Projects by joint research teams from UW and WIM-PIB (under Action IV.3.1)

Competition rules

These rules for awarding funds concern the support of research cooperation between the University of Warsaw and the Military Institute of Medicine – National Research Institute in order to increase the impact of research results carried out by joint research teams on world science and to gain experience regarding the mechanisms of cooperation between both universities.

Competition objectives

1. Support for research teams from UW and WIM-PIB, whose work will strengthen the long-term cooperation of both institutions.
2. Support for teams implementing research projects with great potential for obtaining external grants for further research funding and/or joint publication, contributing, inter alia, to improve the evaluation indicators of WIM-PIB, UW and the IDUB UW programme.
3. Support for teams implementing research projects, the results of which will respond to significant social challenges.

Amount of co-financing

Research teams may apply for funding up of to 50,000 PLN from the funds of IDUB UW as part of Action IV.3.1 “Internal grants of the University of Warsaw for the employees’ research potential increase” and up to 50,000 PLN from WIM-PIB funds.

The application form is provided in Annex 1 to the Rules.

Applicants and the research team

1. The projects are prepared by at least two applicants – the project leaders responsible for submitting the application and project settlement (including at least one from UW and one from WIM-PIB), who:
   1. are among the N-classified staff at UW or WIM-PIB on the day of submitting the application,
   2. have a proven track record in managing a research or clinical team,
   3. have experience with conducting scientific research, the results of which have been published in journals among the top 25% in the discipline represented by those journals (according to the Scopus/Web of Science database) or have min. 100 points according to the list by MNiSW or the results of their research have been published in the form of monographs / chapters in monographs in publications from the second tier of the MNiSW list.
2. The task of project leaders is to create research teams.
3. Research teams from UW can include employees, doctoral students, and students.
4. Research teams whose members include young scientists will receive additional points during the assessment of the applications¹.
5. The applicants’ declaration regarding the submission of a joint publication and a joint grant application will be the decisive criteria when determining the ranking for applications with the same number of points.
6. The applicant – the project leader, both from UW and WIM-PIB, as referred to above, may apply for funding with only one project application in a given competition

Anticipated outcomes

As a result of the co-financing granted, joint research teams from UW and WIM-PIB will be able to continue successfully applying for grants from Polish and international research funding agencies and to publish research results in prestigious journals. The implemented projects will contribute to the permanent strengthening of cooperation between UW and WIM-PIB. Joint research teams that conduct research responding to key social challenges will develop and deepen their activities.

Period of financing

• up to 12 months from the date of obtaining the funding.

Competition schedule

• date of the call for applications: from 2 July 2024 to 16 August 2024
• deadline for announcing the competition results: by 20 September 2024

Competition budget

The competition is financed by UW and WIM-PIB in the following proportions:

• UW: 300,000 PLN financed from IDUB UW funds,
• WIM-PIB: 300,000 PLN

Support implemented at the University of Warsaw as part of Action IV.3.1 “Internal grants of the University of Warsaw for the employees’ research potential increase” “Excellence Initiative – Research University” at the University of Warsaw.

The selection committee

1. The selection committee is appointed by the Programme Manager of IDUB UW and the Director of WIM-PIB.
2. The Committee is composed of 3 members from UW and 3 members from WIM-PIB.
3. The Committee shall appoint a Chairperson from among its members.
4. The Chairperson of the Committee convenes meetings of the Committee and directs its work.
5. As a condition for the Commission to conduct its work, at least 2/3 of its members must participate.
6. The Chairperson of the selection committee may exclude a member of said committee during the evaluation of a given application, in the event of reasonable doubts concerning his or her impartiality and objectivity, and particularly if:
   1. the committee member is the applicant’s spouse, relative, or in-law to the second degree;
   2. is related to an applicant through adoption, custody, or guardianship;
   3. the committee member has an existing legal or factual relationship with an applicant which may give rise to justifiable doubts as to the committee member’s impartiality, including when the applicant is the supervisor or subordinate of a member of the selection committee.
7. The selection committee may deliberate with the use of electronic communication tools. It is allowed for members of the selection committee to take part in committee meetings using electronic means of communication.
8. The committee creates a ranking list of project applications together with a recommendation for co-financing and presents it to the Programme Manager of IDUB UW and the Director of WIM-PIB in order for them to make a final, joint decision on their implementation/financing.
9. The decision to qualify or not to qualify the application for co-financing is final and is not subject to appeal.

The work of the selection committee is assisted by an administrative employee, appointed by the Chairperson of the committee.

