TANGO 4 Call Announcement

Project proposals may be submitted under three different tracks described in the table below.

The role of principal investigator may be taken on by a person who has coordinated the initial project or obtained written consent from the principal investigator of the initial project to serve as the principal investigator under the TANGO 4 call.

The initial project is a basic research project funded under one of the national or international calls organized by the National Science Centre (except: ETIUDA, FUGA, UWERTURA and MINIATURA), the results of which provide the basis for the project submitted within the framework of Tango 4. The end date of the initial project must not be earlier than 15 March 2016.

Funding can be applied for provided that, on the day the proposal under the TANGO 4 call is submitted:

1. the final report from the initial project has received a positive formal review from the NCN, or
2. at least one annual project report from the initial project has received a positive review from the NCN.

Only one proposal can be submitted under the TANGO Joint Initiative for each initial project. In addition, the following should apply:

• the final report from the initial project has received a positive formal review from the NCN (for initial projects concluded after 15 March 2016, where the formal review of the final report has been completed as of the day on which the proposal is submitted), or
• at least one annual project report has received a positive review from the NCN (for initial projects concluded after 15 March 2016, where the formal review of the final report has not been completed, and for projects still in progress on the day on which the proposal is submitted).

For proposals submitted under track B:

• the report from phase K conducted under the first or second TANGO call received a negative review from the NCBR, where the only objection was the lack of an eligible business partner,

or

• a project funding agreement was signed under TANGO 3 and the project has started,

or

• a project funding agreement was signed under TANGO 4 (only Track A) and the project has started.

There are no restrictions as to the subject matter of projects submitted under TANGO 4.

Projects may take up to 15 months under track A and up to 36 months under tracks B and C.

The maximum budget of a project submitted under track A is 250 thousand PLN.

The maximum budget of a project submitted under track B or C is 3 million PLN.

Detailed information on budgets and eligibility of costs under the Tango call can be found on the official website of the NCBR.

The terms and conditions of the call do not specify the minimum or maximum number of research team members.

Following completion of a given round, proposals are subject to:

• preliminary evaluation in terms of criteria laid down in Annex 3 to the Regulations (preliminary evaluation criteria);
• merit-based evaluation in terms of criteria corresponding to individual Tracks, as specified in Annex 4 to the Regulations (merit-based evaluation criteria).

Preliminary evaluation is performed by the staff of the NCBR based on information contained in the proposal and clarifications provided by the applicant.

Merit-based evaluation is conducted by a panel of experts, based on information contained in the proposal and clarifications provided by the applicant.

Based on the results of the merit-based evaluation of proposals submitted in a given round, the following ranking lists are drafted for each Track: a ranking list of proposals which received a positive review and a ranking list of proposals which received a negative review. The former includes proposals both recommended and not recommended for funding.

Evaluation of proposals is performed based on the criteria of preliminary evaluation and merit-based evaluation. A detailed description of the criteria can be found in Annexes 3 and 4 to the Regulations.

Merit-based evaluation is performed by a panel of at least two experts. The decisions are taken by consensus. If no consensus can be reached, the evaluation is decided by a vote. The evaluation procedure also includes a meeting between the members of the panel and the applicant at the registered office of the NCBR, during which the latter can answer project-related doubts and queries submitted by the panel. The applicant may be represented by max. 5 people with a knowledge of the project. Consulting company representatives are not allowed to take part in the meeting even as observers.

Results will be published online at www.ncbr.gov.pl within 8 months from the submission deadline.

Any questions about the call should be addressed to:

• tango-finanse@ncbr.gov.pl (for financial issues: eligibility of costs, competitiveness, indicators, project budget)
• tango@ncbr.gov.pl and by phone: 22 39 07 210 and 22 39 07 385 (for all other queries)