Approximately 700 researchers gathered under the Sejm in Warsaw on May 27 to demand an increase in national research funding to 3 percent of GDP over the next four years.
A Crisis of Underfunding
The campaign “3 Percent for Science, 100 Percent for Poland” has been active for three weeks. Organizers, including Dr. Łukasz Okruszek of the Polish Academy of Sciences, claim it is the largest protest by the scientific community in the history of the Third Polish Republic. Participants voiced frustration over poor financing and a perceived lack of political vision.
Protesters displayed banners highlighting the discrepancy between prestige and reality, with slogans such as “Prestige doesn’t pay the bills” and “My DNA research is at rock bottom.” Many argue that passion alone cannot cover rising living costs.
Demanding Structural Reform
An online petition supporting the movement has garnered over 25,000 signatures from research institutions across Poland. The demands include tying academic salaries to the average wage in the enterprise sector and ensuring all research employees benefit from standardized pay raises.
Current data shows that an entry-level assistant professor with a doctorate earns less than three-quarters of the average enterprise sector salary. Some staff members with doctorates report earnings barely above the national minimum wage.
Future Security and Retention
Dr. Agata Starosta emphasized that poor working conditions drive young talent abroad, where they contribute to the GDP of foreign nations rather than Poland. The movement advocates for better social infrastructure, including improved stipends for doctoral students and a choice between employment and scholarship contracts.
Professor Michał Tomza called for increased support for the National Science Centre (NCN), which currently faces a 10 percent success rate for grant applications due to extreme funding constraints. He urged the government to allocate an additional one billion PLN to the agency in the next budget.
Government Response
Deputy Science Ministers Karolina Zioło-Pużuk and Marek Gzik accepted the petition, expressing support for the 3 percent target, though they suggested a five-year timeline to reach the European average of 2.2 percent. Separately, Science Minister Marcin Kulasek stated that the government aims to reach 2 percent of GDP for science within the next five years, appealing for continued dialogue.
