European Commission to Support 71 Collaborative Projects
The European Commission has announced that 71 staff exchange projects will receive €72 million through the first Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Staff Exchanges round to launch under Horizon Europe.
MSCA is the EU’s flagship programme to support scientific excellence and cooperation across countries, sectors and research fields. It aims to encourage more young people to pursue a career in research and promote Europe’s attractiveness for leading global talent.
MSCA Staff Exchanges fund short-term international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary exchanges of staff members involved in research and innovation activities at all stages of the innovation chain. Secondments must be between different countries. The aim is to develop sustainable collaborative projects between different organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors (in particular SMEs), based in Europe and beyond. Exchanged staff benefit from new knowledge, skills and career development perspectives, while participating organisations increase their research and innovation capacities.
A total of 209 applications were submitted to the 2021 round. The selected applicants include doctoral candidates, postdoctoral fellows and technicians, managerial and administrative staff involved in research and innovation activities. Researchers involved will go abroad to enlarge their networks, share knowledge and carry out cutting-edge research for the benefit of European societies.
Selected projects will promote research in all scientific fields, with successful candidates chosen in the following disciplines:
- Engineering and ICT: 37% (26 projects)
- Social sciences and humanities: 14% (10 projects)
- Environment and geosciences: 13% (9 projects)
- Life sciences: 11% (8 projects)
- Chemistry: 11% (8 projects)
- Physics: 8% (6 projects)
- Economics: 3% (2 projects)
- Mathematics: 3% (2 projects)
The first projects will start at the earliest in November 2022.
The next round of MSCA Staff Exchanges will launch on 6 October 2022.