Call for proposals

Pursuant to Article 19(1) of the Act of 7 July 2017 on the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, the Director of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange hereby announces a call for applications to participate in the NAWA Chair 2022 Programme (hereinafter referred to as the “Programme”).

The Programme objective is to support the highest quality scientific and research as well as teaching activities carried out by Polish academic and scientific units by including in these activities world-class foreign scientists in the fields of natural sciences, engineering and technology, medical and health sciences, and agricultural sciences. The Programme is directed to selected higher education and scientific institutions, including Polish universities, scientific institutes, and research institutes. They will be able to obtain financing for the implementation of a Project that responds to the challenges faced by our civilisation of global importance. The Visiting Scientists should significantly further groundbreaking research and actively apply for prestigious research grants. Under the Programme, it will be possible to employ, for a period of 36–48 months, scientists with outstanding international achievements, coming from various countries in the world, and to enable them to create a Project Group.

The Programme involves financing of the remuneration of the Visiting Scientist, the members of the Project Group, and the Inviting Person, of a mobility allowance for the Visiting Scientist, as well as of the costs of adaptation and organisation of the workplace and preparation of research facilities. The Programme entails a Research Component, which is financed by the National Science Centre.

Deadline for submitting applications

The call for applications will be open until 23 May 2022, 3:00 pm (Warsaw local time).

Manner of submitting applications

Applications may be submitted exclusively electronically via the Agency’s ICT system.

Submission of the application is tantamount to accepting the Regulations of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange’s Programmes for Institutions (“Regulations”) and this Announcement.

Language of the application

The application should be made in English, unless specified otherwise in individual application fields.

Maximum number of applications from one Applicant

Each Applicant may submit any number of applications. A specific Visiting Scientist may be listed in only one application submitted under a given call.

1. The Programme makes it possible to employ a Visiting Scholar at a Polish higher education and scientific institution and to establish a Project Group under their lead that will carry out the activities described in the application. Projects carried out under the Programme cover research activities; the research should constitute a response to crucial challenges faced by our civilisation, contribute significantly to the development of science, and foster the internationalisation of the Applicant’s scientific activity. Additionally, the Project may involve didactic activities.

2. The Programme includes a Research Component – a starting grant funded by the National Science Centre, dedicated to fundamental research during the first 18 months of the Project implementation. Projects that entail a Research Component are taken into account in the evaluation of scientific activity quality.

3. Under the current call, the Programme covers the following domains of science and technology (according to the OECD classification):

1) natural sciences;

2) engineering and technology;

3) medical and health sciences;

4) agricultural sciences.

Employing institutions may be entities referred to in Article 7(1)(1, 2, 4–8) HES that are planning to employ Visiting Scientists. Other entities whose core activity consists in independent and permanent research referred to in Article 7(1)(8) HES provided that they hold a scientific category.

The Beneficiary of a Project that receives funding is obliged to:

1) provide own contribution amounting to at least 20% of the Project’s budget;

2) employ the Visiting Scientist on the basis of an employment agreement for the entire period of the Project implementation in an independent research or research and didactic position within the organisational structure of the entity (establishment of a chair, research laboratory, research centre, etc.), in accordance with Article 119(2)(2) HES, with the working time corresponding to at least half-time employment (the amount of remuneration depends on the working time). The application should contain the schedule of the Visiting Scientist’s stay at the Employing Institution (the duration of the stay each year). The scanned employment agreement between the Beneficiary and the Visiting Scientist should be sent to NAWA no later than 30 days after its signing; the visiting scientist may not be employed in Poland from the moment of submitting the application until receiving the decision of the NAWA Director;

3) employ members of the Project Group, preferably under employment agreements. It is also acceptable to hire Project Group members under civil law contracts and other forms of employment;

4) ensure that the Visiting Scientist and the Project Group have access to the scientific and research equipment and infrastructure necessary to conduct the research planned in the application, as well as provide the necessary office and laboratory space;

5) provide administrative and financial handling of the Project, including matters related to the arrival of the Visiting Scientist and the establishment of the Project Group;

6) support the Visiting Scientist and the Project Group in applying for funds for scientific research or development work, in obtaining required approvals, opinions, and permits, including applying to appropriate ethics committees.

The idea of the Programme is that during Project implementation, the Visiting Scholar together with the Project Group carry out research activities planned in the application and at the same time apply for Polish and foreign research grants, which will allow the Project Group to continue its scientific activity in Poland after the Project is completed. To clear the second Interim Report, a proof of submission of at least one grant application (excluding grants from the Beneficiary institution and the NCN Research Component, if applicable) is required.

In the event that a national or international research grant is won from an institution other than NAWA, the Visiting Scientist may receive under the new grant additional remuneration pursuant to the regulations of the employing entity and the institution providing the grant.