The administrative support for the competition will be provided by the University of Warsaw: dr Lidia Tańska, email: l.tanska@uw.edu.pl, tel: +48 22 55 20749 and by WIM-PIB: Department for Support and Project Management, Statutory and National Projects Section, email: rozliczenianaukowe@wim.mil.pl, tel: +48 261 817 296; +48 261 817 298.

Assessment of the applications

1. The application is subject to:
   1. a formal assessment, consisting of checking the completeness of the application and the compliance of the proposed project with the Rules of the competition,
   2. a substantive assessment, in accordance with the criteria set out in Annex 2 to the Rules.
2. If formal deficiencies or obvious mistakes are found in the application for funding, before the application is forwarded for substantive evaluation, the applicants will be called upon to remove formal deficiencies or correct obvious mistakes, within no more than 7 days from the date of sending the request. A request for supplementary information will be sent to the applicants’ email address with a notice that if the formal issues are not remedied within the prescribed period, the application will not be considered for evaluation.
3. In a given competition, the committee may refer applications to an expert or expert clinicians for an opinion. The rules and deadline for the preparation of the review are determined by the selection committee, in order to ensure the procedural efficiency of the competition.
4. The score for an application is the sum of the points granted by individual members of the Committee for particular assessment criteria, considering the opinion/points from expert(s), divided by the number of those members in the selection committee. The score of an application is recorded in the minutes of the Committee meeting.
5. In the event of an equal number of points between applications, the Committee shall decide on the order of applications on the ranking list, which may be eligible for funding. In the event of an equal number of votes, the differences in scores according to the evaluation criteria with the highest priority in succession will be taken into account.
6. The selection committee prepares a descriptive justification for their assessment of each application.
7. On the basis of the evaluation of the applications, the Committee draws up a ranked list, including the threshold of points for qualifying a research project for funding, which is not lower than 50% of the total points possible.

Document circulation

1. The electronic application form will be available on the IDUB UW and WIM-PIB websites.
2. The application should be signed by the applicant – project leader from UW and the head of the organisational unit employing the UW applicant, as well as the applicant – project leader from WIM-PIB and the head of the organisational unit in which the applicant from WIM-PIB is employed.
3. A scan of the signed application should be sent by email to the following addresses: UW email: l.tanska@uw.edu.pl; WIM-PIB email: rozliczenianaukowe@wim.mil.pl
4. The signatures may be qualified electronic signatures.
5. Applications that do not meet the formal requirements will not be considered.
6. Decision to grant funding. The list of projects which have been chosen to receive funding will be published on the IDUB UW and WIM-PIB websites.

Project settlement

1. The settlement of the project takes place within 30 days of its completion date and is made on the basis of a project implementation report – taking into account the description of the tasks performed and the costs incurred.
   1. The substantive report is submitted jointly by the applicants – project leaders from UW and WIM-PIB. The report is signed by the applicants and the heads of the organisational units in which the applicants from UW and WIM-PIB are employed, respectively. The report is submitted to the following address:
      • UW: dr Lidia Tańska, ul. Dobra 55, room 2.027, email: l.tanska@uw.edu.pl
      • WIM-PIB: Department for Support and Project Management, Statutory and National Projects Section, ul. Szaserów 128, building 31, room 451, email: rozliczenianaukowe@wim.mil.pl
   2. Financial settlement is carried out separately for the funds granted by UW and WIM-PIB
      • Settlement of UW funding: a summary of costs incurred from the implementation of tasks (by category and in a planned-disbursed format), signed by the Bursar’s Representative at the UW organisational unit where the project is conducted, and by the applicant – the project leader at UW, as an attachment to the substantive report.
      • Settlement of WIM-PIB funding: a summary of costs incurred from the implementation of tasks (by category and in a planned-disbursed format), signed by the Head Accountant at WIM-PIB and the applicant – the project leader at WIM-PIB, as an attachment to the substantive report.
   3. The report on the implementation of the project is subject to approval by the Chairperson of the Selection Committee
2. The final settlement of the project consists of the following: submission of a joint publication and/or a joint grant application.
3. Conditions for the final settlement of the project
   The condition for the final settlement of the project is the submission, within 12 months of the end of the project:
   • a joint publication of research results in journals from the best 25% in the discipline represented by these journals (according to the Scopus/ Web of Science database) or with at least 100 points according to the MNiSW list or in a publication from the second tier of the MNiSW list, or
   • a joint application for a grant for further financing of a research project in Polish and/or international research funding agencies.

