Announcement of the multilateral Weave-UNISONO call launched within the framework of the Weave Programme in accordance with the Lead Agency Procedure
The National Science Centre (“NCN”) hereby announces the multilateral Weave-UNISONO call for bilateral or trilateral research projects performed in accordance with the Lead Agency Procedure (“LAP”) by the research teams from Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany and Poland under the multilateral Weave Programme. The NCN does not act as the lead agency under the Programme.
Polish research teams intending to cooperate with research teams from one or two of the following countries under the Weave Programme: Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland or Germany, may submit their NCN proposals to the NCN either:
- under the on-going Weave-UNISONO call, in the case of NCN proposals submitted to the NCN, for which joint proposals will be submitted to and evaluated by one of the foreign partner institutions acting as the lead agency, in which case the NCN will not act as the lead agency; or
- under the OPUS call announced on a regular basis in September (the nearest OPUS 22 call will be announced in September 2021), in the case of NCN funding proposals for research projects performed in accordance with the Lead Agency Procedure and evaluated by the NCN as the lead agency.
The Weave-UNISONO call for proposals is addressed at research teams from Poland (hereinafter: “Polish research teams”) that submit their funding proposals jointly with research teams from Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland or Germany (hereinafter: “partner research teams”) to the NCN and one (in the case of bilateral research projects) partner institution or two (in the case of trilateral research projects) partner institutions relevant to these countries, i.e. FWF, GAČR, ARRS, DFG or SNSF. Proposals may cover basic research in all academic disciplines. Under the Weave Programme, partner research teams apply for parallel funding of joint research projects to their respective institutions participating in the Weave Programme (one, in the case of bilateral projects or two, in the case of trilateral projects). Joint research projects must be carried out in close cooperation between the Polish research team and partner research team(s). Each research team must specify its principal investigator in the proposal. Joint projects must include a coherent research program with the added value of the international cooperation clearly defined. Partners are expected to significantly contribute to the joint project, including assuming organisational duties.
Under Weave-UNISONO, funding will also be awarded to trilateral research projects submitted by foreign research teams applying to the lead agency, i.e. to FWF, GAČR, ARRS, DFG or SNSF, to be carried out jointly with the Polish research team applying to the NCN and with the participation of another foreign research team applying for funding under the Weave Programme to its respective institution cooperating with the lead agency.
Therefore, cooperation will also be possible with research teams from Luxembourg (funded by the FNR – Luxembourg National Research Fund); Belgium – Flanders (funded by the FWO – Research Foundation – Flanders); Belgium – Wallonia (funded by the F.R.S.-FNRS – Fund for Scientific Research – Wallonia-Brussels); and Croatia (funded by the HRZZ – Croatian Science Foundation).
Acceptable 2021 cooperation options are described in Table 1 of the Guidelines for Polish research teams.
Under Weave-UNISONO, funding may be awarded to research projects carried out by the Polish research team and one or two foreign research teams cooperating under the Weave Programme , as well as projects involving additional partners from foreign research institutions that do not apply for funding to the partner and cooperating institutions. In these cases, foreign research teams must acquire project funding from other sources.
The Lead Agency Procedure means that merit-based evaluation of proposals is performed only by one partner institution. A partner institution relevant for the coordinating applicant in a proposal acts as the lead agency. The coordinating applicant is named in the proposal and assumes organisational duties. The rules according to which the lead agency relevant for a proposal is chosen are laid down in the “How to submit a proposal under Weave-UNISONO” section of the Guidelines for Polish research teams. Under Weave-UNISONO 2021, only the following may act as the lead agency: FWF, GAČR, ARRS, SNSF or DFG.
According to the terms of the National Science Centre, the Polish research team must submit an NCN proposal via the ZSUN/OSF submission system, appended with the same joint proposal that has been submitted to the lead agency. A joint proposal must be drafted by the co-applicants according to the requirements of the call launched by the lead agency for the purposes of the Weave Programme and must include the documents required thereby. A full joint proposal must be submitted to the lead agency by the coordinating applicant affiliated in the country of the lead agency by the date set thereby.
30,000,000 PLN has been allocated for research tasks to be carried out by the Polish research teams under the 2021 Weave-UNISONO call.
Please read all call documents available below.
