Call for proposals for the OPUS 31 competition (until 16.06.2026)

Date added: 2026-03-19

Call for proposals for the OPUS 31 competition (until 16.06.2026)

The National Science Centre has announced the next edition of the OPUS 31 competition for researchers at all stages of their scientific careers. This is also an excellent opportunity for PhD students to fund their original research projects.

Applicants can apply for funding for projects involving basic research. The project duration can be 12, 24, 36, or 48 months. Under the competition, funds can be obtained for, among others, salaries, scholarships, purchase of research equipment, or business trips. The budget of this year's edition is PLN 550 million, and the NCN does not set an upper funding limit for a single proposal.

The proposal must be submitted electronically via the OSF system. Detailed information, competition documentation, and guidelines for applicants are available on the NCN website.

National Science Centre

Who can apply?

The OPUS competition is open to researchers regardless of their academic degree or title – a PhD student can also be the principal investigator. A prerequisite for submitting a proposal is having at least one published or accepted for publication academic paper in one's track record.

Important note for PhD students: OPUS is a competition where researchers at every career stage apply for funding – including experienced professors and heads of large research teams with a long-standing track record, and proposals from early-stage researchers are evaluated on an equal footing with projects from recognized experts in their fields. While we do not rule out the success of young researchers, for those seeking a more secure start in the world of NCN grants, we recommend familiarizing yourselves with the parallel PRELUDIUM competition, which is intended for researchers without a PhD degree.

Preludium 25 - more information

Important dates

For the grant handling process at Gdańsk University of Technology to run smoothly, proposals are subject to internal verification. The following schedule applies:

02.06.2026 – submission of the proposal in the MojaPG system for PMC (Project Management Centre) verification;
09.06.2026 – submission of the complete proposal for formal verification;
16.06.2026, 2:00 PM – closing of the call for proposals in the OSF system.