Almost PLN 4 million for research for doctoral students of the Silesian University of Technology under the GRanD program
More than PLN 3.9 million was allocated to finance research of PhD students of the Silesian University of Technology under the GRanD project. It supported scientific activities related to the green and digital transformation of the region. The project included such forms of support as co-financing of scientific publications, participation in conferences or scientific internships in Poland and abroad, or the possibility of taking advantage of specialized training. 129 people benefited from the project.
The project “Comprehensive support for the development of the Joint Doctoral School and the scientific activity of doctoral students related to the needs of the green and digital economy” (GRanD) lasted almost two years and ended on the 30th of June 2026.
Where the funds came from
The project was financed entirely from the European Funds for Silesia Program 2021–2027, from the Just Transition Fund – FESL Priority.10.00, FESL.10.25 action “Development of higher education in line with the needs of the green economy”. The grant amounted to PLN 5 209 500 and covered 100% of eligible expenses, without the contribution of the university. The project was implemented from October 1st, 2024, to June 30th, 2026, in conjunction with the Just Territorial Transformation Plan of the Silesian Voivodeship 2030.
Assumptions: Research close to the real needs of doctoral students
The aim of the project was to increase the comfort of conducting scientific research related to the transformation of the mining region toward a green and digital economy. The scope of support was designed on the basis of a needs survey conducted among doctoral students and staff of the School in 2023 – it was the future participants themselves who pointed out what they lacked the most. The condition for participation was a close connection between the subject of the individual PhD Research Plan and the transformation processes.
The support covered five forms: co-financing of research costs, publication of scientific articles, participation in conferences, national and foreign internships, and specialist training. They were complemented by training for the School staff and equipping its facilities.
What they managed to finance
The largest part of the funds – PLN 2 216 655.37 for 58 PhD students – went directly to conduct research. Among other things, chemical reagents, materials for regeneration of pump systems in vacuum systems, Chromeleon software for HPLC chromatograph operation, tribotester components, LED sources, and detectors for fNIRS testing, research software licenses and external surveys and instrumental analyses were financed. On average, one PhD student accounted for nearly PLN 38 thousand - much more than was assumed at the planning stage.
On six continents: International recognition of research
The most visible effect of the project is the presence of young scientists from the Silesian University of Technology in the international scientific circulation. 121 business trips to 28 countries on six continents were settled, including 73 trips abroad.
Scientific conferences include 74 trips of 48 doctoral students (PLN 162 717.98), of which 42 were the trips abroad. The results of the research conducted at the Silesian University of Technology were presented in 18 countries – most often in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, and Portugal, but also in the United States, China, India, Colombia, and Saudi Arabia.
Internships and study visits – 37 trips of 31 people (PLN 597 481.97), including 26 trips to 19 countries – this allowed for several weeks and several months of research stays in renowned centres: Jimma University in Ethiopia, UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, USA, University of Wollongong in Australia, Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, University of Liverpool, universities in Grenoble, Gunsan, Trondheim and Freiberg. It is the most cost-intensive, but also the most deeply affecting form of support – it builds lasting scientific contacts and opens the way to joint publications and projects.
The co-financing also covered the costs of publishing scientific articles of 21 PhD students (PLN 106 055.71) – in international journals, including MDPI, Springer Nature, and Elsevier, in an open access formula, which increases the citation rate and visibility of the research.
PLN 267 832.76 was allocated for specialist training for 24 PhD students – from SimaPro and AnyBody software courses, through metabolic data analysis and bioinformatics, to Life Cycle Assessment at MIT.
Summary: A form of support that has worked
The GRanD project has shown that flexible, individually tailored funding for doctoral research brings tangible results. Instead of a rigid distribution of funds, the project allowed each participant to build their own support path – for some it made it possible to purchase materials for research and reagents without months of waiting, for others three months internship at the other end of the world, and still for others participation in conferences where the results of their work were presented to an international audience.
The effect is not just numbers, but they speak for themselves: 129 people covered by support, instead of planned 90 and 121 research trips to 28 countries. Above all, a real improvement in the comfort of conducting research – removal of the financial barrier that previously determined whether a given experiment would be carried out at all, and whether its results would be presented outside the university. For the Joint Doctoral School of the Silesian University of Technology, this means an increase in internationalization and position in the national system of doctoral education, and for the region a group of young researchers prepared to work on the challenges of green and digital transformation.
The project “Comprehensive support for the development of the Joint Doctoral School and the scientific activity of doctoral students related to the needs of the green and digital economy” No. FESL.10.25-IZ.01-07E7/23-003 was co-financed by the Just Transition Fund under the European Funds for Silesia 2021-2027.
Text: Prof.: Dr Hab. Eng Magdalena Palacz, Prof. of the Silesian University of Technology.
