Narodowe Centrum Nauki – nowy początek

Abstrakt

The National Science Centre (NCN) is a government agency set up to fund basic research. The Centre was officially opened in spring 2011. The NCN Council is a policy body consisting of 24 distinguished professors. From the very beginning, they have committed themselves to the task of establishing high merits requirements for applicants as well as to the mission of ensuring reliability and impartiality of research project evaluation process. The Council has drawn upon the solutions successfully used by the European Research Council (ERC). This allowed the NCN to introduce fundamental changes in the Polish research funding system. As a result of intensive efforts of both the Council and staff of the Centre, foundations of a coherent research funding system open for wide range of applicants were laid before long. In 2011 a total of thirteen competitions was announced. An increased number of applications from both established and young researchers proves the massive interest in the NCN calls for proposals. A variety of funding opportunities encourages scientists, particularly those starting their career in research, to conduct research and apply for grants.