The National Science Centre (NCN) has announced the results of the third edition of the international SHENG competition for Polish-Chinese research projects. One of the 13 grants selected for funding is the project led by Dr. hab. inż. Wojciech Paszke from the Institute of Automation, Electronics, and Electrical Engineering at the University of Zielona Góra, titled „Data-Assisted Real-Time Control and Performance Optimization for Complex Nonlinear Batch Production Systems.” The Polish side will receive 866,000 PLN to carry out the grant. The project will be implemented in 2024-2026 in collaboration with Dalian University of Technology, with Prof. Tao Liu leading the Chinese team.
„We had already applied with this research topic in the SHENG 1 competition,” said Prof. Wojciech Paszke. „Unfortunately, we didn’t secure funding back then. However, we managed to obtain funding through the OPUS competition, which was awarded in 2021. The project we are currently working on is the first stage of our joint research. The OPUS project is entirely funded by the Polish side, while the SHENG grant is financed by both the Polish and Chinese sides,” added Prof. Paszke. The professors have known each other since 2015—Prof. Paszke has visited Dalian, and in return, Prof. Liu visited the University of Zielona Góra in 2017.
The project will be carried out simultaneously at three universities: the University of Zielona Góra (Institute of Automation, Electronics, and Electrical Engineering), Dalian University of Technology (the main project partner), and Jiangnan University in Wuxi, a sister city of Zielona Góra. At Jiangnan University, the research work will be coordinated by Prof. Hongfeng Tao.
Prof. Paszke’s winning grant is the fourth he has been awarded by NCN. As he emphasizes, he wouldn’t have achieved so much without the people he met along the way. „I owe a lot to the late Prof. Krzysztof Gałkowski, who introduced me to this field of research and shared his contacts with me. I also met Prof. Tao Liu, with whom I am working on this project, thanks to Prof. Gałkowski. I would like to stress that I have not achieved anything on my own. I now have a stable team that I have been working with for years, especially Dr. hab. inż. Maciej Patan and Prof. dr hab. inż. Krzysztof Patan, with whom we have completed many projects and have an excellent rapport. I am also collaborating with them on this project.”
In the SHENG competition, 125 applications were submitted. Among those selected for funding, there was one project from the social sciences group and 12 from the exact and technical sciences group. The total funding awarded for all projects exceeds 15 million PLN.
The funded research will be conducted in both Poland and China, with two leaders overseeing each project—one from the Chinese side and one from the Polish side. The funds can be used for conducting research, paying the research team, providing scholarships for students or PhD candidates, purchasing or creating scientific research equipment, and covering other expenses necessary for the implementation of the Polish part of the research project.
