Ministry of Science wants to support international research agendas
Ministry of Science wants to announce later this year a competition for international research agendas coordinated by the Poles. The best consortia will receive up to 50-60 million zlotys - Minister of Science Lena Kolarska-Bobińska announced on Monday.
In the competition for international research agendas (Międzynarodowe Agendy Badawcze, MAB-s), the best projects involving the international cooperation of Polish and foreign units will be selected - announced Minister of Science and Higher Education Lena Kolarska-Bobińska at a press conference. "The money will not be spent on scientific infrastructure, but on research projects and personnel" - the minister emphasised in an interview with PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland.
Lena Kolarska-Bobińska told PAP that the formation of international consortia leads to the transfer of knowledge, strengthens international cooperation with the best units, but also helps to consolidate institutions in Poland. "This tool leads to the creation of joint research projects. Europe is moving towards consolidation under the banner of innovation" - she said.
The MAB competition will be open to, among others, Polish teams that applied for EU funds in the Teaming for Excellence competition. Nearly 20 applications from Poland have been submitted in this programme. The results were announced last Friday. It turned out that three Polish consortia - from Wrocław, Łódź and Warsaw - advanced to the next stage of the competition. Ministry of Science does not want, however, the potential of other Polish consortia to be wasted, hence the competition for the MAB-s, in which they can participate.
For now, three out of the 20 teams advanced to the next stage of the Teaming for Excellence programme. They will receive 500.000 euros to prepare for the second stage of the competition, and if they win - they will receive 20 million euros from the European Union for the construction or modernization of centres of excellence, and another 20 million euros from the budget of the Ministry of Science. This will give them a chance to develop a large-scale strategic partnership with leading research centres in Europe.
Commenting on the results of Teaming for Excellence, the minister said: "As one of the few countries in the EU - which is emphasised in the (European - ed. PAP) Commission - we treated this competition very seriously and prepared well for it" - said the minister. She admitted that "Polish Achilles heel is often the preparation of projects". For that reasons in preparation for the competition the best teams had help from the Ministry of Science, Foundation for Polish Science and the National Centre for Research and Development, with which the teams consulted. Now the three teams that advanced to the second stage of the competition, have until 2016 to prepare a consortium construction business plan.
Among these three teams is International Centre for Research on Innovative Biobased Materials - ICRI-BioM in Łódź, formed by Łódź University of Technology, Łódź University of Medical Sciences and the Centre of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies PAS in collaboration with two Max Planck institutes in Germany. The centre operations will focus on chemical sciences and advanced materials.
Wrocław Center for Excellence also has a shot at winning 20 million euros. Its members are Wrocław University of Technology, the Fraunhofer Institute in Dresden and the University of Würzburg in Germany. This centre focuses on photonics and nano-materials.
500 thousand euros to develop a business plan will also go to CEZAMAT Environment in Warsaw, formed by Warsaw University of Technology and the German Fraunhofer Institute in Hermsdorf. The project will concern innovative, self-organizing networks of chemical and biochemical sensors capable of detecting environmental risks.
