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17 April 2026

The National Science Centre and the Trans-Atlantic Platform (T-AP) for Social Sciences and Humanities are pleased to announce the call for international research projects titled “Preparing for Tomorrow – Societies and Strategies in Times of Transition” (P4T Call 2026).

The call covers four main themes:

  1. Uncertainty: sources, costs, communication, and improvement;
  2. The many faces of the future and crisis: historical, cultural, and regional perspectives;
  3. Scope and coordination of response strategies;
  4. Normative inquiry into prevention and preparation for future crises.

The themes are described in more detail in the call text available on the website of the T-AP.

Funding proposals may be submitted by international consortia composed of at least 3 research teams from at least 3 countries participating in the call from both sides of the Atlantic (e.g. Poland-Canada-Brazil).

Countries and funders participating in the call:

Brazil FAPESP: São Paulo Research Foundation
Finland RCF: Research Council of Finland
France ANR: French National Research Agency
The Netherlands NWO: Dutch Research Council
Canada

FRQSC: Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture

SSHRC: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Germany

BMBF/DLR-PT: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research/DLR Project Management Agency

DFG: German Research Foundation

Poland NCN: Narodowe Centrum Nauki
South Africa NRF: National Research Foundation

 

The application procedure:

This is a single-stage call for proposals, which means that only Full Proposals are submitted at the international level, following the completion of a mandatory Letter of Intent to Apply (LOI).

The application procedure at the international level is described in more detail in the call text available on the T-AP’s website.

  • International level:
    • The Lead Principal Investigator completes a mandatory Letter of Intent to Apply (LOI) and submits it on behalf of the entire consortium to the electronic submission system of DFG (elan system) by 8 July 2026.

      If a mandatory LOI is not submitted, the proposal will be disregarded.

    • Full Proposals. Full proposals are drafted (in English) by the Polish research teams in collaboration with the international partners and submitted by the Lead Principal Investigator on behalf of the entire consortium to the electronic submission system of DFG (elan system).
  • National level:
    • NCN proposals concerning the Polish part of the project are drafted by the Polish research teams and submitted to NCN electronically via the OSF submission system within 7 days of the full proposal submission end date (international level). Please read NCN proposal submission procedure.

Call Timeline:

  • Submission deadline for mandatory Letter of Intent to Apply (LOI): 8 July 2026, 23:59 CEST
  • Submission deadline for Full Proposals: 28 October 2026, 23:59 CET
  • Submission deadline for NCN Proposals in the OSF submission system: 4 November 2026, 23:59 CET
  • Call results: April-May 2027 (TBC)
  • Recommended project start date: July-September 2027 (TBC)

Under the T-AP P4T Call 2026, funds can be awarded to the Polish research teams to cover salaries for members of the research team, salaries and scholarships for students and PhD students, purchase or manufacturing of research equipment and other costs crucial to the research project. More information on the eligible costs of the Polish research teams can be found in the NCN Council Resolution.

The total funding allocated by NCN for research tasks performed by the Polish research teams under the call is EUR 800,000.

The EUR budget of the Polish part of the project in the Full Proposal must be calculated according to the following exchange rate: EUR 1 = PLN 4.2131.

Please read:

  • call documents available on the website of the Trans-Atlantic Platform (for all applicants in the call);
  • information for applicants below and annexes hereto (for applicants requesting NCN funding).

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WHO MAY APPLY FOR NCN FUNDING?