What is the WAVE Programme and Weave-UNISONO call?
The Weave Programme builds on the multilateral international cooperation between the research funding institutions associated in Science Europe and aims at simplifying the submission and selection procedures of research proposals for joint multilateral international research projects. The Weave Programme is launched by the National Science Centre (“NCN”) pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure, jointly with the following partner institutions:
- Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (“FWF”) from Austria,
- Grantová agentura České Republiky (“GAČR”) from the Czech Republic,
- Javna agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije (“ARRS”) from Slovenia,
- Swiss National Science Foundation (“SNSF”) from Switzerland, and
- German Research Foundation – Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (“DFG”) from Germany.
The Weave-UNISONO call for proposals is addressed at Polish research teams that will, jointly with partner research teams from Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Germany or Switzerland, apply for funding of a research project to the NCN or one partner institution (in the case of bilateral projects) or two (in the case of trilateral projects) partner institutions, i.e. (as appropriate) to the FWF, GAČR, ARRS, DFG or SNSF.
Under Weave-UNISONO, funding will also be awarded to trilateral research projects submitted by foreign research teams applying to the lead agency, i.e. to FWF, GAČR, ARRS, DFG or SNSF, to be carried out jointly with the Polish research team applying to the NCN and with the participation of another foreign research team applying for funding under the Weave Programme to its respective institution cooperating with the lead agency.
Therefore, cooperation may be sought with research teams from:
- Luxembourg (funded by the FNR – Luxembourg National Research Fund), in the case of a trilateral research project (with the participation of Polish research teams) submitted to the SNSF (Switzerland) or the FWF (Austria) or the DFG (Germany) or the GAČR (Czech Republic), acting as the lead agency [UPDATE: 22 February 2021];
- Belgium – Flanders (funded by the FWO – Research Foundation – Flanders), in the case of a trilateral research project (with the participation of Polish research teams) submitted to the SNSF (Switzerland) or the FWF (Austria), acting as the lead agency [UPDATE: 22 February 2021];
- Belgium – Wallonia (funded by the F.R.S.-FNRS – Fund for Scientific Research – Wallonia-Brussels), in the case of a trilateral research project (with the participation of Polish research teams) submitted to the SNSF (Switzerland), acting as the lead agency;
- Croatia (funded by the HRZZ – Croatian Science Foundation), in the case of a trilateral research project (with the participation of Polish research teams) submitted to the SNSF (Switzerland) or the ARRS (Slovenia) as the lead agency.
Acceptable 2021 cooperation options are described in Table 1 of the Guidelines for Polish research teams.
Partner research teams involved in a project apply for parallel funding of their projects to one (in the case of bilateral projects) or two (in the case of trilateral projects) respective research funding (partner/ cooperating) institutions participating in the Weave Programme.
Joint projects must be carried out in close cooperation between the Polish research team and partner research team(s). Each research team must specify its principal investigator. Joint projects must include a coherent research program with the added value of the international cooperation clearly defined. Partners are expected to significantly contribute to the joint project, including assuming organisational duties.
What is LAP cooperation and who can act as the lead agency under Weave-UNISONO?
The Lead Agency Procedure is a new standard used to evaluate proposals applied by the European research funding institutions. It is to facilitate international research teams applying for funds for joint research projects and to simplify the evaluation of proposals by research funding institutions.
The key principles of the procedure include:
- the use of domestic calls carried out by partner institutions to perform merit-based evaluation not only of domestic proposals, but also international bilateral and multilateral ones, which compete with domestic proposals on an equal footing;
- trust in the quality of peer-review among institutions undertaking such cooperation.
Thus, projects involving two or more research groups from different countries will only be evaluated by the lead agency relevant for one of the teams participating in a project in the call that constitutes a permanent element of such agency's offer. Other partner institutions will accept the results of merit-based evaluation performed by the lead agency and award funding to research projects recommended for funding in the course of such evaluation.
Under the Weave-UNISONO call for proposals, a partner institution relevant for the coordinating applicant (FWF, GAČR, ARRS, DFG or SNSF) will act as the lead agency.
