In the POLCA project we will explore some novel functions based on Liquid crystals integrated on silicon photonic waveguide structures. The primary goal is to enable photonic circuits that become more easy to configure dynamically, i.e. programmable photonic circuits. For this, we need to identify liquid crystal materials with a strong anisotropy that can be deposited on the silicon chips, and then electrically actuated. We will also look into liquid crystals with other useful functions, such as bistability, hysteresis, or Pockels effect of high-speed modulation.