INSTYTUT PODSTAWOWYCH PROBLEMOW TECHNIKI POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUK

Their core work

IPPT PAN serves as Poland's central hub for Horizon 2020 National Contact Points (NCPs), providing training, networking, and capacity building services to help researchers and organizations across Central and Eastern Europe access EU funding. They operate NCP networks spanning nearly every H2020 pillar — from energy and security to MSCA mobility and ICT — coordinating brokerage events, twinning programs, and cross-border proposal support. While the institute itself is a major Polish research centre in fundamental engineering and mechanics, their H2020 portfolio is almost exclusively dedicated to professionalizing the EU funding support ecosystem. One notable exception is QUANTIFY, a solid mechanics research project on material failure and anisotropy, which reflects their core scientific identity outside the NCP role.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2014-2018, IPPT PAN built a broad NCP presence across every major H2020 pillar, joining first-generation networks in energy, health, security, space, ICT, transport, and manufacturing — essentially establishing Poland's full NCP coverage. From 2018 onward, the focus narrowed toward MSCA mobility coordination (Net4MobilityPlus as coordinator), Eastern Partnership cooperation, and deepening existing NCP networks rather than expanding into new ones. The appearance of QUANTIFY in 2018 signals a modest move to complement their support role with actual research participation.

Moving from establishing NCP coverage to consolidating expertise in researcher mobility and Eastern Partnership cooperation, likely positioning for Horizon Europe Widening Participation calls.

How they like to work

IPPT PAN overwhelmingly participates as a partner (34 of 38 projects), joining large pan-European NCP consortia that typically include 20-30 national nodes. When they do coordinate (4 projects), they lead networks focused on widening participation and MSCA mobility — areas where Poland's perspective as a Widening country adds strategic value. With 209 unique partners across 55 countries, they function as a super-connector rather than a deep bilateral collaborator, making them an excellent entry point into the Polish and Central European research ecosystem.

Exceptionally broad network of 209 unique partners across 55 countries, reflecting their role as a node in nearly every H2020 NCP network. Strong connections to Central/Eastern European and EU-neighbourhood countries (Ukraine, Black Sea region, Eastern Partnership), alongside standard Western European partnerships.

What sets them apart

IPPT PAN is one of very few organizations in Europe that operated National Contact Points across nearly every H2020 thematic area simultaneously, giving them unmatched breadth of knowledge about EU funding instruments, proposal requirements, and evaluation processes. For anyone building a consortium that includes Polish partners, they are the single best-connected gateway — they know who works on what across Poland's entire research landscape. Their dual identity as both a serious engineering research institute (Polish Academy of Sciences) and an NCP operator means they understand both the science and the funding machinery.

Highlights from their portfolio

• NCP_WIDE.NET
  Their largest project (EUR 622K) and coordinator role — a dedicated network for Widening Participation NCPs, reflecting Poland's strategic interest in closing the EU innovation gap.
• Net4MobilityPlus
  Coordinated the pan-European MSCA NCP network (EUR 288K), positioning IPPT PAN as the central node for researcher mobility support across Europe.
• QUANTIFY
  The only pure research project in their H2020 portfolio — solid mechanics work on anisotropy in lightweight alloys — revealing the institute's core scientific expertise beneath the NCP layer.