NCN calls, OPUS has the broadest formula: it is open to researchers at all career levels, including those who have not yet earned a PhD degree. The applicants must demonstrate a track record of at least one paper published or accepted for publication or, for research in art, at least one artistic achievement or achievement in research in art.

OPUS 27 grants can be used to fund projects with or without the partnership of foreign institutions, as well as those that require the use of large international research equipment. The spring iteration of the OPUS call does not include the lead agency procedure (LAP).

OPUS projects may take 12, 24, 36 or 48 months and involve post-docs and senior researchers, as well as students and PhD candidates. Funds from the project budget may be used for the purchase of research equipment, devices and software, materials and small equipment, outsourced services, business trips, visits and consultations, as well as compensation for collective investigators. Although there is no upper limit of funding available to a project, the budget must be compliant with the call terms, and the costs must be reasonable and crucial to the project.

PRELUDIUM 23 is targeted at researchers without a PhD degree. Grants can go toward funding projects to be carried out at Polish host institutions over 12, 24 or 36 months, with budgets of up to PLN 70,000, 140,000 or 210,000, respectively. The subject matter of the project may, but does not need to, be related to the subject of the doctoral dissertation.

The PRELUDIUM project team may consist of up to three members, including the PI and the mentor. The project budget may go toward funding the salary of the research team members (except the mentor), research equipment, software and devices, materials and small equipment, outsourced services, business trips, visits and consultations, as well as compensation for collective investigators and other necessary costs crucial to the project provided that they are in line with the Types of costs in research projects funded by the NCN.

More funding available

The total budget of OPUS 27 to be distributed among successful applicants is 450 million zlotys and that of PRELUDIUM 23 – 40 million.

“This is the first time in a while that the budgets are higher than in previous iterations. This is thanks to the announcement made by Minister of Science Dariusz Wieczorek that the NCN will receive an additional subsidy of 200 million zlotys before the end of this year”, said Prof. Krzysztof Jóźwiak, Director of the National Science Centre.

The Minister of Science, Dariusz Wieczorek, announced his decision to provide the National Science Centre with additional resources to fund research projects at a press conference on 14 February. 

“This is a step in the right direction; it will allow us to fund more valuable projects and, in the long run, boost the competitive edge of Polish science in the international arena”, Prof. Jóźwiak emphasised, “I am hopeful that, thanks to these higher budgets, the success rates in OPUS 27 and PRELUDIUM 23 will also go up significantly”, he added.

Evaluation procedure and call results

OPUS 27 and PRELUDIUM 23 proposals may be submitted until Monday, 17 June, via the OSF system.

Proposals may be submitted by universities, research institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, research institutes, scientific and industrial centres, research centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences, scientific libraries, companies and legal entities with registered offices in Poland. Individuals who are not employed at any institution may also apply as long as they are going to be employed from the grant resources.

OPUS and PRELUDIUM proposals are evaluated by Expert Teams set up for each panel (e.g. HS1, NZ1, ST1). Merit-based evaluation consists of two stages: first, the proposals are evaluated by experts appointed to the Expert Team by the NCN Council, and then evaluated by external reviewers. Both at stage 1 and 2, the final decision is agreed on by the Expert Team as a whole, based on individual evaluations made by experts and reviewers, following a team discussion.

Call results will be published once the evaluation procedure has concluded, at the latest in December 2024.

In all OPUS calls organised thus far, 9970 proposals were awarded a total of more than 7.7 billion zlotys in funding. For PRELUDIUM, the corresponding figures are 6847 and 840.4 million, respectively. NCN project database.

OPUS 27 call text

PRELUDIUM 23 call text

In search of better rheumatoid arthritis therapies

Principal Investigator :
Dr Tomasz Kantyka
Jagiellonian University

Panel: NZ1

Funding scheme : GRIEG
announced on 17 czerwca 2019 r.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterised by joint inflammation, which leads to limited functionality and disability. Several studies indicate citrullination, an enzymatic modification of proteins catalysed by the peptidyl arginine deiminase (PAD) family, as a significant factor in the development of RA. Unfortunately, fundamental aspects related to citrullination and PAD enzyme biology remain unclear. Our project aims to describe the biological mechanisms of PAD activation, using biochemical techniques, cell lines and analysing samples from RA patients. Dr Tomasz Kantyka, photo by Michał ŁepeckiDr Tomasz Kantyka, photo by Michał Łepecki

