FIRST TEAM FENG

Applicants in the programme are research units and a principal investigator who is the author of the application for funding with a minimum doctoral degree (regardless of nationality) who has defended the doctorate no earlier than 12 years before the date of application with the start of the period being the annual date of the degree and the end of the period being the year preceding the deadline for applications in the competition. The deadline of 12 years may be extended if the conditions described in the Regulations for Project Selection Criteria are met.

The principal investigator of the project should be employed in the Beneficiary’s unit on at least 50% of a full-time basis for the project and involve in his/her team young scientists: students, doctoral students or young PhD graduates.

Objectives of the FIRST TEAM Measure:

• support for projects focused on innovative research with high potential for implementation
• assistance in achieving scientific independence through leading a research team
• development of international scientific cooperation and collaboration with entrepreneur from Poland
• increasing the competitiveness of Polish applications submitted to ERC calls.

Evaluation of an application for funding is a three-stage process and consists of a formal assessment and a two-stage substantive assessment.

Formal assessment is carried out by employees of Intermediate Body (IB) – the Foundation for Polish Science. Substantive assessment is carried out by Project Evaluation Committee composed of IB employees and external experts. The Project Evaluation Commitee in the first and second stage of substantive assessment works in the form of panels. An element of the substantive assessment process at II stage of substantive assessment is an interview with the principal investigator.

The applications are evaluated on the basis of the criteria annexed to the Regulations for Project Selection.

Results of the assessment after each stage, presenting projects qualified and not qualified for the next stage, are published by the Foundation on the call for proposals website and on the portal of the European Funds.

Detailed information on the assessment procedure is provided in the Regulations for Project Selection (RWP).

In case of a negative project assessment, the Applicant has the right to lodge a protest.

The application for funding must be completed in accordance with the Instructions for filling the Application Form.

Applications can only be submitted via FNP's electronic system at: https://wnioski2023.fnp.org.pl.

The applicable documents are made available on the FIRST TEAM measure website and in the Applications Database (both within the “Files to download” section and directly in the “Attachments and Statements” section).

Announcement of information on the second call for proposals in the First Team activity.

Please note that available English version of documentation (for both 1/2023 and 1/2024 Calls)  is a translation of the Polish documents. In the case of any discrepancy between the English and Polish versions, the Polish version shall be legally binding.