The National Centre for Research and Development

 

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Objective of the Scheme

The purpose of the proposed Scheme is to provide immediate and effective support to Ukrainian researchers affected by the armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine via a simple and effective mechanism that will allow them to join the Polish-Norwegian teams and continue their scientific careers. Support of the development of human capital will be crucial for the future of Ukraine and its reconstruction.

The Scheme will contribute to support and develop cooperation with the Ukrainian academic community and enhance Ukrainian participation in the European research networks, and R&D&I programs.

Types of entities eligible for funding

Eligible Proposers:

Project Promoters and Polish Project Partners of the active research projects funded under POLNOR 2019 Call, POLNOR CCS 2019 Call or IdeaLab Call for Full Proposals, which are research organisations as defined in the Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty, and as stipulated in Article 37 paragraph 1 of the Act on the National Centre for Research and Development.

Scope of the Scheme

The scope of the Scheme is to propose an Action (described in the Form) which aims at supporting Ukrainian researcher who holds at least a Master (Магістр) or Specialist (Спеціаліст) degree obtained in Ukraine or other equivalent degree obtained outside Ukraine.

Funding allocated to an Action shall be used to cover the costs of employing one Ukrainian researcher affected by the armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine, who is:

a resident in Poland and arrived in Poland no earlier than 24 February 2022; or

a resident in Ukraine but is unable to continue his/her academic career, or work  in research and development (R&D).

Each eligible Project Promoter and each eligible Polish Project Partner may submit a maximum of one Form for an Action per funded project under POLNOR, POLNOR CCS and IdeaLab calls. Each subsequent Form submitted will be left without further assessment, with no right to complain.

To get more detailed information abouteligible Proposers, please see the lists of funded projects linked to the Call titles: POLNOR 2019 Call, POLNOR CCS 2019 Call and IdeaLab Call.

Type of activities

The following types of activities are eligible:

Fundamental/Basic research, as defined in Article 2(84) of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014

Industrial research, as defined in Article 2(85) of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014,

Experimental development, as defined in Article 2(86) of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014

other types of work relevant to the project.

The budget of the Scheme

The indicative budget of the PO earmarked for financing Actions amounts to 380,000 EUR. In case of high interest in the Scheme and availability of additional funds, the budget may be increased.

Funding for the Action may cover up to 100% of eligible costs for research organisations.

Eligible expenditures

The costs of Action will be settled on a flat-rate basis, according to the following rates:

monthly total employment costs as an equivalent of one full-time position: up to 2000 EUR;

other monthly costs (consumables, travels, etc.): up to 500 EUR.

The duration of the Action shall vary from 6 to 12 months.

Working time shall vary from min. one-quarter to max. one full-time position e.g. 0,25; 0,5; 1.

The latest Action start date is 31th October 2022.

The first and final dates of eligibility of each Action will be stated in the Action contract.

More detailed information about eligible expenditures is described in the in Guide for Proposers.

The currency used in the Form for the settlement of costs in the Action implementation

The currency used for completing the Action budget in the Form shall be indicated in euro (EUR) and Polish zloty (PLN). The European Central Bank’s exchange rate from the date of the Scheme launch will be used for calculating all cost related to the Action. The Action contract will contain the maximum amount of funding in PLN only.

Exchange rate for the Scheme: 1 euro = 4.7023 PLN

Payments from the Programme Operator and the settlements between the Programme Operator and Proposers will be in PLN only.

The eligibility criteria of the Scheme

Formal verification of the Form is performed according to the following criteria:

Proposer is an eligible entity - Project Promoters and Polish Project Partners of the active research projects funded under POLNOR, POLNOR CCS and IdeaLab calls which are research organisations.

Each eligible entity submits a maximum of one Form for one Action per one funded Project

One Action can be address to only one Ukrainian researcher.

Ukrainian researcher has Ukrainian citizenship, holds at least a master (Магістр) or specialist (Спеціаліст) degree obtained in Ukraine (or other equivalent degree obtained outside Ukraine) and as a result of the armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine, who is:

a resident in Poland and arrived in Poland no earlier than 24 February 2022; or

a resident in Ukraine but is unable to continue his/her academic career, or work in research and development (R&D).

Form is sent in electronic form via ePUAP within the required time and on the appropriate template.

Total commitment of Ukrainian researcher does not exceed the equivalent of one full-time position.

Duration of the Action is from 6 to 12 months.

Form is signed with a qualified electronic signature(s) of the person(s) authorized to represent the Proposer.

All fields in the Form, including statement concerning obligation to acting during  performance of the Action in compliance with binding law regulations (of each party of the cooperation), have been completed and completion is according to the Guide.

Substantive verification of the Form is made on the basis of the following criteria:

Activities are complementary with the ongoing Project and justified concerning the aim of the Project.

