“The dramatic financial situation means that our achievements will be wasted and the functioning of our unit will become impossible,” write scientists from the Institute of Psychology of the Polish Academy of Sciences to the Polish authorities. Many years of neglect of financing were supposed to result in the fact that receiving support from the government meant that an institute was either an institute or not.
Subsidy for the Institute of Psychology insufficient?
Scientists believe they have insufficient subsidies. “According to the previously applicable algorithms, after changing the scientific category from A to A+, our Institute could expect a significant increase in the amount of subsidies. However, the actions of previous Ministers limited the possible increase in subsidies for Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences to a few percent year to year. This means that despite the increase in costs, Despite announced salary increases or inflation, our subsidy remains virtually unchanged,” we read in the letter.
The subsidy remained unchanged, and expenses increased. To minimize the effects of this increase, media consumption was limited, investments, renovations and co-financing of young scientists’ own research work were suspended. Remote work was also partially started and the recruitment of subsidized finance doctoral students was suspended. Despite all this, the institute’s budget deficit amounts to PLN 1.9 million.
If no one fills this gigantic hole, the institute may simply cease to function. “The deepening financial crisis related to insufficient funds from the ministerial subsidy will prevent us from conducting domestic and foreign research grants. Such a situation should not take place in a country that wants to use the results of modern research, run an innovative economy, and implement social solutions based on reliable conducted research,” the scientists point out in the letter.
Scientists appeal for financial help. What does the government say?
That is why a call was made for a “financing review” of the Institute of Psychology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. “We hope that the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, recognizing this problem as important, will implement urgent financial solutions that will enable units such as ours to continue conducting research,” the scientists appeal. Despite its successes, the Institute is unable to support itself. Subsidies and indirect project costs are in practice the only sources of income for such an institution. “Despite our numerous scientific successes and significant achievements, insufficient subsidy does not allow us to continue our activities at the current level,” the scientists point out.
In response to the open letter published by scientists, we asked the Ministry of Science and Higher Education to comment and respond to the appeal. Unfortunately, we did not receive a response before this article was published.
What does the Institute of Psychology of the Polish Academy of Sciences do?
Institute of Psychology of the Polish Academy of Sciences deals with, among others, researching “the causes and conditions of important social phenomena such as: loneliness, conspiracy theories, COVID-19, mechanisms related to coping with disasters, addictions, suicides, intercultural phenomena, international research on factors supporting the solution of global problems and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals of Nations United”.
Source: Gazeta
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