The research teams involved in the scientific cooperation (co-applicants) identify their coordinating applicant, i.e. a foreign research team from Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Germany or Switzerland, to perform the organisational and coordinating duties and to submit the joint proposal to the lead agency, i.e. the FWF, GAČR, ARRS, DFG or SNSF.
Who may submit NCN proposals?
NCN proposals may be submitted by entities referred to in Article 27 (1) (1), Article 27 (1) (24), Article 27 (1) (5), Article 27 (1) (7) and Article 27 (1) (8) of the NCN Act, hereinafter referred to as the “applicants”, for which project funding will not constitute state aid, i.e.:
- universities;
- federations of science and HE entities;
- research institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences operating pursuant to the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 1183, as amended);
- research institutes operating pursuant to the Act on Research Institutes of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 1350, as amended);
- international research institutes established pursuant to separate Acts, operating in the Republic of Poland:
5a. the Łukasiewicz Centre operating pursuant to the Act on the Łukasiewicz Research Network of 21 February 2019 (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 534);
5b. institutes operating within the Łukasiewicz Research Network;
- Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences;
- other institutions involved in research independently on a continuous basis;
- groups of entities (at least two entities mentioned in sections 1-7 or at least one institution as such together with at least one company);
- research centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences as defined in the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences of 30 April 2010 (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 1183, as amended);
- scientific libraries;
- legal entities established with registered office in Poland; and
- natural persons.
What can the subject of proposals cover?
There are no restrictions as to the subject of proposals submitted to the Weave-UNISONO call for proposals. Proposals may be submitted to the call covering basic research in any of the 25 NCN panels, according to the scope specified by the lead agency.
What is the project duration?
Projects may be planned for a period of 24, 36 or 48 months (if possible, the same or as similar as possible for all research teams involved in the project) [UPDATE: 21 May 2021]
PLEASE NOTE: In the case of research projects involving partner research teams from the Czech Republic, Germany or Slovenia that apply for research funding to the GAČR, DFG or ARRS, projects may be planned for a period of no longer than 36 months.
The duration of a project carried out by the Polish and partner research teams may be changed on the terms and conditions of the NCN and relevant partner/cooperating institutions involved in a project.
Who may act as a Principal Investigator?
The Weave-UNISONO call for proposals is addressed at researchers at any stage of their academic career. Projects may involve research in all academic disciplines.
Each research team involved in a project must name its principal investigator, whereas the Polish part of the project must be managed by the principal investigator of the Polish research team. A researcher at any stage of his/her academic career may act as the principal investigator of the Polish research team. The principal investigator of the research team must comply with the terms of the respective research funding institution.
What can the number of Polish research team members be?
The terms of the call do not specify the maximum number of Polish research team members. Apart from the principal investigator, research tasks in the project may also be performed by co-investigators, including students and PhD students as well as post-docs.
Please note that:
- NCN scholarship recipients or post-docs employed in the project and remunerated from the NCN budget must be selected in an open call procedure;
- post-doc regulations are laid down in the Annex (“Costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre under international calls carried out as multilateral cooperation pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure”).
The qualifications and tasks of particular research team members must be described in the NCN proposals and joint proposals. PLEASE NOTE: information in the NCN proposal must be consistent with information in the joint proposal. Otherwise, the proposal may be rejected as ineligible. [UPDATE: 22 February 2021].
PLEASE NOTE: Information in the NCN proposal relevant for the merit-based evaluation (e.g. composition and remuneration of the research team or costs) must be included in the joint proposal to assess the relevance of the costs planned for the Polish part of the research project as regards the subject and scope of the research as well as the feasibility of the project. Otherwise, the proposal may be rejected as ineligible. [UPDATE: 16 March 2021]
The rationale of their involvement in the project is subject to merit-based evaluation of the lead agency. More on the budget for salaries can be found in the “Types of costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre”.
How can the budget of the Polish part of the project be planned?
The terms of awarding funding for research tasks funded by the NCN under the Weave-UNISONO call for proposals are laid down in the LAP Regulations.
Under the Weave-UNISONO call for proposals, the Polish research team may receive funds for salaries of the research team, scholarships and remuneration for students and PhD students, purchase or manufacturing of research equipment, devices and software and for other costs crucial to the research project that comply with the “Types of costs in research projects funded by the National Science Centre”.
