Poland: The Key Role of the National Centre for Research and Development

Submitted by Oliver Kovacs on 10 December, 2011 - 10:55
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Poland

Established in 2007, the National Centre for Research and Development has played a key role in implementing the Polish innovation policy this year. Since the introduction of the science system reform, the Centre has been responsible for creating programmes and financing projects related to application research, for attaining the objectives of the National Research Programme adopted this year, as well as for spending of the EU R&D funds.

The reform of the science system assumes that the state’s tasks related to this area will be performed by two agencies of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The first one is the National Science Centre based in Krakow, whose main task is the financing of the basic research, international cooperation in this area, and the financing of doctoral fellowships and post-doctoral internships (NSC spends 20% of its budget to support young scientists).

The main task of the National Centre for Research and Development, based in Warsaw, is to create a platform for a dialog between science and business. To attain this goal, NCRD has been implementing strategic programmes both on the national and international level.

The strategic programmes include the biggest projects in which the best research teams face the tasks set forth in the National Research Programme adopted in August 2011 by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Poland. These programmes regard, to a large extent, research works whose effects are supposed to help Poland meet the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy, including a 20 per cent improvement of energy efficiency, a 20 per cent increase of the share of RES in the energy balance, as well as a reduction of the CO2 emissions. Some of the programmes focus  on technologies related to obtaining clean energy from coal and biomass, production of safe nuclear energy or decreasing the energy consumption of buildings. 

To facilitate the day-to-day cooperation between science and business, several programmes have been launched, including a program called “INNOTECH,” with a budget of EUR 145.5 m. The programme is comprised of two components — In-Tech and Hi-Tech. The In-Tech component is addressed, among other things, to consortiums of scientific units and enterprises, as well as to companies (SMEs and big companies) interested in obtaining funding for research related to modern technologies or preparation for their implementation (obtaining of certificates, intellectual property protection, etc). The Hi-Tech component is about providing funds for the SMEs sector companies interested in purchasing research services from scientific units. 

KadTech is a programme addressed to companies wanting to hire scientists for the duration of R&D projects. This programme provides for a 50 per cent co-financing of costs related to employing R&D staff, and a 75 per cent co-financing for the use of research labs. 

The Centre’s recent initiative is a pilot programme entitled “Commercialization of Research and Development Results — Testing the New Support Mechanisms,” launched in November 2011. The programme provides support to small and medium enterprises which do not qualify for grants under other programs. The support is conditional upon transferring a portion of intellectual property rights related to a given project to NCRD. 

In the third quarter of 2011, the Centre was made responsible for implementing operational programmes co-financed from the EU budget. Currently, the Centre is responsible for:

  • Priority I (Research and development of modern technologies, EUR 1.2 b) and II (R&D infrastructure, EUR 1.2 b) within the Framework of the Innovative Economy Programme, 
  • Priority IV (Tertiary education and science, EUR 0.9 b) within the framework of the Human Capital programme,
  • Priority XIII (Infrastructure of higher education,  EUR 0.6 b) within the Framework of the Infrastructure and the Environment programme.

Today, the National Centre for Research and Development faces a big challenge. In a recent interview for the Polish Innovation Portal Karolina Lipka of NCRD said: “As an intermediary between business and science, we must make sure that research and development works fit the strategies of both groups, and that both groups benefit from them. 

References / further information:

Correspondent: 
Krzysztof Garski
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