Deadline: 15-Jan-2026
The National Agency for Academic Exchange is accepting applications for its Polish Returns Flagship Programme to support scientists of Polish origin who have gained research experience abroad and now wish to return to Poland to continue their careers and set up their own teams.
The Polish Returns 2025 program offers two tracks—Junior Fellow and Senior Fellow—based on the career stage of returning scientists (Project Managers). Each track defines specific requirements, project duration, funding levels, and team composition.
The program provides remuneration for the Project Manager, Project Group members, and the Inviting Person. During the project, managers are expected to conduct their planned research while applying for additional domestic and international grants to sustain their scientific work in Poland beyond the project’s end.
Participants may choose between a research component funded by the National Science Centre (NCN) or an application component funded by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR). Eligible winners may also join a competition organized by the Medical Research Agency (ABM).
Funding within the program includes remuneration for all project participants. The Project Manager may receive up to PLN 240,000 per year in the Junior Fellow track or up to PLN 330,000 per year in the Senior Fellow track. The Inviting Person, who assists the Project Manager in acclimatization and institutional navigation, may receive up to PLN 14,400 per year.
Project Group members may be allocated up to PLN 160,000 annually in the Junior Fellow track and PLN 250,000 in the Senior Fellow track. These amounts include employer costs and can be flexibly managed with prior consent during project implementation.
The employing institution must provide full administrative, financial, and infrastructural support to facilitate the project, including laboratory and office space, access to research infrastructure, and assistance with grant applications and permits. The institution must also ensure that the Project Manager resides in Poland for the duration of the project.
Projects must begin between September 1, 2026, and April 1, 2027. Junior Fellow projects should last between 24 and 36 months, while Senior Fellow projects may run between 36 and 48 months. With consent from the National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA), the duration can be extended by up to 12 months without increasing funding.
The program is open to all fields of science, including representatives of the arts, provided that their activities are scientific in nature. It offers two distinct paths: the Junior Fellow track, designed for early-career researchers who obtained their doctoral degree within the last seven years, and the Senior Fellow track, intended for more experienced scientists with at least four years of recent research experience abroad.
Both tracks require that candidates have Polish citizenship, demonstrate internationally recognized scientific or implementation achievements, and have not lived or worked in Poland for the specified period before applying.
Applications must be submitted in English by January 15, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. The Project Manager may appear in only one application per call, though institutions can submit multiple applications provided each has a different Project Manager.
The evaluation process includes formal verification, review by an Evaluation Team, expert assessments by two reviewers, and a possible interview stage for shortlisted candidates.
For more information, visit NAWA.
