ERC at Copernicus Festival 2026

The Copernicus Festival, held annually in Kraków, Poland, is a major interdisciplinary science event open to the public that brings together researchers and thinkers to explore fundamental questions. The 2026 edition, dedicated to the theme of 'Complexity', will examine the intricate processes shaping human evolution, the universe and consciousness. Through talks, lectures, and panel discussions, speakers will engage wide audiences to deepen our understanding of the world. The European Research Council is supporting this year’s edition, with numerous ERC grantees sharing cutting-edge insights from their research.

As part of the festival, the ERC National Contact Point in Poland,  Katarzyna Kubica-Oroń, hosted by the National Centre for Research and Development, has organised a series of special sessions focused on groundbreaking research, scientific career paths, and the ERC competitions. These sessions are designed primarily for researchers planning to apply for ERC grants, as well as for festival attendees curious about frontier research. They will be recorded for later viewing.

Attendance to the festival is free, and all sessions will be live-streamed on the Copernicus Center's YouTube channel. 

Sessions with ERC  Grantees

Tuesday, 19 May 

18.30 - 19.30 | ERC Talks - Cryptography in crypto

• Stefan Dziembowski, ERC grantee, Professor of Computer Science, University of Warsaw, Poland 

Wednesday 20 May 

 18.30 - 19.30 | ERC Talks - The OGLE Project: From Free-Floating Exoplanets to Primordial Black Holes 

• Andrzej Udalski, ERC grantee, University of Warsaw, Poland

19.45 - 21.15 | Lecture - Decoding the cosmos

• Hiranya Peiris, ERC grantee, Professor of Astrophysics, University of Cambridge, UK

Thursday 21 May

18.30 - 19.30 | ERC Talks - AI applications in science

• Piotr Sankowski, ERC grantee, University of Warsaw, Poland

Friday 22 May

18.30 - 19.30 | ERC Talks - Gene architecture and cancer

• Kinga Maria Kamieniarz-Gdula, ERC grantee, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland

19.45 - 21.15 | Lecture: Biology of the cell 

• Ewa Paluch,ERC grantee, Professor of Anatomy, University of Cambridge, UK

Saturday 23 May

15.45 - 16.45 | Year in science: Neuroscience 

• Leszek Kaczmarek, ERC Scientific Council Member, Professor of neurobiology, Nencki Institute Warsaw, Poland

18.30 - 19.30 | ERC Talks - Proportional participatory budgeting

• Piotr Skowron, ERC grantee, University of Warsaw, Poland

19.45 - 21.15 | Lecture - What is consciousness, and could AI have it?

• Anil Seth, ERC grantee, Director of the Centre for Consciousness Science and Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, University of Sussex, UK

Sunday 24 May

14.30 - 15.30 | Conversation: Mammoths

• Jarosław Wilczyński, ERC grantee, Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

18.30 - 19.30 | ERC Talks: Why do we need linguistic diversity?

• Justyna Olko, ERC grantee and Ambassador for the ERC for Poland, Professor, University of Warsaw, Poland

Special sessions organised by the ERC NCP

Tuesday, 19 May:  Science and groundbreaking research

14.30 - 16.00 | Panel Discussion: What does groundbreaking research really mean?

• Leszek Kaczmarek, ERC Scientific Council Member, Professor of neurobiology, Nencki Institute Warsaw, Poland
• Stylianos Lefkopoulos, Senior editor at Nature Cell Biology
• Róża Szweda, ERC grantee, Associate Professor, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland
• Krzysztof Szade, ERC grantee, Jagiellonian University, Poland

16.15 - 17.00 | Short Expert Talks:  How to build an ERC project around a strong scientific question

• Michał Tomza, ERC grantee and Ambassador for the ERC for Poland, Full Professor, University of Warsaw, Poland
• Ewa Chrostek, ERC grantee, Assistant Professor, Jagiellonian University, Poland
• Paweł Nowakowski, ERC grantee, University of Warsaw, Poland

17.00 - 18.15 | Panel Discussion: How is groundbreaking potential evaluated? 

Moderator: Michał Tomza, ERC grantee and Ambassador for the ERC for Poland, Full Professor, University of Warsaw, Poland

• Alicja Józkowicz, ERC panel member
• Bronisław Rudak, ERC panel member
• Agata Nalborczyk, ERC panel member
• Joanna Odrowąż-Sypniewska, ERC panel member

Wednesday 20 May: Career paths

14.30 - 16.00 | ERC grantees’ testimonials:  different paths to ERC

• Artur Obłuski, ERC grantee, Associate professor, University of Warsaw, Poland
• Anna Siekierka, ERC grantee, Associate Professor, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Poland
• Sławomir Porada, ERC grantee, Associate Professor, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
• Łukasz Bola, ERC grantee, Professor, Jagiellonian University, Poland
• Krzysztof Szade, ERC grantee, Jagiellonian University, Poland

16.15 - 17.45 | Panel Discussion: CV and Track Record in ERC evaluation

Moderator: Paweł Dydio, ERC grantee, University of Cambridge, UK

• Stefan Dziembowski, ERC grantee and panel member
• Małgorzata Filip, ERC panel member
• Robert Hołyst, ERC panel member
• Ewa Gruszczyńska, ERC panel member