11 Polish teams are all set to carry out ten bilateral projects with partners from the Czech Republic and one trilateral project involving researchers from the Czech Republic and Austria under the OPUS 24+LAP/Weave scheme. The NCN has slated a total of more than 13.7 million zlotys in funding for their research.

Researchers from Bydgoszcz, Kraków, Poznań, Warsaw and Zabrze will carry out 10 bilateral Polish-Czech projects: 6 in Physical Sciences and Engineering and 4 in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. This round’s winners include Prof. Tomasz Jankowiak from the Poznań University of Technology, who will work on a land engineering project devoted to the response of structures and materials to dynamic actions during fires. His material of interest is structural steel, as its properties at high temperatures and high strain rates have not been well-researched to date. Jankowiak’s team will answer a number of questions and gather experimental results to understand the mechanism of fire-induced building collapse, including incidents such as falling elements, impacts and explosions. This will allow them to develop models and principles for designing structures exposed to a combination of thermal and dynamic actions. The research will be conducted in cooperation with Prof. František Wald from the Czech Technical University in Prague.

Funding was also awarded to one trilateral Polish-Czech-Austrian project, submitted by researchers based in Wrocław. Headed by Prof. Elżbieta Gumienna-Kontecka from the University of Wrocław, in tandem with Prof. Elżbieta Wojaczyńska from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, the team will work on a trilateral Polish-Czech-Austrian OPUS LAP project entitled “Artificial siderophores for molecular imaging applications”, looking to enhance medical tools and methods used to detect the development of diseases, e.g., to track tumour growth. Specifically, the researchers will be searching for contrast agents, which can effectively support combined imaging techniques: Positron Emission Tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical fluorescence imaging (OFI). The Polish team will join forces with Dr Petřík Miloš from Palacky University in the Czech Republic and Prof. Clemens Decristoforo from the Medical University Innsbruck in Austria to design and develop synthetic biomimetic analogues of natural hydroxamate siderophores with a potential as basis for novel non-invasive in vivo imaging agents.

List of all projects qualified for funding in the OPUS 24+LAP/Weave call

List of Polish-Czech bilateral projects

Polish-Czech-Austrian project

Polish teams under these projects will be funded by the National Science Centre, while their Czech and Austrian partners will get their funding from the Czech Science Foundation (GACR) and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), respectively.

Lead Agency Procedure – LAP

In the latest OPUS 24+LAP/Weave call, which concluded in May, the NCN received 1921 proposals with a total budget of nearly 2.7 billion zlotys. Researchers could request funding for projects conducted without international partners, as well as bi- or trilateral LAP projects involving foreign cooperation or access to large international research equipment. The call was open to researchers at all career levels.

LAP is a new proposal evaluation standard adopted by European research-funding institutions, designed to facilitate the funding application process for international research teams and streamline proposal review.

OPUS LAP projects were reviewed at the same time and by the same expert teams as other OPUS proposals, but also underwent an additional evaluation that looked at the research record and the previous projects of the principal investigators in foreign partner teams. Experts also made sure that the contribution of all teams to the project is balanced and complementary.

Decisions and their delivery

The decisions for OPUS LAP proposals qualified for funding under OPUS 24 in bilateral cooperation with the Czech Science Foundation and trilateral with Austrian Science Fund (FWF) have already been sent out. Please remember that the decisions of the NCN Director are delivered to the applicant electronically, to the e-mail address indicated in the proposal. Learn more about how decisions are delivered

We would like to invite researchers interested in the Trans-Atlantic Platform (T-AP) for Social Sciences and Humanities Call Democracy, Governance and Trust (DGT Call 2023), to participate in the live webinar on Tuesday, 8th of August 2023, 15:00 (CEST). During the webinar, detailed information about the Call will be presented, including research scope and Full Proposal submission process. To optimize the Q&A session, questions may be submitted in advance via registration form. Webinar will be held in English.

Click here to register. The webinar will be available on YouTube after the live broadcast.

Webinar Agenda and detailed information can be found on the FAPESP - São Paulo Research Foundation website.

We are proud to announce the list of winning bilateral international projects carried out jointly by Polish and Swiss researchers. The total budget of the winning projects amounts to nearly PLN 9.2 mln.

