bookmark this

TEAM┋Financing for research teams headed by leading scientists

In the programme, the Foundation for Polish Science offers grants for innovative team projects led by distinguished researchers from all over the world. In the programme, funding is available for frontier, world-class R&D projects with great significance for the economy and the society, fitting within Poland’s National Smart Specializations.

Competitions in the programme will be held twice per year. The final competition will be announced in 2019.

Goals

The aim of the TEAM programme is to improve the human potential in the R&D sector in team projects pursued by outstanding scientists from all over the world (regardless of nationality) at research units or companies in Poland, working in the most innovative areas, with the involvement of a foreign research partner.

Addressees

Eligible applicants are those researchers (regardless of nationality) who have at least a PhD degree as well as research experience confirmed by international achievements, who intend to include young researchers – students, PhD students or young doctors (postdocs) – in their team.

For the duration of the project, the project manager (principal investigator; PI) shall be employed at the unit, with a commitment of at least 50% of a full-time employment for the purposes of project realisation. In justified cases the applicant may apply for lower commitment for project realisation (but no less than 30% of full-time employment). In such cases the application has to include extra information and documents related to the deputy project manager (deputy-PI) permanently overseeing the team’s work. If the project will be carried out by a scientific-industrial consortia, the applicant has to assign at least 50% of full-time employment to the project and may not appoint a deputy.

Offer

Projects lasting up to 36 months will be financed under the programme. The project budget is recommended not to exceed PLN 3,500,000.

Under the programme, the Foundation plans internal competitions for grantees to extend the project duration by a maximum of 24 months, where the extension of the project implementation time is connected with expanding the scope of the work and includes a possibility to increase funding for the project. In subsequent editions of the programme, the final deadline for project completion and any project extensions is 31 December 2023.

Financing under the TEAM programme will be provided to projects whose subject matter is listed on the National Smart Specialization (NSS; PL – KIS) list; in exceptional cases, while giving preference to NSS areas, the Foundation may agree to finance projects involving topics not on the NSS list if they show significant application potential or importance for solving a major socioeconomic problem.

Projects under the programme can be implemented in one of three options:

  • by research units to the extent to which they do not conduct economic activity (without granting state aid),
  • by enterprises (pursuant to the principles of granting state aid for R&D activity)
  • by scientific-industrial consortia consisting of one research unit and one enterprise (for the research unit: without state aid, to the extent, to which it does not conduct economic activity; for the enterprise, pursuant to the principles of granting state aid for R&D activities).

In the TEAM programme, the participation of at least one foreign research partner is mandatory.

National Smart Specialization areas

The 18 national smart specializations (national priorities in the field of R+D+I) were grouped into five thematic areas:

Healthy Society

  • 1. Medical engineering technologies, including medical biotechnologies
  • 2. Diagnosis and treatment of civilization diseases and personalized medicine
  • 3. Production of medicinal products

Agri-Food, Forestry-Timber and Environmental Bioeconomy

  • 4. Innovative technologies, processes and products of the agri-food and forestry-timber industry
  • 5. Healthy food (high quality and organic production)
  • 6. Biotechnological processes and products of household chemistry and environmental engineering

Sustainable Energy

  • 7. High efficiency, low-emission and integrated energy production, storage, transmission and distribution systems
  • 8. Smart and energy efficient construction
  • 9. Environmentally friendly transport solutions

Natural Resources and Waste Management

  • 10. Modern technologies for sourcing, processing and use of natural resources and production of substitutes thereof
  • 11. Minimising waste, including waste unfit for processing and use of waste for material and energy purposes (recycling and other recovery methods)
  • 12. Innovative technologies for processing and recovery of water and reducing its consumption

Innovative Technologies and Industrial Processes (in Horizontal Approach)

  • 13. Multifunctional materials and composites with advanced properties, including nano-processes and nano-products
  • 14. Sensors (including biosensors) and smart sensor networks
  • 15. Smart grids and geo-information technologies
  • 16. Electronic based on conducting polymers
  • 17. Automation and robotics of technological processes
  • 18. Optoelectronic systems and materials
Call website Humanities and social sciences included in Poland’s National Smart Specializations
Institution
Application date
Duration
Up to 36 months
Discipline
Social sciences : Management and Public administration, Information and Communication Sciences, Demography, Economy, Environmental Sciences, Gender studies, Identities, gender and sexuality, Geography, International Relations, Law, Pedagogic & Education Research, Political science, Sociology
Humanities : Anthropology & Ethnology
Other