7) participate in the Programme evaluation, which will involve filling out evaluation questionnaires and participating in other evaluation activities held by NAWA pursuant to the Regulations.

Project start date and duration

Project implementation may start not earlier than on 1 February 2023 and not later than on 1 October 2023.

A Project may last between 36 and 48 months. The Applicant determines the start and the end date of the Project.

General principles

Applications are subject to formal and substantive assessment.

Formal assessment

The purpose of formal assessment is to verify the applications to ensure that they fulfil formal criteria specified in this Announcement and the Regulations.

Merit-based assessment

Merit-based assessment consists of three stages:

1) assessment of the applications by two Reviewers (merit-based assessment criteria 1–5) – the final score includes the arithmetic mean of the two reviews;

2) interview with the candidate for the Visiting Scientist carried out by the Evaluation Team. The Panel analyses the reviews and compiles a list of selected candidates for Visiting Scientists it wishes to interview – with the reservation that not all candidates for Visiting Scientists have to participate in the interview;

3) the final assessment is made by the  Evaluation Team appointed by NAWA Director, taking into account the opinions of two Reviewers, the interview with the candidate for the Visiting Scientist (if it took place), and own assessment of the application with regard to assessment criteria 1–7.

If there is a discrepancy in the score greater than 30% of the highest possible score, the Agency reserves the right to appoint additional Reviewers in order to carry out assessment.

The  Evaluation Team compiles a ranking list of the applications, indicating the applications recommended for financing and the applications not recommended for financing.

In justified cases, the  Evaluation Team may recommend that the amount of funding requested in an application be reduced.

If the Applicant is found to have violated ethical principles or to have been dishonest in the preparation of the application, the  Evaluation Team will award a score of 0 (zero) to the application. In such case, the application may not be qualified for financing.

If an application which is qualified for financing received from the  Evaluation Team an assessment of “NO” or “INCORRECT” with regard to the Research Component, the Beneficiary may not apply to the NCN for financing of the Research Component. If the  Evaluation Team recommends a modification of the budget of the Research Component with regard to an application that is qualified for financing, the application submitted to the NCN has to account for that recommendation.

The merit-based assessment of applications under the Programme is carried out by the External Experts based on the following criteria:

Description of the criterion

Reviewers

Score by the  Evaluation Team

(taking into account the opinions of two Reviewers, the interview with the candidate for the Visiting Scientist, if it took place, and own assessment of the application)

TOTAL

1.

Scientific achievements and research or project implementation experience of the Visiting Scientist, including groundbreaking publications for the discipline.

20

10

30

2.

The Project’s feasibility, including the use of resources of the Applicant, including major research infrastructure (if applicable), and the organisational potential as well as experience of the Applicant (institution) in implementing projects, taking into account the way the Applicant prepares for hosting the Visiting Scientist and for implementing the proposed Project.

10

5

15

3.

The practical significance of the employment of the Visiting Scientist and the Project Group with regard to:

·         strengthening the Applicant’s capacity, including in the field of international scientific cooperation;

·         developing science in Poland in the international dimension, including the expected impact on the domain/discipline of science represented by the Visiting Scientist.

15

10

25

4.

The scientific value of the activities planned under the Project (scientific research, development work, implementations, applications for grants to Polish and foreign research funding institutions, teaching or mentoring, etc.), taking into account:

·         the significance of the studied matter; the extent to which the proposed project entails research of major civilisational interest,

·         planned results,

·         used tools and research methods,

·         innovative and unique character of the subject.

15

15

30

In total:

60

40

100

Criteria for the merit-based assessment

Score by the  Evaluation Team

1.       6.

Do the research planned under the Research Component (if planned in the application) belong to basic research?

YES/NO

2.       7.

Assessment of the Research Component budget in terms of compliance with the list of eligible costs in Attachment 3 to this Announcement and adequacy of the indicated cost items to the planned research, as well as the amount of the budget for the Research Component (if applicable).

CORRECT/INCORRECT/MODIFICATION

1. The Programme requires own contribution of the Applicant, constituting at least 20% of the Project value. However, the own contribution does not refer to the mobility allowance of PLN 20,000.00 for the Visiting Scientist and to the amount of financing within the NCN Research Component (if the Applicant applies for it).

2. NAWA finances the mobility allowance (lump sum) amounting to PLN 20,000.00 (for the travel(s) to/from Poland), which is paid to the Visiting Scientist within 30 days from the date of concludingthe agreement with the Beneficiary. The use of a lump sum in the Project means that the covered part of the Project will not be settled on the basis of actually incurred expenses.