List of all projects qualified for funding in the OPUS 24+LAP/Weave call

List of Polish-Swiss OPUS LAP projects

In the category of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHS), there will be one Polish-Swiss project carried out, led by Dr hab. Agnieszka Otwinowska-Kasztelanic of the University of Warsaw. In cooperation with Prof. Raphael Berthelé from the University of Fribourg, the Polish researcher will conduct multilingual research to explore how foreign language learners acquire new vocabulary both incidentally and intentionally, with the use of digital tools. The research will focus on Polish learners of English as the second language, and Swiss learners who speak German and French learning English as the third language. The project outcomes may be directly applicable to language teaching in the contemporary digitalised world.

In the category of Life Sciences (LS), there will be two Polish-Swiss OPUS LAP projects carried out. The first of these will be supervised by Prof. Ewa Stępień of the Jagiellonian University. Together with the Swiss team led by Prof. Kuangyu Shi of the University of Bern, Prof. Stępień will conduct multi-faceted research into high-throughput PET imaging by decoding multi-photon signals on long axial field-of-view PET using physics-guided artificial intelligence. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a molecular imaging modality widely applied in clinical practice; however, until now, due to certain methodological and equipment-related limitations no additional physiological measurements have been under clinical conditions. Recent advancements in PET detectors have significantly increased their measurement capacities. The research conducted by the Polish and Swiss researchers focuses on methodological development and verification of positronium images using a clinical PET scanner.

The second winning project in the LS category is an “Investigating the effect of protein and fibre on lipid digestibility in oil-in-water emulsions using an in vitro model”. The research conducted in Poland will be led by Dr. inż. Mirosław Kasprzak of the University of Agriculture in Kraków, who will partner with Prof. Peter Fischer of ETH Zurich. The researchers will focus on the problem of overconsumption of high-fat foods which at the same time are high in sugar and low in dietary fibre, such overconsumption leading to weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension or heart disease. The main objective of the research is to unpick the mechanism of lipid digestion by the addition of fibre or structuring the lipids by plant protein to slow down their digestion. The data obtained over the course of the project will determine the direction for the design of food with satiety-enhancing ingredients.

In the area of Physical Sciences and Engineering, the winning project include the research conducted by Dr hab. inż. Joanna Ferdyn-Grygierek of the Silesian University of Technology in cooperation with Dr Agnes Psikuta of the Empa Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology. The researchers will investigate the topic of energy-efficient building design. The building performance simulations (BPS) which have been used until now to optimise building parameters are not perfect, as they don’t always take all of the factors involved into consideration. The researchers want to develop and validate by measurement a human-building avatar for precise prediction of human comfort and energy demand in buildings under conditions of variable internal and external loads during the year.

The second winning project in the PSE category aims to respond to the currently high demand for food products, especially apparent in the agricultural production sector. Dr inż. Wiesław Fiałkiewicz of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, together with Prof. Oliver Schilling of University of Basel will attempt to develop an advanced method for sustainable crop fertilisation to reduce environmental pollution resulting from the presence of excess nitrogen from fertilisers used by farmers to protect and maximise crop yields. The method developed by the researchers will be supported by real-time modelling to help farmers to use sustainable fertilisation to achieve high yields without degradation of the local water environment.

Lead Agency Procedure – LAP

In the latest OPUS 24+LAP/Weave call, which concluded in May, the NCN received 1921 proposals with a total budget of nearly 2.7 billion zlotys. Researchers could request funding for projects conducted without international partners, as well as bi- or trilateral LAP projects involving foreign cooperation or access to large international research equipment. The call was open to researchers at all career levels.

LAP is a new proposal evaluation standard adopted by European research-funding institutions, designed to facilitate the funding application process for international research teams and streamline proposal review.

OPUS LAP projects were reviewed at the same time and by the same expert teams as other OPUS proposals, but also underwent an additional evaluation that looked at the research record and the previous projects of the principal investigators in foreign partner teams. Experts also made sure that the contribution of all teams to the project is balanced and complementary.

More about the call

Decisions and their delivery

The decisions for OPUS LAP proposals qualified for funding under OPUS 24 in bilateral cooperation with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) have already been sent out. Please remember that the decisions of the NCN Director are delivered to the applicant electronically, to the e-mail address indicated in the proposal.

Learn more about how decisions are delivered

55 researchers from all over Poland will each complete a single research task, such as a preliminary/pilot study, library or archive search, research fellowship or research/consultation trip, thanks to more than 2 million zlotys in research funding from the NCN. Check out the third ranking list of the MINIATURA 7 call, this time for proposals submitted in April.

