A total of PLN 300 million in funding from the European Funds for a Modern Economy (FENG) programme has been awarded to 10 centres of excellence selected under the International Research Agendas (MAB) initiative. The projects were officially inaugurated by the Polish Foundation for Science (FNP), which implements the MAB programme. The EU funding will support breakthrough research in fields including biotechnology, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, and space research.
One of the funded projects focuses on high-sensitivity detectors that could be used in medicine, climate monitoring, and early warning systems.
“International Research Agendas is a programme financed from the European Funds for a Modern Economy. It aligns with our country’s strategic development priorities, as it supports Polish scientists who not only test but also create new technologies related to semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and human genetic research,” said Prof. Maria Mrówczyńska, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, in an interview with Newseria.
The MAB programme supports specialised, independent research units in Poland that carry out projects in strategic cooperation with renowned scientific institutions abroad. The projects launched on 24 February focus on priority sectors of the modern economy. Technologies developed at the centres are expected to contribute to optimising energy consumption in industrial processes, increasing data transmission efficiency, advancing AI system integration, improving the precision of environmental forecasts, and developing next-generation diagnostic tools for medicine.
“The International Research Agendas programme is unique for several reasons. Above all, it offers the largest individual research grants available in Poland,” said Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć, President of the Polish Foundation for Science.
“Investing in centres of excellence that bring together scientists from Poland and abroad is crucial both for science and for work done in the interest of Poland. The research results developed in such places are transferred to the economy,” Prof. Mrówczyńska emphasised.
A strategic foreign partner in an MAB project may be a public or private research institution conducting world-class scientific research and meeting the highest substantive and organisational standards.
“The main objective of these projects is not only to conduct research but also to gather outstanding people in one place – to achieve a critical mass of talent, to build a culture of high-quality scientific work. Such centres begin to generate excellence around them, educate new generations, and shape the future,” said Prof. Pyrć. “The goal is for these technologies to be developed not on a Polish scale, but on a global scale, ensuring that Polish science and technology gain worldwide reach.”
Each of the newly established centres of excellence will receive approximately PLN 30 million. In previous MAB calls, the Polish Foundation for Science awarded a total of PLN 580 million to 19 projects. The aim of the selected centres is to shorten the path from scientific discovery to implementation by developing prototypes and demonstrators ready for direct transfer to industry.
“The scientific research carried out under these projects aims to improve not only the state of science but also our economy and society. They are oriented toward tangible outcomes that can benefit society,” stressed the President of the Polish Foundation for Science.
One of the projects funded under the MAB programme is Astrocent, operating within the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The project focuses on particle astrophysics and the development of highly scalable, multi-channel detection systems capable of registering extremely weak physical signals.
“The Astrocent project is the second MAB project we have received from the Polish Foundation for Science. The first began in 2018 and concluded two years ago. Under that project, we developed a range of technologies originating from particle astrophysics, used for fundamental research but also offering market applications,” explained Prof. Marcin Kuźniak, project leader, particle physicist, and professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Over several years, six research groups were established, developing breakthrough technologies including autonomous seismic and infrasound sensors, innovative wavelength-shifting materials, and concepts for liquid-argon PET imaging in medical diagnostics. These advances are paving the way for modern diagnostic technologies.
“In the new project, we will further develop these applications and bring them closer to the market. One example is a new method of positron emission tomography (PET). This is a medical imaging technique used in oncology. Our new approach, based on technologies used in particle astrophysics experiments, allows for a hundredfold reduction in radiation dose received by the patient. This could make the diagnostic method accessible to a much broader population, including children and pregnant women,” Prof. Kuźniak explained.
The Astrocent team aims to overcome the limitations of current solutions by increasing detector sensitivity to light, ionisation (the formation of electric charges in materials), as well as sound, vibrations, and seismic waves. The results of the MAB Astrocent project may find applications not only in medicine but also in fundamental physics, security systems, environmental monitoring, renewable energy, and seismology.
“Our country supports the transfer of knowledge to the economy both from centres of excellence – which have commercialisation embedded in their DNA – and from universities, research institutes, and institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences. It is the responsibility of all entities within the higher education system to ensure that knowledge developed there is commercialised, whether directly or indirectly,” Prof. Mrówczyńska concluded.
