The first winner of the CEUS-UNISONO call

We are pleased to announce the first results of the international CEUS-UNISONO call for bi- and trilateral research projects conducted by teams from Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Poland, organised in accordance with the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP) within the framework of the multilateral CEUS programme. The first winner is Dr hab. Małgorzata Pilot from the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Her project was recommended for funding following a merit-based review at the Austrian agency, FWF (Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung).

Ranking list

Dr hab. Pilot was awarded nearly 1.2 million PLN to carry out a project entitled Testing the domestication syndrome hypothesis in free-ranging dogs. She will do so in cooperation with Sarah Marshall from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology in Vienna. This Polish-Austrian research collaboration within a single project will make it possible to test the “domestication syndrome” hypothesis very comprehensively, including its behavioural, morphological and genetic aspects, and thus study the relationship between genetic variability and the behavioural and morphological traits of free-ranging dogs. The findings of the project will expand our knowledge of the genetic mechanisms of mammalian evolution.

The CEUS-UNISONO grant may go towards funding research team salaries, scholarships for students and PhD students, purchase or construction of research equipment and other necessary project-related expenses. The total budget of the call equals 20 million PLN and it is targeted at Polish research teams planning to join up with one (in the case of bilateral projects) or two (in the case of trilateral projects) selected partner teams in order to submit a funding proposal for a basic research project in any discipline of science. The principal investigator of the Polish research team must hold at least a PhD degree; the principal investigator of the partner research team must meet the requirements of its own partner agency in this respect. Projects may be planned for a period of 24 or 36 months and in the case of research projects to be carried out jointly with research teams from Austria this can also be 48 months.

The CEUS-UNISONO call is organised in accordance with the Lead Agency Procedure, with proposals being accepted on a rolling basis until 31 December 2020. Results are announced within 12 months from the day of submission; the ranking lists will be successively published here.