Based on art. 19 paragraph 1 of the Act of July 7^th, 2017 on the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, the Director of Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) announces the call for applications in the Ulam NAWA Programme („Programme”).

The aim of the Ulam Programme is to increase the internationalisation of Polish institutions of science and higher education. The Programme will allow both recognised and promising scientists who hold at least a doctoral degree, to visit Poland for 6 to 24 months in order to strengthen the scientific potential of Polish entities and to participate in their scientific activities, primarily research projects and didactics. The Programme will allow to invite scientists regardless of their age, from all around the world and representing all fields of science, including Polish citizens working permanently abroad. HEIs, scientific and research institutes will have the opportunity to invite specialists from their priority areas to Poland – they will make a significant contribution to the research conducted by a given institution, strengthen didactics or support the institution in applying for prestigious grants.

The application under the Programme shall be submitted individually by a scientist with at least a doctoral degree or an equivalent degree obtained abroad, who, together with the institution of the Polish higher education and science system, has obtained the Seal of Excellence certificate under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships – European Fellowships programme, 2022 edition (hereinafter referred to as "MSCA-PF-EF").  NAWA recognizes the SoE certificate as a binding verification of the quality of the application.

The Programme can be attended by the natural person who:

1. jointly meets the following conditions:

1) is a scientist with at least a doctoral degree (should have a PhD degree at the time of the deadline for submitting applications. Applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered eligible to apply);

2) is employed at a foreign HEI or a foreign scientific/research centre or completed their previous employment contract after 31 August 2022. The employment is not required for persons who obtained their doctoral degree after 31 August 2022;

3) had not studied or worked in Poland within 3 years before the date of deadline of the call and did not live during this period in Poland continuously for more than three months (work in Poland is understood as employment under an employment contract in an entity based in the territory of the Republic of Poland or managing a research grant with an affiliation to the Polish scientific institution, if in this respect the salary was paid);

4) if the Applicant has implemented other NAWA projects, it is possible to apply when the scholarship has been settled and the agreement is considered as completed;

5) has minimum 3 achievements within 5 years before the date of deadline of the call out of the following:

a) a publication published in English as the main author in journals included in one of the following international databases: Scopus, Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index; or

b) a reviewed research monograph published in English; or

c) a publication in English in reviewed materials from an international conference listed by the Computing Research and Education Association of Australasia (CORE), indexed in the international DBLP Computer Science Bibliography database; or

d) a publication in English in reviewed materials from an international conference, indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection or Scopus database.

e) for the representatives of art studies - a proof of having made presentation of work of art in a foreign institution or an academic centre or having received a distinction in an international competition.

The Applicant can demonstrate 3 achievements under the same point (a, b, c, d or e), as well as 3 various achievements from among the indicated ones in point a-e.

6) has an invitation from the Host institution, which is a national entity having a scientific category.

2. has at least a doctoral degree or an equivalent degree obtained abroad, and has submitted together with the institution of the Polish higher education and science system, the application under the MSCA-PF-EF programme, which received the Seal of Excellence certificate, and has an invitation from the Host institution, which is a national entity having a scientific category.

Deadline for submitting the application

The call for applications under the Programme will be conducted from 21 February to 22 May 2023 until 3:00 PM according to the official time in Poland.

Form of submitting the application

Application can be submitted by scientist only within the NAWA ICT system. In order to submit the application form, please register an account in the NAWA ICT system. Once you are logged in choose the option:

·       All Applicants // SUBMIT AN APPLICATION //

·       Applicants with certificate Seal of Excellence // SUBMIT AN APPLICATION //

Language of the application

The application and its attachments shall be drawn up in English. Submitting a copy of the doctoral diploma in Polish shall be acceptable.

Maximum number of applications that may be submitted by the Applicant

The Applicant may submit only one application for financing in a given call under the Programme, covering a visit to one Host institution.

1. As part of the Programme, possible visits are those whose objective include:

1) completing the first or a subsequent post-doctoral fellowship;

2) conducting scientific research;

3) obtaining materials for research or a scientific publication.

In addition to the above activities, the visit may also include conducting didactic classes at the Host institution or other activities carried out by the institution.

2. The Applicant submits a plan for the scientific stay in Poland covering one or more of the above-mentioned activities that they intend to implement at a Host institution, by indicating its goals, relevance to the development of their academic career and justifying the Host institution’s choice for the planned activities and benefits of the stay for both the scientist and the institution.

Project start date

The visit under the Project cannot start earlier than on 1 January 2024 or later than on 1 October 2024.

Project duration

The length of stay may be from 6 to 24 months.

Project implementation period

1) The Project should be implemented on a continuous basis.

2) It is possible to suspend the Project for a period of not more than 3 months with the consent of the Host institution, and the suspension is only possible after the Project has started. No funds are granted during the suspension of the Project implementation. Suspension of the Project implementation do not constitute grounds for increasing financing;

3) The period of stay outside the Host institution cannot be longer than 10% of the overall duration of stay. The period of stay outside the Host institution cannot be used at the beginning or end of the Project implementation period (it cannot be used to shorten the Project implementation period).

