With the arrival of this year’s spring, the results of the recent ERA Chairs and Twinning competitions under the EU Research and Innovation Framework Program – Horizon 2020 were released. Most importantly, a number of institutes across the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS) were also among the beneficiaries. Out of 10 projects in Poland that have received financial support, 4 will be implemented within the network of PAS institutes.
The ‘Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation’ which is a part of the Horizon 2020, aims to help close the R&I divide by improving the participation rate of low performing R&I countries. This will enable them to fully realise the potential of Europe’s gifted researchers and ensure the benefits of an innovation-led economy are both maximized and spread across the EU. The last two of such competitions were announced in summer 2019, with the deadline for submitting applications set until November 14, 2019. The European Commission allocated a budget of EUR 50 million to implement the ERA Chairs competition and nearly EUR 70 million to finance projects in the Twinning competition (more information on the Polish NCP website).
Nutrigenomics in human health and animal welfare research
Among the 20 winners of the ERA Chairs competition there are 2 units in Poland. One of them is the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn, which received nearly EUR 2.5 million in funding for the WELCOME2 project. As part of it, a new research team is to be funded, led by the leader selected in the open recruitment process. The project will contribute to the implementation of structural changes necessary to achieve lasting scientific excellence, e.g. by educating young scientists at the Interdisciplinary Doctoral School of Agricultural Sciences, run jointly with the Institute of Agrophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Lublin and the National Veterinary Institute of the National Research Institute in Puławy.
The planned activities are the result of a grant received from the Foundation for Polish Science (WELCOME), whose additional effect was the integration of research carried out within the two branches of the Institute: Department of Food Research and Department of Biology of Reproduction.
WELCOME2 foresees advanced research tasks using nutrigenomics tools that allow to understand the impact of nutrition on genetic predisposition to the so-called diet-related diseases. Scientists will focus particularly on obesity and infertility – one of the biggest problems of our civilization.
The authors of the project believe that its effective implementation will strengthen the Institute’s advantage in the perspective of the Horizon Europe (HEU) framework program. Director of the Institute – Professor Mariusz Piskuła says that “The project will allow us to increase the recognition and attractiveness of the Institute, and thus develop existing strategic partnership with leading research centres in Europe and become a desirable member of international research consortia.” These processes will be additionally supported by activities in the area of open science such as the broad access to research results as part of the “Science as a public good” activity or the establishment of the “Rising Managers Academy” designed to train future science leaders.
Six-year funding under WELCOME2 is thought to be an element in the fight against brain-drain, which is the systemic loss of the best talent. “After introducing changes at the level of research management in the first period, we would like to create attractive working conditions at the Institute for the best scientists from abroad and beyond. With the best researchers, we expect more funds and more high quality scientific results” concludes Professor Piskuła.
European cooperation on a micro and macro scale (and a cosmic scale too)
How to understand the molecular mechanisms of hematological cancers and how to treat them? How satellite data enable us to monitor ecosystems? How can observations of volatile particles filling the cosmos help solve the mystery of dark matter? These are the topics that will be developed at the 3 Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, thanks to the funds obtained in the Twinning competition (for 8 such grants financed in Poland). These projects will be implemented for a period of up to 3 years, with a funding of approx. 900 000 EURO for each project.
At the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CAMK PAN) the DarkWave project will be implemented. It will be coordinated by Dr. Marcin Kuźniak – leader of the research group within the AstroCeNT Department created thanks to the support of the Foundation for Polish Science under the International Research Agendas program.
The main goal of the project is to search for dark matter. As astronomical observations show, there are about 5 times more of it in the universe than ordinary matter – a matter known to all of us from everyday experience. Dark matter is still a mystery and thus its explanation is currently one of the most important challenges in physics. The DarkWave project brings together leading research centres involved in the design and construction of the DarkSide-20k experiment – the world’s largest liquid argon detector. Among the partners are scholars from France (APC/CNRS), Italy (GSSI and INFN), Germany (TUM). According to Professor Leszek Roszkowski, head of the AstroCeNT Department “Through cooperation within the Twinning project, researchers from CAMK will have the chance to play a key role in the DarkSide-20k experiment, as well as strengthen the development of cooperation with other research groups worldwide in areas such as experimental neutrino physics or gravitational waves detection.”
