Applications Now Open for Horizon Europe MSCA COFUND and Staff Exchanges
Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) are part of the Excellent Science pillar of Horizon Europe, which is designed to reinforce and extend the European Union’s excellent science base. The 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 make a career in research, promote its attractiveness for top talents from around the world, retain its own researchers and reintegrate those working elsewhere.
Applications are now being accepted for the COFUND and Staff Exchanges programmes under the MSCA. Further details of these funds are as follows:
MSCA COFUND
The MSCA COFUND programme provides funding for regional, national and international programmes for training and career development through co-funding mechanisms. The programme supports new or existing doctoral programmes and postdoctoral fellowship schemes managed by entities established in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries with the aim of spreading the best practices of the MSCA. This includes international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary research training, as well as international and cross-sectoral mobility of researchers at all stages of their career.
MSCA COFUND actions consist of the following two programmes:
- Doctoral Programmes offer research training activities to allow doctoral candidates to develop and broaden their skills and competences. They will lead to the award of a doctoral degree.
- Postdoctoral Programmes fund individual advanced research training and career development fellowships for postdoctoral researchers.
COFUND projects should last for up to five years and should recruit at least three researchers. Proposed programmes can cover any research disciplines, but may also focus on specific disciplines, notably when they are based on national or regional Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3 strategies). In this case, the range of covered disciplines should allow reasonable flexibility for the researchers to define their topic.
MSCA Staff Exchanges
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. The project should enable networking activities and the organisation of workshops and conferences, to facilitate sharing of knowledge and testing of innovative approaches for specific R&I topics.
Staff Exchanges projects can last up to four years. The grant funds the mobility of seconded staff members from one month to one year. Staff involved should return to their home organisations after the secondment, to pass on their knowledge.
Staff exchanges between organisations in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries are required to be between different sectors (academic or non-academic), except if they are interdisciplinary. For partnerships with non-associated Third Countries, exchanges within the same sector and the same discipline are allowed.
Staff Exchanges are open to international consortia of universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs and other non-academic organisations. They need to include
- At least three organisations in three different countries, two of which need to be located in a different EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.
- Above this minimum, the participation of organisations from any country is possible.
- If all participating organisations are from the same sector (academic or non-academic), at least one must be from a non-associated Third Country.
The deadline for COFUND applications is 10 February 2022.
The deadline for Staff Exchanges applications is 9 March 2022.