Announcing SHENG 2 and SONATINA 5

We have just announced the second edition of the SHENG call for Polish-Chinese research projects and the fifth SONATINA call for research projects carried out by researchers at the outset of their research career. The total budget of the two calls equals 45 million PLN. 

SHENG is the first call in the NCN portfolio to be organized thanks to international cooperation that goes beyond Europe. First launched in 2018, it has attracted great interest among researchers. In response to the great demand for funding for Polish-Chinese projects, the National Science Centre has joined hands with the National Natural Science Foundation of China to resume the call this year. SHENG 2 is targeted at basic research projects carried out by Polish-Chinese research teams in one of the four basic disciplines: materials science and engineering, chemical sciences, health sciences, or life sciences. The principal investigator on the Polish side must hold a PhD degree and the projects should take 36 months to complete. The total budget of the Polish part of the project must be at least 250 thousand PLN. A total of 25 million PLN is up for grabs for Polish proposals submitted under the SHENG 2 call.

SONATINA 5 is targeted at applicants who were awarded a PhD up to three years before the year in which the proposal is submitted or expect to earn it by the end of June 2021. The purpose of the call is to support young researchers in their career, enabling them to find full-time employment, conduct research at Polish research centres and gain experience through fellowships at renowned foreign research institutions. Projects should take either 24 or 36 months to complete, while foreign fellowships should last anywhere from 3 to 6 months. As part of the grant, the principal investigator should be hired full-time, based on an employment contract, by an entity other than that which awarded the PhD degree. The budget of this year’s edition of SONATINA is 20 million PLN.

The proposals will undergo a formal eligibility check and a merit-based review by Expert Teams composed of outstanding Polish and foreign researchers. The final verdict will be based, e.g. on research quality and the innovative nature of the project.

The deadline for submission in both calls is 4 pm on 15 March 20221. Proposals should be submitted electronically via the ZSUN/OSF system, available at https://osf.opi.org.pl, in accordance with the proposal submission procedure. The results of both calls will be announced in the autumn of 2021.