POLSKA AKADEMIA NAUK

Their core work

The Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) is Poland's leading national research institution, operating a network of research institutes across all scientific disciplines. Within H2020, PAN has combined deep humanities research — particularly around memory studies and transnational European history — with life sciences work in aquaculture genomics and social science investigations into trust and policy. Their flagship PASIFIC fellowship programme (EUR 3.7M) positions them as a major hub for attracting and training international postdoctoral researchers across all thematic areas.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

PAN's early H2020 work (2016–2017) centred on humanities — transnational memory, dark heritage, and interdisciplinary researcher training. From 2019 onward, the portfolio diversified sharply into life sciences (fish genomics) and applied social science (trust in policy, epistemic ethics). The 2020 launch of PASIFIC as coordinator signals a strategic shift toward becoming a pan-European fellowship hub, consolidating their role as a research excellence institution rather than a domain specialist.

PAN is moving from niche humanities contributions toward positioning itself as a broad-spectrum research excellence host, making it a strong partner for any consortium needing a credible Polish institutional anchor.

How they like to work

PAN mostly participates rather than leads — 3 of 5 projects are as participant or partner — but their one coordination role (PASIFIC) is by far their largest project at EUR 3.7M, showing they can manage significant budgets when the topic aligns with their institutional mission. With 80 unique consortium partners across 14 countries, they operate as a well-connected node in European research networks rather than a tight-knit repeat-partner organization.

PAN has collaborated with 80 distinct partners across 14 countries, reflecting a broad European network. This wide reach stems from both large RIA consortia and the international fellowship programme, giving them connections across disciplines and geographies.

What sets them apart

As Poland's apex research institution, PAN brings something few partners can: institutional credibility and infrastructure spanning every scientific discipline under one umbrella. Their PASIFIC fellowship programme demonstrates capacity to attract and host international talent at scale. For consortium builders, PAN offers a rare combination — strong humanities and social science credentials alongside emerging life sciences capability, plus an established gateway to the Polish research ecosystem.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PASIFIC
  PAN's only coordinator role and largest project (EUR 3.7M) — a COFUND fellowship programme open to all thematic areas, signalling institutional ambition to become a European research mobility hub.
• UNREST
  Distinctive transnational study of contested memory and dark heritage across multiple European conflicts — an unusual and socially relevant topic that showcases PAN's humanities depth.
• AQUA-FAANG
  Demonstrates PAN's reach beyond social sciences into life sciences, contributing to fish genome annotation for European aquaculture improvement.