In this round of MINIATURA 7, the life sciences panel attracted the largest number of successful proposals, with grants awarded to as many as 24 scientists. Some of these will tackle growing antibiotic resistance. At the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Dr inż. Ilona Foik is all set to conduct a preliminary/pilot study on the role of free-floating extracellular DNA and cathelicidin in bacterial response to antibiotics used in the treatment of polymicrobial UTIs. Dr Leszek Kadziński from the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education will work on phage therapies, i.e. therapies that rely on bacteriophages (viruses that only attack bacteria) to combat bacterial infections. Specifically, he will turn his attention to what he terms the “silica shield” and strive to enhance the stability and efficacy of endolysins produced by bacteriophages through their entrapment in silica composites.

Under the art, humanities and social sciences panel, grants were awarded to 17 researchers. Their research problems include, e.g. stressful situations and circumstances in our lives and our coping strategies. For instance, Dr Paweł Ziemiański from the Gdańsk University of Technology, will study the negative aspects of commitment to business activities among start-up founders, while Dr Krzysztof Stanisławski from the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw will use his MINIATURA grant to develop and validate a situational version of the Coping Circumplex Inventory (CCI), his own original solution that integrates different variables to describe various stress-coping strategies.

Experts in the MINIATURA 7 call also selected 14 winners in physical sciences and engineering. Dr inż. Katarzyna Witt from the Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology will attempt to synthesise new water-insoluble β-ketoimines from sβ-diketone and aminosilane derivatives that would be able to bind metal ions from aqueous solutions. Dr Andrzej Giza from the University of Szczecin will conduct a pilot study on the impact of sea storms on seasonal changes in benthic habitats (i.e. those related to the sea floor) and coastal morphology.

Ranking lists (in Polish)

List No. 3 (in Polish)

Funding per panel:

• Art, Humanities and Social Sciences – PLN 408,042
• Physical Sciences and Engineering – PLN 627,448
• Life Sciences – PLN 1,054,222

The total budget of projects that made the cut for the third MINIATURA 7 ranking list amounts to over 2,089,712 PLN.

About the MINIATURA 7 call

The main objective of the call is to finance research activities carried out in preparation for future research projects that will be submitted to NCN calls for proposals, as well as other domestic and international calls. Researchers can apply for funding from PLN 5,000 to PLN 50,000 PLN for a research activity planned over a period of up to 12 months. The call is open to PhD holders who earned their degree no earlier than 1 January 2011 (except in cases specified in the terms and conditions of the call). They need to be employed by the host institution and demonstrate a research record of at least one published paper or at least one achievement in art or art research.

Funds for research activities carried out under the MINIATURA 7 call are divided proportionally to the number of months during which proposals are accepted. In this edition, proposals may be submitted until 4 pm, 31 July 2023.

Remember that funding decisions are sent to the ESP ePUAP address indicated in the proposal. If you have not received a decision, please make sure that the address listed in the proposal is correct. If not, contact the person in charge of handling the proposal, as indicated in the OSF system.

The Carpathians, photo by Dominik Kaim The first global Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) map has just been published by “Nature”. “My role in this research was made possible by the NCN”, says Dr Dominik Kaim, a geographer from the Jagiellonian University, one of the authors of the article.

Wildland-urban interface areas take up less than 5% of the Earth’s land surface, but are inhabited by nearly 3.3 billion people (41% of the world’s population). It is a space where interactions between humans and the environment are particularly intense.

In an article just published in “Nature”, scientists from the US, Israel, Germany and Poland have relied on detailed data to create the first global WUI map. WUIs are particularly widespread in Europe, but research has also identified previously undocumented areas of this kind in, e.g. Eastern Africa, Brazil, and Southeast Asia.

Until now, WUIs have been studied with a focus on fire risk. The new global map of settlement may also have an impact on future research into the effects of contact between domestic animals and wildlife and the penetration of invasive plants grown in house gardens into natural areas.

Dr Dominik Kaim studied the spatial distribution of WUIs in Poland. His results may now be used for spatial planning to minimise conflicts between people and animals and to launch environmental protection campaigns.

“My MINIATURA and SONATA projects, which were funded by the NCN, allowed me to complete international research fellowships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as part of a team led by Professor Volker Radeloff, with whom I have studied WUIs for several years now. In addition, the research I have conducted under the SONATA scheme in Poland gave me an opportunity to test the preliminary versions of the global map, which has now been published by “Nature” in its final form”,  explains Kaim.