1. A scientific resume of the Applicant according to the application form.

2. Scan of the doctoral diploma or a certificate of having attained a doctoral degree with an officially certified translation into English if the original is issued in a language other than English or Polish.

3. Scans of 3 required achievements in the form of attached PDF documents. In the case of publication, the full text of the publication should be attached. In the case of a monograph, please attach a file containing the cover page, page with the ISBN number, editorial page, table of contents and a selection of extracts containing the author’s most important theses – no more than 20 pages in total. In the case of representatives of the fine arts field, please attach the copy of a catalogue bearing the ISBN number confirming the fact of having made presentation of artwork at a foreign institution or an academic institution or a copy of a distinction received in an international competition, or any other formal confirmation of an artistic achievement.

4. Confirmation of employment issued by the human resources department or other document confirming the employment status at a foreign HEI or a foreign scientific/research centre after 31 August 2022; document should be in English and issued with the date not earlier than the date of announcement of the call. The document is not required if you obtained your doctoral degree after 31 August 2022.

5. Invitation from the Host institution issued with the date not earlier than the date of announcement of the call, a template of which constitutes an attachment to the Announcement. The invitation confirms the willingness to host Applicant for the requested period and indicates the person responsible for coordination of the planned activities and Applicant's visit and for supporting the Fellow in the successive completion of these activities. The document should be signed with qualified electronic signature by the person authorised to represent the Host institution (the document shall be attached with a power of attorney for such person) and signed by the Supervisor.

PLEASE NOTE THAT:

*In the case of a break in connection with a maternity, parental or health leave, please indicate the number of months by which the period of scientific achievements is extended and why.

*If the provided information or attached documents exceed the indicated limits - only the items within the limit which are listed first will be considered in the course of the merit-based evaluation.

*When attaching a scan of a document the Applicant should veil the photo. Attaching a document with a visible photo shall be tantamount to the consent to the processing of personal data in this regard.

List of information and attachments required in the application in case of a special application track for scientists with certificate Seal of Excellence

1. Electronic version of the application submitted to the MSCA-PF-EF.

2. Reviews obtained as a result of the evaluation of the application submitted to the MSCA-PF-EF.

3. Electronic version of the Seal of Excellence certificate

4. Invitation from the Host institution issued with the date not earlier than the date of announcement of the call, a template of which constitutes the attachment to the Announcement. The invitation confirms the possibility of hosting the Fellow for the purpose of implementing the project within the full substantive extent planned in the application submitted to MSCA-PF-EF. The document should be signed with qualified electronic signature by the person authorised to represent the Host institution (the document shall be attached with a power of attorney for such person) and signed by the Supervisor.

General assumptions

Applications are subject to formal and merit-based evaluation. In case of scientists with Seal of Excellence certificate – only formal evaluation (special application track).

Formal evaluation

Formal evaluation is described in the NAWA Regulations - Programmes for natural persons (chapter IV point 5.1). In the case of submitting an incomplete proposal, NAWA shall request the Applicant to supplement it within 14 days from the date of the request.

The Application may be rejected for formal reasons at a later stage of the assessment, after completing the formal assessment.

Merit-based evaluation

The merit-based evaluation consists of three stages:

1) Preselection by the Evaluation team, based on the evaluation of the Applicant's achievements and course of their scientific or academic activity. Following preselection, the Evaluation team recommends the proposals for the second stage, choosing applications ranked highest on the ranking list, whose total planned outlays do not exceed twice the amount of funding allocated to a given call. Applicants whose applications are among those not recommended for the next stage of evaluation shall be notified via the ICT system of the Agency.

2) Evaluation of applications with a positive preselection result, carried out by two Reviewers. In case of a discrepancy in the scores of more than 30% of the available points, The Agency reserves the right to appoint additional Reviewers to conduct the evaluation. Reviewers evaluate applications according to all merit-based evaluation criteria, indicating the number of points and giving reasons for their scoring. The Reviewer presents the application’s strengths and weaknesses in the summary section.

3) The Evaluation team’s final evaluation that takes into account the opinions of two Reviewers and the Team's scoring in the other criteria of evaluation 2-4, which the Team did not evaluate during the preselection. The Evaluation team draws up a ranking list of applications, indicating the ones that are recommended for funding and those that are not.

If it is proved that the applicant violated the ethical principles or was unreliable in the preparation of the application, the evaluation team will assess the application with 0 points. In such case the application cannot be recommended for funding.

Polish citizens may constitute a maximum of 10% of Fellows in the call.

Merit-based evaluation is carried out based on the following merit-based evaluation criteria:

1. The calculation of the funding shall take into account:

1) Scholarship in the amount of PLN 10,000 for each full month of stay of the Fellow at the Host institution. The length of the stay shall be specified in the application, giving the number of months of the stay, the stay starting from the first day of the month.