A characteristic feature of RA is the influx of immune cells into the joints, including neutrophils and macrophages, accompanied by lymphocytes. Neutrophils drive the inflammatory process and tissue destruction, while lymphocytes recognise newly-formed citrullinated proteins and produce antibodies attacking the patient's own proteins. A significant group of these antibodies are anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs), targeting citrullinated proteins such as those building cartilage, metabolic enzymes and nuclear proteins. ACPAs can be detected even before clinical symptoms appear, and their levels are associated with joint destruction progression.

Citrullination is a modification of proteins where the positively charged arginine chain is modified to neutral citrulline, a critical step for ACPA formation as these modified sequences often serve as neoepitopes, attacked by the immune system. The group of enzymes catalysing citrullination (PAD) is essential for regulating the inflammatory state induced by neutrophil presence.

Dr Tomasz Kantyka, photo by Michał ŁepeckiDr Tomasz Kantyka, photo by Michał Łepecki The main regulators of PAD activity are calcium ions. Calcium binding leads to enzyme activation in the "calcium switch" mechanism, involving structural changes enabling catalytic machinery activation. However, calcium concentrations in these studies often exceed physiological levels, suggesting the involvement of additional activators either replacing calcium or reducing calcium concentration requirements for enzyme activation. Breakthrough results from our project indicate the activation of PAD4 by natural molecules from the glycosaminoglycans (GAG) group. These substances activate PAD4 at calcium ion concentrations similar to physiological levels, explaining their potential in vivo activation. These results have been confirmed using various techniques, including enzymatic activity analysis, direct determination of GAG-PAD4 interaction using microcalorimetry MST and specific binding determination using surface plasmon resonance (SPR). These findings confirm high-affinity GAG binding and suggest a new molecular organisation of PAD4 responsible for increased enzyme activity. In parallel in vitro studies have demonstrated PAD4 binding to GAG-producing cell surfaces, and analysis of clinical samples from patients in collaboration with our Norwegian partner indicates a correlation between elevated GAG levels in serum and earlier disease development.

Describing new PAD4 activation mechanisms has the potential for clinical interpretation, and the results of our basic research may lead to the development of better RA therapies in the future.

Project title: Novel mechanisms of PAD activity regulation. Substrate specificity and activation of peptidyl arginine deiminase in the context of rheumatoid arthritis

Dr Tomasz Kantyka

Tomasz Kantyka defended his PhD at Jagiellonian University in 2010. His international experience includes research stays in Germany at the Clinic of Dermatology, Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, a 4-month collaboration with Institute of Clinical Microbiology at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and USA with a short stay at Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. He spent his postdoc in Bergen, Norway, at the Clinical Department of the Bergen University Hospital. Currently he leads a Research Group at the Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, where he continues his research. Currently his main research topic is the regulation of PAD4 activity by non-protein cofactors. He is a co-author of 39 research papers and has received several grants from the Ministry of Higher Education, NCN and Norway Grants.

Dr Tomasz Kantyka, photo by Michał Łepecki

Modelling magma intrusions on the Moon, Mars and Earth

Principal Investigator :
Dr Sam Poppe
The Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Panel: ST10

Funding scheme : POLS
announced on 16 March 2020

Terrestrial planetary bodies in our Solar System include Earth, Mars, the Moon, Venus and Mercury. When heated rock melts at depth below the surface of these bodies, magma is produced. This magma ascends through the crust and is either emplaced and solidified at a shallow depth of a few kilometres below the surface, or it erupts at the surface and forms volcanoes. During shallow emplacement, the magma creates space for itself by displacing and deforming the surrounding rocks. This process translates into deformation of the planetary surface, which can be observed through images collected by space missions.

Dr Sam Poppe, photo by Michał ŁepeckiDr Sam Poppe, photo by Michał Łepecki Monitoring seismicity and ground deformation at active volcanic systems on Earth has revealed that dome-shaped surface uplift features can be formed by magma intrusions that spread horizontally and inflate upwards. No active volcanism has been observed on the Moon and Mars, but dome-shaped uplift features there have been interpreted as magma-induced deformation. These features include impact craters that possess uplifted and fractured crater floors. Geological observations at these features are – for the foreseeable future – impossible, and therefore the team of Dr Sam Poppe at the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences is using numerical models to simulate magma emplacement.

