The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Fellowship is a prestigious program established by the European Union to support research and innovation across Europe. Named in honor of Marie Skłodowska-Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields, the MSCA aims to foster the career development and training of researchers at all stages of their careers.

Deadline: The application deadlines for MSCA Fellowships vary depending on the specific action and call. Typically, calls are announced annually with deadlines falling between April and September. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, applicants should consult the official MSCA website or the European Commission’s Funding & Tenders Portal.

Dates:

• Call for Proposals: Usually announced annually between April and May.
• Application Deadline: Typically between August and September of the same year.
• Evaluation Period: Approximately five months following the application deadline.
• Project Start Date: Projects generally commence between six to eight months after the application deadline, depending on the specific action and grant agreement.

Location: The MSCA Fellowships are open to institutions and researchers worldwide. However, the research project must involve mobility, meaning researchers are required to move from one country to another to acquire new knowledge, skills, and career development opportunities. This mobility can be within Europe or internationally, depending on the specific fellowship action.

Description:

The MSCA Fellowship program is designed to support researchers at various stages of their careers by providing opportunities for international mobility, interdisciplinary research, and cross-sector collaboration. The program is structured into several key actions:

1. Doctoral Networks (DN): These are collaborations of institutions offering doctoral programs to train early-stage researchers. The aim is to promote international, intersectoral, and interdisciplinary doctoral training.
2. Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF): These fellowships support experienced researchers (holding a doctoral degree) in acquiring new skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral mobility.
3. Staff Exchanges (SE): This action promotes international and cross-sector collaboration through the exchange of research and innovation staff. It aims to develop sustainable collaborative projects and transfer knowledge between different sectors and countries.
4. Co-funding of regional, national, and international programs (COFUND): This provides co-financing for new or existing doctoral programs and postdoctoral fellowship schemes, promoting best practices in researcher training and career development.
5. MSCA and Citizens: This aims to bring research and researchers closer to the public, enhancing science communication and public engagement. An example is the European Researchers’ Night, an annual event taking place across Europe.

Eligibility:

Eligibility criteria for the MSCA Fellowships vary depending on the specific action:

• Doctoral Networks (DN): Open to early-stage researchers of any nationality who have not been awarded a doctoral degree and are within the first four years of their research careers.
• Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF): Open to experienced researchers of any nationality who hold a doctoral degree and have up to eight years of research experience after their PhD. Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity in the host country for more than 12 months in the three years immediately before the call deadline.
• Staff Exchanges (SE): Open to organizations such as universities, research institutions, businesses, and other non-academic sectors. Participants can be researchers, administrative, managerial, or technical staff supporting research and innovation activities.
• COFUND: Open to organizations that fund or manage doctoral programs or fellowship schemes for researchers.

Link to the Fellowship:

For detailed information on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellowship, including application procedures, eligibility criteria, and current calls for proposals, please visit the official European Commission page HERE