OPUS 31

The call is open to the following entities identified in the NCN Act:

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;

5c. Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education operating pursuant to the Act on the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education of 13 September 2018 (Journal of Laws 2024, items 570 and 1897);

6. Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences;
7. other entities involved in research independently on a continuous basis;
8. 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);
9. scientific and industrial centres within the meaning of the Act on Research Institutes of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 498);
10. research centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences within the meaning of the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences of 30 April 2010;
11. scientific libraries;
12. 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);
13. legal entities with their registered office in Poland;

13a. President of the Central Office of Measures;

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

Researchers at any stage of their research career (PhD degree not required) may serve as principal investigators if their academic and research track record includes 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 2015). In specific cases, this period may 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. It 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.

The principal investigator is required to spend at least 50% of the project duration period in Poland or at the foreign division of the participating entity for the project, and be available to the participating entity. 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.

Furthermore, the principal investigator must be employed at the host institution for the entire project duration period pursuant to at least a part-time employment contract. This requirement does not apply to the recipients of pensions under the social insurance (or equivalent) scheme in Poland or abroad.

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 12 February 2026.

In a given call for proposals, a researcher can be designated as the principal investigator in only one proposal, which means that in this edition of NCN calls, a researcher can be designated as the principal investigator only once, 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. The foregoing also applies to proposals pending the appeal procedure.

Proposals comprising overlapping research tasks must not be submitted to the same call edition. 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 designated 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 designated 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 do not apply to projects or proposals submitted to PRELUDIUM BIS and/or DIOSCURI.

Below please find the list of possible combinations that determine the eligibility for funding in the call.

Possible combinations of the number of projects are presented in the table below

Explanation:

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 project report.

² The limit applies 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, 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);
• non-EU-funded calls launched by the networks of research-funding institutions, 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 early-career researchers.

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

• HS –Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences;
• NZ – Life Sciences;
• 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.

Funding may be requested for projects lasting:

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

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 12 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 has completed a continuous and evidenced post-doctoral fellowship of at least 9 months during their studies at the doctoral school, during doctoral studies, or following the award of a PhD 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 that, pursuant to the Regulations, organisers of the open calls for post-docs must comply with the eligibility criteria according to which eligible candidates must have been awarded their first PhD degree within 12 years before 1 January of the year of employment in the project.

Students/ PhD student who are NCN scholarship recipients 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 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 is 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.

The project budget must be justified as regards the subject and scope of research and must be based on realistic 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 140,000-210,000 per annum, as long as the prospective employee meets all of the terms and conditions set out in Annex 2 to the Regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded by the National Science Centre as regards research projects,
   • senior researcher position: PLN 70,000 per annum.

     The senior researcher position must be co-financed by the host institution for the project in the amount of at least PLN 70,000 per annum;

   • salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students (up to PLN 13,000 per each month of project performance),
   • additional remuneration for research team members; 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;
3. purchase of research equipment, devices and software;
4. purchase of materials and small equipment;
5. outsourced services;
6. business trips, visits and consultations;
7. compensation for collective investigators; and
8. other costs crucial to the project which comply with the Types of costs in research projects funded 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 costs (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 must 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.

PhD students who meet the requirements laid down in the Act on Higher Education and Science may be awarded doctoral scholarships of up to PLN 6,500 per month, whether NCN scholarships of up to PLN 5,000 may be awarded to students or PhD students according to the NCN Regulations. Salaries for students or PhD students of up to PLN 5,000 may be paid pursuant to either an employment contract or civil law contract. The total salary and scholarship awarded to a student or PhD student under NCN-funded projects must not exceed PLN 8,500 per month. The foregoing amount does not include the principal investigator’s salary under PRELUDIUM. PhD students who are recipients of scholarships from doctoral schools or from other sources may be additionally paid up to PLN 3,000 per month under NCN projects, subject to the above-mentioned funding limit.

Pursuant to the Open Access Policy, the research results should (if possible) be made available in open access.

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 (in which the articles require payment of a subscription fee) and/or hybrid journals (in which some of the articles are open access and some require payment of a subscription fee); in the case of publishing in subscription-based model, it is advisable that 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: postprint or author’s accepted manuscript) or preprint, be made available in the repository listed in the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR); if the AAM/preprint is not made available, it will not affect the acknowledgment of expenses or the settlement of the project;
3. publication in journals covered by an open access licence within the framework of so-called transformative agreements (which are available within limited time in accordance with the applicable agreements between national publishing consortia; journals covered by Polish transformative agreements are listed on the website of the Virtual Library of Science.