2) monthly mobility allowance in the amount of PLN 2,000 for each full month of stay at the Host institution for the Fellow who has a spouse and/or underage child (under the age of 18) on the day on which the application was submitted. If the Fellow has more than one underage child to support, the allowance is PLN 3,000. The allowance is due regardless of whether the Fellow comes with his family. A change in status after submitting the application (marriage or birth of a child) does not entitle to apply for an increase in funding. The allowance is also available to the Fellow with a severe or moderate degree of disability.

3) one-off mobility allowance in the amount of:

a) PLN 7,000 in the case of visits from European countries;

b) PLN 12,000 in the case of visits from non-European countries.

4) training allowance - costs of learning Polish in the case of applicants who are not Polish citizens in the form of a one-off training allowance at maximum PLN 5,000.

2. Insurance costs and cost of a visa, if required, shall be borne by the Fellow.

3. Pursuant to Article 21(1)(39a) of the Act of 26 July 1991 on personal income tax (i.e. Journal of Laws of 2022, item 2647, as amended) Scholarships and other funds referred to in Article 18(2)(1) of the Act on NAWA are free from income tax.

The programme does not provide any financial resources for the institution (indirect money) or for any research (e.g. materials, reagents or conferences). Such costs should be covered from other sources.

The payments shall be made to a bank account opened by the Fellow at a bank operating in the territory of the Republic of Poland and are made as follows:

1. Payment scheme for Projects lasting to 9 months – payment scheme B according to the Regulations of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange - programmes for natural persons:

1) payment 1 – 90% of the total amount of financing, transferred to the Fellow’s bank account after providing the account number, up to 30 days from the date of submission of the correct confirmation of the Project commencement;

2) balancing payment – up to 10% of the total amount of financing, transferred up to 30 days from the date of approval of the final report. Report evaluation is carried out within 3 months from the date of submission of the complete report.

The Fellows does not submit a partial report.

2. Payment scheme for Projects lasting over 9 months – payment scheme C according to the Regulations of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange - programmes for natural persons:

1) payment 1 – 60% of the total amount of financing, transferred to the Fellow’s bank account after providing the account number, up to 30 days from the date of submission of the correct confirmation of the Project commencement;

2) payment 2 – 30% of the total amount of financing, transferred up to 30 days from the date of approval of the partial report. Report evaluation is carried out within 45 days from the date of submission of the complete report;

3) balancing payment – up to 10% of the total amount of financing, transferred up to 30 days from the date of approval of the final report. Report evaluation is carried out within 3 months from the date of submission of the complete report.

The awarded funding shall be treated as incurred expenditure.  The Fellow shall not be obliged to collect and present accounting evidence to confirm expenses.

1. The Fellow shall be obliged to submit reports on the implementation of the Project via the Agency's ICT system and to submit confirmation of starting the activities in the Host Institution:

1) Confirmation of starting the Project implementation by the Fellow, issued within 1 month from the start of the Project implementation, signed by the Representative of the Host Institution.

2) The partial report shall be submitted only in the case of projects longer than 9 months within 14 days after the half of the Project according to the report template and is subject to evaluation by Agency.

3) The final report shall be submitted within 30 days from the end of the Project implementation according to the report template.

2. A complete and formally correct final report shall be submitted for the substantive evaluation by the Evaluation Team.

3. The Evaluation Team shall assess the report in terms of its reliability and correctness of the implementation of the activities planned and the validity of any changes introduced during the Project implementation.

4. During the substantive evaluation of the final report, the following criteria shall be included:

1) compliance of the scope of the tasks performed with the agreement,

2) the quality of the results achieved.

5. If necessary, the Evaluation team may consult a Reviewer.

6. In the final report, the Fellow shall include any deviations occurring in the course of the Project implementation, affecting the amount of funding granted, in particular related to the shortening of the Project.

7. Unused or incorrectly used funds shall be deducted from the balancing payment or returned to the Agency's bank account within 14 days from the date of the request for their return, if their amount exceeds the amount of the balancing payment.

8. Partial and final reports shall constitute appendices to the announcement.

1. To conclude a Scholarship agreement with the Fellow, the Fellow cannot take up employment in Poland from the moment of submitting the proposal until the date of decision issue. This condition does not apply to persons with Seal of Excellence certificate.

2. The obligations of the Fellow stemming from the Scholarship agreement:

1) having at least basic health insurance covering the time of travel and stay in Poland for all participants of the visit, including, in particular, insurance of the costs of treatment and transport to a hospital;

2) timely submission of the required documents;

3) informing NAWA about any changes in the activity’s implementation;

4) participation in the Agency's promotional and communication activities;

5) to implement properly the Scholarship agreement, and in particular to settle the funds granted.

3. When the agreement is signed, the Fellow may have partial employment or employment in relation to the project implementation at the Host institution, and may also apply for financing of research projects.

Total allocation for the call is PLN 15,000,000 however NAWA reserves the right to increase the allocation.

Annoucement of results by 30 November 2023.

National resources.