Competition for the academic scholarship of National Centre of Science – as part of the research project - Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla PAN

COMPETITION FORM

PI of OPUS NCN project (nr 2025/57/B/HS3/02198) announces a competition for the academic scholarship of National Centre of Science – as part of the research project

GENERAL INFORMATION

INSTITUTION: Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences

DEPARTMENT: Department of Source Criticism and Editing

DISCIPLINE: History

SCHOLARSHIP PERIOD: 4 years starting from the signing of the agreement by the National Science Centre (expected date:1 February 2026).

NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS: 1

ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT: 5000 PLN per month

ANNOUNCEMENT DATE OF COMPETITION: Dec.10, 2025

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Jan. 4, 2026

RESULT ANNOUNCEMENT: Jan. 9, 2026

WEBSITE: http://www.ihpan.edu.pl

DESCRIPTION OF FUTURE RESEARCH WORK:

Scholarship holder in a research project titled Rus Chronicles as source of common law, funded by the National Science Centre of Poland (OPUS NCN project no. 2025/57/B/HS3/02198), led by prof. dr hab. Adrian Jusupović.

Abstract of the research project

The main goal of the project is to study a Rus common law (precedential norms) and customs information preserved in Rus chronicles/letopis’) from the 10th to 13th centuries in comparative perspective (and the use of these legal precedents in later documents from the territory of Rus’ – that is, present-day Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Poland). The existing research has, on the one hand, failed to display an innovative scientific approach to interrogating these sources and, on the other hand, incorporated only a fraction of the information available concerning the law and customs of the Rus territory. Most researchers have instead concentrated their research on strictly defined legal texts (eg. Rus Truth=Russkaya Pravda), while ignoring to some extent narrative sources. Taking this into account, our research will unlock a whole new field of research. To contribute to more rigorous scholarship in this field, we will begin by preparing a database using the published editions of Cyrillic chronicles alongside Latin, Scandinavian, and Greek sources as comparators. We will examine these editions in search of information about law and customs, including, for example, international, civil, property, and religious law. These passages will subsequently be translated into English to make them more accessible to the international community. This research has three key objectives: 1. A finalized, open-access LawRus database (digital source edition) or digital repository of legal historical sources in a Mediawiki format, created in cooperation with IT specialists from the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IH PAS). The long-term preservation of this database on a IH PAS server is another key objective. The database shall be made available for contributions from interested researchers at the end of the project funding period, but it will be available as a work-in-progress from the first year onwards. 2. An international conference in 2028, bringing together specialists on Slavic law (and customs) to encourage more research on the legal history of the Middle Ages as part of the project’s wider engagement. 3. Publication. Articles in English and other languages in renowned European journals. We plan to publish our case studies on law and customs. We do not exclude, in fact we consider it quite likely that this project will result in more than one book publication.

The tasks of the scholarship holder will include:

independent studies of written sources (Cyrillic and Latin);
conducting library and archive enquiries in Poland and abroad;
entering data into the database;
writing and publishing scholarly articles;
presenting papers at international conferences;
participation in team meetings (online and in person);
participation in public engagement activities;

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

Applicants must:

hold a MA in juridical and historical studies;
active knowledge of Russian and English languages;
be a PhD student (first or second year of studies) at a doctoral school in the meaning of the Act from 20 July 2018 on Higher Education and Science.

The academic scholarship may be awarded to a person who does not hold a doctoral degree.

COMPETITION PROCEDURE:

the competition is held in accordance with the rules and procedures set out in the Regulations for awarding NCN research grants in research projects financed by the National Science Centre, appended to Resolution No. 124/2022 of the Council of the National Science Centre of 1 December 2022, available at the following website: https://www.ncn.gov.pl/sites/default/files/pliki/uchwaly-rady/2022/uchwala124_2022-zal1.pdf;
the competition is conducted by a scholarship committee appointed by the Director of the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences, consisting of the PI as chairperson and at least two persons designated by him who have the appropriate academic or professional qualifications;
applications should be submitted to the Institute of History PAS;
the committee assesses whether applications meet formal and substantive requirements;
the scholarship committee evaluates applications on a rating scale and compiles a ranking of scholarship candidates.
final results will be announced,
the decision of the scholarship committee is final and cannot be appealed.
all communication will be conducted via email.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:

cover letter addressed to the PI of project;
CV (taking into account the candidate evaluation criteria listed in the Regulations mentioned in point IV) including contact details (email and phone);
recommendation from the supervisor or supervisors of the doctoral thesis;
copy of MA diploma(s);
document confirming the status of a PhD student at a doctoral school;
list of academic achievements and publications;
a statement confirming that no other scholarship is being received from the NCN budget;
consent for the processing of personal data (downloadable form).

Consent for the processing of personal data (downloadable form).Please send scanned documents to: konkursy.naukowe@ihpan.edu.pl Originals will be required upon sign the scholarship agreement.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The NCN research scholarship may be combined with other scholarships and remuneration financed by the NCN awarded under more than one research project, provided that the total amount of scholarships and remuneration received does not exceed PLN 5,000 per month.

The Institute of History of the PAS has a procedure for whistleblowers to report legal violations and for taking follow-up actions, namely the Regulations for Reporting Legal Violations and Taking Follow-Up Actions at the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences. More information on whistleblowers can be found here – only Polish version.

PI of the project
Rus Chronicles as source of common law

Prof. dr hab. Adrian Jusupović

Warsaw, Dec. 9, 2025