The joint call by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG) and National Science Centre Poland (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. The DC’s development will further be supported by an international Scientific Advisory Board.

DCs are expected to conduct top-class internationally competitive and innovative research. Each of them will be funded with up to € 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.

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 15 June 2021.

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. Each DC established through this call will be monitored and evaluated by the Dioscuri Scientific Committee, and will be awarded the title of

Dioscuri Centre of Scientific Excellence. A programme initiated by the Max Planck Society, jointly managed with the National Science Centre in Poland, and mutually funded by the Polish Ministry of Education and Science (MEiN) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

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 detailed call and further information about the Dioscuri Programme are available at https://www.mpg.de/dioscuri and https://ncn.gov.pl/dioscuri/dioscuri4/