Updated on 10 August 2026. The previous version of this roundup came out in April, and six of those seven programmes have since closed. So we checked every deadline against the official pages and rewrote the piece.
Right now 6 items are open or about to open. The nearest event falls on 1 September, when the Visegrad Fund opens its submission system for four programmes at once. The nearest deadline is 1 October, the furthest 3 November.
A word on balance first. Exactly one purely Polish programme currently has an open deadline: Gaude Polonia. The rest are Visegrad instruments where Poland acts as a partner country, plus European culture programmes where a Polish organisation can join as a partner. The bilateral Polish-Ukrainian channel sits almost empty in August, because the NAWA academic calls closed back in May.
Do not miss the 1 September window
GetGrant verifies deadlines against donor official pages every day and sends alerts by organisation profile. We remove stale pages from the database.
Gaude Polonia: PLN 5,000 per month, deadline 15 October
This is a scholarship programme of the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The call for the 26th edition opened in late June and runs until 15 October 2026. The National Centre for Culture (NCK) in Warsaw operates the programme.
In fact the programme has existed since 2003, and its rules state directly that it addresses artists from Ukraine first. So this is the most direct Polish channel for the Ukrainian creative community, and it is open right now.
Terms and amount
In practice the scholarship pays PLN 5,000 gross per month for six months. The 26th edition runs from 1 February to 31 July 2027. Besides the money, each holder gets a tutor from among Polish experts in their field.
Who can apply. An individual holding citizenship of Ukraine or another Central and Eastern European or post-Soviet state, aged up to 40 (exceptionally up to 45), with completed higher education, Polish at least at basic level and documented artistic achievements.
Specifically, fields include film, photography, art conservation, literature and translation, museology, music, visual arts, theatre and dance, plus the history and criticism of film, music, art and theatre.
How to apply
First, applicants submit in person or by post to the National Centre for Culture at ul. Płocka 13, 01-231 Warszawa. For postal submissions the postmark date decides. The package needs a description of the scholarship project concept and at least two recommendations from creators recognised in the relevant field.
NCK runs the formal assessment within 45 days after the call closes, while a commission appointed by the Minister handles the substantive review. The decision arrives no earlier than 1 December and no later than 15 December 2026. So roughly two months pass between submission and answer.
Visegrad Fund: the submission system opens 1 September
Poland is one of the four Visegrad Group countries, so the Fund remains the strongest channel for Polish-Ukrainian partnership. The logic here is cyclical: the system accepts proposals during the last 30 days before a deadline, and deadlines repeat every year on 1 February, 1 June and 1 October at 12:00 noon CET.
The June round has closed. Since the next window opens on 1 September 2026 and shuts on 1 October, September is the working month. One organisation may hold a maximum of two running projects across different grant schemes, and it cannot reapply in the same programme until the previous project concludes.
Visegrad+ Grants: the most accessible format for Ukraine
Visegrad+ Grants support projects that advance democratisation and transformation in Eastern Partnership countries and the Western Balkans. Ukraine gets a simplified consortium format: one Ukrainian lead applicant plus two partners from two different V4 countries, and Poland is the natural choice there.
The amount reaches EUR 50,000, with a typical range of EUR 25,000 to 35,000 and funding up to 100 per cent of costs. Projects run up to 18 months. Because co-financing is not required, this remains the most accessible international mechanism for Ukrainian NGOs and universities.
Visegrad Grants and Strategic Grants
Visegrad Grants require a consortium of at least three organisations from three different V4 countries. The amount reaches EUR 50,000, typically EUR 25,000 to 35,000, up to 100 per cent of costs. A Ukrainian organisation joins as a partner here, while the applicant is a Polish, Czech, Slovak or Hungarian entity.
Meanwhile Strategic Grants form the largest instrument. They need active participation from all four V4 countries, run 12 to 36 months, and carry a typical budget of EUR 35,000 to 45,000. A project must address the annual strategic priorities of the Visegrad Group, and the 2026 list includes the V4@35: Generation Future strand focused on academic mobility and joint educational platforms.
Visegrad Fellowship: EUR 500 per week
The fellowship programme funds short individual research stays. The scholarship pays EUR 500 per week as a lump sum, lasts 2 to 10 weeks and arrives in two instalments.
Who applies. Full-time PhD students or PhD holders who are citizens of Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia or Ukraine. The country of citizenship and residence must differ from the host country, and the host must sit in the V4 region. The application needs a letter of invitation signed and stamped by the host, with a timetable and intended outcomes, plus a letter of recommendation.
Applications open in two periods each year: January through May and September through November. One detail matters here. In the previous period the Fund closed the call early because capacity ran out, so the working window is shorter than advertised. Apply in the first weeks after 1 September.
Culture: Culture Helps Solidarity and its rolling format
Creative Europe funds this programme, which runs from October 2025 to March 2028. A consortium delivers it: the European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam), Insha Osvita (Kyiv), zusa (Berlin) and the VETERANKA Movement (Kyiv). In total more than EUR 1.4 million will reach over 200 individuals and organisations.
Poland counts as a Creative Europe country here, so a Polish cultural organisation can partner a Ukrainian application. The programme gives priority to partnerships led by Ukrainian organisations, especially with partners from neighbouring Creative Europe countries.
Individual Care Grants: up to EUR 1,200 in rolling rounds
The rounds open approximately every six weeks from February 2026, and the programme plans 10 to 14 cycles across its lifetime. Each cycle distributes roughly 7 to 10 grants of EUR 1,200.
