The Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) announces a call for applications for the START competition in 2025, in which early career researchers can win a scholarship for outstanding scientific achievements. Recruitment will be conducted until October 31, 2024.
The FNP START scholarship is a prestigious award for the most talented early career researchers, granted in recognition of their scientific achievements. The competition is open to researchers from all fields who in the year of application are under 30 years of age.
The competition considers especially the quality and originality of the candidate’s scientific achievements to date and the most important research achievement.
In previous years, the annual individual scholarship amounted to PLN 30,000. The scholarship may be used for any purpose. The FNP will award around 100 year-long scholarships.
The START programme also provides travel scholarships, namely funding for a research trip abroad to a center of the applicant’s choice.
In addition to scholarships, the START programme also awards the following distinctions:
- scholarship with distinction for winners whose achievements were rated highest by reviewers;
- Professor Barbara Skarga Scholarship, which will be awarded for research distinguished by boldly crossing boundaries among various fields of science, opening new research perspectives, and creating new values in science.
- Professor Adam Sobiczewski scholarship (since 2015), which applies to winners who conduct high-quality scientific research in mathematics, theoretical physics, or astronomy;
- Professor Wacław Szybalski Scholarship* (since 2022), which will be awarded for innovative achievements in biotechnology, genetics, or molecular biology, namely in scientific fields practiced by the scholarship founder. The award has been established by Professor Wacław Szybalski’s bequest.
The scholarships of the additionally awarded winners will be increased.
We encourage early career researchers interested in participating in the competition to read the following:
and other documents on the programme website. Among other documents, you may find there detailed information on the stages of the competition procedure, evaluation criteria, and the method of submitting applications, along with rules on awarding travel scholarships.
Applications for the 2025 START competition can be submitted from September 16 to November 31, 2024. Results will be announced in the second quarter of 2025.
Scholarships in the 2025 START competition will be financed both from the FNP budget and from funds donated by companies, institutions, private donors, and 1,5% income tax contributions.
Please note that according to the rules, you may receive the START scholarship just once.
We wish all candidates good luck!
———————————————————————————————————————
*Professor Wacław Szybalski (1921–2020), born in Lviv, was an outstanding Polish scientist, geneticist, and precursor of modern biotechnology and molecular biology. His pioneering research created new fields of science, including synthetic biology and gene therapy. He worked at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, among other places. For his outstanding achievements, Szybalski received honorary doctorates from the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, the University of Gdańsk, the Medical University of Gdańsk, the Gdańsk University of Technology, and the Jagiellonian University. He was also honored with the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta awarded by the President of Poland.
For more information about the profile and achievements of Professor Wacław Szybalski: