FIRST TEAM┋Financing for first research teams headed by doctors at the early stage of their careers

There are no future calls planned as part of this program

The aim of the FIRST TEAM programme is to improve the human potential of the R&D sector, support first research teams supervised by PhDs at the early stage of their careers (regardless of their nationality), and encourage the return of outstanding scientists of Polish origin to Poland or the return of persons who have had a break in their research careers to the R&D sector. Support under the programme will be provided to teams conducting research at research units or companies in Poland, working in the most innovative areas and having a scientific partner, i.e. local or foreign research partner.

Addressees

Eligible applicants are those researchers (regardless of nationality) who have had a doctoral degree for not longer than 5 years, where the start of this period is defined by the year of obtaining the degree and the end – by the year preceding the deadline for submitting applications in the competition. The 5-year period may be extended to a maximum of 9 years from obtaining the degree if the applicant fulfils the conditions set down in the competition documentation.

As part of the project’s implementation, the project manager (principal investigator; PI) should include young researchers – students, PhD students or young doctors (postdocs) – in his or her team.

For the duration of the project, the project manager (PI) shall be be employed at the unit, with a commitment of at least 50% of a full-time employment for the purposes of project realisation.

Offer

Projects lasting up to 36 months will be financed under the programme.

The Foundation does not determine in any way the maximum amount of the project budget that can be claimed with the competition application, however, for the purpose of estimation, the average budget of the First Team project is approximately PLN 2,000,000 for the project lasting 36 months. The project budget submitted with the competition application should be planned accordingly by the Project Manager, i.e. reflecting appropriately all the costs necessary to carry out the project, as for the day of submission of the application.

Under the programme, the Foundation plans internal competitions for grantees to extend the project duration by a maximum of 12 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 FIRST 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 FIRST TEAM programme, the participation of at least one scientific partner from Poland or another country is mandatory.

In the First TEAM programme, the Foundation will later hold internal competitions for grantees for the purchase of specialist equipment (over the limit of 5% of a project’s eligible costs), where the review of such an application will take into account, among other things, an analysis of the availability of this type of equipment in Poland and information on investments in similar equipment at the unit carrying out the project.

Procedure

Applications submitted in the competition will be subject to a formal and merit-based evaluation. After receiving a positive formal evaluation, applications will undergo a three-stage merit-based evaluation:

In stage one, the merits of the applications will be evaluated by a group of experts (a scientific and economic panel, or SEP) having proper scientific achievements or experience in implementing innovative solutions in the R&D sector.

In stage two, the applications will be evaluated by at least two third-party reviewers.

In stage three, the applicants who qualify will be invited to an interview with an interdisciplinary panel of experts (IPE).

The panel of experts will compare the applications and draw up a ranking list as well as evaluating them on the basis of the criteria set down in the competition documentation.

The terms of participation are the same for all applicants and are described in detail in the programme’s competition documentation.

Additional info

Projects to be carried out under the FIRST TEAM programme should involve research that will contribute to solving current or arising scientific problems that are relevant for the developing global market or will make a significant contribution to solving important challenges faced by society today.

A project may also involve R&D work on a new product or production process (technological or manufacturing) of significant importance for the economy, based on an identified product, technology or buyers’ market for the given product or technology.

Support under the programme should enable researchers at the start of their scientific careers, namely students, PhD students and young doctors (postdocs), to gain experience in conducting R&D work of significant importance for the economy and society.

The project leader is obligated to organize an open competition to choose the team members. Following such recruitment, the team conducting R&D work in the project should have, beside the project leader, a minimum of 2 members (students, PhD students or postdocs).

Rates of remuneration to be utilized within funded projects shall be competitive on an European scale, therefore, similar rates applicable in the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) were used for benchmarking.

As regards remuneration (based on an employment contract), the total costs of remuneration together with non-payroll labour costs are eligible costs. The eligible remuneration costs under the programme for working full-time on the project are as follows:

• Project leader – PLN 20,000/month
• Consortium partner representative – PLN 15,000/month
• Young postdoc – PLN 15,000/month
• PhD student – PLN 8,000/month
• Student – PLN 4,000/month

Students and PhD students may become team members based on an employment contract or a stipend. The stipend amounts should be within the following ranges:

• for PhD students PLN 3,500–4,500/month
• for students PLN 1,500–2,500/month

The project manager (PI) is obligated to ensure any PhD students taking part in the project adequate scientific supervision and to guarantee them mentoring from a second scientific supervisor. As far as possible, the mentor should be an employee of a foreign partner institution, a domestic partner institution or a unit other than the applicant’s place of employment – a research unit or a company conducting R&D work.

The programme is co-financed with the support of the Smart Growth Operational Programme (PO IR).