What the money covers. The payment arrives as a one-off and covers personal recovery, mental health and well-being only. It cannot go to project activities, organisational costs or third parties.
Who applies. Cultural managers, artists and activists aged 18 or over who live in Ukraine or relocated to an EU or other Creative Europe country after 24 February 2022. Known 2026 rounds ran in February, from 16 March, from 27 April to 18 May, and from 8 June. Since the programme announces later rounds on its calls page, check it every couple of weeks.
Collaboration and Project Grants: further rounds ahead
In practice Collaboration Grants pay up to EUR 20,000 for a partnership of two organisations and up to EUR 30,000 for three or more. Projects run up to 12 months, and each round supports at least 15 international projects. Co-financing is not mandatory, although the organisers recommend that the grant cover a maximum of 80 per cent of the budget. The first of two planned rounds closed on 31 March 2026, while the second has not been announced.
Project Grants run as thematic rounds, each paired with a learning workshop. The first round closed on 16 April, and the programme announced three further thematic calls, including one devoted to work with memory. Projects last up to 6 months.
| Programme | Deadline | Amount | Who applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaude Polonia (26th edition) | 15 October 2026 | PLN 5,000 per month for 6 months | Artists under 40 from Ukraine, individually |
| Visegrad+ Grants | 1 October 2026 | up to EUR 50,000, up to 100% of costs | 1 Ukrainian organisation + 2 V4 partners |
| Visegrad Grants | 1 October 2026 | up to EUR 50,000 | At least 3 organisations from 3 V4 countries |
| Strategic Grants | 1 October 2026 | typically EUR 35,000-45,000 | All 4 V4 countries, 12-36 month projects |
| Visegrad Fellowship Program | from 1 September, while capacity lasts | EUR 500 per week, 2-10 weeks | PhD students and holders, Ukrainian citizens |
| Bekker NAWA national component | 3 November 2026 | part of salary after return | Bekker NAWA fellows only |
| Culture Helps: Individual Care Grants | rolling rounds until 2028 | up to EUR 1,200 one-off | Artists and cultural managers, individually |
| Culture Helps: Collaboration Grants | second round not announced | EUR 20,000-30,000 | Ukrainian organisation + Creative Europe partner |
| NCN for Ukraine | open-ended, by scheme | depends on the scheme | Ukrainian researchers in Poland |
Research: why the academic channel is shut right now
This section exists so that nobody spends time on pages that still look alive.
Ulam NAWA 2026 is the main route by which a Polish institution employs a foreign researcher for 6 to 24 months. The Polish institution applies and receives the money, while the Ukrainian researcher joins as principal investigator. The deadline was 15 May 2026 at 15:00 CET. Then results arrive by 30 November 2026, and the next edition should come in spring 2027.
Bekker NAWA closed on 29 May 2026, and it targets researchers already working at Polish institutions anyway. Only the national component stays open: continuous intake until 3 November 2026 at 15:00 Warsaw time, and only Bekker fellows with projects of 18 months or more who are returning to a Polish institution qualify.
NAWA Solidarity with Ukraine now sits in the closed-programmes section of the agency website. It was a scheme for Polish institutions hosting Ukrainian students and doctoral candidates. Because there is no intake, links to it in older roundups lead nowhere.
The LUKE Joint Call closed on 15 May 2026 with 288 proposals. The National Science Centre (NCN) represented Poland among the funding parties. A funding decision is expected in November 2026, with projects expected to start between January and March 2027. So no new window opens this year.
NCN for Ukraine remains a working option with no fixed deadline. The Centre runs several schemes: Polish NCN grantees can add Ukrainian colleagues to their active projects, and funding exists for doctoral candidates and postdocs who left Ukraine after 24 February 2022. Conditions depend on the specific scheme.
Two traps and the calendar to spring 2027
The first trap sits on the Visegrad Fund homepage. Next to the programme list stands Visegrad-Taiwan Scholarships, marked OPEN with a deadline of 30 September 2026, paying EUR 1,000 per month plus EUR 1,000 for travel. The official programme page limits applicants to PhD candidates and researchers holding citizenship of a V4 country. Ukrainian citizenship falls outside that condition, so this line on the homepage does not apply to Ukraine.
Meanwhile the second trap is Thesaurus Poloniae, a three-month scholarship from the Polish Minister of Culture run by the International Cultural Centre in Krakow. Ukrainians traditionally form its largest applicant group. The programme runs two intakes a year, roughly early in the year and in June, and as of 10 August no intake is open. Set a reminder for January.
The calendar
- 1 September 2026: the Visegrad Fund opens submissions for Visegrad Grants, Visegrad+ Grants, Strategic Grants and the Visegrad Fellowship.
- 1 October 2026, 12:00 CET: deadline for the three Visegrad Fund grant programmes.
- 15 October 2026: Gaude Polonia deadline for 2027.
- 3 November 2026, 15:00: deadline for the Bekker NAWA national component.
- November 2026: funding decisions under the LUKE Joint Call.
- 1 to 15 December 2026: Gaude Polonia decisions.
- January and February 2027: the first Thesaurus Poloniae intake is expected.
- 1 February 2027, 12:00 CET: next Visegrad Fund deadline.
- Spring 2027: new editions of Ulam NAWA and Bekker NAWA are expected.
Need help with a Polish partner or an application
GetGrant experts check your organisation against the rules of a specific call, help assemble the consortium and prepare supporting documents.
Deadlines shift every week
The GetGrant database keeps only calls with confirmed open deadlines. We remove the stale pages that would otherwise cost you a week.