The call is open to the following entities specified in the Act on the National Science Centre (NCN):

  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 (consolidated text in Journal of Laws of 2026, item 168),
  4. research institutes operating pursuant to the Act on Research Institutes of 30 April 2010 (consolidated text in Journal of Laws of 2024, item 534, as amended),
  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 (consolidated text in Journal of Laws of 2026, item 194),

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 (consolidated text in Journal of Laws 2026, item 269),

  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. 9. scientific and industrial centres laid down in the Act on Research Centres of 30 April 2010 (consolidated text in Journal of Laws of 2024, item 534, as amended),
  5. research centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences laid down in the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences of 30 April 2010 (consolidated text in Journal of Laws of 2026, item 168),
  6. scientific libraries,
  7. 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 and Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1079),
  8. legal entities with registered office in Poland,

13a. President of the Central Office of Measures,

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

If research projects are carried out by at least two Polish partners applying for NCN funding, they must set up a group of entities (see item 8 above) and as such submit NCN proposals. An NCN proposal is 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.

If, pursuant to Article 27 (1) (2) of the NCN Act, Polish entities cannot set up groups of entities, they are not eligible to apply for NCN funding of a joint research project.

A research project cooperation agreement template.

WHO MAY ACT AS A PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR?

The Principal Investigator of the Polish research team must hold at least a PhD degree when submitting a proposal. Additional restrictions are described in more detail in Chapter IV §13-20 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 74/2025 of 11 September 2025.

WHAT ARE THE TOPICS COVERED BY THE CALL ?

The call is open to proposals for projects covering one or more of the following topics:

Preparing for Tomorrow – Societies and Strategies in Times of Transition

  1. Uncertainty: sources, costs, communication, and improvement;
  2. The many faces of the future and crisis: historical, cultural, and regional perspectives;
  3. Scope and coordination of response strategies;
  4. Normative inquiry into prevention and preparation for future crises.

To find out more about the themes of the call for proposals, please read the call text and call documents available on the Trans-Atlantic Platform’s website.

Polish researchers may apply for NCN funding of their basic research projects for the purposes of Article 2 (1) of the NCN Act.

NCN proposals comprising research tasks that overlap with research tasks covered by another proposal submitted to another NCN call may only be submitted once the evaluation procedure of the previous proposal has been completed or the appeal procedure has been concluded, and the previous proposal was refused funding.

WHAT IS THE PROJECT DURATION PERIOD?

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

ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS ON THE SIZE OF THE POLISH RESEARCH TEAM?

The terms of the call do not specify the maximum number of the research team members. To find out more on the budget of salaries and scholarships, read the Types of costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre in international calls carried out as multilateral collaboration UNISONO.

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

Scholarship recipients and post-docs must not be named in either Full Proposals or NCN proposals.

HOW SHOULD THE BUDGET BE PLANNED?

The project budget must be well-justified as regards the subject and scope of the research, based on realistic calculations and must comply with the Types of costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre in international calls carried out as multilateral collaboration UNISONO.

The maximum budget of the Polish research team has not been pre-determined; however, the rationale of the expenses versus the scope of tasks is assessed by an international Adjudication Panel. 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 Full Proposal.

The budget in NCN proposals is quoted in PLN and in Full Proposals, in PLN and EUR.

The EUR budget of the Polish part of the project in the Full Proposal must be calculated according to the following exchange rate: EUR 1 = PLN 4.2131.

The project budget (eligible costs) includes 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 remuneration for members of the research team, including the principal investigator;
  • scholarships and salaries for students and PhD students;
  1. purchase or manufacturing of research equipment, devices and software;
  2. purchase of materials and small equipment;
  3. outsourcing;
  4. business trips, visits and consultations;
  5. compensation for collective investigators;
  6. other costs crucial to the project in compliance with the Types of costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre in international calls carried out as multilateral collaboration UNISONO.

Remuneration of administrative staff and costs of conference organisation (rental of rooms, catering) may be financed solely as indirect expenses.

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. During the project implementation, the host institution must agree with the principal investigator the coverage of at least 25% of the indirect costs actually accrued in the project.

NCN will fund only those research projects carried out by the Polish research teams for which foreign partners receive parallel funding.

We recommend that applicants requesting NCN funding should consult the budget table of the Polish part of the project with NCN. The budget table in .xlsx format should be sent to przemyslaw.puchala@ncn.gov.pl  by 30 September 2026.