The budget specified in the joint proposal for research tasks to be performed by the partner research teams must comply with the cost eligibility rules of the partner or cooperating institution relevant for a given research team.
The budget of the Polish part of the project specified in the NCN proposal and joint proposal must be drafted pursuant to the Regulations and calculated according to the following exchange rate: 1 EUR = 4.4385 PLN.
NCN scholarships are awarded pursuant to the Regulations on awarding scholarships.
The proposal may be rejected if an unreasonable budget is planned and/or discrepancies occur between the costs of projects to be carried out by Polish research teams in the NCN proposal and the joint proposal.
When developing the budget, it is necessary to consider the following:
- the budget in the NCN proposal in the ZSUN/OSF submission system must be specified in PLN; in the joint proposal – in EUR, rounded down to total values;
- the exchange rate to calculate the budget of the Polish part of the project in the joint proposal: 1 EUR = 4.4385 PLN;
- NCN proposals in the ZSUN/OSF submission system must specify the budget for tasks to be performed by the Polish research team and in the joint proposal – for tasks to be performed by all research teams involved in the project;
- the budget planned for the Polish team in the joint proposal must be consistent with the budget in the NCN proposal in the ZSUN/OSF submission system, otherwise the proposal may be rejected as ineligible [UPDATE: 22 February 2021]; and
- no minimum or maximum amount of funding has been specified (the costs must be justified as regards the subject and scope of research).
Polish research teams may plan research projects in the ZSUN/OSF submission system starting from 2022. More on the budget can be found in the “Guidelines for Polish research teams” (Budget for tasks to be performed by the Polish research teams).
Indirect costs may not exceed 20% of direct costs. Additionally, indirect costs of up to 2% of direct costs may be spent on open access to publications and research data.
PLEASE NOTE: The cost of open access to publications may only be incurred as indirect costs. The cost of open access planned as direct costs will be regarded as a formal error.
NCN funds will be awarded to those research projects carried out by the Polish research teams for which the partner/cooperating institutions also award funds to the partner/cooperating research teams.
PLEASE NOTE: Read the guidelines of the respective lead agency concerning budgets of particular research teams included in the joint proposals and justifications of the costs planned for those research teams.
PLEASE NOTE: It is recommended to plan the budget of the Polish research team in the ZSUN/OSF submission system in PLN and in the joint proposal, in EUR; the amounts requested from the NCN by the Polish research team and the detailed justification thereof, as provided in the ZSUN/OSF submission system, must be disclosed in the relevant section of the joint proposal. It is not enough to provide the justifications in the budget completed in the ZSUN/OSF submission system only as the budget therein is not subject to merit-based evaluation of the lead agency.
The merit-based evaluation is performed by the lead agency pursuant to the joint proposal and comprises, inter alia, evaluation of the relevance of the costs planned for the Polish part of the research project as regards the subject and scope of the research, hence the justification of the costs planned for the Polish research team in the joint proposal must be comprehensive, detailed and consistent with the justification of the costs in the ZSUN/OSF submission system. If no detailed justification of the costs planned for the Polish research team is provided in the joint proposal, consistent with the justification of the costs in the ZSUN/OSF submission system, the proposal may be rejected at the stage of eligibility check.
Can proposals in the call include application for state aid?
State aid cannot be applied for under the Weave-UNISONO call.
How should the proposals be drafted?
According to the NCN requirements, the Polish research team must submit an NCN proposal to the ZSUN/OSF submission system with the same joint proposal that has been submitted to the lead agency appended.
PLEASE NOTE: information in the NCN proposal must be consistent with information in the joint proposal. Otherwise, the proposal may be rejected as ineligible. [UPDATE: 22 February 2021].
PLEASE NOTE: Information in the NCN proposal relevant for the merit-based evaluation (e.g. composition and remuneration of the research team or costs) must be included in the joint proposal to assess the relevance of the costs planned for the Polish part of the research project as regards the subject and scope of the research as well as the feasibility of the project. Otherwise, the proposal may be rejected as ineligible. [UPDATE: 16 March 2021].
A joint proposal must be drafted by the co-applicants according to the requirements of the call launched by the lead agency for the purposes of the Weave Programme and must include all documents required thereby.
