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The Education for Climate Coalition seeks to co-create a participatory education community to support the changes needed for a climate-neutral society. We want to inspire, develop and draw on innovative European education capabilities by promoting bottom-up actions around five priorities: training teachers, developing green skills and competences, bridging education with science, raising awareness, and changing behaviours.

The Education for Climate Coalition is meant to gather the whole education community in the EU, including:

- Teachers, educators, pupils, students, trainers and parents across all levels and institution types

- Stakeholders active in education and/or environmental work

Become part of the community!

Besides being beautiful, Europe’s nature is of great importance on so many levels to all of us. To help secondary school students understand why, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment has developed the European nature protection toolkit.

The toolkit provides resources and instructions for preparing and running indoor and outdoor activities. It will help you guide your students in learning to communicate about local plants, animals and habitats as well as about Europe’s shared natural heritage.

Inspiring students by what is around them can be a real first step in engaging them with nature in a meaningful way.

If you’re interested in learning more about biodiversity, you can also take a look at the Commission’s Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity.

Did you miss the MSCA 2024 Conference? You can now watch all the sessions to learn more about the rich discussions on the future of researchers' careers in Europe. The recordings include also the Falling Walls Lab MSCA 2024 competition.

The European Commission has announced a €10 million top-up for the MSCA4Ukraine initiative, funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Since 2023, the scheme has allowed 125 displaced researchers from Ukraine to continue their research in 21 countries. The extra budget will enable around 50 additional fellows, including doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers, to continue their work safely in academia, businesses, research centres and public institutions based in the EU and countries associated to Horizon Europe.

March marked the launch of PEP-CV (The Peer Exchange Platform for Narrative-style CVs) a free and open resource for everyone active in the research and innovation sector. It allows users to engage in simple peer mentoring exchanges and discuss how to best present a diverse range of experiences, achievements, and career paths in narrative-style CVs. The PEP-CV platform has been developed in partnership between six research funding agencies, the Marie Curie Alumni Association, and the Young Academy of Europe. Join PEP-CV now!

The MSCA Seal of Excellence enables Postdoctoral Fellowships applicants who achieved high scores but were not funded due to budget constraints to seek alternative funding and support from various sources. Several organisations are currently offering funding opportunities for MSCA Seal of Excellence awardees in Italy and Lithuania.

• Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, Italy
• Collegio Carlo Alberto, Italy
• Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Lithuania
• Check the full list of Seal of Excellence support schemes

In an exclusive interview with the European Research Executive Agency, 2023 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics and former MSCA beneficiary sheds light on her path to science, the importance of the MSCA for researchers' careers and why we need more young women in STEM.

A new study assesses the initial use of the MSCA Green Charter. The publication is based on a survey which looked at general developments in greening strategies among MSCA participants, explored whether the charter can and does help to promote sustainability considerations and measures, and sought feedback on what kind of support is needed to support green and sustainable research practices in MSCA projects. Earlier on in 2023, the MSCA published new guidance to support its projects in fostering such changes.

On 10 November 2022, the European Research Executive Agency (REA) organised a cluster event gathering over 160 relevant actors from 75 EID projects funded under Horizon 2020. A key goal of the meeting was to document successes, good practices and lessons learnt, as well as provide recommendations to help improve and enhance the efficiency and impact of the programme for fellows, industry and academia in the future, thus contributing more effectively to the corresponding EU priorities.

Today, 7 November, we celebrate the 156th birthday of Marie Skłodowska-Curie, the first person ever to receive two Nobel prizes in two different disciplines. On this day, we pay homage to not only her ground-breaking work, but also the lasting impact of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme and of excellent work and passion of scientists from all over the world, including more than 145 000 researchers who have been receiving EU funding in her name under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Part of the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, EU missions are a new way to bring concrete solutions to some of our greatest challenges. Over 2,400 projects, among which numerous MSCA projects in different domains, managed by the European Research Executive Agency, have supported the objectives of all five EU Missions launched in 2021.

The MSCA-NET project has published its fifth edition of the Policy Brief on Synergies. This policy brief aims to provide a short, but comprehensive overview of the synergistic approach to research and innovation funding supported by the European Commission. The brief aims to help researchers and organisations better understand the policy objectives in the context of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Don’t know where to start when it comes to communicating about your EU-funded project? Then check out the European Research Executive Agency’s updated guidance which includes: two clips with tips on why and how to communicate about your work, an interview with two EU-funded projects on how to make the most of social media, and a leaflet which highlights the differences between communication, dissemination and exploitation.

The study, conducted by the European Research Executive Agency, in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, confirms excellence in the research and innovation potential of the H2020-MSCA-ITN scheme. It also provides important recommendations for policy-makers and applicants, as well as points for improvement to enhance innovation and excellence across Europe and beyond.

A recent study published on the Open Research platform F1000 Research analysed the importance of numerical scores in Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) projects. The aim was to assess whether there were differences in reviewer comments’ linguistic characteristics after the numerical scoring was removed in 2020. The findings indicate that the removal of numerical scores did not contribute to meaningful differences in the evaluation procedure of the ITN proposals or its outcome.

The revised version of the MSCA Green Charter Guidance Material was recently published. The document aims to complement the MSCA Green Charter and provides updated guidelines, good practices, and other useful resources to develop greener policies and practices in research practices and management. This Guidance Material is based on input from experts on greening and sustainability in higher education systems.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2023 was awarded to Anne L’Huillier, Ferenc Krausz, and Pierre Agostini “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter”. L’Huillier and Krausz supervised or coordinated numerous Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions’ projects under the FP6, FP7 and H2020 frameworks. They join the gallery of MSCA-backed researchers that have received the high-profile award.

MSCA Staff Exchanges and COFUND promote innovative international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration in research and innovation, respectively through exchanging staff and sharing knowledge and ideas at all stages of the innovation chain, and co-funding regional, national and international doctoral training and fellowship programmes. Mark your calendar, the 2023 MSCA Staff Exchanges and MSCA COFUND calls are opening in October! The deadline for submission of proposals will be in February 2024.

Are you considering applying for the next MSCA Staff Exchanges call? Have a look at 6 practical steps to prepare your application, including tips and tricks to start preparing a successful proposal. This article will guide you through the resources available to get familiar with the eligibility conditions, find the best partners and draft your proposal with experts.

The European Commission and the European Research Executive Agency (REA) have published new information packages for researchers and staff members taking part in projects supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions under Horizon Europe. These new publications provide useful, hands-on information and are a reference source for any researcher or staff member taking part in the programme.