The Foundation for Polish Science
The Foundation for Polish Science has been in operation since 1991. It is a non-governmental, non-political, non-profit institution which pursues the mission of supporting science. It is the second largest source of science funding in Poland, following the State budget. The Foundation pursues its statutory goals by:
- Supporting distinguished scholars and research teams in all their fields of inquiry
- Assisting innovative ventures and commercialization of scientific discoveries and inventions.
Rules of awarding grants by the Foundation:
- Main motto the FNP: “Supporting the best to make them even better”
- Direct support –targeted at scholars and research groups
- Competitive format – all grants, prizes and scholarships are awarded on the basis of a competition, regardless of the candidates' nationality
- Peer-review method – scientists assess the accomplishments of those competing for a Foundation
- Scientific excellence – the most important criterion for awarding any kind of support
- “Hard money” principle – grants are awarded on the basis of very strict criteria for all the programmes, and are managed thereafter according to strict accounting procedures.
Programmes of the Foundation for Polish Science (PDF)
The START scholarship is awarded to the most talented young researchers in recognition of their scientific accomplishments. Researchers aged 30 or below, working in all fields of research, are eligible to apply. The START programme rules and regulations the application instructions are available from the programme website. START 2019 call is now closed and a START 2020 call has not yet been published.