The terms of the call, requirements of drafting joint proposals and guidelines applicable to merit-based evaluation of the lead agency are laid down in the documents applicable to its domestic call launched for the purposes of the Weave Programme, i.e.:
- Stand-Alone Projects, and, in the case of clinical research: FWF Clinical Research Programme (if the FWF is the lead agency);
- Evaluation based on the lead agency Principle (LA Projects) (if the GAČR is the lead agency);
- National Research Projects (if the ARRS is the lead agency);
- Project Funding (if the SNSF is the lead agency); and
- Individual Research Grants Programme (if the DFG is the lead agency).
The coordinating applicant affiliated in the lead agency’s country submits a complete joint proposal to the lead agency by the date set thereby.
Furthermore, each research team involved in a project must submit to its respective research funding (partner/cooperating) institution other than the lead agency, a set of the documents required thereby, including the joint proposal (if necessary).
Are there any restrictions to submitting proposals for research projects under the Weave-UNISONO calls for proposals?
Restrictions to submitting NCN proposals are laid down in Chapter III of the Regulations.
What should be included in the NCN proposal?
The Weave-UNISONO call is open to NCN proposals (submitted pursuant to the Regulations) to which joint proposals are attached. PLEASE NOTE: information in the NCN proposal must be consistent with information in the joint proposal. Otherwise, the proposal may be rejected as ineligible. [UPDATE: 22 February 2021].
PLEASE NOTE: Information in the NCN proposal relevant for the merit-based evaluation (e.g. composition and remuneration of the research team or costs) must be included in the joint proposal to assess the relevance of the costs planned for the Polish part of the research project as regards the subject and scope of the research as well as the feasibility of the project. Otherwise, the proposal may be rejected as ineligible. [UPDATE: 16 March 2021].
The documents and information to be included in NCN proposals are laid down in point 2 (2) of Resolution No 134/2020 on the terms of the international Weave-UNISONO call for research projects.
Make sure to include the following information:
- title of the research project provided in the joint proposal (the title in the NCN proposal must be provided in Polish and in English; the title in the NCN proposal must be consistent with the title in the joint proposal);
- the joint proposal in PDF format, including all required documents according to the terms of the call launched by the lead agency consistent with the proposal submitted to the lead agency’s submission system, including:
- joint project description according to the terms of the call launched by the lead agency (in English);
- CVs with publication lists of the research team members involved in the project according to the terms of the call launched by the lead agency;
- the research project’s abstract for the general public (up to 1 standard page in Polish and up to 1 standard page in English);
- the research plan (in Polish and in English) presenting the research tasks to be carried out by the Polish research team;
- information on the required qualifications and scope of work planned by each Polish co-investigator in the research project (in English);
- the budget of the Polish part of the research project (in English) drafted pursuant to the Regulations;
- information on the expected international cooperation in the research project, including cooperating foreign research institutions and a description of the related benefits (in English);
- information on the data management plan concerning data generated or used in the course of the Polish part of the research project, as required by the proposal (in English); and
- information on the ethical aspects of the project, including consents, opinions, permits and/or approvals necessary to carry out the project in compliance with generally applicable laws and best practices adopted for a specific academic discipline, as required by the proposal (in English).
The NCN does not require any documents (agreements) confirming cooperation between Polish and partner research teams to be submitted nor signatures to be affixed by members of the partner research teams on NCN proposals or other documents annexed thereto.
How can NCN proposals be submitted?
PLEASE NOTE: More information on how to complete NCN proposals in the ZSUN/OSF submission system can be found in the Guidelines for Polish research teams and Guidelines for submitting proposals.
Under the Weave-UNISONO Programme, NCN proposals must be submitted to the NCN electronically via the ZSUN/OSF submission system (https://osf.opi.org.pl/).
When are the proposals complete?
The NCN accepts only complete NCN proposals that meet all the requirements set forth in the call announcement.
The Polish research teams must ensure that their proposals submitted to the NCN are complete. An NCN proposal that has been submitted to the NCN via the ZSUN/OSF submission system cannot be amended and annexes thereto cannot be modified in the ZSUN/OSF submission system.