Results are now in for the OPUS 24+ LAP/Weave call for projects proposed by Polish researchers in cooperation with teams from Belgium-Flanders. Grants were awarded to 6 bilateral proposals, two in each discipline panel. In total, research teams will get more than 9.5 million zlotys in funding.

In Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, for instance, one grant will go to a project prepared by Dr hab. Mateusz Stróżyński from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań in tandem with Anthony Dupont from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, entitled Z biblioteki na trybunę: Teologiczne i etyczne znaczenie performatywnego przedstawienia manicheizmu w kazaniach i listach Augustyna /From the Library to the Tribune: Theological and Ethical Significance of the Performative Presentation of Manichaeism in Augustine’s Sermons and Letters/. The project will expand our knowledge of Augustine’s interaction with Manichaean ideas and their impact on his philosophical and theological thinking, help trace the development of his thought and provide insights into the special, “performative” genres, i.e. sermons and letters, which in antiquity often served as a means of public communication.

Dr hab. Dariusz Kużelewski from the University of Bialystok will conduct a research project entitled "Risk as a subjective phenomenon – integrating cognitive science into the concept of risk in European data protection law". His research partner is Prof. Niels Van Dijk from the Delft University of Technology. 

In Life Sciences, Dr hab. Natalia Rozwadowska from the Institute of Human Genetics, PAS, will team up with Prof. Jolanda van Hengel from Ghent University. Their project Bo do tanga trzeba dwojga – modelowanie kardiomiopatii w zespole Marfana z zastosowaniem komórek serca oraz konstruktów tkankowych (EHT) uzyskanych z hiPSC /It takes two to tango – a decryption of Marfan cardiomyopathy using human iPSC-derived cardiac cells and engineered heart tissues/ aims to thoroughly examine the effects of DNA changes behind Marfan syndrome and associated signalling pathways. This will allow the two researchers to propose new therapeutic approaches and explain the mechanisms of action of drugs that are used to alleviate the symptoms associated with the malfunctioning of the cardiovascular system in patients with this disorder.

Prof. Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa from the University of Wroclaw within her OPUS LAP grant will investigate "Function, organization, dynamics, and evolution of hyperbranched receptor-binding protein systems in Klebsiella jumbo phages and their interactions with bacteria", together with Prof. Yves Briers from the Ghent University.

The OPUS LAP ranking list for Physical Sciences and Engineering features a project devoted to the adaptation of molecular crystals in response to external stimuli, proposed by Dr hab. Liliana Dobrzańska from the Nicolaus Copernicus University of Toruń, in cooperation with Prof. Wim Dehaen from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. The latest research on crystals shows that their structure is not as rigid as was previously thought. It turns out that, despite certain spatial limitations, molecules can undergo significant shifts or rotations within the crystal, changing both the molecular and the crystal structure. In their project, the two researchers will study when this process occurs and analyse what requirements have to be met for the molecules that make up the crystal to awaken from their dormant state.

Prof. Jacek Mąkinia from Gdańsk University of Technology received a grant for the project "Model-based optimization of the operational conditions for mitigation of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from an aerobic granular sludge reactor performing integrated nitrogen and phosphorus removal". Prof. Jan Dries from University of Antwerp will be his research partner.

Ranking lists for OPUS 24 call

List of Polish-Belgian OPUS 24 LAP projects qualified for funding

Lead Agency Procedure – LAP

In the latest OPUS 24+LAP/Weave call, which concluded in May, the NCN received 1921 proposals with a total budget of nearly 2.7 billion zlotys. Researchers could request funding for projects conducted without international partners, as well as bi- or trilateral LAP projects involving foreign cooperation or access to large international research equipment. The call was open to researchers at all career levels.

LAP is a new proposal evaluation standard adopted by European research-funding institutions, designed to facilitate the funding application process for international research teams and streamline proposal review.

OPUS LAP projects were reviewed at the same time and by the same expert teams as other OPUS proposals, but also underwent an additional evaluation that looked at the research record and the previous projects of the principal investigators in foreign partner teams. Experts also made sure that the contribution of all teams to the project is balanced and complementary.

More about the call

Decisions and their delivery

The decisions for OPUS LAP bilateral proposals qualified for funding under OPUS 24 in cooperation with the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) have already been sent out. Please remember that the decisions of the NCN Director are delivered to the applicant electronically, to the e-mail address indicated in the proposal.

