Instructions for preparing and submitting proposals under the UWERTURA 3 call – filling out the tabs in the ZSUN/OSF system

Applications for funding of fellowships may be submitted by the following entities:

• universities,
• federations of science and HE institutions,
• research institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences,
• research institutes,
• international research institutes established pursuant to other provisions and operating within the Republic of Poland.

In the Status wnioskodawcy [Applicant’s legal status] section select a status from a list as appropriate. Once selected, the system will generate a corresponding proposal form.

PLEASE NOTE: when creating the proposal one may change the applicant status, in which case the other data in the form must be updated.

Applicant may either be selected from the list of entities in the OPI database (choose the Wybierz z bazy OPI [Select from the OPI database] button) or its data may be entered manually (the Dodaj spoza bazy [Select from outside OPI] button).  

Before importing any data from the OPI database make sure whether the data in the system are up to date. The applicant’s data must be complete and correct. Should the data be out of date or incorrect, the proposal editor should contact Ośrodek Przetwarzania Informacji Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (OPI PIB) by dialling: (+48) 22-351-71-01, (+48) 22-351-71-04, (+48) 22-351-70-89.

Once the Status wnioskodawcy [Applicant status] has been named, this section will split into two parts:

• Wnioskodawca (poziom 1) [Applicant (level 1)]
• Wnioskodawca (poziom 2) [Applicant (level 2)]

Wnioskodawca (poziom 1) [Applicant (level 1)]

1. Nazwa podmiotu [Entity name] (in Polish and English) and adres siedziby [Address of the registered office].
2. Siedmiocyfrowy identyfikator gminy: [7-digit Community Identification Code]: give the full code of the community where the Host Institution has its registered office. It may found using the Wykaz identyfikatorów [Register of identifiers] (the register is in compliance with the List of Identifiers and Names of the Units of Territorial Division of the Country by the Central Statistical Office). Select „Przeglądanie” [Browsing] to find the relevant community and enter its 7-digit number in the form. The system will use the number to complete the name of the community.
3.  Adres korespondencyjny [Address for correspondence]: telephone number, email address, ESP (ePUAP) address, website. Please note that proposal-related correspondence, including the funding decision, will be sent to the ESP (ePUAP) address. Entering the ESP (ePUAP) address of the research institution is mandatory. Should these data change in the course of the proposal’s evaluation, the NCN must be notified thereof immediately.
4. Question: Czy podmiot stanowi jednostkę zaliczaną do sektora finansów publicznych? [Does the institution belong to the public finance sector?] – please answer TAK [YES] or NIE [NO]. The answer will be incorporated in the text of the declaration by the authorised representative(s) of the institution.
5. Question: Czy podmiot pozostaje pod zarządem komisarycznym lub znajduje się w toku likwidacji albo postępowania upadłościowego? [Is the institution under forced administration or the subject of liquidation or bankruptcy proceedings?]: please use the Edytuj [Edit] button to select TAK [YES] or NIE [NO].
6. Enter NIP [tax identification number], REGON [statistical identification number] and KRS [court registered number] as appropriate. If the applicant is not registered in the National Court Register (KRS) please tick the nie dotyczy [not applicable] box on the right.
7. Question: Czy wnioskowane finansowanie będzie stanowić pomoc publiczną? [Does the requested funding applied for constitute state aid?] Use the Edytuj [Edit] button to read the rules governing application for state aid.

PLEASE NOTE: In proposals submitted under the UWERTURA 3 state aid is not an eligible cost.

8. Information regarding the Head of the Host Institution  of Kierownik podmiotu [Head of the Host Institution] – enter the data of the authorised representative of the Host Institution. Should the required documents be signed by the authorised representative(s) of the Host Institution, an authorisation/ power of attorney must be attached. 

Wnioskodawca (poziom 2) [Applicant (level 2)]

In the “Wnioskodawca (poziom 2) [Applicant (level 2)]” section enter data for level 2.

Since under the UWERTURA 3 call proposals from scientific consortia are not accepted, the Partnerzy [Partners] tab will be automatically filled out with the applicant’s data only.   

