Ranking lists in the OPUS 20 + LAP call for research projects carried out in bilateral cooperation with research teams from the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland

We already know the first results of the OPUS 20 + LAP call under which researchers at all stages of their academic careers applied for funding of their research projects carried out as international cooperation pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP) with the NCN acting as the Lead Agency. Following the decision of the NCN experts and approval of the foreign partner institutions, 20 research projects with the participation of research teams from the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland were recommended for funding. The projects totalled over 26 mln PLN.

Under the twentieth edition of the OPUS 20 + LAP call concluded on 20 May 2021, the NCN received 2122 proposal for a total amount of over 2.3 billion PLN. Researchers were invited to apply for funding of their research projects carried out without the participation of foreign partners, in bilateral and/or multilateral cooperation (including within the framework of LAP cooperation) as well as with the use of large international research equipment. Following the review, the NCN experts decided to recommend 342 projects for funding with a value of over 449 mln PLN, including 79 OPUS LAP proposals that required approval from the partners institutions.

OPUS 20 + LAP ranking lists

Lead Agency Procedure (LAP)

The Lead Agency Procedure is a new proposal review standard adopted by European research-funding agencies, designed to make it easier for international research teams to seek funding for joint research projects, as well as to streamline the process of proposal review by research-funding institutions. Research projects performed by research groups from various countries are reviewed by one institution only, known as the lead agency relevant to one of the participating research teams under a project from its regular call portfolio. The other partner institutions cooperating pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure approve the results of merit-based evaluation performed by the lead agency and award funding to research projects approved by the latter.

The LAP procedure introduced under the OPUS 20 call has enabled researchers to apply for funding of their projects carried out as bilateral or trilateral cooperation with research teams from the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia and bilateral cooperation with research teams from Germany and Switzerland. Foreign research teams applied for parallel funding of their projects to their respective research funding institutions under programmes launched in cooperation with the NCN pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure.

Research projects with the participation of research teams from Slovenia and Germany

The funding decision for OPUS LAP proposals involving bilateral cooperation with research teams from Slovenia and trilateral cooperation with research teams from Slovenia and Austria will be taken at a later date (forecasted at the end of August 2021). The funding decision for OPUS LAP proposals involving cooperation with research teams from Germany will be taken by the end of October 2021.

OPUS 20 + LAP ranking lists will be provided step by step.  

Service of the decisions

The funding decisions for proposals recommended or not recommended for funding in the OPUS 20 call involving bilateral cooperation with research teams from the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Austria will be sent on 12 July 2021. Decisions of the NCN Director will be served to the applicant electronically to the electronic address specified in the proposal.

If the applicant is an entity described in Article 27 (1) – (7) and (9) of the NCN Act, the funding decision of the NCN Director will only be served to their Electronic Correspondence Register address (ESP ePUAP) address specified in the proposal. If a natural-person applicant indicates an ePUAP address in the proposal, the decision will be sent to that address. If a natural-person applicant fails to indicate the ePUAP address, the service of decisions will be carried out by means of sending – to their email address – information containing an electronic address from which the NCN Director’s decision may be downloaded.

The funding decisions of the NCN Director are additionally communicated to the principal investigator and, if the applicant is a natural person, also to the entity named in the proposal as the host institution.

If no decision is served, you should check their electronic address specified in the proposal (ESP, ePUAP, e-mail address). If an incorrect address is provided, you should contact the proposal administrator named in the ZSUN/OSF submission system.