The principal investigators are recommended to verify that all parts of the joint proposal, including joint project descriptions and annexes, are properly completed. If any part of the joint proposal or NCN proposal is left blank, the proposal may be rejected at the stage of eligibility check of any partner institution involved in the project.
What are the proposal submission deadlines?
Under the Weave-UNISONO Programme, NCN proposals must be submitted electronically via the ZSUN/OSF submission system, as soon as possible following submission of the joint proposal to the lead agency, within 7 calendar days.
If on the day the joint proposal is submitted to the lead agency, an NCN proposal form is not available in the ZSUN/OSF submission system, it must be submitted to the NCN within 7 calendar days of the date the information is published on the NCN website (https://www.ncn.gov.pl/) and in the ZSUN/OSF submission system that the NCN proposal form is available in the ZSUN/OSF submission system.
Once the work on the NCN proposal has started in the ZSUN/OSF submission system, the Polish research team has 45 calendar days to complete the proposal and submit it to the NCN. After that, the proposal can no longer be edited, in which case a Polish research team that has not sent its proposal to the NCN must prepare a new proposal and complete it in the ZSUN/OSF submission system which may impact the budget for research tasks performed by the Polish research teams planned in the NCN proposal. More information in this respect can be found in the Guidelines for Polish research teams (“Budget for tasks to be performed by the Polish research teams”).
PLEASE NOTE: The 45-day period applies only to the period during which NCN proposals may be edited in the ZSUN/OSF submission system. Under WEAVE-UNISONO, NCN proposals must be submitted to the NCN via the ZSUN/OSF submission system as soon as possible following the submission of joint proposals to the lead agency, within 7 calendar days at the latest. [UPDATE: 21 May 2021]
Proposal submission dates for joint proposals in 2021 and announcement of the results of evaluation by the partner institutions acting as the lead agency:
Agency | Call for proposals as lead agency |
---|---|
FWF (Austria) | Call for proposals submitted on an on-going basis from January 2021: Detailed FWF guidelines: FWF Clinical Research Programme in the case of clinical research: FWF Weave Information for Applicants [UPDATE: 22 February 2021] Decision on the date for awarding funding: 12 months of the submission deadline for NCN proposals (up to 7-8 months from the submission deadline for NCN proposals). |
GAČR (Czech Republic) | Call for proposals: 22 February – 22 April 2021 NCN proposals must be submitted electronically via the ZSUN/OSF submission system by 29 April 2021at the latest. [UPDATE: 16 March 2021] Detailed GAČR guidelines: Evaluation based on the lead agency principle (LA projects) [UPDATE: 22 February 2021] Forecasted announcement of call results: end of 2021 / beginning of 2022 [UPDATE: 22 February 2021] |
ARRS (Slovenia) | Call for proposals: Autumn 2021 (submission dates to be provided at a later date) Detailed ARRS guidelines: National Research Projects (link to be provided at a later date) Forecasted announcement of call results: May/June 2022 |
SNSF (Switzerland) | Two submission deadlines: 1 April 2021 (NCN proposals must be submitted electronically via the ZSUN/OSF submission system by 8 April 2021 at the latest) and 1 October 2021(NCN proposals must be submitted electronically via the ZSUN/OSF submission system by 8 October 2021 at the latest) [UPDATE: 16 March 2021] Evaluation of proposals submitted between 2 October and 31 March will start on 1 April; evaluation of proposals submitted between 2 April and 30 September will start on 1 October. Detailed SNSF guidelines: SNSF Information on Weave [UPDATE: 22 February 2021] Forecasted announcement of call results:
|
DFG (Germany) | Call for proposals submitted on an on-going basis from 15 September 2021 Detailed DFG guidelines: Individual Research Grants Programme Decision on the date for awarding funding: 12 months of the submission deadline for NCN proposals (up to 8-10 months) |
More on the submission deadlines for proposals at partner institutions that do not act as the lead agency can be found in the Guidelines for Polish research teams.
What is the proposal evaluation procedure and what is taken into consideration?
Proposals are subject to an eligibility check and merit-based evaluation. Proposals are evaluated pursuant to the Regulations and documents governing the procedure for merit-based evaluation of joint proposals applicable at the lead agency.
Eligibility check of proposals at the NCN is carried out by the scientific coordinators pursuant to the eligibility criteria of the Weave-UNISONO call for proposals laid down in Chapter V of the Regulations.