Learn more about how decisions are delivered

Dr Maciej Kowalczyk and Dr Monika Tarsalewska are two Polish researchers who will be able to conduct their researches thanks to NCN’s cooperation with the National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) under NAWA’s “Polish Returns” programme.

Dr Kowalczyk will work on ultrastable single-cycle mid-infrared laser sources at Wrocław University of Technology, while Dr Tarsalewska is planning to join the staff of Gdańsk University to investigate enterprise characteristics in the context of corporate misconduct. Each researcher will receive up to 200,000 zlotys in funding.

Ranking list 

The purpose of the “NAWA Polish Returns 2022”  program is to enable outstanding Polish researchers working abroad to return to Poland and conduct their research at Polish host institutions.

Proposals submitted to the NAWA can include a basic research component, which is funded by the National Science Centre. In this particular call, the NAWA peer review team selected 9 projects which meet this criterion. Before they can start working on their projects, the scientists first need to submit a funding application to the NCN. The application will only undergo a formal eligibility check.

The NCN accepts applications on a rolling basis from the moment NAWA decides to grant funding under the “Polish Returns NAWA 2022” scheme until the last proposal with the research component is submitted.

The NCN Council has set aside a total budget of 3 million zlotys for “Polish Returns NAWA 2022”.

Polish-Austrian research projects were evaluated through a Lead Agency Procedure (LAP), with the National Science Centre as the lead agency; the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) then approved the results of NCN’s peer review. Polish teams will be funded by the NCN, while their Austrian partners will get grants from the FWF.

The new winner is dr inż. Agnieszka Tomala from the Kraków University of Technology, who teamed up with prof. Carsten Gachot from the Vienna University of Technology to conduct a project entitled “Next Generation Bioactive Laser Textured Ti/Hap/Mxene Biomaterials". Their research responds to the challenges of an aging society and the increased need for orthopedic implants. Today, implants are designed for maximum longevity, but they are still far from perfect. Regular loading and friction cause wear and tear, generating wear particles that may cause inflammation, and, as a result, damage the entire implant, necessitating its surgical removal or revision. The research project aims at developing a new, innovative composite biomaterial that would significantly improve the biocompatibility and longevity of surgical implants, reducing the necessity for surgical removal or revision. The NCN awarded more than 1.7 million zlotys to the Polish part of the project.

OPUS 24+LAP/Weave ranking lists

OPUS 24+LAP ranking list for FWF (Austria) in .pdf

Lead Agency Procedure – LAP

In the latest OPUS 24+LAP/Weave call, which concluded in May, the NCN received 1921 proposals with a total budget of nearly 2.7 billion zlotys. Researchers could request funding for projects conducted without international partners, as well as bi- or trilateral LAP projects involving foreign cooperation or access to large international research equipment. The call was open to researchers at all career levels.

LAP is a new proposal evaluation standard adopted by European research-funding institutions, designed to facilitate the funding application process for international research teams and streamline proposal review.

OPUS LAP projects were reviewed at the same time and by the same expert teams as other OPUS proposals, but also underwent an additional evaluation that looked at the research record and the previous projects of the principal investigators in foreign partner teams. Experts also made sure that the contribution of all teams to the project is balanced and complementary.

More about the call

Decisions and their delivery

The decision for OPUS LAP proposal qualified for funding under OPUS 24 in bilateral cooperation with the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) has already been sent out. Please remember that the decisions of the NCN Director are delivered to the applicant electronically, to the e-mail address indicated in the proposal.

Learn more about how decisions are delivered

“The NCN budget needs to be raised to a level where we can guarantee a success rate of 25% in our calls. This would definitely improve the odds for smaller research centres”, Zbigniew Błocki tells PAP. Błocki also discussed the budget with Science Business.

The acting NCN Director met with Szymon Zdziebłowski from the PAP news agency to discuss the budget of the NCN and the geographical distribution of research funding. He pointed out that the share of the NCN in the state budget has been falling. “Last year, it represented more than 5% of the total research budget, this year, it is already down to under 4%”, he said.

The interview also touched on the issue of centralization in research. Professor Błocki explains that in many countries, research is highly concentrated, with most grants going to just a handful of research centres. He adds that he personally “supports decentralisation, but in Europe, a system of this kind can practically only be found in Germany”.

