The laureates of the Minister of Education and Science’s scholarship for outstanding young scientists have sent an open letter to Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Minister of Science and Higher Education Dariusz Wieczorek. They appealed to them to increase funding for Polish science and to review existing channels for obtaining funds for research.

The letter was signed by Prof. Maciej Grzybek of the Medical University of Gdansk and Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, as well as 111 scientists working at Polish entities – universities, institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences and research institutes.

“On the one hand, the reduction of funds for the National Centre of Science (NCN), on the other hand, the progressive inflation caused more and more of our alumni and younger colleagues to consider leaving the Polish university environment”, the scholarship holders write in their letter.  

The scholars propose “to consider revising the funds allocated to NCN’s activities as a flagship institution ensuring apolitical and merit-based funding of scientific research”.