Numerical models can be used to simulate how magma intrusions of different geometries at different depths cause different patterns of ground deformation, or to invert that ground deformation to estimate the magma intrusion characteristics. Most existing numerical models of magma emplacement assume a simplified, elastic behaviour of the deformed host rocks. On Earth, however, geologists have found that rocks around magma intrusions are often deformed and fractured in a much more complex way. Up to now the impact of ignoring that complex deformation on the model results was poorly understood.

Dr Sam Poppe, photo by Michał ŁepeckiDr Sam Poppe, photo by Michał Łepecki From 2021 until 2023, the DeMo-Planet project of Dr Poppe received funding from NCN Poland through the POLS programme to use a new model application to study that complex deformation. By working with colleagues from Ireland, France, Norway and the U.S.A., the research team built and tested a new numerical model that simulates how a magma injection displaces and fractures rocks in the existing two-dimensional Discrete Element Method (DEM). The team verified and calibrated their model at an Earth analogue site close to home. In the Sudetes mountains in Southwest Poland, so-called “melafyr” is extracted to provide building materials for roads and railways. Such quarries in Świerki, Głuszyca and Tłumaczów provide spectacular exposures of 200-250 million-years old trachyandesite magmatic rocks and their overlying rocks. Series of pictures of the rocks were collected with a drone and samples were taken from the surrounding rocks. Observations of fracture networks and rock deformation on the pictures and measurements of the strength of the rock samples were then used to verify and calibrate the numerical model.

The team compared the numerical simulations of magma emplacement at the Polish trachyandesite intrusions with simulations on the Moon and Mars, where gravity is lower than on Earth. The research showed that the different strengths of rocks and different gravity on the Moon and Mars lead to differences in the ground deformation patterns there compared to those on Earth. The results of the multidisciplinary DeMo-Planet project can now be used to better interpret deformation features of the planetary surface caused by magma emplacement, and to better understand volcanic hazards on Earth and past volcanism on other terrestrial planetary bodies in our Solar System.

Find out more about DeMo-Planet at cbkpan.pl, sampoppevolcano.wixsite.com.

Project title: DeMo-Planet: Modelling magma intrusions on the Moon, Mars and Earth

Dr Sam Poppe

Dr Sam Poppe studies the structural deformation of volcanoes to better inform the interpretation of volcanic activity on Earth, and reconstruct the volcanic histories of other terrestrial planetary bodies.. His work uses various methods from structural geology, geochemistry, experimental and numerical modelling, and he has worked on active and extinct volcanoes in D.R. Congo, Rwanda, the Comoros and Poland. He has studied or been a fellow at three universities in Belgium and the Pennsylvania State University (U.S.A.). He is also an awarded and passionate science communicator. Since 2021, Dr Poppe is a staff researcher at the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Science.

Dr Sam Poppe, photo by Michał Łepecki

An article about an algorithm developed at the Dioscuri Center published in „Cell”

Fri, 03/01/2024 - 15:00

Dr Mateusz Sikora, Head of the Dioscuri Centre at the Małopolska Centre for Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, has developed a revolutionary method for the fast visualisation of proteins and sugars, which relies on GlycoSHIELD, an algorithm created within the framework of Polish-German scientific cooperation under the Dioscuri Programme. The paper that describes the algorithm was just published in the prestigious journal “Cell".

Sugar chains (glycans) that coat the surface of proteins in our bodies also influence how they interact with other molecules. This is why a robust understanding of glycans plays such an important role, e.g., in new drug development. Because of their mobility and variability, experimental research into sugars is very complex. Computer simulations that allow imaging of how glycans coat proteins normally require hundreds of thousands of hours on purpose-built supercomputers, which means they cannot be routinely used in the process of new drug development.

A solution to these challenges has now been proposed: GlycoSHIELD, a very efficient algorithm that takes just minutes to predict how sugars will behave on protein surfaces. It was developed within the framework of Polish-German cooperation at the Max Planck Dioscuri Centre established in 2023 at the Małopolska Centre for Biotechnology at the Jagiellonian University. The centre is headed by Dr Mateusz Sikora, who previously completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics. On the German side, Dr Sikora has partnered up with a team led by Prof. Gerhard Hummer from the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt. The research project has also involved contributions from the Taiwanese Academia Sinica, the French Inserm Insitute, and the University of Bremen, Germany. The scientists have just published their method in the prestigious “Cell” journal.

