Announcing MAESTRO 12, SONATA BIS 10 and DAINA 2 calls

Experienced researchers, scientists who wish to establish new research teams, and those planning to carry out a project in cooperation with Lithuanian partners – these are the addressees of the recently announced MAESTRO 12, SONATA BIS 10 and DAINA 2 calls with a total budget of 180 million PLN.

DAINA is a joint initiative of the National Science Centre and the Research Council of Lithuania (RCL), targeted at Polish research teams that wish to submit a research proposal together with a Lithuanian partner. They will be eligible to receive funding for salaries, including scholarsips for students and PhD students, purchase or manufacturing of research equipment, as well as other costs related to the Polish part of the project. The total budget slated for Polish research teams equals 10 million PLN,

“DAINA 2 involves a parallel review process, which means that the NCN and the RCL will both conduct a parallel eligibility check and merit-based evaluation, and only projects recommended by both agencies will qualify for funding”, says Professor Zbigniew Błocki, NCN Director, “The first edition of the call attracted a lot of interest and confirmed that there is a demand for initiatives that aim to strengthen the Polish and Lithuanian research potential and develop Polish-Lithuanian research cooperation”, he adds.

June is also traditionally a month when the MAESTRO and SONATA BIS calls are announced. The former is open to advanced researchers who wish to conduct pioneering, sometimes interdisciplinary, research that goes beyond the current state of our knowledge. To qualify as a principal investigator in a MAESTRO project, applicants must be at least PhD holders with papers published in renowned Polish and/or foreign academic press/ journals in the last 10 years. In addition, they are expected to have carried out at least two other research projects selected within NCN or international calls for proposals. The MAESTRO call is entering its twelfth edition and has a total budget of 20 million PLN.

SONATA BIS is targeted at researchers with a PhD degree earned 5 to 12 years prior to the submission of the proposal. The objective of the call is to support the establishment of new research teams to conduct basic research. The funding can go toward the costs of research team salaries, including scholarships for students and PhD students, purchase or manufacturing of research equipment, as well as other necessary project expenses. The total budget of SONATA BIS 10 is 150 million PLN.

Proposals in all three calls must be submitted via the OSF system by 4 pm on 15 September 2020. Detailed information can be found on the website of the National Science Centre.