The National Science Centre (NCN) is a government agency, supervised by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, set up in 2011 to support basic research in Poland. Basic research is defined as empirical or theoretical endeavours undertaken to gain new knowledge of the foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any direct commercial use. With a budget of over € 313 M a year NCN funds projects in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences and Engineering. The NCN has set up 11 types of funding schemes dedicated to researchers at different stages of their career.