Summary of the webinar: Opportunities for Funding and Mobility for Young Researchers

This is a summary compiled by Lukasz Przyborowski of the webinar 'Opportunities for Funding and Mobility for Young Researchers' organized by IAHR Poland-YPN and MCAA Polish Chapter

The webinar (free of charge) was hosted by the President and Secretary of IAHR Poland YPN at 9 a.m., on Friday 26 June 2020. The event was advertised on the IAHR Poland YPN Facebook page as well as on other webpages e.g., IAHR and on the community webpage for students of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

The webinar started with a brief introduction of IAHR Poland YPN and a presentation of the guest speakers, by Dr A. Łoboda.

The first guest speaker, Dr Rohan Soman, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Fluid Flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences, introduced the listeners to the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCCA). Then, he shared a 30-minute presentation on “Funding and Mobility for Young Researchers”, which covered an extensive and detailed list of present and former grants available in countries of the European Union, with a special focus on Poland. Dr Soman also shared his international career path, showing which grants allowed him to build his present research position and offered his perspective on how to plan a career based on mobility in the EU.

The second guest speaker, Dr Maria Górna, Head of the Structural Biology Group at the University of Warsaw, gave a talk about her research career. In her presentation, Dr Górna touched on important topics such as managing research priorities, workload and the importance of making connections in the scientific world through networking, fellowships, conferences and workshops. She thoroughly described her experiences in both Polish and foreign research institutions, analysed the pros and cons of being Principal Investigator in projects and explained how crucial it is to engage in long-term planning of a career.

The webinar ended with a discussion where the speakers answered various questions about what it is like to be a mobile researcher with a lot of experience in acquiring funds.