Once again the National Science Centre has announced the results of its flagship competitions, OPUS and PRELUDIUM. Researchers have received funding to the amount of nearly 400 million PLN for research projects as part of fundamental research.

Out of 78 applications submitted by employees and doctoral students of the University of Gdańsk, 12 received funding. The total amount for the University of Gdańsk stands at 4,878,435 PLN.

The following projects have received funding as part of the OPUS 15 competition:

1. Prof. Dr hab. Grzegorz Węgrzyn from the Faculty of Biology, with the project entitled: „microRNA in the regulation of bacteriophage development”, amount of funding 1,901,000 PLN;
2. Dr Karol Szawaryn from the Faculty of Biology, with the project entitled: “The analysis of the chemical composition of larva covering of Aphrophora alni and its antibacterial, antifungal and anti-cancer properties”, amount of funding for the UG 489,140 PLN (project in a consortium, leader: National Medicines Institute);
3. Prof. Dr hab. Adam Lesner from the Faculty of Chemistry, with the project entitled: “The role of klotho and NPP1 proteins in regulating the function of the podocyte cell”, amount of funding for the UG 450,800 PLN (project in a consortium, leader: Mossakowski Medical Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences);
4. Prof. Dr hab. Adam Lesner from the Faculty of Chemistry, with the project entitled: “CP protease of the O'nyong-nyong virus: substrate profiling, design and synthesis of inhibitors and molecular probes and their biochemical analysis”, amount of funding for the UG 461,460 PLN (project in a consortium, leader: Wrocław University of Science and Technology);
5. Fr. Dr hab. Grzegorz Szamocki from the Faculty of History, with the project entitled: “Universalising editorship of the Biblical story of the beginnings of Israel: literary aspects, historical conditions and message”, amount of funding 98,285 PLN;
6. Dr hab. Michał Gałędek from the Faculty of Law and Administration, with the project entitled: “Dispute over the interpretation of the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland as a formative of Polish political liberalism”, amount of funding 412,529 PLN.

The following projects have received funding as part of the PRELUDIUM 15 competition:

1. Lidia Gaffke MSc. from the Faculty of Biology, with the project entitled: “Stimulation of various autophagy induction pathways in view of the effectiveness of the degradation of glycosaminoglycans in neuronopathic types of mucopolysaccharidoses”, amount of funding 210,000 PLN;
2. Magdalena Miodyńska MSc. from the Faculty of Chemistry, with the project entitled: “Metal halogen perovskites for heterogeneous photocatalysis”, amount of funding 206,214 PLN;
3. Samanta Romanowska MSc. from the Faculty of Chemistry, with the project entitled: “Modelling of the reaction of phosphorylation catalysed by the human thymidine kinase 1. A necessary element in the rational designing of radiosensitizing thymidine analogues”, amount of funding 179,184 PLN;
4. Magda Kozak MSc. Eng. from the Faculty of Chemistry, with the project entitled: “Complex photoactive nanostructures obtained in the process of anodic oxidation”, amount of funding 69,934 PLN;
5. Aleksandra Mańkowska MA from the Faculty of Social Sciences, with the project entitled: “Influence of the changes in the orientation of visual attention in the vertical dimension through the application of the prism adaptation procedure on the visual perception of emotion. An EEG study”, amount of funding 189,889 PLN;
6. Maciej Mańko MSc from the Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, with the project entitled: “The evolution of a new stadium in the lifecycle of Siphonophorae in the suborder Calycophorae (Cnidaria): an integrated approach of ecology and evolutionary developmental biology”, amount of funding 210,000 PLN.

As part of the OPUS 15, funding was also received by Prof. Dr hab. Michał Piotr Obuchowski, who submitted his project “Social interactions of Bacillus subtilis and Dickeya solani” as part of the Medical University of Gdańsk, the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG&MUG.

So far, the National Science Centre has received a total of 2,970 competition applications, out if which 618 have received funding, with the success indicator therefore being around 20.8%.

OPUS is a competition addressed to all researchers, irrespective of their degree, in which they may apply for funding for research projects, including those which require the purchase or production of research equipment. In the OPUS 15 competition applications may be submitted for the funding of projects lasting from 1 to 3 years, with one of the conditions for the participation being at least 3 published research papers by the head of a given project. A total of 1,838 applications were submitted to the National Science Centre, of which 359 qualified for funding.

The greatest number of applications in the OPUS 15 (as many as 693) were submitted in the field of exact and technical sciences. Financial backing to the total of nearly 137 million PLN was allocated to 135 projects. In the field of life sciences, 596 applications were submitted, of which 115 qualified for funding to the amount of over 170 million PLN. In the field of humanities and social and art sciences, 549 applications were submitted to the National Science Centre, of which 109 received a total of over 51 million PLN.

The PRELUDIUM competition is addressed to individuals who wish to apply for funding for research and do not hold a PhD degree. There was no age limit in the competition, and heads of projects at the start of their scientific careers, irrespective of age, could apply for funding. The project team as part of PRELUDIUM could comprise a maximum of three people, the research could have been planned for the period of one, two or three years and the budget could amount to, respectively, 70, 140 or 210 thousand zloty. The fifteenth edition of the PRELUDIUM competition received 1,132 applications, of which 259 received funding of over 39 million PLN.

The greatest resources were allocated to the field of life sciences, with 96 projects being awarded over 16 million PLN. Of 374 applications submitted in the field of exact and technical sciences, 96 qualified for funding to the total amount of nearly 14 million PLN, while in the field of humanities and social and art sciences over 8.7 million PLN was allocated to 69 applications.

As part of the PRELUDIUM 15 competition for individuals who do not hold a PhD degree, Aleksandra Urban MSc from the Laboratory of Cell Biology received funding to the amount of 210,000 PLN for the project entitled “Gain-of-function mutation of the C2 protein of the complement system as supplementation of anti-CD20 therapy in the murine model of lymphoma”.