PLEASE NOTE: information in the NCN proposal must be consistent with information in the joint proposal. Otherwise, the proposal may be rejected as ineligible. [UPDATE: 22 February 2021].
PLEASE NOTE: Information in the NCN proposal relevant for the merit-based evaluation (e.g. composition and remuneration of the research team or costs) must be included in the joint proposal to assess the relevance of the costs planned for the Polish part of the research project as regards the subject and scope of the research as well as the feasibility of the project. Otherwise, the proposal may be rejected as ineligible. [UPDATE: 16 March 2021].
Joint proposals are subject to merit-based evaluation. Only proposals that have been found eligible by all partner institutions involved in the eligibility check are subject to merit-based evaluation. The merit-based evaluation is performed by the lead agency according to the rules of its domestic call launched for the purposes of the Weave Programme, by comparing proposals against other proposals submitted to the call.
The terms of merit-based evaluation of the lead agency are laid down in the documents applicable to its domestic call launched for the purposes of the Weave Programme, i.e.:
- Stand-Alone Projects and, in the case of clinical research, FWF Clinical Research Programme (if FWF is the lead agency);
- Evaluation based on the lead agency principle (LA projects) (if GAČR is the lead agency); [UPDATE: 22 February 2021]
- National Research Projects (if ARRS is the lead agency);
- SNSF Project Funding (if SNSF is the lead agency); and
- Individual Research Grants Programme (if DFG is the lead agency).
Following the merit-based evaluation, the lead agency provides the NCN and (in the case of projects carried out in trilateral cooperation) the other partner/cooperating institutions involved in the project with information on the results of the merit-based evaluation and the list of projects recommended for funding.
Then, the list is approved by the NCN Director and (in the case of projects carried out in trilateral cooperation) the partner/cooperating institutions relevant for the foreign research teams.
PLEASE NOTE: Proposals submitted to Weave-UNISONO may be subject to an auxiliary evaluation by the NCN in the cases laid down in § 37, § 39, § 44 and § 45 of the Regulations, in particular if:
- the NCN has any doubts as to the rationale of the costs planned for the Polish part of the research project specified in the joint proposal as regards the subject and scope of research;
- the NCN has doubts as to the ethical aspects of the Polish part of research to be carried out or a review of the ethical aspects is ambiguous;
- it is impossible to conclusively rank the projects evaluated in various groups of disciplines and on various ranking lists, and the total funds planned for the Polish part of the research project carried out by the Polish research teams exceed the available funds designated for projects to be financed by the NCN, and the order of projects cannot be established according to the ratio obtained by dividing the project’s position (number) on the ranking list by the total number of all projects recommended for funding from that list; and
- the lead agency recommends the research projects for funding without ranking them according to quality, and the total funds planned for the Polish part of the project carried out by the Polish research teams exceed the available funds designated for research projects to be financed by the NCN.
When and how will the results be announced?
The NCN Director shall decide whether or not to award funding within up to 12 months of the submission date of the NCN proposal.
The Polish research teams will be awarded funding for those research projects only, in the case of which the co-applicants are awarded parallel funding from their partner/ cooperating institutions.
What is the appeal procedure?
In the event of a breach of the call procedure or other formal infringements related to actions performed by the NCN, applicants may lodge an appeal against the decision of the NCN Director with the Committee of Appeals of the NCN Council within 14 days of the date the decision is served. The Committee of Appeals decides on the appeal within 3 months of the date on which the appeal was lodged. The appeal procedure applicable to Weave-UNISONO is governed by §49, §50 and §51 of the Regulations.
Open access policy
Open access to publication of research results:
Together with other European cOAlition S agencies, the National Science Centre has drafted its Open access policy. In accordance with its vision of open access to research results and publications, the NCN requires that all research results should be made available in full and immediate open access. In accordance with the principles of Plan S, the National Science Centre recognizes the following publication routes as compliant with its open access policy:
- publication in open access journals and on open access platforms registered, or with pending registration, in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ);
- publication in subscription journals (hybrid journals), as long as the Version of Record (VoR2) or the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM3) is published, by the author or publisher, in an open repository immediately upon the article’s online publication; and
- publication in journals covered by an open access licence within the framework of so-called transformative agreements, inscribed in the Efficiency and Standards for Article Charges registry (ESAC-registry).
