For many years now, the OPUS and PRELUDIUM schemes have enjoyed enormous popularity with researchers who look to have their research projects funded. The 19th edition of the two calls attracted a total of 4096 proposals, 595 of which were awarded funding grants.
OPUS is targeted at researchers at any stage of their research career, no matter their scientific degree, and offers funding for various research projects, including those that involve the purchase or manufacturing of research equipment. In addition, the formula of OPUS 19 has now been extended to include elements of the HARMONIA call, which paved the way for the funding of proposals designed to be carried out in bilateral or multilateral international cooperation, as well as initiatives involving the use of large-scale international research equipment. The 19th edition of the OPUS call enjoyed record popularity, attracting as many as 2424 proposals for a total amount of more than 2.5 billion PLN. Following the recommendations of peer review, 352 projects were awarded a total of 451 million PLN in funding; interestingly, as many as three will be carried out by researchers who have not yet earned their PhD degree. In the 19th OPUS competition, 34 researchers from the Jagiellonian University received funding of over PLN 50 million (including 3 projects to be implemented at the Collegium Medicum).
PRELUDIUM is a call targeted at researchers who are only at the outset of their research career and have not yet earned their PhD degree. The research team in the project may consist of a maximum of three members, including the principal investigator and the mentor. The 19th edition of the call attracted 1672 proposals for a total amount of nearly 246 million PLN, out of which 243 were qualified for funding, receiving grants of more than 36 million PLN in total. In the 19th PRELUDIUM competition, 36 researchers from the Jagiellonian University received funding of over PLN 4.9 million (including 7 projects to be implemented at Collegium Medicum).
Projects submitted for funding in NCN calls can be carried out in three disciplines: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Life Sciences; and Physical Sciences and Engineering. Proposals in each of these disciplines are evaluated by a dedicated expert team composed of outstanding Polish and foreign researchers. It is their review that provides the basis for the final decision as to which projects will be funded.
In the OPUS 19 and PRELUDIUM 19 calls, the greatest number of projects will be carried out in the field of Physical Sciences and Engineering: total funding of more than 174 million PLN was awarded to 213 projects. Researchers working in Life Sciences were awarded 203 grants of more than 228 million PLN in total, while a further c. 85 million PLN will be divided among 179 projects in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
