I was invited by the Polish National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki) to serve on the International Expert Evaluation Panel for the 2024 OPUS grant call. This entailed analysing a variety of bids relevant to my topic expertise, travelling to Krakow to shortlist bids, and then determining which bids would receive financing after a second round of peer review. I had previously served on a PRELUDIUM evaluation panel, which focusses on early-career researchers, and the OPUS panel, Poland’s top-level research funding program, provided the opportunity to review larger, more innovative and complex project proposals. The opportunity to go to Krakow is always appealing, as is the opportunity to meet and discuss cutting-edge research with other prominent researchers from across Europe. On the final evening, I went with colleagues from Finland, Sweden, and Poland to watch Wisła Kraków play Warta Poznań, in a torrential downpour. Wisła lost 0-1. However, this did not detract from an enjoyable trip.
Robin Bell 