Polish Returns Programme – NAWA opens third call

The Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) opens the call for proposals under the Polish Returns programme. The programme enables Polish scholars to return to their home country and become employed at universities and research institutes. From this year on, it is possible also to obtain a starting grant for fundamental research, financed by the National Science Centre (NCN).

This year, the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange is launching the third edition of the programme. Its aim is to enable outstanding Polish scholars to return to their home country and take up employment in Polish higher education institutions, scientific units or research institutes. The programme offers the returning scholars optimal conditions to carry out world-class research or developmental work in Poland. The funds obtained under the Polish Returns programme cover the salary of the returning scholar and the costs of establishing a project group (research team).

From this year on, it is possible to obtain funding for fundamental research, as well. Grants for fundamental research (the so called research component) constitute additional funding for the best projects selected in this year’s edition of the Polish Returns programme. They can be spent by the returning scholar and their project group within the first 18 months of the project’s lifetime. These funds are available thanks to the cooperation agreement that was signed by two agencies of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in September 2019. On 2 January 2020, NAWA and NCN executed an annex to the agreement, which provides for their cooperation in carrying out the Polish Returns programme. The agreement and the annex were signed by Director Łukasz Wojdyga on behalf of NAWA and by Director Prof. Zbigniew Błocki on behalf of the NCN.

42 scholars from among others American, British, French, Danish, Spanish, German, Austrian, Swiss, Japanese, Singaporean and South Korean academic and research institutions have returned to Poland to work at universities and research centres under the Polish Returns programme so far. They do research among others in Warsaw, Gdańsk, Krakow, Poznań, Wrocław and Szczecin.

The call for proposals in the third edition of the Polish Returns programme closes on 31 March 2020.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CALL