In Poland, funds are not concentrated on large research of vital significance for the society, economy or technological development of the state. Most scientific projects financed by the Minister of Science and Higher Education include small research-, postdoctoral- or supervisor[1] programmes (77.5 percent in 2009 and as much as 84.5 percent in 2010). They are focused mainly on staff development and maintenance. In 2009, only 12 percent of projects financed by the Minister had the nature of research used in practice or oriented on practical use. It was even worse in 2010 when this kind of research did not make up more than 6 percent. At that time, 0.7 percent of the entire pool of funds earmarked for science financing (ca. PLN 6 billion) was spent on financing strategic research programmes and development works. In 2011, it was 1.6 percent.
The State Programme for Scientific Research and Development Works, which was designed to strategically define the manner of appropriating funds for science, is implemented only to a little degree. Of ten programmes included there, only two were launched. The programmes that were not even started were related to the following: competitiveness and innovativeness of the Polish economy, advanced material technologies, but also formation of identity politics and memory politics.
The Ministry has no knowledge of the real position and scientific strength of the entities whose projects it finances. The evaluation system adopted by the Ministry does not reflect their real scientific activities or positions among their counterparts around the world. 75 percent of evaluation teams (sometimes consisting of one person) included people who at the same time were employees of the entities evaluated by themselves. That could give rise to a conflict of interests. In 2009, seven institutions audited by NIK provided the data which reflected more positively on them than was shown by factual circumstances. This evaluation system leads to the situation where two thirds of Polish scientific institutions and higher education schools have been awarded the highest categories for years.
At the same time, effectiveness of Polish researchers against the background of the world science is low. In 2009, our country occupied 32. position in Europe in terms of the number of scientific publications in a million inhabitants. In the same year, Poland filed approximately 6.8 patent applications per a million inhabitants at the European Patent Office (Czech Republic - 22.6, and the leader, Germany, 294.5). In 17 scientific entities and 4 higher education schools audited by NIK in that regard, the publication ratio in prestigious international scientific magazines oscillates around 0.5 (the Institute of Nuclear Problems with the ratio of 1.8 is an exception). However, NIK identified some institutions whose scientific employees published nothing in the past five years. At the same time, the publications of employees of three scientific institutes were not quoted by other scientists at all.
The basic problem of Polish scientific entities is a problem with practical use of research. What is worth noting is the small number of patent applications filed by scientists from 2009 to 2011. Three audited institutions did not file a single invention at the patent office. In 13 entities which received patents as many as seven implemented none. Positive exceptions are the AGH University of Science and Technology which from 2009 to 2011 filed 320 inventions and the Central Mining Institute which filed 41 patent applications. However, most scientific and research entities are too often boiled down to the role of institutions issuing certificates or approvals for some overseas solutions.
NIK appreciates the initiative of the Minister of Science and Higher Education who launched 12 programmes promoting development of young scientific staff and supporting implementation of scientific research in economy. NIK, though, will be able to evaluate the results of those activities only in future.
[1] Scientific research needed to write a doctor’s thesis. It is developed under the direction of a dissertation tutor or a doctoral student.