Mateusz Sikora, lider Centrum Dioscuri do Modelowania Modyfikacji Potranslacyjnych © Katarzyna Wrona

Dr Sikora emphasises: “Our approach reduces resources, computing time and the necessary technical expertise. Anyone can now calculate the arrangement and dynamics of sugar molecules on proteins on their personal computer or our online app within minutes. There is no need for specialist knowledge or high-performance computers”. The software may help develop new vaccines, drugs and advanced therapies, such as, for instance, cancer immunotherapy.

More about the method developed at the Dioscuri Centre for Modelling Post-translational Modifications

Dioscuri programme

The Dioscuri Programme was launched on the initiative of the Max Planck Society with an aim to create research teams throughout Central and Eastern Europe that would be able to compete with teams at the international level.

Four calls for proposals for the establishment of Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence in Poland have been announced thus far, with 8 out of 114 submitted proposals selected for funding. Scientific excellence is the only assessment criterion under the call. The exceptional programme has attracted eight young researchers to come to Poland; they have received funding to set up and develop independent research groups in the form of Dioscuri Centres in the country. To date, five Dioscuri Centres have been established at PAS institutes in Warsaw; three more are active at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków. Each Dioscuri Centre receives 1.5 million euro in funding over five years. The costs are split evenly between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (previously: Ministry of Education and Science) and the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research of the Federal Republic of Germany, while host institutions in Poland provide the necessary research infrastructure.

The Dioscuri Programme was implemented in cooperation with the National Science Centre from 2017 onward, until it was suspended by the decision of the previous Minister of Education and Science. The NCN continues to reassert its readiness to organise the last iteration of the Dioscuri call.

More about Dioscuri

Dioscuri Centres opening at the Jagiellonian University

NCN podcast vol. 6: Dioscuri Centres, in which winners of the first Dioscuri call, concluded in 2018, talk about their research.

Studies of human PNPase in mitochondrial RNA metabolism

Principal Investigator :
Dr Katarzyna Bandyra
University of Warsaw

Panel: NZ1

Funding scheme : POLS
announced on announced on 16 March 2020

Mitochondria, which act as small 'powerplants', are essential for almost every human cell to function properly. The dysregulation of these organelles is associated with numerous diseases, including cancer, neurodegeneration and aberrant inflammatory response. In order to function properly, mitochondria import some proteins that are made elsewhere in the cell. One such protein is polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase), an RNA-degrading enzyme found in many organisms. Mutants of hPNPase are found in humans with various disorders, mainly neurological, highlighting the importance of this protein in regulation of mitochondrial metabolism. Some hPNPase is also located in the mitochondrial matrix, where it interacts with another protein, Suv3 helicase, to destroy superfluous RNA. However, most of the human PNPase is located in the mitochondrial intermembrane space (IMS), the area between the two membranes surrounding the mitochondrial matrix, where its role is puzzling. dr Katarzyna Bandyra, fot. Michał Łepeckidr Katarzyna Bandyra, fot. Michał Łepecki

I have been familiar with PNPase for a long time, as I have studied the functions of this enzyme in bacteria. It is well known that bacterial PNPase participates in the degradation and processing of RNA. I have discovered that it can also form a complex with another protein and RNA, so that its function turns 180 degrees and, instead of degrading RNA, it begins to protect it. In this way, one enzyme, whose primary function is to destroy RNA, under certain conditions also acts as an RNA chaperone. Both human and bacterial PNPase are very similar in sequence and structure, so it is possible that they have similar functions as well.