1. Nazwa stażu [Name of the fellowship] should be related to the subject of the research intended as proposal to be submitted in an ERC call for proposals; enter the name in Polish and in English. The language versions must be identical.
2. Obszar badawczy [Research domain], to be followed by panel dyscyplin [discipline panel]: If the main research domain was selected when creating the proposal, it may now be changed by using the Wybierz [Select] button.
3. Pomocnicze określenia identyfikujące [Auxiliary review panels] (up to 3): click on the Dodaj [Add] button to choose from the list. First select the research domain, i.e. NZ [Life Sciences], HS [Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences] or ST (Physical Science and Engineering], and then the review panel of subordinate level. The review panels of subordinate level may be selected from outside the panel and research domain to which the proposal is being submitted. Choose between 1 and 3 auxiliary review panels, but at least one auxiliary panel must be selected from the main panel to which the proposal is being submitted.
4. Planowany okres realizacji stażu [Fellowship duration]: to be entered in months, selected from a drop-down list (pursuant to the terms of the call the fellowship may last 3, 4, 5 or 6 months). 
5. Słowa kluczowe [Keywords]:both in Polish and English, they may not be identical with the words in panel descriptions, they should be representative of the subject of the research. The words must be separated with commas or semicolons. Both language versions must use the same keywords.
6. Planowane nakłady w zł [Estimated costs in PLN]: will be filled out automatically by the system based on the data in the Kosztorys [Breakdown of project costs] tab.

Eligible as call entries are proposals in which the applicant has named an ERC call winner and the research centre at which the grant is being carried out as the host institution of the fellowship.

In a window opened by clicking on the Edytuj [Edit] button enter:

• academic title/degree, name and surname of the ERC call winner
• title of the grant carried out by the ERC call winner
• type of call under which the ERC call winner has received his/her grant, selection from a list: ERC Advanced Grants, ERC Starting Grants (consolidators) and ERC Starting Grants (starters)
• name of the foreign research institution
• address of the foreign research institution
• place of the followship (state)  selection from a drop-down list

Enter the fellowship candidate’s data using the Wybierz z bazy OPI [Select from the OPI database] button or Spoza bazy [Select from outside OPI] button.

• Person from the OPI database: search for them using their PESEL number, which serves as ID in the Polish Science database. Should the data be out of date or incorrect, the proposal editor should contact the Ośrodek Przetwarzania Informacji Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (OPI PIB) by dialling: (+48) 22-351-71-01, (+48) 22-351-71-04, (+48) 22-351-70-89,
• Persons from outside the OPI database: fill out the form with all data required by the system (given names, surname(s), academic title/degree, telephone number, email address, ESP (ePUAP) address, PESEL number.

PLEASE NOTE: The fellowship candidate’s data must be filled out in a chronological order, paying special attention to the correctness of the data imported from the OPI database. In the event of finding the data imported from the OPI database to be incorrect or out of date, inform the Polish Science database of the fact. The following data are of special importance here: data concerning academic degree and title, given names, surnames, PESEL number as well as places of work, since these data may not be edited in the ZSUN/OSF system. Modification of the data may require importing them anew and removing the contents of all the sections in the scientific achievements section, i.e.: Academic and Research Career, Publication Record, etc.

Ankieta dorobku naukowego kandydata na staż [Fellowship candidate’s scientific achievements section] (section to be filled out in English)

1. Planowany charakter udziału w realizacji projektu [Nature of contribution in the project]: filled out automatically by the system as: Fellowship candidate.
2. Podmiot [Host institution]: here the ZSUN/OSF system automatically applies the data entered in the Wnioskodawca [Applicant] section.
3. Dane osobowe [Personal data]: to be filled out upon clicking on the Edytuj [Edit] button. The PESEL number is no longer required once the option “obcokrajowiec” [foreign citizen] has been ticked. Telephone number and email address should be up to date. Entering their electronic mail account (ePUAP is optional for a fellow. Should no ESP(ePUAP) address be entered, the funding decision will be sent to the email address entered in the proposal.
4. In the window for editing the fellow’s personal data answer additional questions:

• Does the fellowship candidate hold a doctorate degree?

- Answer: TAK [YES] or NIE [NO]

• Would you like to enter information on your research career breaks?

- Answer: TAK [YES] or NIE [NO]

If answered in the affirmative, an additional question will appear:

• Did you, before the year of submitting the proposal, benefit from a maternity leave, adoption leave, paternity leave or parental leave granted in compliance with the Labour Code, or maternity leave, adoption leave, paternity leave, parental leave granted in compliance with the Labour Code, nor periods of sickness benefit or physiotherapy benefit granted on account of being unfit to work, including any caused by a health condition requiring physiotherapy?
• within 5 years before submitting the proposal? If the answer is “Yes”, indicate the number of months. The additional question concerning the 5-year period serves the purpose of extending the period for which the principal investigator may report publications by career breaks.

