Polish Funding Organisation NCBR joins CORNET

Due to the lack of similar instruments in the Polish landscape the Polish funding agency National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) joined CORNET in 2011. CORNET offers a number of potential beneficiaries and strengthens the cooperation between RTOs and industrial associations. The intention of NCBR to join CORNET was clear: to support the development of R&D based clusters in Poland.

Mr. Adam Kazmierczak is Head of the so-called “Section for Commercialisation of the Research Results” at NCBR and managed the admittance to CORNET in 2011. We spoke with him about the programme implementation, CORNETs advantages as well as today’s status of CORNET in Poland.

Mr. Kazmierczak, have you already been acquainted with your potential target group before cooperating with CORNET?

Indeed, we already knew the potential target group for the most part but certainly not all of them before the call. The CORNET programme has also been a considerable incentive for us to take a closer look at Polish clusters, associations and their R&D needs since we were not involved in a programme specifically addressed to associations before.

After the decision to join CORNET – which steps did you take next?

The major concern was to raise awareness among potential beneficiaries about the benefits of such cooperation. This was achieved by providing information on the one hand but also by personal meetings with association chairpersons on the other. In general, we used all possible ways to disseminate information about CORNET including dispatch by mail or e-mail, conferences, press release etc.

How does NCBR fund CORNET projects?

We do not have a national programme devoted to Collective Research. NCBR funds CORNET projects on the basis of general rules for Polish beneficiaries who participate in international programmes, mainly ERA-NETs. In terms of this, creating the national framework for the CORNET programme was easy and natural.

What are the advantages of CORNET from your point of view?

First of all the opportunity to fund a new type of beneficiaries undertaking R&D activities and participating on the basis of our national framework without requirements for a national programme creation. Additionally of course the internationalisation and cross-border exchange of knowledge and practice exchange as well as the unbureaucratic cooperation.

Where did you find advice for fixing details of the programme?

We conducted research on national rules and legislations related to programme details such as eligible organisations, eligibility criteria, kind of activities that can be funded, funding rate… Beyond that research we certainly profited from the experience made by other countries and their rules for participation in CORNET.

How is CORNET running in Poland today?

CORNET is running very well. Since NCBR joined the initiative, the interest in the calls as well as the number of proposals has steadily increased. In the 12th call in 2011, we received only one proposal while the number of proposals already rose to five in the following call.

Promotion certainly played a crucial role. We have provided a solid basis for further developing CORNET in Poland. Today in 2014, NCBR receives around 5 – 8 proposals per call.

Get in touch with NCBR – National Centre for Research and Development

ul. Nowogrodzka 47a
00-695 Warszawa
Poland