My research focuses on understanding the function of human PNPase in the mitochondrial intermembrane space. My hypothesis is that the human PNPase, similarly to the bacterial enzyme, could protect RNA, and this could be its role in IMS. Switching of hPNPase activity could occur in the presence of a special type of RNA that hPNPase could not destroy, or another protein, as in the case of bacterial PNPase. On the other hand, in the mitochondrial matrix hPNPase together with the Suv3 protein would degrade RNA. This way, by physical separation of the pool of hPNPase into two different compartments, both its activities could be supporting optimal performance of the mitochondria.

dr Katarzyna Bandyra, fot. Michał Łepeckidr Katarzyna Bandyra, fot. Michał Łepecki In order to test whether human PNPase can have two different functions in mitochondria, I am carrying out experiments using biochemistry, biophysics and molecular and structural biology techniques. Their aim is to determine whether, in addition to RNA degradation, hPNPase functions as an RNA-dependent regulatory protein that protects RNA, e.g. during transport into or out of mitochondria. In addition to studies of hPNPase itself, I am developing a method to obtain information about other proteins and RNA molecules interacting with hPNPase directly in human cells. To this end, I am isolating mitochondria and separating them into fractions that correspond to IMS or matrix, and then performing pull-down experiments to compare protein and RNA partners of hPNPase at different locations. Moreover, I will investigate complexes of hPNPase with the identified proteins and RNAs in vitro, and for the most stable ones I will determine the precise three-dimensional structure using cryo-electron microscopy. These studies will help to understand the role of human PNPase in the mitochondrial intermembrane space and are a prelude to a long-term research plan that may contribute to the development of gene therapies for mitochondrial diseases.

Project title: Structural and functional studies of human PNPase in mitochondrial RNA metabolism

Dr Katarzyna Bandyra

Katarzyna Bandyra graduated from the University of Warsaw with a master's degree in Biotechnology, specialising in molecular biology. She did her PhD at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, where she became fascinated with structural biology. After graduating, she continued her work at the University of Cambridge using electron cryomicroscopy (cryoEM), a rapidly developing technique which has provided insight into a variety of macromolecular complexes that were not within the scope of the structural biology field before. In 2021, she returned to Poland with her own research programme, which uses cryoEM to study proteins and their complexes with RNA.

Dr Katarzyna Bandyra, photo by Michał Łepecki

First two IMPRESS-U grants funded by the NCN

Thu, 02/29/2024 - 12:00

Researchers from Rzeszów and Opole have just won grants under the international IMPRESS-U call. For the next two years, they will be working on ambitious research projects in cooperation with US and Ukrainian scientists. The NCN will fund their research with a total of nearly 1.5 million zlotys.

The IMPRESS-U (International Multilateral Partnerships for Resilient Education and Science System in Ukraine) call was announced in August 2023. Its objectives are to (1) support excellence in science and engineering research, education, and innovation through international collaboration and (2) promote and catalyze integration of Ukrainian researchers in the global research community.

 IMPRESS-U opens up new opportunities for cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian researchers and their colleagues in the US and, optionally, the Baltic countries: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) is the initiator of the call and its lead agency, which means it is responsible for the merit review of all international proposals, while the other partner agencies approve the results of its review and award funding to their respective research teams.

The IMPRESS-U initiative now gives Polish researchers an opportunity to actively participate in the effort of integrating Ukrainian researchers into the global research community and help rebuild the scientific ecosystem of Ukraine.

Enhancing deep neural networks

One of the first two winners of the call is a team led by Dr hab. Anna Lytova from the University of Opole, who will be working in collaboration with Dr hab Radosław Adamczak from the University of Warsaw. The team will carry out a project entitled Random Matrix Theory and its Applications in Deep Learning together with 10 other participants from the United States and Ukraine. Their US partner is Prof. Leonid Berlyand from The Pennsylvania State University, while research on the Ukrainian side will be headed by Prof. Victor Slavin from the B. Verkin Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kharkiv.

Dr hab. Anna LytovaDr hab. Anna Lytova Dr hab. Anna Lytova is a professor at the Department of Physics of the University of Opole. She earned her PhD at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University and has lived and worked in Poland for the past 7 years. Her research is centred on random matrix theory, random graph theory, asymptotic geometric analysis and statistics.

“It was Prof. Berlyand who approached me with his idea of submitting a joint proposal under the IMPRESS-U call. I was familiar with his research record and his work – we had met previously at various seminars – but the IMPRESS-U project will be our first collaboration”, says Anna Lytova, “we really wanted to take advantage of this funding opportunity to support talented mathematicians from the so-called Kharkiv school of mathematics in these difficult times of war”.

