Alarm over ‘radical changes’ to Polish research funding

Ministry confirms “thorough reform” after October election, sparking fear of “politicisation” at national science agency

Poland’s national science funding agency has warned of the “politicisation” of research funding in the country following reports that the science minister plans to abolish the agency.

In August, the Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported that science minister Przemysław Czarnek told an academic conference the government would abolish the National Science Centre (NCN, whose Krakow office is pictured), which supports basic research, as well as the National Centre for Research and Development, which focuses on applied research and innovation.