According to the message sent in social media, receiving a high scholarship from the National Science Center is not subject to any conditions for Ukrainians, and the scholarship holders “will not even have to be physically in Poland”. These are misleading claims.
At the end of January, entries regarding special scholarship program for students and scientists from Ukraine who, due to Russian aggression, have taken refuge or will take refuge in Poland. “The National Science Center has announced a scholarship program thanks to which Ukrainian students will receive PLN 5,000 / month. To receive a scholarship, all they need to do is register at a Polish university. For comparison, scholarships for Poles amount to PLN 1,200 / month and are received by 1% of students. – we read in the entry, which was posted on an anonymous Twitter account on January 22 (original spelling of all posts). The National Science Center (NCN) is a government agency supporting scientific research by financing research projects and scientific activities through competitions. The tweet was viewed over 82,000 times. times. It was liked by nearly 1.3 thousand. users, almost 600 retweeted.
Next tweet on the same profile, he stated: “There are no academic requirements to receive a scholarship. You just have to be Ukrainian. Secondly, these students will not even have to be physically in Poland!! Honestly? It’s unbelievable.” This post has been viewed 10,000 times. times, more than 400 Twitter users liked it, and more than 120 shared it.
Misleading posts about National Science Center scholarships for students and scientists from UkraineTwitter
Some Internet users believed the information provided by an anonymous twitter user. “Who let this happen”; “Requirements are ridiculously low. It’s enough to be a Ukrainian student”; “Long live lawlessness and injustice. The rulers treat us interestingly!! By what right do those (strangers) whom we help have four times more money to receive (this is gross discrimination)?! This is sick”; “I would like to add that they presented and present a low level of knowledge. Bachelor’s and master’s theses should be checked. Every second one would not be the basis for defense if it was submitted by a Pole” – they wrote.
However, some retorted that the anonymous user was misleading: “‘enough to register at a Polish university’ = untrue statement. I suggest: applications are subject to evaluation (criteria in the link). PhD students”; “Don’t lie, Sasha. In order to receive a scholarship, applicants present in detail their scientific achievements, research projects, publications, achievements of the scientific supervisor, and on this basis the decision on funding is made. Evaluation criteria from the link you sent below” – they commented.
We checked who is right. In response to questions from Konkret24, the National Science Center assures that it puts emphasis on quality and excellence in each of its programs. The competition documentation of the scholarship program does not confirm the theses from the tweets quoted above.
The National Science Center grants funds only in the competition mode, only to the best projects
Information about the scholarship program for beginning scientists and students, which has sparked a discussion among Internet users, is available on the website of the National Science Centre. Among them is resolution No. 84/2022 of the Council of the National Science Center of July 25, 2022 on the conditions and regulations for conducting a scholarship program for students and researchers from Ukraine who do not hold a doctoral degree. According to it:
The program may be joined by a student or scientist who does not hold a doctoral degree as at the end of the call for proposals, who left Ukraine on February 24, 2022 (or later) as a result of the war, or intends to leave Ukraine and: a) was/is a student at a Ukrainian university in the academic year 2021/2022 or b) was/is doing doctoral studies (assistantship) in Ukraine in the academic year 2021/2022, or c) was/is employed at a research unit in Ukraine.
The aim of the program is to “financially support students/researchers by giving them the opportunity to continue their studies, work on a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation, or implement other, any forms of education in Polish scientific institutions”.
“Proposals in NCN calls are submitted Polish universities, research units and other entities (editor’s boldface), not individual scientists or students (also in this program, applications were submitted by universities ready to accept students / beginning scientists from Ukraine, and not by the interested / not)” – explains in a message sent to Konkret24 Anna Korzekwa-Józefowicz from the NCN press office.
“The NCN is an agency that emphasizes scientific quality and excellence and in each of its programmes, including those addressed to Ukrainian students and early-stage researchers, it grants funds only in a competition mode, only to the best projects” – he adds.
According to the program regulations, “the substantive evaluation takes into account: qualifications and achievements of the student/researcher; qualifications and achievements of the academic supervisor; plan of activities integrating the student/researcher with the applicant’s scientific community and a short plan of reintegration of the scholarship holder with the Ukrainian academic system; previous cooperation of the student/researcher with the applicant (if applicable); the legitimacy of the planned admission costs (in the event of a negative assessment, the funds will not be granted or will be granted in a lower amount)”.
Application deadline finished September 16, 2022. The implementation of the program may not start later than March 1, 2023, according to the resolution of the NCN Council. “The decision on the granting of funds is made within 1 month from the date of the end of the call for applications in the program. In justified cases, the deadline will be extended to 3 months” – we read on page NCN. Currently, the program has 22 laureates and laureates, there is a chance for an additional pool of scholarships – Korzekwa-Józefowicz told us.
In October 2022, the National Science Center announced the results of the scholarship competition for beginning scientists from Ukraine. There are 22 winners and laureates. Some profiles have been published on the NCN website. Before the war, young researchers studied or conducted research mainly in two Ukrainian cities – in Kiev and Kharkiv. The scholarship enabled them to continue their studies, prepare master’s theses or doctoral dissertations in Polish research centers, including in Warsaw, Poznań, Lublin, Rzeszów, Szczecin and Olsztyn. Their scholarships will last from 6 to 12 months.
“You only have to be Ukrainian”, “students will not even have to be physically in Poland” … – this is not true
In the quoted tweet, we read that in order to receive a scholarship from the NCN program, “you only have to be Ukrainian” and “these students will not even have to be physically in Poland”. Meanwhile, NCN on its website marksthat “the nationality of the scientist is not taken into account when verifying the fulfillment of the conditions for joining the program.
of the Regulations allows for the possibility of implementing the program remotely from the territory of Ukraine, but for a period not longer than half of the requested program implementation period. “This solution allows Ukrainian students/doctoral students/beginning scientists, for example, to complete the research they started there, maintain ties with their home universities/institutes, etc. It is also very important for the future of the academic community in Ukraine that the aid does not contribute to brain drain” – explains Korzekwa-Józefowicz.
According to the quoted tweet, “Ukrainian students will collect PLN 5,000 / month”. Pursuant to the resolution of the Council of the National Science Centre, a scholarship in this programme it can be from 3.5 to 5 thousand. PLN per monthwhich may be increased from the applicant’s own resources.
The budget of the scholarship program is PLN 1.2 million. Where does this money come from? The program is financed by the Fund for Bilateral Cooperation in the Basic Research program, whose operator in the third edition of the Norwegian and EEA funds for the years 2014-2021 is the National Science Centre. As Konkret24 Anna Korzekwa-Józefowicz explains, the program was initiated by the National Science Center and is financed from Norwegian and EEA funds.
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