Until October 2020, IPPT PAN carried out the tasks of the National Contact Point for EU Research Programs (NCP), supporting the participation of Polish institutions in the EU Framework Programs.

The National Contact Point for Research Programmes of the European Union (NCP) was established at the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research (IPPT) of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1998 to support the participation of Polish research units, enterprises and other entities in the 5th Framework Programme of the European Union. This was the beginning of Poland’s formal participation in the framework programmes, even preceding Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004. In subsequent framework programmes: FP6, FP7 and H2020, the NCP was constantly organisationally linked to the IPPT PAN. The solution adopted in 1998, locating the NCP in the IPPT PAN, was modelled on the German solution, in which the German National Contact Point is located in a strong research institute. From the current perspective, it is clear that this was an apt solution, ensuring, on the one hand, the independence of the KPK employees as experts, and on the other – their full operational capacity in relation to the government centre, the ministry dealing with science and financing the KPK’s activities based on an appropriate agreement between the ministry and IPPT PAN. As the largest PAN institute in the field of technical sciences, with the highest scientific category A+, IPPT PAN provided organisational support, but at the same time was a direct source of information on problems related to participation in framework programmes, legal procedures and enabled the piloting of some solutions, preceding their dissemination in the entire scientific community.

As part of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Institute of Fundamental Problems of Technology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a publication was published entitled”Support for the European aspirations of Polish scientific and research institutions. 22 years of the National Contact Point for Research Programs of the European Union at IPPT PAN. We encourage you to read the summary of NCP activities in 1998-2020 and interesting memories of many outstanding representatives of the research and innovation community cooperating with KPK experts.

In the years 2014-2020, the tasks of the National Contact Point for the Horizon 2020 program were carried out.

The task of the NCP was to provide information about competitions, organize information days, broker meetings, training, conferences, run a website and consultations, prepare publications and bulletins. For more advanced beneficiaries, in-depth consulting services in the field of application preparation and mentoring were provided.

The NCP coordinated the activities of the EURAXESS network and Regional Contact Points located in the largest academic centers and Industry Contact Points located at Polish Technology Platforms and key clusters. As part of the activities of several dozen high-class experts with knowledge of sectoral programs, as well as building consortiums, conducting negotiations, preparing project applications, lobbying, coordination and formal and financial settlements of projects, they provided support to those interested in participating in the Horizon 2020 Framework Program.

NCP experts made a significant contribution to the construction of the European Research Area (ERA), the preparation of subsequent framework programs – FP6, FP7, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe – as well as the preparation and implementation of structural funds. During the period of operation of the NCP, over 1,500 meetings, information days and workshops were organized, over 70,000 consultations were provided and over 250 editorial materials were published.