Dioscuri Programme, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Poland, 01.01.2021-31.12.2025; Deadline: 23.03.2020

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG) and National Science Centre Poland (NCN) open the third call for Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence in Poland. The joint call by MPG and NCN is designed to establish up to three Centres of Scientific Excellence at Polish Host Institutions. Going beyond the scope of a project grant, a Dioscuri Centre (DC) is built around a distinguished researcher position. It is awarded to excellent scientists capable of establishing and leading an outstanding, highly visible research group. A DC shall connect the local research landscape to the wider scientific community while simultaneously positioning the leader of the DC in the respective field. These efforts will be supported by Partners from German universities or research institutions. Partners will promote the Centres' structural development and integration in scientific networks, thereby strengthening scientific exchange between Poland and Germany. Each DC may also decide to expand this partnership tool and turn it into an Advisory Board. DCs are expected to conduct top-class internationally competitive and innovative research. Each of them will be funded with up to EUR 300,000 p.a., initially for five years. This amount will be part of a larger package involving supplementary funds, infrastructure, scientific equipment, and a long-term perspective for the leader of the DC at the respective Host Institution (to be arranged individually between selected candidates and their Host Institutions). This will put the DCs in a position to attract additional funding from NCN and other Polish or European/international sources. In the present call, up to a total of three DCs will be established in the fields of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Life Sciences and Natural Sciences and Technology. Applicants are asked to provide a concept for the DC they plan to establish, which includes an innovative research programme as well as an outline for the DC's structural development. The deadline for applications is 23 March 2020. Dioscuri is a programme devised by MPG to support the development of lighthouses of scientific excellence in Central and Eastern Europe by promoting outstanding scientists who want to conduct their research in this region. Following a bottom-up and sustainable approach, it strives to establish future-oriented research fields and international standards of scientific quality. Dioscuri serves to strengthen the European Research Area as a whole and to expand the foundations for long-term economic and social prosperity in Europe. The programme is mutually funded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The detailed call and further information about the Dioscuri Programme are available at www.mpg.de/dioscuri and ncn.gov.pl/dioscuri/dioscuri3/