Invitation to the National Science Centre Days
Are you conducting research and looking for funding? Are you working on research projects and looking for answers? Or are you just wondering what your opportunities are in science? We invite you to participate in the National Science Centre days. Registration for the workshop is now open.
The organizers of the NCN Days are the National Science Centre and the University of Silesia, acting as a leader of the consortium of seven Silesian public universities - Academic Consortium - Katowice City of Science. The consortium consists of: Silesian University of Technology, Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education, in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, University of Economics in Katowice University of Silesia in Katowice. All events planned as part of the NCN Days will take place within the walls of the University of Silesia in Bankowa and Uniwersytecka Streets in Katowice.
The National Science Centre Days take place once a year in one of the academic cities in Poland. On May the 6th and 7th, the NCN office will symbolically change its address. At the invitation of the University of Silesia, NCN comes to Katowice to meet with researchers from Silesian research units and people working in administration, who deal with grant services on a daily basis. We also invite people dealing with the subject of research data management and students thinking about a career in science to participate in the NCN Days. The program includes discussion panels, practical workshops and lectures.
For two days in May, we will talk about basic research, how the competitive research funding system works and what opportunities the National Science Centre offers researchers at different stages of their careers: starting with those who are just taking their first steps on the path of scientific career, through those with a Ph. D degree and several years of experience, and ending with those most experienced scientists pursuing pioneering research. During the workshops, we will suggest what to look for at the stage of designing research and filling out the application to the NCN and how to navigate the requirements of grant agreements at the stage of project implementation and settlement.
New research horizons and their impact: Open discussions
On May the 6th, we invite you to open meetings held under the slogan “New horizons of research”. During the discussion panels, we will discuss, among others, the issue of tension between security and a breakthrough in science. Together with scientists from Silesian units and members of the NCN Council, we will consider how the assumptions of the grant system influence courage in planning research intentions. We will also discuss the pressure of productivity in science and its impact on research ethics, both in the context of the current evaluation system and the rules for settling grants. We will consider how the different formal requirements that scientists face influence their daily decisions to disseminate their research results. At the end of the NCN days, on May the 7th, we will talk about the invisible costs of success: we will discuss the challenges faced by researchers working in Poland and the mechanisms of burnout in a broader context.
Workshops during the NCN days
NCN Days 2026 will be filled with workshops for various groups of recipients.
Workshops for scientists – the 7th of May
If you are planning to submit an application for a research project grant, we invite you to a workshop on the evaluation of applications in the form of a practical meeting of a team of experts assessing applications, the so-called mock-panel. The workshops are conducted by the Coordinators of disciplines, i.e. NCN employees working with experts on a daily basis, responsible for organizing the work of panel teams and evaluating the project concepts submitted to the NCN. During the workshops, participants will take on the role of experts. They will work on authentic grant proposals, the authors of which have agreed to use them for training purposes. The proposals have been modified to include the most common mistakes made by the authors of the proposals. By using the expert perspective, participants will learn what to look for when working on their own project.
Registration is open until March 31st.
Workshop on research data management: the 7th of May
The workshops are designed for people dealing with the topic of research data management on a daily basis, i.e. for researchers, administrative staff of units (e.g. employees of libraries, project service offices, science departments) and for students. During the workshop, we will talk about what to look for when completing the Data Management Plan, both in the context of the requirements of the NCN, as well as good practices and principles adopted by the scientific communities. Part of the workshop will be working in groups.
Registration is open until March the 31st.
Workshops on NCN projects – the 6th and 7th of May
The meeting is intended for administrative staff of scientific units and will be held in the form of full-day workshops on the 6th and 7th of May. The event will be led by NCN staff directly involved in the process of servicing research projects and contact with the staff of scientific units. We will discuss various issues related to the implementation of the project from the moment of signing the grant agreement to its completion. We will tell, among others, how to Annex the contract, how to prepare periodic and final reports, and how to settle and close the project implementation. There will also be room for detailed questions from the participants. Participation in the workshops is possible only for administrative staff of universities and units’ co-organizers of NCN Days. In order to register, please contact the department responsible for administrative support of research projects in the place of your employment.
Motivational workshops for scientists – the 7th of May
A novelty in the NCN Days program will be the motivational workshop “A break in the scientist’s head as an antidote to academic overload.” We invite scientists and researchers who would like to learn practical strategies for protecting well-being and counteracting burnout. Registration for the workshop will be conducted by the University of Silesia; details will be soon.