   A Joint publication or joint application for a grant for further financing of the project should be submitted by at least two members of the research team, including one from UW and one from WIM-PIB.

Final provisions

UW and WIM-PIB reserve the right to cancel the competition without stating the reason.

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¹ Persons conducting research activity, doctoral students or academic teachers who do not have a doctoral degree or have a doctoral degree, after which less than 7 years have elapsed (the 7-year period does not include periods of maternity leave, leave on the conditions of maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave, or family leave).

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Detailed rules for financing projects by joint research teams from UW and WIM-PIB

Principles of project financing

1. The competition is financed by UW and WIM-PIB in the following proportions:
   • UW: 300,000 PLN financed from IDUB UW funds,
   • WIM-PIB: 300,000 PLN.
2. Research teams may apply for funding up of to 100,000 PLN in total from IDUB UW and WIM-PIB funds, in a 50/50 ratio.
3. Project budgets from UW and WIM-PIB are independent of each other and there is no possibility of transfers between them.
4. The rules and regulations in force at UW apply to the disbursement of funds from the project budget of UW. The rules and regulations in force at WIM-PIB apply to the disbursement of funds from the project budget of WIM-PIB.
5. The costs incurred by the University of Warsaw are payable from IDUB UW.
6. The costs incurred by WIM-PIB are paid from a part of the WIM-PIB budget as part of the competition.
7. The project budget should be described under the following cost categories: remuneration, materials, fixed assets, third-party services, and other direct costs, including the costs of participation in conferences.
8. During the implementation of the project, if UW and WIM-PIB jointly implement a solution that has the features of an invention, utility model, industrial design, or a solution that has the features of a work within the meaning of copyright law, or know-how, the division of property rights will be proportional to the involvement of a given university or institute in the project.
9. The publications based on the results of the research of the project will constitute the joint achievements of the parties (the university and the institute). Each party shall be entitled to publish the results and use them with the consent of the other party.
10. The costs of publishing the research results will be borne by the parties in proportion to the percentage share in the publication.

Administrative support is provided by

• UW: dr Lidia Tańska, email: l.tanska@uw.edu.pl, tel: +48 22 55 20749;
• WIM-PIB: Department for Support and Project Management, Statutory and National Projects Section, email: rozliczenianaukowe@wim.mil.pl, tel: +48 261 817 296; +48 261 817 297.

Annexes

1. Title of the project: „Identyfikacja czynników predykcyjnych wystąpienia nowo rozpoznanej objawowej niewydolności serca u chorych hospitalizowanych z powodu ostrego zespołu wieńcowego – badania obserwacyjne”
   UW team leader/ principal executor: dr Jakub Zieliński
   WIM-PIB team leader/ principal executor: prof. dr hab. Paweł Krzesiński
2. Title of the project: „Analiza podstaw genetycznych w czerniaku błony naczyniowej oka”
   UW team leader/ principal executor: prof. dr hab. Krystian Jażdżewski
   WIM-PIB team leader/ principal executor: dr Izabela Nowak-Gospodarowicz
3. Title of the project: „Badania proteomiczne białka amyloidu A (SAA) oraz profilu pierwiastkowego wspomagające terapie w łuszczycy”
   UW team leader/ principal executor: dr Anna Ruszczyńska
   WIM-PIB team leader/ principal executor: prof. dr hab. Witold Owczarek
4. Title of the project: „Prognozowanie przebiegu klinicznego choroby u pacjentów z rzutowo remisyjną postacią stwardnienia rozsianego z wykorzystaniem metod uczenia maszynowego, sieci neuronowych oraz wzorca i stopnia atrofii mózgu”
   UW team leader/ principal executor: dr Józef Ginter
   WIM-PIB team leader/ principal executor: prof. dr hab. Adam Stępień
5. Title of the project: „Zastosowanie wiązki świetlnej do inaktywacji krętków wywołujacych boreliozę (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto) w bioptatach skóry ludzkiej”
   LUW team leader/ principal executor: prof. dr hab. Anna Bajer
   WIM-PIB team leader/ principal executor: dr Agnieszka Rustecka
6. Title of the project: „Zmiany struktury i funkcji flory jelitowej u pacjentów z dysbiozami jelita cienkiego po chirurgicznym leczeniu otyłości”
   UW team leader/ principal executor: prof. dr hab. Łukasz Dziewit
   WIM-PIB team leader/ principal executor: dr hab. Maciej Walędziak