The goal of the EOTiST project is to develop the competence of the Department of Earth Observation at the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN) in the field of monitoring ecosystem services using satellite data. Among project partners are leading scientists from units such as CNR (Italy), CERTH (Greece) and CREAF (Spain).
The concept of ecosystem services is derived from economic sciences and is associated with the concept of natural capital. Ecosystem services are broadly understood as human benefits from the environment, for example, they can be supply services (energy or agricultural production), regulatory services (CO2 absorption or soil protection against erosion) and cultural services (tourism and education). “Thanks to satellite data we can provide new information about ecosystems in a continuous way – both in space and time. This allows us to determine the dynamics of changes occurring in them and create forecasting models for the development of a given area. This is particularly important in the sustainable management of resources” says Dr. Edyta Woźniak – project coordinator at CBK PAN – when discussing the advantages of satellite observations vs. ground-based observation methods.
The NEXT_LEVEL project uses potential built within the existing network of excellence in the field of hematology-oncology by transfer of knowledge and exchange of best practices across leading European institutions. “The main goal of the project is to increase and stimulate the scientific excellence of the Institute of Human Genetics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IGC PAN in Poznań) and its foreign partners: Academisch Ziekenhuis Groningen – Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen in the Netherlands, Universiteit Gent in Belgium and Universität Ulm in Germany” – comments Agnieszka Możejko, research coordinator at IGC PAN.
As part of the project’s implementation, the partners will cooperate in epigenetic profiling, including miRNA analyses, DNA methylation studies and histone modifications in haematological cancers. Research will be carried out using the latest generation sequencing method and functional analysis. Scientists hope that the results of their collaboration will contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying leukaemia and lymphoma and to the development of new molecular therapeutic strategies.
What connects Twinning projects under Horizon 2020?
The authors of the abovementioned projects – and today their coordinators – agree on the key importance of the development of the potential and strengthening of the scientific excellence of the institution, so to increase its recognition through publications in renowned scientific journals and participation in international consortia and research initiatives.
Close cooperation of the beneficiaries with project partners will allow to learn about the best research practices. This in turn will help the PAS Institutes to increase the efficiency of obtaining funds in international competitions, e.g. those announced under the next framework program Horizon Europe, mainly cooperative projects as well as individual grants. The key here will be the development of competences – both researchers and project support teams – especially in the field of project management: defining tasks, creating strategies and their effective implementation. It is also expected that the implementation of projects will positively influence the interest of scientists in participating in HEU expert bodies, and thus increase their participation in the process of creating rules and policies related to the European Research Area (ERA).
As part of the CORDIS portal, the European Commission has prepared and published a brochure on bridging the research and innovation gap in Europe by sharing knowledge and experience across member states under Horizon 2020. This material can be found HERE in several language versions, including Polish.
Under H2020, these instruments were supported with a budget of over EUR 816 million. As part of Horizon Europe, over EUR 2.1 billion is to be allocated to similar activities strengthening the European Research Area – as proposed by the European Commission. At the same time, instruments such as Teaming and the abovementioned Twinning and ERA Chairs are to be maintained. Also, a number of other activities are expected to be introduced under HEU in the spirit of widening participation and spreading excellence. Details are not known yet, but it is worth preparing for these competitions already well in advance.
Contact persons responsible for implementing these projects:
- WELCOME2 @ IRZiBŻ PAN, Olsztyn:
- mgr Iwona Kieda – i.kieda@pan.olsztyn.pl
- dr inż. Tomasz Jeliński – t.jelinski@pan.olsztyn.pl
- DarkWave @ CAMK PAN, Warszawa:
- dr Marcin Kuźniak – mkuzniak@camk.edu.pl
- prof. dr hab. Leszek Roszkowski – roszkowski@camk.edu.pl (Head of AstroCeNT)
- prof. dr hab. Rafał Moderski – moderski@camk.edu.pl (Deputy Director for Science)
- EOTiST @ CBK PAN, Warszawa:
- dr Edyta Woźniak – ewozniak@cbk.waw.pl
- Anna Długosz – adlugosz@cbk.waw.pl (Deputy Director for Project Management)
- Next_Level @ IGC PAN, Poznań:
- dr hab. Maciej Giefing – maciej.giefing@igcz.poznan.pl (Head of Cancer Genetics Department)
- Agnieszka Możejko – agnieszka.mozejko@igcz.poznan.pl (Grant Office)