CAN PROPOSALS IN THIS CALL INCLUDE APPLICATION FOR STATE AID?

Yes. For more information, please refer to the State aid rules.

WHAT IS THE PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCEDURE?

Full Proposals are subject to an eligibility check performed by the Call Secretariat and domestic agencies participating in the Trans-Atlantic Platform’s call.

Proposals successfully evaluated during the eligibility check are subject to a merit-based evaluation carried out by an international Adjudication Panel (s) established by the Call Secretariat and domestic agencies participating in the call pursuant to the call documents.

Following the recommendations of the Adjudication Panel, representatives of the agencies participating in the call compile a list of proposals recommended for funding.

NCN proposals submitted to the OSF submission system by the Polish applicants are subject solely to an eligibility check performed by the Coordinators.

The eligibility check of NCN proposals involves verification of the proposal for completeness, compliance with the call documents published by T-AP and Annex to Resolution No 74/2025, 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.”

Information in NCN proposals and Full Proposals must be consistent and identical.

WHO PERFORMS THE MERIT-BASED EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS?

Only Full Proposals that successfully pass the eligibility check are subject to merit-based evaluation performed by the international Adjudication Panel recruited by the funding agencies participating in the Trans-Atlantic Platform’s P4T Call.

OPEN ACCESS TO PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH DATA

Pursuant to the Open Access Policy, all research findings must be (if possible) made available in open access. You can find out more about NCN open-access requirements here.

WHEN AND HOW WILL THE RESULTS BE ANNOUNCED?

Trans-Atlantic Platform’s P4T Call 2026 will be concluded between April and May 2027. The outcome will first be reported to the Lead Principal Investigators. Polish research teams will be notified by way of a decision by the NCN Director.

In the event of a breach of the call procedure or other formal infringements related to actions performed by NCN, the applicant may appeal against the decision by the NCN Director with the Committee of Appeals of the NCN Council.

USEFUL INFORMATION

If you are intending to apply to P4T Call 2026, read the call documents, in particular:

Before submitting an NCN proposal at the 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 NCN;
  3. download the confirmation of proposal submission that has been signed by the principal investigator and authorised representative(s) of the entity; 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 NCN electronically via the OSF submission system.

WHERE CAN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BE FOUND?

For more information on the call, please go to the Trans-Atlantic Platform’s website. The terms and regulations on awarding NCN funding in the call are laid down in NCN Council Resolution 74/2025 of 11 September 2025.

Should you have more questions or queries, please contact us by e-mail or by phone:

Call documents

Trans-Atlantic Platform:

The call documents applicable to all applicants are available on the Trans-Atlantic Platform’s website.

National Science Centre:

  1. 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 (Resolution No 74/2025)
  2. NCN Panels
  3. Budget table of the Polish research team
  4. Costs in research projects
  5. Regulations for awarding scholarships
  6. NCN proposal form template
  7. Agreement on the formation of a group of entities for the purposes of completion of the research project
  8. State aid rules
  9. Guidelines for applicants to complete NCN proposals in the OSF submission system
  10. Guidelines for completing the data management plan for a research project
  11. Guidelines for applicants to complete the ethics issues form in the proposal
  12. Open access
  13. Code of the National Science Centre on Research Integrity and Applying for Research Funding
  14. NCN proposal submission procedure in the OSF submission system

Documents applicable to the evaluation of proposals:

  1. Service of decisions of the NCN Director
  2. Appealing against NCN Director’s decisions

Documents to be read before starting an NCN project:

  1. Agreement template for former winners of multilateral calls for proposals; draft for information purposes that may be amended when the agreement is concluded with NCN)
  2. Procedure for conducting audits
  3. Guidelines for entities auditing the implementation of research projects
  4. NCN Council Resolution on collaboration with the Russian Federation within the framework of NCN-funded grants
  5. Personal data processing at NCN since 25 May 2018 (GDPR)