Manuscripts must be published under the following licences:

• Route 1: Creative Commons (CC) licence or equivalent open licence in line with the open access policies;
• Route 2: Version of Record (VoR, i.e. manuscript version published in a journal with its own typeface and branding; other terms: published version or publisher’s pdf), AAM or preprint should be made available in the repository using CC licence or equivalent open licence in line with the open access policies;
• Route 3: CC licence or equivalent open licence in line with the open access policies.

Eligibility of Article Processing Charges:

The costs are eligible for each publication route and each CC licence or equivalent open licence in line with the open licence policies. NCN does not recommend incurring APC for articles published under Route 2, if the AAM or preprint can be made available in the repository at no charge.

The data underpinning scientific publications, whether in open or closed access, resulting from the project must be well-documented pursuant to the standards of the machine or manual findability, accessibility, interoperability or reusability (the so-called FAIR Data). Where possible, data must be made available in the repository using CC0 or CC BY 4.0 licence. Other licences can also be used as long as they ensure an equivalent level of data openness and reusability as CC0 or CC BY 4.0.

The term “data” is understood as data collected and unprocessed as well as data generated and analysed, other than scientific publications. The definition comprises all forms, both digital and non-digital.

All parts of the proposal form are described in Point III of an Annex to NCN Council Resolution No 16/2026 of 12 February 2026, amending the terms of the OPUS call. Information required in English:

1. details of the principal investigator, including:
   • 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;
   • a list of papers retracted in the proposal submission year (as of the proposal submission date) and during the period covering papers published or accepted for publication (including career breaks, as noted in footnote 3 to the Terms of the National Science Centre’s OPUS call for research projects), which must not be less than 10 years prior to the proposal submission year, and the reasons for retraction (if applicable);
   • 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 related benefits (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.

Descriptions must include the scientific goal of the project, significance of the project, general concept and work plan, research methodology, composition and qualifications of the research team, including (if applicable) achievements of the co-investigators specified in the proposal, as well as project literature.

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.

Proposals in the call may include an application for state aid, except where funding is requested by a natural person. 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 scheduled pursuant to the “Salaries for students and PhD students” category of the Types of costs in research projects funded by the NCN.

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

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 short project description, information 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 proposals which are 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 full project description, information 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.

To find out more on the proposal evaluation procedure, please read the Proposal evaluation procedure for the Expert Team.

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 your proposal. The Chair of the Expert Team may decide that interdisciplinary proposals undergo an auxiliary review by an expert from another panel.

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. impact of the project results on the development of the academic discipline;
4. assessment of the feasibility of the proposed project;
5. scientific achievements of the principal investigator;
6. assessment of other projects conducted by the principal investigator, funded by the NCN or from other sources;
7. relevance of the costs with regards to the subject and scope of the research; and
8. preparation of the proposal and compliance with other requirements set forth in the call text.

The competences, track record and expertise of a potential senior researcher as well as validity of their employment, as described in the proposals submitted to the OPUS call, will be subject to a merit-based evaluation. If the requirements are not met and senior researcher’s employment is not reasonably substantiated, 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) must not be recommended for funding.

Proposals are evaluated by the Expert Teams within the review panels (i.e., HS1, NZ1, ST1) pursuant to the terms of the call and evaluation criteria laid down in the Regulations on awarding funding for research tasks.

Expert teams are selected by the NCN Council pursuant to the terms of establishing and appointing Expert Teams. Experts are 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.

The call results will be published on the NCN website and communicated in the form of the NCN Director’s decision within 6 months of the proposal submission date, by the end of December 2026.

Please, read the Information for Applicants and Guidelines for applicants to complete proposals submitted to OPUS 31.

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

If you are intending to submit a proposal to OPUS 31:

1. read all call documents included in the call text, in particular:

• terms of the OPUS 31 call;
• OPUS 31 proposal form template, where you can find out about information and annexes needed to complete the electronic proposal form in the OSF submission system;
• Regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded by the National Science Centre;
• Proposal submission procedure.

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 a group of Polish entities applies, a research project cooperation agreement 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 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 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 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 communicated;
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.