Their IMPRESS-U project is dedicated to random matrix theory. Put simply, matrices are rectangular or square tables of numbers, which represent a phenomenon through different parameters, many of which are unknown. In particular, matrices are used to solve systems of equations. Random matrix theory is a subfield of mathematics, which studies the spectrum of large matrices with random entries selected from different probability distributions and with different types of symmetry. Random matrices are very useful for modelling complex systems and can be applied in various disciplines and contexts. In recent years, they have found applications in the rapidly growing field of machine learning, e.g. in deep neural network theory. Scientists now face the challenge of understanding and improving the efficacy of these network learning processes. In their project under the IMPRESS-U call, the Opole- and Warsaw-based team, in cooperation with their international partners, will analyse the spectral properties of random matrices related to neural networks with analytical and numerical methods; they will also work on developing tools to improve accuracy and reduce the complexity of training algorithms.

“Besides doing research, our project also aims to support the educational initiatives undertaken by talented young mathematicians, students and graduate students who, despite the ongoing war, continue to hold classes with the children from competitive maths clubs and teach the next generation of Ukrainian mathematicians, Dr hab. Lytova emphasises.

The NCN decided to award nearly 360,000 zlotys to the Polish part of the project.

Developing regenerative medicine

The other researcher to be awarded NCN funding under the IMPRESS-U call is Dr Olexandr Korchynskyi. He is a molecular and cell biologist, who has been working on methods of regulating stem cell differentiation and function for more than 20 years. His research record includes papers in “Nature” and “Science,” and he is currently employed as an Associate Professor at the University of Rzeszów.

Dr Olexandr KorchynskyiDr Olexandr Korchynskyi Korchynskyi heads a Polish team that will use the IMPRESS-U grant to fund a project entitled “High-throughput agile interfaces for cell sorting (HiTACS)”. The US partner is a team led by Dr Sergiy Minko from the University of Georgia, and, on the Ukrainian side, Prof. Yaroslav Ilnytskyy from the Institute of Condensed Phase Physics in Lviv. The budget of the Polish part of the projects is nearly 1.08 million zlotys.

Aging societies, diseases, disorders and armed conflicts pose a growing challenge to regenerative medicine. Scientists around the world are working on new methods that would allow specific therapeutic stem cells to quickly proliferate and increase our ability to reconstruct tissue deficits or grow entire organs that could be transplanted into patients. The greatest challenge in this context today is to be able to separate therapeutic cells from those that could be potentially dangerous quickly and effectively.

– Our American and Ukrainian partners have worked on stimuli-responsive biomaterials for over a decade. On the other hand, since 2020 we have worked with researchers in Ukraine to create computer-based models of biomedical processes. Owing to the IMPRESS-U program, we discovered an ample opportunity to turn our preexisting collaborations in a larger multidisciplinary research project addressing emerging regenerative medicine technologies. My team has a lot of experience in this area, so we enthusiastically extended our collaboration and jumped on board to apply for a grant under the IMPRESS-U call”, says Dr Korchynskyi.

Their international IMPRESS-U grant consortium will work on developing advanced “smart” multi-trait surfaces that could be used for high-efficiency sorting of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). The researchers will use simulation modelling and experimental methods.

“IMPRESS-U is an education and research programme all rolled into one. Since research on the Polish side will be done in Rzeszów, a town in close proximity to the Ukrainian city of Lviv, we will be able to serve as an effective hub for the educational exchange between Ukrainian and Polish youth”, stresses Dr Korchynskyi.

About the call

Proposals are still being accepted under the IMPRESS-U call. Funding is available for projects that involve research teams from Poland, Ukraine and the US, as well as, optionally, Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia. The PI of the Polish team must hold at least a PhD degree and the Polish part of the project may be planned over a maximum of 24 months. In addition, projects must address the requirements of the EAGER type of special NSF proposals. The Polish partner institutions under IMPRESS-U are the National Science Centre, which has a total budget of 17 million zlotys to distribute among new projects prepared by Polish teams, and the National Agency for Academic Exchange, with a total budget of 7 million, which will be used to fund the expansion of US NSF projects already underway to include cooperation with Polish teams under the so-called International Supplements opportunity.

Foreign teams may submit their applications to the US National Academy of Sciences (US NAS) – for Ukrainian researchers, the Research Council of Lithuania (LMT), the Latvian Council of Science (LCS) and the Estonian Research Council (ETAG).