3. The following costs are eligible for financing by NAWA under the Project:

a) financing of the Visiting Scientist’s remuneration; the maximum amount of financing by NAWA is PLN 32,000.00 per month, including employer’s costs (gross amount including payer costs) in the case of one full-time employee (if the extent of the employment is smaller, the amount of financing is reduced proportionally);

b) financing of the Project Group’s remuneration; the total amount of financing by NAWA for the Project Group is PLN 30,000.00 per month, including employer’s costs (gross amount including payer costs); the Applicant and the Visiting Scientist jointly determine the amount of remuneration of the Project Group members when submitting the application;

c) financing of the Inviting Person’s remuneration; the total amount of financing by NAWA is PLN 14,400.00 per year;

The amounts of remuneration under the project include the employer’s costs. These amounts include non-wage labour costs, including social security and health insurance contributions, as well as other elements of remuneration financed by the employing entity, including all elements of remuneration stipulated under the remuneration Regulations or other internal rules of the Beneficiary;

d) financing of the adaptation and organisation of the workplace and preparation of research facilities by NAWA may not exceed PLN 50,000 gross. If the Research Component is planned in the Application, it is not possible to apply for funding for this category of costs at the same time. Eligible costs in the category “Adaptation and organisation of the workplace” are for instance minor renovations, repairs, purchases (e.g. of a laptop or printer, minor research equipment and instruments, qualified electronic signature, research materials, and necessary reagents), costs of preparing applications for agencies that fund research, as well as costs of networking and participation in conferences. These costs are settled on the basis of actually incurred expenses and should be incurred no later than within 18 months of the start of the Project. The Employing Institution should keep the accounting records of the expenses incurred. The appliances purchased under this cost category become the equipment of the Project Group. A non-eligible cost is the purchase of research apparatus understood as a set of research, measurement or laboratory appliances with a low degree of versatility and high technical parameters (usually higher by several orders of measurement accuracy in relation to typical apparatus used for production or exploitation purposes), which, in accordance with the accounting principles (policy) applicable in the Employing Institution, is classified as fixed assets.

5. The payment scheme “E” and the reporting scheme ‘E”, pursuant to the Regulations of NAWA Programmes for Institutions, are applied under the Programme.

6. The maximum amount of financing for the Project from NAWA’s resources is PLN 3,103,600.00 (including the possibility to apply for funds for the adaptation and organisation of the workplace). If the Project includes the NCN Research Component, the maximum amount of financing is PLN 3,053,600.00 from NAWA’s resources and PLN 400,000.00 from NCN’s resources.

7. The mobility allowance and the funds for the adaptation and organisation of the workplace – to the extent to which they are financed by NAWA – may be increased by 20% if the Visiting Scientist has a certificate of moderate or significant disability. In that event, the maximum amount of Project funding is increased accordingly.

8. In individual, particularly justified cases (e.g. of persons with disabilities, pregnant women etc.), NAWA Director may, upon request of the person concerned by this particularly justified situation, decide to amend/waive certain requirements or other provisions of the Regulations or the Announcement.

9. The Project budget may be increased by the Beneficiary’s own resources.

The total amount of funds allocated for the Call is PLN 20,000,000.00. The Agency reserves the right to increase the amount of funds allocated for the Call and to not use the entire funds.

1. Requirements with regard to the Visiting Scientist

A Visiting Scientist may be a person who meets cumulatively the following requirements:

1) has citizenship other than Polish; having Polish citizenship at the same time does not constitute an obstacle in applying for participation in the Programme;

2) possesses the competence provided by the European Commission in the “Research profiles descriptors” corresponding to the level of Leading Researcher;

3) neither has worked nor lived in Poland for three years prior to the Announcement of the call for applications (work in Poland is understood as work performed on the territory of the Republic of Poland, including in particular: being employed under an employment agreement or managing a research grant affiliated with a Polish entity, if remuneration was paid on this basis);

4) for 10 years prior to the Announcement of the call for applications:

a) published in journals indexed in one of the international databases: Scopus, Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index, as the lead author of at least five scientific publications, of which one may be deemed groundbreaking for the development of the discipline, available in English (it is admissible to present a text approved for publication) and

b) led or has been leading at least two research/implementation projects, or published at least two texts in peer-reviewed international conference proceedings listed in The Computing Research and Education Association of Australasia (CORE), which have been indexed in one of the international databases: DBLP Computer Science Bibliography, Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, or IEEE Xplore.

2. Submitting the Application

1. The application should include a scientific curriculum vitae of the Visiting Scientist covering the following elements:

1) the Visiting Scientist’s education and academic and research career;

2) a list of completed and ongoing research projects with the participation of the Visiting Scientist or a list of publications in peer-reviewed conference proceedings, indicating projects that meet the requirement specified in point 2.10.1.4.b. of this Announcement;

3) a list of publications with a maximum of ten major works published in the ten years prior to the call for proposals, indicating at least one groundbreaking work for the development of the discipline. For journals with an impact factor, provide the current five-year IF of the journal or the SiteScore value and the number of citations of each publication without self-citation according to the Web of Science Core Collection or the Scopus database. A reference (link) to the electronic version of each publication (where possible) or a scan in PDF format should be provided;

4) total number of citations of all publications to date, excluding self-citations, and the H index according to Web of Science Core Collection or Scopus;

5) a concise description of the current scientific research.