Please note that the cost of open access to publications and research data cannot be financed as direct costs.
Personal data protection
In the case of research projects involving research teams from Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland, the following partner institutions are the joint controllers of personal data:
FWF: https://www.fwf.ac.at/en/privacy-policy/;
GAČR: https://gacr.cz/en/legislation/;
ARRS: http://www.arrs.si/sl/index.asp ;
SNSF: http://www.snf.ch/SiteCollectionDocuments/allg_reglement_16_e.pdf; http://www.snf.ch/SiteCollectionDocuments/Annex_I_Ausfuehrungsreglement_Beitragsreglement_E.pdf
In the case of research projects involving research teams from Germany, the DFG is the recipient of personal data: https://www.dfg.de/en/service/privacy_policy/.
Additional information
Contact at the NCN
Should you have more queries on the NCN eligibility criteria having read the call announcement and call documents, contact the NCN officers.
General Affairs
- dr Magdalena Godowska
e-mail: magdalena.godowska@ncn.gov.pl
(office hours: 9:00-13:00)
- Magdalena Krzystyniak
e-mail: magdalena.krzystyniak@ncn.gov.pl
(office hours: 9:00-13:00)
- Magdalena Dobrzańska-Bzowska
e-mail: Magdalena.Dobrzanska-Bzowska@ncn.gov.pl
(office hours: 9:00-13:00)
Coordinator for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
dr Ulana Gocman
e-mail: ulana.gocman@ncn.gov.pl
Before calling, make an e-mail appointment.
Coordinator for Physical Sciences and Engineering
- dr Monika Góral-Kurbiel
e-mail: monika.goral-kurbiel@ncn.gov.pl
Before calling, make an e-mail appointment.
Coordinator for Life Sciences
- dr Magdalena Wyszkowska-Kolatko
e-mail: Magdalena.Wyszkowska-Kolatko@ncn.gov.pl
Before calling, make an e-mail appointment.
Contact at partner institutions
For joint proposal related questions, contact the partner research team affiliated in the country of the lead agency or the lead agency.
Kontakt FWF
- Dr. Christoph Bärenreuter
e-mail: christoph.baerenreuter@fwf.ac.at
Kontakt GAČR
- Kamila Pětrašová
e-mail: kamila.petrasova@gacr.cz
- Petr Kujal
e-mail: petr.kujal@gacr.cz
tel.: +420 605 038 905
Kontakt ARRS
- Aleksandra Panič
e-mail: aleksandra.panic@arrs.si
Kontakt SNSF
- Elisabeth Schenker
e-mail: elisabeth.schenker@snf.ch
Kontakt DFG
e-mail: weave@dfg.de
Call documents
- Terms of the Weave-UNISONO call
- Regulations on awarding funding for research tasks funded by the National Science Centre under international calls carried out as multilateral cooperation pursuant to the Lead Agency Procedure
- Costs in NCN research projects
- Regulations on awarding scholarships in NCN-funded research projects
- NCN panels
- NCN proposal form template
- NCN proposal submission procedure
- State aid
- Research project cooperation agreement (mandatory if a group of Polish entities acts as the applicant) [PLEASE NOTE: A template research project cooperation agreement was amended on 19 May 2021. Agreements drafted according to the previous template will also be accepted. Old templatate]
- Guidelines for applicants to complete the Data Management Plan in the research project
- Guidelines for applicants to complete the form in relation to the ethical aspects of the project
- Guidelines for Polish research teams to prepare proposals in the call [UPDATE: 21 May 2021]
- Code of the National Science Centre on research integrity and applying for research funding
- Open access policy at the NCN
- Rules for delivering the NCN Director’s decisions
- Guidelines for appealing against the NCN Director’s decisions (including §49, §50 and §51 of the LAP Regulations)
- Information on personal data processing at the NCN since 25 May 2018 (the “GDPR”)
Documents to be read before starting NCN projects:
- Regulation on the implementation of the inspection procedure at the registered office of the host institution
- Guidelines for entities auditing the implementation of research projects funded by the National Science Centre