EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030

On the threshold of the third decade of the 21st century, no one doubts how urgent and necessary it is to save the nature around us. Properly functioning ecosystems are the basis and prerequisites of our existence – the source of necessary components of life on Earth, such as clean water and air. Their effective protection and restoration are extremely important, especially now, in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic and in the period of intensive efforts to restore resilience, sustainable development and well-being in the European Union.

WiSER – the summary of the event

The topic of women in science and the European research area was discussed during the conference ‘WiSER – Women in Science and European Research‘, organized on 4th December 2020 by Polish Science Contact Agency of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Information Office of Wielkopolska Region in Brussels. The aim of the event was to focus on the issue of persistent gender inequalities in the European Research Area (ERA).

Season’s greetings from PolSCA team!

As the year 2020 is coming to its end, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all our colleagues, collaborators, experts and institutional partners, for all the valuable cooperation and joint commitments in building a better future for European research & innovation.

Soon we will pause our work for a while, so to travel home, meet with our loved ones and celebrate one of the most beautiful time of the year. On this occasion, PolSCA team wishes you that this festive period will be a time of rest and joy spent with your families and friends, and that the upcoming New Year will bring you a lot of inspiration, satisfaction and success in your personal and professional life.

PASIFIC – a new fellowship programme for excellent researchers at the Polish Academy of Sciences!

2 years of research in 69 excellent host institutes (to choose from) and in any discipline with up to 93,000 euro budget for research with? Why not? The Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS) announces the PASIFIC Fellowship Programme funded within the MSCA COFUND scheme! The PASIFIC programme offers attractive 2-year postdoctoral fellowships to excellent researchers of any nationality, working in any scientific discipline. Each PASIFIC fellow will be granted a monthly allowance of approx. €2,500 net and, if applicable, an additional family allowance. In addition, PASIFIC fellows will be provided with a research budget of up to €93,000 per project.

Let’s discover the ‘green’ projects of the Polish Academy of Sciences!

You prise others, while unappreciate your own! As you might know, the call for applications in the special H2020 Green Deal Call (GDC) is open until 26th January 2021, however, grants financed under European funds and thematically linked to the areas of GDC have been carried out at the Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS) for several years. Therefore, the PolSCA Office is pleased to present 7 selected projects conducted in the Polish Academy of Sciences and related to the second, third, sixth and seventh area of the European Green Deal Call, i.e. clean, affordable, and secure energy, industry for a clean and circular economy, farm to fork as well as ecosystems and biodiversity. Below you can find short descriptions of projects along with their most important achievements, prepared in cooperation with the Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences. We also asked the persons responsible for the implementation of these grants about the potential of their Institutes to participate in the EU Green Deal Call, as well as about the social dimension of projects, i.e. the possibility of involving citizens or representatives of social sciences and humanities. We kindly invite you to take a closer look at these projects!

V4 Training – 2020 edition

The next edition of the “V4” Training will be held online on 23-24 November 2020 in Brussels. The training is organized by the PolSCA PAN Office in Brussels, the Czech Liaison Office for R&D (CZELO), the Slovak Liaison Office for Research and Development (SLORD) and the National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary (NRDIO).

It is addressed to employees of universities and research institutes who deal with the management of European projects on a daily basis, primarily within Horizon 2020. The language of the training is English, and the subject matter focuses on the most important issues related to the next EU framework program in the field of research and innovation – Horizon Europe. Lectures and workshops are conducted by specialists, mainly from the European Commission and European institutions operating in Brussels for research and innovation.

A final training agenda is available below.

V4 Training_23-24November2020_final agenda

European Research Area – new challenges and new opportunities

We already know the European Commission’s Communication on the new European Research Area (ERA) in the field of research and innovation (R&I) announced on September 30, 2020. Recently on our website we described the history of the ERA and its main objectives, while below we present the content of the release, which describes the renewed European Research Area. So what will the new ERA be like? What are its strategic goals and expected results? How it is going to differ from the “previous” ERA, especially at a time of social, environmental and economic challenges escalated by the Covid-19 pandemic? Feel free to read!

Green Deal Call – practical information

The call for proposals in the special H2020 call of the European Green Deal has been launched! There are 20 new calls for proposals in 11 areas with a total budget of € 1 billion! The Green Deal Call (GDC) offers funding for research projects on the climate crisis and the preservation of unique ecosystems and biodiversity in Europe. The European Commission expects that the projects will lead to innovative solutions bringing concrete results for citizens. Below you will find the most important information, including a brief description of the call, as well as links to particular call topics. To support you in finding partners for project consortia we also provide you with the information on virtual brokerage events and examples of potential partners’ expression of interests.

PAKT – a new bonus linked with Horizon Europe participation

At the end of September this year, The Ministry of Science and Higher Education has published on its websites the very first drafts of the so-called PAKT project, i.e. „Premia dla AKTywnych”(en. Bonus for active participants). Objective of the proposed model is to create an effective – as well as simple and transparent – bonus system recognizing the best scientists. This shall be achieved by adjusting the remuneration regulations implemented in research units. In the context of the Horizon Europe, the PAKT is to encourage national units and scientists to increase their activity in the upcoming framework program.

Three Institutes of PAS are beneficiaries of last MSCA RISE call!

The development of a radar to explore the Martian surface, the use of functional dyes in 3D fluorescence imaging or the creation of innovative solutions in the search for “dark matter” are topics of the projects selected for funding under MSCA-RISE programme, in which the Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences will participate! Among 823 beneficiaries from 137 countries and 74 winning projects in the last call # H2020 MSCA-RISE there are three PAS Institutes: Space Research Centre, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre. We are pleased to present these projects below!