2. The application must be accompanied by the following elements in PDF form:

1) commitment, signed by a person authorised to represent the Applicant, to employ the Visiting Scientist and the members of the Project Group – a model document constitutes Attachment 4 to this Announcement;

2) statement of the Visiting Scientist on meeting the requirements referred to in points 2.10.1.1., 2.10.1.2. and 2.10.1.3 of this Announcement – a model document constitutes Attachment 5 to this Announcement;

3) a document confirming the current employment of the Visiting Scientist (a certificate from the HR department or a certificate issued by the person representing the employer, including the name of the position and the period of employment);

4) the Applicant’s registration document, provided that it is not available in the relevant public register maintained in electronic form, or another document confirming the authorisation of the person representing the Applicant to act on its behalf;

5) power of attorney to submit the application on behalf of the Applicant, if the application is submitted by a person other than the one named in the registration documents – a model power of attorney constitutes Attachment 6 to this Announcement; The person submitting the application means the person to whom an account is assigned in the Agency’s ICT system from which the application is submitted;

6) declaration on no public aid – a model document constitutes Attachment 7 to this Announcement.

ATTENTION: the attachments are submitted in the system as PDF files no larger than 10 MB. The photos in the attached documents should be covered, otherwise attaching a document with a photo is tantamount to giving consent to the processing of personal data in that regard.

If the document is drawn up in electronic form using a qualified electronic signature, it should be attached to the Application, and if it is drawn up in writing, its scan should be attached to the Application, and the original should be delivered to the address of the Agency. Documents with a pasted-in scan of the signature should not be attached.

3. The Project Group and the Inviting Person

1. The Applicant together with the Visiting Scientist plan in the application to establish a Project Group, which should consist of at least three members, including at least one post-doc. The Project Group may also include PhD students, technicians, support staff, and staff responsible for the administrative management of the Project.

2. The head of the Project Group is the Visiting Scientist, but they are not a part of the Group.

3. The Visiting Scientist is the decision-maker with regard to the selection of Project Group members.

4. Members of the Project Group may include main research, support, technical, and administrative staff of the Project; they may be newly employed for the purposes of the Project, employed to carry out specific tasks in the Project, or be existing employees of the Beneficiary.

5. The Group’s main research staff, employed under employment agreements, must be selected through a competitive procedure (the competitive procedure should be carried out taking into account the recommendations of the European Commission in the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers).

6. The Applicant explains in the application how it plans to continue its collaboration with the Visiting Scientist and the Project Group after the end of Project funding.

7. In justified cases, it is allowed not to establish a Project Group, if the type or scope of conducted research does not require it. This circumstance will have to be justified in the application and will be subject to merit-based assessment.

8. The supporting function in the Project is performed by an Inviting Person. This is an employee employed at a research or research and didactic position by the Applicant. The role of the Inviting Person is to support the work of the Visiting Scientist and the Project Group in the implementation of substantive tasks and to support them in formal matters related to the stay at the Beneficiary throughout the Project implementation period.

4. The NCN Research Component

1. The applicant may plan an NCN Research Component in the application.

2. The Applicant may plan the NCN Research Component as part of the Project in the maximum amount of PLN 400,000 to be used by the Visiting Scientist and the Project Group within the first 18 months of the Project implementation.

3. The Research Component is financed from NCN funds and is intended solely for the financing of fundamental research. A research plan and a justification of research costs should be presented in the application submitted to NAWA. The list of eligible costs within the Research Component constitutes Attachment 3 to this Announcement. It is subject to merit-based assessment whether the research planned under the Research Component meets the criterion of fundamental research. If the Evaluation Team determines that this condition is not fulfilled, the Project may be financed after the exclusion of the NCN Research Component costs. Beneficiaries selected in the call who planned the NCN Research Component in their application will be obliged to submit a separate application to the NCN in the call addressed exclusively to them. Applications will be subject only to formal assessment by the NCN. The application submitted via the NCN ICT system should include an administrative section with the Beneficiary’s data, the Visiting Scientist’s data, the NCN Research Component cost estimate, and an application submitted to NAWA in PDF format. In the case of formally correct applications, the NCN Director issues a decision on the NCN Research Component funding, and the Beneficiary and the NCN sign an agreement.

4. The Research Component in the Application submitted to the Agency is optional, and if it is planned in the Application, the Applicant may not simultaneously apply for funding for the costs of adaptation and organisation of the workplace and preparation of the research facilities.

The results of the Call will be announced by 29 November 2022.

National resources.