To learn more about the idea behind IMPRESS-U and explore its terms and conditions, listen to the 7th episode of the NCN podcast (in Polish), entirely devoted to NCN’s international cooperation.

IMPRESS-U Call Announcement

Ranking lists

Kurdish women’s activism

Principal Investigator :
Dr hab. Joanna Bocheńska
Jagiellonian University

Panel: HS2

Funding scheme : GRIEG
announced on 17 June 2019

This interdisciplinary research project, which combined culture studies, anthropology, gender studies and sociology, analysed how the Kurds, a nation without state structures and state institutions, have operated outside such structures, independently building social and cultural institutions of their own in their respective countries of citizenship. Over the last five years, the Kurdistan region, located in the heart of the Middle East and divided between four nation states (Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey), has experienced a series of profound transformations. Some brought hope and inspiration to the Kurds, while others meant that their rights were violated. Even though they often led to the relocation of entire communities and the destruction of many institutions, many new activists and organisations emerged both in the Kurdish homeland and across the diaspora.

The team during a seminar at the Fafo Institute in Oslo in 2022.The team during a seminar at the Fafo Institute in Oslo in 2022. Both internationally and locally, the Kurds are better known for their guerrilla struggle and violent confrontations than peaceful activism. The focus on violence, both in academia and in the media, has led to the relative invisibility of Kurdish social and cultural activism, even though such activism has profoundly transformed the Kurdish community from within. Despite the constraints put in place by state oppression, local cultural centres and women’s organisations, as well as individual actors, such as artists, writers and intellectuals, have all contributed to shaping new narratives and moral imaginations. Since the voice and the activism of women have been generally given short shrift, the goal of ALCITfem is to focus, precisely, on the role of women, as well as the moral ideas and narratives surrounding the social position of men and women. Our project relies on the concept of alternative citizenship to highlight that the Kurds have developed multiple alternative strategies of action (both political and non-political) that remain outside the sphere of state institutions and their structures.

Within the framework of ALCITfem, team members, who spoke the necessary local languages, conducted research in the main centres of Kurdish activism both in Kurdistan and in the diaspora. Alternative citizenship was looked at through the prism of two mutually dependent spaces: activism initiated by women and its moral and cultural foundations. These research problems were investigated within the following four subject areas: 1) the representation of women in Kurdish culture and its role in shaping civic attitudes; 2) the covert activism of Kurdish women; 3) the shaping of gender roles in Kurdish families; and 4) eco-feminism. In this way, the project combined an interest in visible and hidden practices with an attention to the way in which activism was embedded in moral and cultural traditions. Alongside publishing our research results, we also organised several photo exhibitions in cooperation with the Museum of Asia and the Pacific in Warsaw and the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków.

In terms of theory and methodology, the ALCITfem project, Activism And Its Moral and Cultural Foundation: Alternative Citizenship and Women’s Roles in Kurdistan and the Diaspora, combined the fields of social studies and the humanities through the cooperation of the following departments: the Section of Kurdish Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies (Faculty of Philology) of the Jagiellonian University (PSK IO UJ, Kraków); the Centre for Gender Research (STK, Senter for Tverrfaglig Kjonnsforskning) at the University of Oslo (UiO); the Center for the Advanced Study of Population and Religion (CASPAR) at the Krakow University of Economics (UEK); the Fafo, Institute of Labor and Social Research in Oslo; and the Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw.

Project title: Activism and Its Moral and Cultural Foundations: Alternative Citizenship and Women’s Roles in Kurdistan and the Diaspora

Dr hab. Joanna Bocheńska

Associate Professor at the Institute of Oriental Studies (Department of Iranian Studies at the Jagiellonian University, Head of the Section of Kurdish Studies). She has coordinated several research projects devoted to Kurdish culture and society. She is the author of multiple articles, an editor of a book entitled Rediscovering Kurdistan’s Cultures and Identities: The Call of The Cricket, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2018 and an acclaimed translator of Kurdish literature. Her interests centre on Kurdish cultural heritage and classical and contemporary literature. She is also an avid photographer: www.joannabochenska.com and editor of: www.kurdishstudies.pl.

Dr hab. Joanna Bocheńska, photo by Michał Łepecki
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