Activities do not cover works already included in the Project

Activities which are complementary to the same Project are not duplicated.

More detailed information about the eligibility criteria is described in the Guide for Proposers annex 2 Verification criteria of the Form for the Action implementation.

Verification process and selection criteria

Evaluation consists of formal and substantive verification. The appraisal is carried out by the Programme Operator. Only the Forms that fulfil criteria a)-e) are eligible. Ineligible Forms will be left without further assessment, with no right to complaint. The Proposer has the right to submit a Form again.

In case the Form does not fulfil criteria f)-i) it is sent back for amendment or completion. A Form may be amended/completed only once. If the Proposer fails to implement the requested changes according to the request, or implements changes other than requested, or fails to resubmit the complete Form in the requested time, the Form is deemed ineligible and left without further assessment, with no right to complaint. The Proposer has the right to submit a Form again.  

In all substantive criteria, the Form is verified by scoring 1 or 0. If the Form fails to address the criterion under examination or cannot be judged due to missing or incomplete information it is scored with 0. If the Form successfully addresses all relevant aspects of the criterion in question it is scored with 1. To be recommended for funding, the Form must receive 3 points. Failure to meet any of the criteria means that the Action is not recommended for funding. The Proposer has the right to submit a Form again.     

The Scheme will prioritise support to young researchers. Hence the Actions will be ranked by the date of obtaining a Master (Магістр) or Specialist (Спеціаліст) degree obtained in Ukraine (or other equivalent degree obtained outside Ukraine) by Ukrainian researcher. The latest date will have priority.

More detailed information on evaluation procedure is described in the document ‘Guide for Proposers’.

Payment system

Payments towards the Action are executed in the form of one advance payment of the total requested amount stated in the Action contract and it will be transferred within 30 days from the signature of the Action contract to the Proposer through Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK). The Programme Operator places a payment order.

In case of justified doubts as to the proper performance of the Action and in exceptional cases, e.g. unclear financial status, previous irregularities, warning signals /suspicion of financial abuse, a payment model in the form of reimbursement of incurred expenditure may apply to an Action, after the analysis.

More detailed information on payment system is described in the Action contract template.

Submission of the Forms

The Form submitted to the PO by the Proposers for financial support under the Scheme provide all necessary information about the planned Action.

The form must be submitted in electronic form (a qualified electronic signature(s) of the person(s) authorized to represent the Proposer) via ePUAP to the following  addresses:

/NCBiR/default

/NCBiR/esp

/NCBiR/SkrytkaESP

Schedule of the Scheme

I round:

The electronic submission in the I round via ePUAP will be available for applicants as of June 24, 2022

The deadline for submission in the I round of the Forms is July 25, 2022 11:00 CET.

II round:

The electronic submission in the II round via ePUAP will be available for applicants as of July 25, 2022 11:00 CET.

The deadline for submission in the III round of the Forms is August 25, 2022 11:00 CET.

Evaluation and selection of proposals will take place one month following the launch of the Scheme rounds and this process will be repeated on a monthly basis until the budget is exhausted.

III round:

The electronic submission in the III round via ePUAP will be available for applicants as of August 25, 2022 11:00 CET.

The deadline for submission in the II round of the Forms is September 26, 2022 11:00 CET.

IV round:

The electronic submission in the IV round via ePUAP will be available for applicants as of September 26, 2022 11:00 CET.

The deadline for submission in the IV round of the Forms is October 26, 2022 11:00 CET.

V round:

The electronic submission in the V round via ePUAP will be available for applicants as of October 26, 2022 11:00 CET.

The deadline for submission in the V round of the Forms is November 28, 2022 11:00 CET.

Call documents

 

Monitoring of implementation of Action

more information

 

Legal acts

Regulation on the implementation of the European Economic Area (EEA) 2014-2021, hereinafter referred to as ‘Regulation’;

Regulation on the implementation of the Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2014-2021;

Guideline for Research Programmes – rules for the establishment and implementation of programmes falling under the Programme Area “Research”,

Bilateral Guideline - EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2014 – 2021;

Programme Agreement between the Financial Mechanism Committee and Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Investment and Economic Development of the Republic of Poland for the financing of the Programme “Applied Research”;

Act of 30 April 2010 on the National Centre for Research and Development (Journal of Laws  item 1861, 2020, as amended);

Act of 20 July 2018 on the Law of Higher Education and Science, (Journal of Laws item 574, 2022, as amended);

Regulation of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 17 September 2010 on the detailed mode of performance of tasks of the National Centre for Research and Development (Journal of Laws No 178 item 1200, 2010).

Question and queries to the Programme Operator

For additional information, please contact:

Dominika Jasińska - office: +48 22 39 07 417

The following e-mail address should be used when contacting the PO on the matters concerning the Scheme: Support for Ukrainian researchers under Bilateral Fund: norwaygrants-at-ncbr.gov.pl