Is it worthwhile to be courageous in research? What organisational, financial and ethical challenges does contemporary science face in Poland and globally? How to navigate today’s scientific reality while maintaining balance in life? We discussed those and many other topics during the NCN Days 2026 in Katowice.

Artificial intelligence is changing the way we conduct research, design experiments and draft grant proposals. The National Science Centre, alongside other research-funding agencies, is adapting its policies to this rapidly growing field.  

The NCN Generation comprises researchers and scholars making a significant contribution to the advancement of science. Episode 4 features Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska, who studies the resettlement cultures that emerged after 1945 in post-resettlement areas in Poland and the former Czechoslovakia.

More than 3,700 proposals have been submitted to the OPUS 30+LAP/Weave and SONATA 21 calls – almost 500 more than last year. This is the largest edition of these calls in NCN's history. First-stage results will be announced on 27 May and second-stage results on 11 June 2026.

The Copernicus Festival is one of Poland’s foremost science outreach events. This year’s edition will run from 19 to 24 May in Kraków and online. The National Science Centre is a festival partner for the third time.

In the latest episode of the NCN podcast, Prof. Margaret Ohia-Nowak and dr inż. Tomasz Szumełda discuss the results of a survey on the use of AI in proposal writing, as well as research into bias in Polish language models—a project led by Margaret Ohia-Nowak and funded by the NCN. Hosted by Anna Korzekwa-Józefowicz.

We asked researchers about the use of generative AI in the grant system. The results show that most accept its use in proposal writing, but oppose its involvement in evaluation.

In the third episode of the #NCNGeneration series, we speak with Prof. Małgorzata Kot from the Centre of New Technologies at the University of Warsaw. The archaeologist studies the interface between Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans — and what their encounters meant for human culture and early migrations.

On 6–7 May, the 12th edition of NCN Days will take place in Katowice. In this special year, marking the 15th anniversary of the National Science Centre, attendees are welcome to celebrate together and to reflect on the impact of NCN’s role in the research funding system on the quality of research carried out at Polish institutions.

The European Research Council has published a document on the reasons why the widening countries have performed less successfully in ERC calls and on measures to address this imbalance. The key recommendation was to increase investment in basic research.