• within 7 years before submitting the proposal? Based on the answers in the part regarding the 7-year period, the system will determine whether the fellowship candidate qualifies as a young researcher.

PLEASE NOTE: enter breaks for both the 5- and 7-year period. 

5. Dane adresowe [Contact data]: Enter the residence address and address for correspondence if it differs from the residence address. Correspondence between the NCN and the fellowship candidate will be maintained via the ESP (ePUAP) address or email address. Entering ESP address is optional.

PLEASE NOTE: if the fellowship candidate’s PESEL number can be found in the OPI database, the system will automatically import the data from the Polish Science database.

6. Miejsca pracy w jednostkach naukowych i innych instytucjach związanych z nauką oraz zajmowane stanowiska [Affiliation and positions occupied at research units and other research-related institutions]:  if the fellowship candidate imports their data from the OPI database, the position occupied will be filled out automatically. If the data above have been entered using the Spoza bazy OPI [From outside OPI], the position occupied may be entered by clicking on “Dodaj z bazy OPI” [Add from the OPI database] or “Dodaj spoza bazy” [Add from outside OPI] button.

If the fellowship candidate holds no permanent post, select Bez miejsca pracy [No fixed post].

7. Informacje o całkowitej liczbie cytowań oraz indeksie H [The total number of citations and the h-index value]:

-    for ST and NZ panels enter the total number of citations for all publications to date, without self-citations, and the h-index value. In the case of no citations by a given person, enter “0” as the number of citations and “0” as the h-index value. The data should be taken from the Web of Science™ Core Collection.

-    for HS panels, if possible, enter the total number of citations for all publications to date, without self-citations, and the h-index value. With HS panels one may also select the option N/A, but only in the case when such data may not be provided (e.g. when the achievement is not a publication but a work of art, for instance, etc.). If publications have been listed as scientific achievements, the preferred source of evaluation is Web of Science™ Core Collection or Scopus.

8. Szczegółowa ankieta dorobku naukowego [Scientific achievements section]: please complete the form as required by the system.

THIS PART OF THE PROPOSAL SHOULD BE FILLED OUT WITH INFORMATION IN ENGLISH.

PLEASE NOTE: in this section the fellowship candidate presents his/her complete scientific achievements, which will be evaluated by an expert team. The data may be entered only in the form, using an editor opened with the Edytuj [Edit] button. The scientific achievement section may not be attached as a PDF file.

1.  Przebieg kariery naukowej [Academic and Research Career]: to be filled out in English; the applicant enters names of the university, institute or other organisational unit, specialisation, date of receiving his/her scientific degree/title.

2.  Publikacje naukowe [Publication record] - provide information on scientific achievements:

• for ST and NZ panels name 5 of the most important publications published within 5 years before submitting the proposal, with an indication of publications in journals from the JRC list and monographs of international scope (enter 5-year „impact factor” of the journals and number of citations for individual publications, without self-citations). The publications must be ones published in the years 2014-2018. Older publications will not be considered in evaluation of scientific achievements. The 5-year period includes breaks related to: maternity leave, adoption leave, paternal leave, parental leave granted in compliance with the Labour Code and maternity leave, adoption leave, paternity leave, parental leave granted in compliance with the Labour Code, nor periods of sickness benefit or physiotherapy benefit granted on account of being unfit to work, including any caused by a health condition requiring physiotherapy, parental benefit, sickness benefit or physiotherapy benefit granted on account of unfitness for work, including any caused by a health condition requiring physiotherapy and medical treatment (if answered in affirmative, enter number of months).
  • for HS panels name 5 of the most important publications published within 5 years before submitting the proposal, which will be evaluated with regard to the quality of the publication, e.g. whether the journal is on the JCR list or a comparable one (if applicable) and the nationwide or international scope of a monograph (where possible, enter the journal’s current 5-year impact factor and the number of citations of individual publications, without self-citations). The publications must be ones published in the years 2014-2018. Older publications will not be considered in evaluation of scientific achievements. The 5-year period includes breaks related to: maternity leave, adoption leave, paternal leave, parental leave granted in compliance with the Labour Code and periods of receiving maternal benefit, parental benefit, sickness benefit or physiotherapy benefit granted on account of unfitness for work, including any caused by a health condition requiring physiotherapy and medical treatment (if answered in affirmative, enter number of months).

All publications presented above must be attached as PDF files. Add the publications using the Dodaj [Add] button.

