Seven grants for experienced researchers and 63 grants for individuals 5 to 12 years post their doctorate were awarded by the National Science Center (NCN) in the MAESTRO and SONATA BIS competitions. The winners will carry out basic research projects with a total value of nearly PLN 235.7 million.
MAESTRO 14 and SONATA BIS 16 are competitions aimed at researchers with experience in independent scientific work, who want to obtain funds for the implementation of the most advanced projects, requiring the involvement of many researchers and the purchase or manufacture of research equipment. MAESTRO and SONATA BIS projects can last 36, 48 or 60 months. There are no upper funding limits for a single project, the reasonableness of costs is evaluated by experts.
The MAESTRO competition finances pioneering research projects, focusing on interdisciplinary research significant for the development of science that goes beyond the current state of knowledge and may result in scientific discoveries. Experienced scientists with at least a doctoral degree, who in the last ten years have managed at least two research projects selected in national or international competitions, published at least five publications in reputable scientific journals or scientific publishing houses, Polish or foreign, and meet other competition criteria involving conference speeches, awards, association membership publications, were eligible to apply for funding.
The main objective of the SONATA BIS competition is to support the establishment of new research teams conducting basic scientific research. Its fourteenth edition was aimed at researchers who obtained their doctoral degrees between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2019.
In the sixteenth edition of the MAESTRO competition, NCN received 69 applications. Seven projects have been awarded funding: one in the humanities, social sciences and arts category, two in the life sciences category and four in the category of science and technology. The value of the funded projects is more than PLN 29.7 million. The numerical success rate in the competition was 10.14%.
In SONATA BIS 14, 417 applications were submitted. Grants were awarded to 63 scientists: 13 in the humanities, social sciences and arts category, 18 in the life sciences category, and 32 in the category of science and technology. The budget of all funded projects totals nearly PLN 206 million.
In January 2025, the NCN Council decided to increase the budgets of the MAESTRO 16 and SONATA BIS competitions, thus increasing the number of projects that can receive funding.