“For example, in Austria, more than 60% of all grants from a local research-granting agency go to Vienna; for ERC grants, the figure is even higher: 82%. In France and the Czech Republic, respectively, 86% and 63% of ERC grants end up in the capital; in Spain, Barcelona and Madrid get 73% of total ERC resources and in Hungary, Budapest grabs as much as 87%.”, he says.

Professor Błocki also emphasizes that, in Poland, “we need to build a system that would attract the best researchers to regional research centres”. And adds: “Our goal at the NCN is to support top science and we hope it stays that way”.

Full text on Dzieje PAP.

Professor Błocki also discussed the NCN and its budget with Thomas Brent from “Science Business”: “I’m used to the struggle for the budget every year, but we’ve never been in such a dire situation in our 12-year existence”, he said.

Science Business article.

The QuantERA network that supports research in QT has published a series of interviews with researchers heading international research consortia. The network coordinated by the National Science Centre promotes actions to ensure a more balanced participation of women and men in quantum research.

The QuantERA Network promotes and funds ambitious research 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. Strengthening scientific excellence in the countries where research and innovation capacity is below the average EU level (the so-called widening countries) is one of the key measures to ensure responsible research.

Another important aspect is to actively promote equal participation of male and female researchers in research teams. It is particularly important when we realise, based on statistics, that female researchers in physical sciences and engineering still represent a small percentage of researchers at large (ca. 30%).

In the QuantERA calls: 2017, 2019, 2021, women researchers have acted as principal investigators in 51 out of 400 national research teams. At the same time, 77 leaders at the head of international research consortia include only 9 women. Lydia González Orta, representative of QuantERA Spanish partner – the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, has conducted several interviews featuring women leaders of the QuantERA projects to underline active participation of women researchers in quantum technologies, to learn more about their projects and their scientific and social impacts, as well as to understand their professional experiences and challenges in physical sciences and engineering. Parts of QuantERA interviews concerning promotion of gender balance in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) that address such issues as role models, panels in conferences, childcare, unconscious bias, and gender equality structures in R&I institutions, can be found below:

Yiwen Chu, Coordinator of the MQSens Project, a QuantERA co-funded Project in the 2021 call

“In my opinion, to achieve a more gender-balanced research environment it is necessary to see real-life examples around us. Making women more noticeable in a quantum society could be very beneficial, especially among such groups of young researchers as PhD students. For example, in my field there are groups with many female scientists, which consequently attract even more women”.

Milena D’Angelo, Coordinator of the Qu3D Project, a QuantERA co-funded Project in the 2019 call

“Honestly, I believe that it's not enough to say that women are encouraged to be involved in project proposals. It's a good idea to write it, of course, but it certainly doesn’t make a difference. I think that things will change only when concrete actions are taken. (…) I think that European Union should really support institutions with concrete actions and dedicated work groups, because having gender balance experts at each institution is not that apparent yet. Maybe the first step would be to hire people in that field”.

Costanza Toninelli, Coordinator of the ORQUID Project, a QuantERA co-funded Project in the 2017 call

“(…) we could consider allocating a small budget for the childcare or caring in general during participation in workshops or conferences. This is something concrete that would help women during special moments such as maternity leave or when they look after small kids. The other thing is to require the participation in unconscious bias training for all the PIs. If you really want to be the leader in a European project, you have to know how to deal with these things”.

Marzena Szymańska, Coordinator of the INTERPOL Project, a QuantERA co-funded Project in the 2017 call

“On an individual level, I should mention one famous male professor whom I know to refuse invitations, where there isn’t a minimum percentage of women as speakers. This helps to raise awareness among others. On funding agencies level, it would perhaps help if there were some formal incentives to create more gender balanced teams and consortia”.

Finally, one of the most important ideas in the interviews that should be noted for the future work on gender equality in quantum technologies is needed to consider gender equality as everyone’s business, not just a women’s issue:

“I personally think it is important to address the work-life balance as something more than just a women’s issue. Many times when you arrive to a panel discussion about work-life balance or gender equality, there are only women participants. Hence, the idea that its merely a woman’s problem is perpetuated. I would like to see more encouragement for men to also be involved and talk about these issues”.

- Yiwen Chu, Coordinator of the MQSens Project, a QuantERA co-funded Project in the 2021 call

You can read the full interviews

The QuantERA Network brings together 39 agencies from 31 countries and is coordinated by the National Science Centre. You can find out more