The POLONEZ Experience Why It Matters Table of Contents
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The POLONEZ experience why it matters Table of contents Foreword / 1 Key figures / 2 Observing people and societies / 5 Explaining the molecular basis of health / 17 Understanding the universe / 33 Designing innovations / 47 The bigger picture / 61 Looking forward to POLONEZ BIS / 72 Layout by Papercut Printed by Drukarnia Beltrani LEGAL NOTICE: The publication reflects the opinions of the authors indicated and neither the Research Executive Agency nor the National Science Centre nor any person acting on their behalf are responsible for the use which might be made of the information included herein. Licence CC 4.0 international (BY-NC-NC) Kraków, February 2021 Table of contents Foreword It is my pleasure to introduce to you 24 brilliant The National Science Centre shares the MSCA’s scientists who just a couple of years ago chose belief that a successful career in science involves to pack their research ideas and move to Poland not only high quality individual research and to carry them out. publications but also a great amount of network- ing and an ability to embrace various research Their success resulted from the synergy of cultures, including those in other countries and Foreword / 1 a number of factors: first and foremost from their outside academia. Taking one’s academic career individual drive and contributions, but also from across the globe can be a challenge but there is Key figures / 2 the environment provided by the Host Institutions little doubt that it can also significantly impact and the combined funding from the European one’s life – both personal and professional. Observing people and societies / 5 Commission and the National Science Centre under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Co- In this book, Fellows, their Research Partners Explaining the molecular basis of health / 17 Prof. Zbigniew Błocki fund Project POLONEZ (grant agreement 665778). and representatives of their Host Institutions Director explain why participation in POLONEZ fellow- Understanding the universe / 33 National Science Centre, The MSCA Cofund Programme is unique in three ships matters to them. Their stories combine Poland main ways. First of all, it is a quest for talent to illustrate the colourful and varied nature of Designing innovations / 47 and excellence, unlimited by age, nationality or the POLONEZ experience. a narrow list of research disciplines. The bigger picture / 61 Polish research institutions already operate Second, it produces a huge influx of international according to the highest European research Looking forward to POLONEZ BIS / 72 Fellows to the host country and thus guaran- standards. The ambition of the National Science tees a bigger networking impact. Within three Centre is that they should also grow as vibrant POLONEZ calls we have welcomed 109 Fellows international communities. That is why we were from 28 countries all over the world. happy to include MSCA Cofund in our portfolio. We are proud of the results the programme has Third, it consists of much more than just an indi- generated so far. We are honoured that, start- vidual stipend. POLONEZ offers a considerable ing from 2021, we will be able to extend a new why it matters research grant to provide Fellows with financial invitation to Poland to 120 talented researchers independence and the opportunity to hire a pro- under MSCA POLONEZ BIS. ject team. The national funding goes beyond the experience – experience research box to include capacity building com- ponents such as intersectoral study visits and training sessions dedicated to transferable skills. POLONEZ The 1 Key figures 6% 7 17.5% 19 28.5% 31 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) are European Fellows by Commission’s calls for projects which combine research 19.5% 21 career stage and training with attractive career development opportunities % and number and transfer of knowledge. The basic MSCA requirement is international and intersectoral mobility of researchers. 28.5% POLONEZ is an MSCA programme cofunded by the Euro- 31 pean Commission and the National Science Centre, Poland. First stage researcher PhD award 4-7 years PhD award It provides an opportunity for experienced, talented scientists up to the point of PhD before Fellowship 8-12 years interested in moving to Poland to fund their own research before Fellowship PhD award up to PhD award more projects while working at Polish host institutions of their choice. 3 years before than 12 years Fellowship before Fellowship The programme follows bottom-up approach to research topic selection and offers career development for researchers at all career stages. In 3 competitive calls the programme recruited 109 Fellows from 28 countries all over the world and placed them in full-time research positions in 49 Host Institutions throughout Poland. 1151 109 10% submitted funded success projects projects rate 24 30 55 projects in Arts, projects in projects in Physical Humanities and Life Sciences Sciences and Social Sciences Engineering 2 The programme offers generous funding for the Fellow and a substantial research grant to cover relevant costs including the cost of the research team. total funding €20.5M 20% Fellow’s salary including €5.2M from the European Commission Average budget Project team breakdown 52% Other direct costs 18% €202K Overheads for the Host 85 projects employed co-investigators Institution (lump sum) and funded over 180 new jobs in research 10% In addition to training through research, POLONEZ has facilitated POLONEZ successfully contributed to an increased post- the development of Fellows’ diverse competences through fellowship employability and career prospects. New grants awarded to Fellows: 1 ERC Starting Grant 336 47 217 1 MSCA Individual Fellowship hours of dedicated individual intersectoral training coaching or international 43 new NCN grants programme sessions study visits Source: Fellows’ final reports and POLONEZ Coordination Team. Numbers as of December 2020 3 We carried out independent research, developed new skills and were able to go out of the academic bubble for a while – say MSCA POLONEZ Fellows, who spent two years working in Polish host institutions. Watch the interview in which they share insights on their research and training activities and the overall impact the POLONEZ fellowship had on their careers. 4 Observing people and societies Rumination, a depression risk factor. Changing the way you think may help fight depression, Monika Kornacka / 6 Re-thinking the history of the European family, Mikołaj Paweł Szołtysek / 8 Reproductive practices under state socialism, Agata Ignaciuk / 10 The smellscapes of Lublin, Stephanie Weismann / 12 Europeanisation from a Central European perspective, James Wesley Scott / 14 Key figures – Publications / 16 why it matters experience – experience POLONEZ The 5 Observing people and societies Researchers working on rumination, i.e. repetitive negative thinking that is difficult to control, suggest that rumination may become a habit and we use it by default when we are feeling sad or upset. To stop habitual ruminative response and gain flexibility in emotional regulation, an efficient inhi- bition and ability to disengage attention from self-referent negative thoughts are necessary. The aim of our project was to examine the role of those processes as potential mecha- nisms of rumination. In the first part of the project, we used a daily sampling method to evaluate daily rumination, mood and inhibition. It allowed us to determine dynamic relationships between psychological processes, such as rumination and mood. Depressed patients and healthy controls were provided with an application for their mobile devices. During the first week, five times a day, Rumination, a depression they answered questions evaluating their rumination and affect, and in the evenings they performed a task evaluating risk factor. Changing their inhibition. During the second week participants trained the way you think may help their inhibition by playing a simple game. Finally, during the third week, participants repeated evaluation of their daily fight depression mood, rumination and inhibition. The results indicate that daily rumination predicts participants’ negative mood, but MONIKA KORNACKA negative affect does not predict prospective rumination. This is an important contribution to the literature, as the previous research results on the link between rumination and mood in Each of us sometimes dwells on the same subject: daily life were not consensual. Determining this causal rela- Why does it always happen to me? What have I done to tionship is crucial from the clinical perspective in designing deserve that? Repetitive negative thinking is a natural effective rumination treatments. way of regulating our emotions. However, under certain circumstances it might become maladaptive The present study was the first to evaluate the link between and increase the risk of psychological disorders. inhibition and rumination in ecological settings. Difficulties in inhibiting neutral and negative stimuli were linked to daily rumination and strengthened the impact of daily rumination on daily negative mood. Further analyses will provide a first insight on inhibition training on mobile devices, whether it Photo: Monika Kornacka. Author: Zofia Kostrzewa decreases daily rumination and improves participants’ mood. Portrait photo author: Zofia Kostrzewa 6 Observing people and societies In the second part of the project we ran experimental studies in necessary to conduct research in cognitive psychopathology at an the laboratory.