In the case of a monograph attach a file containing at least the title page, copyright page, table of contents and a selection of fragments containing author’s chief theses. Moreover, when filling out the tab, one is required to enter the following bibliographic data: name and surname of the author(s), title of publication, source (journal, publisher etc.), year, current 5-year Impact Factor (IF; if the journal has no IF – enter “0”), number of citations, without self-citations (if the publication has not been cited – enter “0”).

The fellowship candidate may name works yet to be published on condition that they have already been accepted for publication. If this is the case, indicate that a given publication has not been published yet (its status is Accepted for publication), and continue by adding letter/s from the publisher proving that the work has been accepted for publication in the Załączniki [Annexes] tab.

PLEASE NOTE: titles of publications should be given in their original languages. If a work has not been published in English, enter its original title, followed by the title’s translation into English in square brackets.

3.  Projekty badawcze [Research projects]: Pursuant to the terms of the UWERTURA 3 call eligible under the call will be proposals by fellowship candidates who have acted as principal investigator in a research project funded or approved for funding under an NCN call. This applies only to acting as principal investigator of a project (enter title and number of the project, sources and amount of funding, time and place of implementation and a list of publications resulting from each project separately).

1. Duration of the fellowship in a foreign research institution (in months).
2. Country of fellowship. In accordance with the list of countries in which the ERC fellowship under the UWERTURA 3 call may be carried out, which constitutes Annex 1 to Resolution No 110/2018 of the NCN Council of 8 November 2018.
3. The shortest distance between the fellowship candidate’s place of residence and the host institution hosting the fellowship. In accordance with the values listed in the table that constitutes Annex 2 to Resolution No 110/2018 of the NCN Council of 8 November 2018.

Editing in this section is disabled, because the terms of the UWERTURA 3 call provide for strictly definite amounts, which serve as bases for the calculation of eligible forms of funding the fellowship, i.e.:

- funding for covering the expenditure related to the applicant’s fellowship at a research centre abroad - awarded as a monthly flat-rate sum of PLN 15,000 multiplied by a percentage correction factor specified for a given country, in accordance with the values listed in the tables that constitute Annex 1 to Resolution No 110/2018 of the NCN Council of 8 November 2018

- funding for covering the expenditure of a return travel to the research centre named in the proposal as the host institution of the foreign fellowship, as a flat-rate sum of PLN 1,000 to 10,000 – depending on the distance between the place of residence and the foreign research centre – in accordance with the values listed in Annex 2 to Resolution No 110/2018 of the NCN Council of 8 November 2018.

The breakdown of project costs defines the total amount of funding the applicant may receive under the UWERTURA 3 call. This tab is filled out automatically based on the information entered in sections Informacje ogólne [General information] (period of fellowship), laureate of an ERC call (country of the centre named as the host institution of the fellowship) and Formy finansowania [Forms of funding] (duration of the fellowship, distance between place of residence and the research centre abroad).

In the Oświadczenia [Declarations] section one should enter the year, in which the fellowship candidate was awarded a doctorate degree.

In point 3 of the declarations section, the fellowship candidate declares whether or not they apply for funding of the fellowship costs and related travel costs from other sources. Should the fellowship candidate receive funding from another source and from the NCN, they will be required to choose one. Should the applicant choose the other source, they are required to resign from receiving the funding of the fellowship under the UWERTURA 3 call.

At the same time, authorised representatives of the entity acting as the Applicant undertake to incorporate the fellowship in the work plan of the entity and to supervise its implementation and spending the funding awarded by the NCN, should the fellowship be awarded funding. 

PLEASE NOTE: the tab must be filled out in English.

In the description of the research project the following information should be included: type of the ERC call, which should be attached to the proposal using the Załącz plik [Attach file] button. The only acceptable file format is PDF. The text must include the work plan of the research, including:

• research problem,
• general research plan,
• research procedure,  
• methods, techniques and research tools.

The research project description may be no longer than 2 standard pages (page format: A4; font size: 11; lead: single; margins left and right: 2 cm; margins up and down: 1.5 cm). 

PLAESE NOTE: the tab must be filled out in English.

Attach the justification using the Załącz plik [Attach file] button. The only acceptable file format is PDF. The text must include the following information:

• description of the research carried out by the ERC call winner,
• compliance of the research with the project to be submitted in response to an ERC call for proposal,
• prospect of using the knowledge and skills gained during the fellowship in applying for an ERC grant.

