QuantERA Call 2025

The call is open to the 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),
4. research institutes operating pursuant to the Act on Research Institutes of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1383),
5. international research institutes established pursuant to other acts and acting 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 laid down in the Act on Research Centres of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1383),
10. research centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences laid down in the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 1183, as amended),
11. scientific libraries,
12. companies operating as R&D centres laid down in the Act on certain forms of support for innovation activities of 30 May 2008 (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 706),
13. legal entities with registered office in Poland,

• 13a. President of the Central Office of Measures,

14. natural persons and
15. companies conducting research in other organisational form than set forth in sections 1-13.

If at least two Polish partners applying for NCN funding are intended to carry out the project, they must form a group of entities (see Point 8 above) and submit their proposal in that form. NCN proposals must be submitted by a leader specified in the research project cooperation agreement concluded by the group of entities. An entity employing the principal investigator acts as the leader of the group of entities.

Polish entities that are unable to form a group of entities under Article 27 (1) (2) of the NCN Act, are not eligible to apply for NCN funding of a joint research project.

The principal investigator of the Polish research team must hold at least a PhD degree when submitting a proposal. Other restrictions are described in Chapter IV of the Terms and regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded or co-funded under international calls launched by the National Science Centre and carried out as multilateral collaboration UNISONO, annexed to NCN Council Resolution No 87/2024 of 5 September 2024.

The principal investigator must be a person employed at the host institution for the project for the entire project duration period pursuant to at least a half-time employment contract. The principal investigator must reside in Poland for at least 50% of the project duration period and be available to the host institution. The foregoing duration does not include evidenced project-related business trips or holiday, time off work and other excused absence at work governed by the applicable laws.

The call covers the following topics in the field of quantum technologies:

• Quantum Phenomena and Resources
• Applied Quantum Science.

Both the National Science Centre (NCN) and the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) are members of the QuantERA network. Polish researchers may apply for NCN funding of their basic research projects under Article 2 (1) of the NCN Act, in Quantum Phenomena and Resources. Participation of Polish industrial partners is not required.

NCN proposals covering research tasks overlapping tasks specified in another proposal submitted earlier under an NCN call or with respect to which an appeal has been initiated, can only be submitted once the funding decision has become final.

Research projects under the call must be planned for a period of either 24 or 36 months.

We recommend that Polish applicants should consult the budget table of the Polish part of the project with the NCN. The budget table in .xlsx format should be sent to alicja.dylag@ncn.gov.pl by 21 November 2025.

Creating a project budget is one of the most important aspects in the project planning which aims at identifying the required resources and estimating the costs required to perform the research tasks. The project budget must be based on realistic calculations and must comply with the guidelines provided in the Types of costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre and carried out as multilateral collaboration UNISONO.

The maximum budget of the Polish research team is not pre-determined. Budget planning must be aligned with the eligibility criteria outlined in the QuantERA call documents, in particular as regards the consortium-level budget. The justification of the expenses versus the scope of tasks must be assessed by an international expert team. The proposal may be rejected if an unreasonable budget is planned and/or discrepancies occur between the costs of projects carried out by a Polish research team in the NCN proposal and the joint proposal.

The budget in the NCN proposal must be quoted in PLN, while the budget in the joint proposal, in EUR.

The budget of the Polish part of the project in the joint proposal must be converted according to the following exchange rate: 1 EUR = 4.2858 PLN.

The project costs include direct and indirect costs.

Direct costs include:

1. remuneration:

• full-time employment: funds for full-time employment of the principal investigator or post-doc(s);
• additional salaries for members of the research team;
• salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students;

2. purchase or manufacturing of research equipment, devices and software;
3. purchase of materials and small equipment;
4. outsourcing;
5. business trips, visits and consultations;
6. compensation for collective investigators; and
7. other costs crucial to the project.

Remuneration of administrative staff and conference cost (rental of rooms, catering) must be financed solely as indirect expenses.

Indirect costs must not exceed 20% of direct costs. Additionally, indirect costs of up to 2% of direct costs may be spent on open access to publications and research data. When performing the project, the host institution must agree with the principal investigator the coverage of at least 25% of the indirect costs.

The NCN will award funding for research projects carried out by the Polish research teams for which foreign partners also receive funding.

The terms of the call do not specify the number of the research team members. For more information on the budget for remuneration and scholarships, please read the Types of costs in research projects funded by the NCN and carried out as the multilateral collaboration UNISONO.

NCN scholarship recipients and/or post-docs in the project must be recruited in an open call procedure. Please read the Regulations for awarding scholarships in NCN-funded research projects.

Yes, they can. For more information, please go to the State aid rules.

• International Level

Joint proposals are subject to an eligibility check performed by the NCN, other members of the QuantERA network and the QuantERA Call 2025 Secretariat.

Joint proposals successfully evaluated during the eligibility check are subject to a merit-based evaluation carried out by an international expert team according to the call documents.

• National Level

NCN proposals are subject solely to an eligibility check carried out by the scientific coordinators. The eligibility check of NCN proposals involves verification of proposal for completeness, compliance with all terms set forth in the call documents and Resolution No 87/2024, including compliance of the budget with the Annex (Costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre in international calls carried out as multilateral collaboration Unisono). The information provided in NCN proposals and in joint full proposals must be consistent and joint proposals annexed to NCN proposals must be the same as joint proposals submitted at international level.

Pursuant to the Open Access Policy (adopted on 26 June 2025), all research results should be, if possible, made available in open access.

The Open Access Policy does not apply to monographs, monograph chapters and peer-reviewed collected papers.

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 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 is 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 for 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. The NCN does not recommend incurring APC fees 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 resulting from the projects 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 as CC0 or CC BY 4.0.

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

QuantERA Call 2025 will be concluded in May 2026. Firstly, project coordinators will be notified of the outcome. Polish research teams will be notified of the outcome by way of NCN Director’s decisions.

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

For more information on the call, please go to the QuantERA website. The terms and regulations on awarding NCN funding in the call are laid down in the Annex to NCN Council Resolution No 87/2024 of 5 September 2024.

Should you have any questions, please contact us by e-mail or by phone at:

Scientific Coordinator: Anna Koteja, anna.koteja@ncn.gov.pl

Programme Coordinator: quantera@ncn.gov.pl

Before calling, make an e-mail appointment.

Budget consultations and information for applicants: Alicja Dyląg, alicja.dylag@ncn.gov.pl; +48 532 086 494; 12 341 90 69 - telephone contact from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

QuantERA Call Secretariat:

French National Research Agency (ANR France)

Maurice Tia, PhD - Maurice.Tia@anr.fr, +33(0)1 72 73 06 90

Before submitting an NCN proposal at national level:

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

Once the proposal is 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.