News from the MCAA - The COFUND PASIFIC Programme. An interview with Paweł Rowiński

Could you briefly introduce yourself and the PASIFIC programme?

I am a professor, researching environmental hydrodynamics at the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences. From 2015-2022, I was the Vice-President of the academy, and from September 2023, I will be heading the office.

The PASIFIC is a postdoctoral fellowship programme offering a unique opportunity for researchers to undertake state-of-the-art research in a dynamic scientific environment. It enables scholars of all nationalities and scientific disciplines to establish their scientific independence and conduct ground-breaking research. The Programme is co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND scheme.

The Programme recruited 48 excellent researchers from a pool of 550 candidates in two calls announced in 2021. Selected candidates have come to Poland for 24 months to conduct their research at the Polish Academy of Sciences- one of the country’s most prestigious scientific institutions. Each project was awarded up to €93,000. Fellows collaborate with experienced supervisors and participate in training. For up to six months, they can also participate in secondments outside academia.

What led to the initiation of the programme and who constitute the team members?

The PASIFIC programme aims to support the international mobility of excellent researchers at the postdoctoral level who wish to pursue their research at the Polish Academy of Sciences. In Poland, the Academy is an umbrella organization for 70 research institutes. The expected benefit is twofold: for the incoming researchers and the participating institutes of PAS, and the non-academic sector in Poland. The Programme is open to European and non-European researchers, and contributes to strengthening the European research sector.

We wanted to create strong research ties and long-term, sustainable research cooperation between the incoming fellows and their host institutes. This is achieved by encouraging the fellows to apply for funding schemes with the PAS institutes.

To develop the programme, we put together a team of professionals including a Project Coordinator, Project Manager and four Work Package Leaders who are supported by team members from the Chancellery of PAS. We are also aided by the Advisory Board, comprising the best scholars and experts in their scientific fields, who played a major role in developing the evaluation and selection processes.

What are the main outcomes attained so far? Are they in line with the initial expectations?

Currently, the fellows, together with their respective PAS institutes, are reporting on their achievements in the first year of their projects. We evaluate each report from substantive, financial and ethical points of view, so it is pretty early to evaluate the results. However, several articles have been submitted and some of them have been published. Our fellows are actively participating in many conferences, some also as keynote speakers. Three of them received prestigious awards. They are also very active in outreach activities. They have written numerous articles, which have been published in the Polish media.

Was the programme influenced by the situation in neighboring countries and other political issues?

Unfortunately, yes. First of all, the pandemic delayed the start of the programme by over a year, which was followed by the war in Ukraine. Sadly, these events discouraged many fellows from either coming to Poland or staying here. Additionally, in the current economic situation and the growing research costs, we have faced enormous challenges in sustaining projects of the fellows. To mitigate this issue, we have introduced the valorisation of the research budget of the programme.

Science should be without borders. What could be the role of PASIFIC fellows in promoting such a vision within Poland and beyond?

Science has no borders, and we encourage the fellows coming to Poland, to network within their PASIFIC community and beyond. I am sure that after their experiences within the PASIFIC, the fellows will be well-equipped to share the vision of science without borders. Their activity would contribute to the internationalisation of the PAS institutes and their scientific environment. We hope that after their fellowship in Poland, they become ambassadors of Polish scientific institutions.

As the PASIFIC is coming to an end, is there any plan for developing similar programmes within the Polish Academy of Sciences and in Poland in general?

We received very positive remarks about our programme from the research community and questions about future PASIFIC calls. Therefore, we plan to continue the programme. And yes, we have plans to develop the programme by adding new features, the details of which can be shared in due time.

Michael Nunes
Institute of Geophysics,
Polish Academy of Sciences
mnones@igf.edu.pl
Twitter:@MichiNones