The text of justification may not exceed 1 standard page. Page format: A4; font size: at least 11; lead: single; margins left and right: 2 cm; margins up and down: 1.5 cm.

In this tab, the system displays a list of annexes to be uploaded in the electronic version of the proposal in the ZSUN/OSF system. Adding attachments before locking the proposal is optional. After the proposal to NCN has been disabled for editing, one may change the previously uploaded annexes, add missing ones, including confirmations of submitting the proposal. The submission of a proposal to the NCN requires attaching a complete set of confirmations and annexes.  

There are two ways of attaching the required annexes: one may attach a scan of the document signed in their own hand or a file signed with a qualified electronic signature.

Either option is effected by clicking on the “Załącz plik” [Attach file] button and adding the document as appropriate. At the moment, in the location “Plik podpisany elektronicznie” [Electronically signed file] it is possible to add files in the PAdES format only.

Annex 1

A document (in English) confirming that the ERC call winner and the host institution of their ERC grant give their consent to the implementation of a fellowship by the person named in the proposal. The document should contain: the date of drafting, the host institution hosting the fellowship, name and surname of the ERC grant winner, name and surname of the fellowship candidate, number of months of the planned fellowship, signature of the ERC grant winner and of the authorised representative of the research centre hosting the fellowship.

Annex 2

Acceptance letters from publishers confirming that the work has been accepted for publication. Applies to proposals where works accepted for publication are named in the research achievements section. The proposal should be supported with a PDF file with all acceptance letter from the publishers confirming that the works have been accepted for publication.

Proposals must be complete. Completeness may be checked in the system by using the Sprawdź kompletność [Check completeness] and Pokaż szczegóły [Show details] buttons. The system will not proceed with proposals where the required fields remain uncompleted or obligatory annexes are missing. The validation of the proposal for completeness carried out by the system does not release the applicant from responsibility for the information entered in the tabs.

Once the individual tabs of the proposal have been filled out and the proposal validated for completeness (1), editing of the proposal should be disabled by clicking on Zablokuj wersję do NCN [Disable editing of the version for the NCN] (2)].

When done, on the left hand side of the proposal a tab will appear: Elektroniczna wysyłka wniosku [Electronic Submission of the Proposal].

Upon clicking the tab Elektroniczna wysyłka wniosku [Electronic submission of the proposal] a system message will be displayed stating that the final version of the proposal has been prepared (it can no longer be edited) and is ready to be sent in electronic form to the National Science Centre. It has not been marked as “ready” yet, and thus it is not available to officers at the NCN. The editor may still enable its editing by clicking on the Powrót do edycji [Return to editing] (3)] button and introduce corrections.

In this section one should generate confirmations of submitting the proposal. It also allows for adding or changing the required annexes (options: zmień plik [change file] or usuń plik [delete file] as well as doing checks on the attached documents by clicking on pokaż plik [display file] button). If the required annexes have not been attached earlier, add them in this section.

Personalized “Confirmations” may be downloaded from the system and attached to the proposal as signed scans or documents bearing an electronic signature. The proposal submitted in the ZSUN/OSF system should be supported with two confirmations.

The original document should be kept on file until the final date of the evaluation process, and if the research project is approved for funding, until the date of signing the funding agreement.

Should the confirmation of submitting the proposal be signed by a person other than the authorised representative of the institution, send a power of attorney for that person to the NCN. The authorisation to sign documents may be scanned and attached in the system alongside the confirmation of submitting the proposal or sent to the National Science Centre’s ESP (ePUAP) address.

There are two ways of confirming the submission of the proposal: one may attach a scan of the document signed in their own hand or a file signed with a qualified electronic signature.

Either option is effected by clicking on the “Załącz plik” [Attach file] button and adding the document as appropriate. At the moment, in the location “Plik podpisany elektronicznie” [Electronically signed file] it is possible to add files in the PAdES format only.

PLEASE NOTE: the confirmation must refer to the final version of the proposal.

Sending the proposal to the NCN

Once the proposal has been filled out and supported with the required annexes, its electronic version should be sent to the National Science Centre using the “Wyślij do NCN” [Send to the NCN] button (4). When the procedure has been completed the proposal’s status in its heading will change to “wysłany” [“sent”].

PLEASE NOTE: no paper version of the proposal should be sent in to the National Science Centre. The proposal is deemed as effectively submitted only when submitted in the electronic form.

PLEASE NOTE: once this operation has been completed, entering modifications to the contents of the proposal will no longer be possible.