Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

The new guidelines provide useful background on researchers at risk and recommend ways to improve their recruitment. The guidelines have been developed by the European Commission with the help of the Inspireurope project, a Europe-wide initiative to support researchers at risk funded by the MSCA. All MSCA applicants and beneficiaries are encouraged to take measures to facilitate the participation of these researchers.

Around 70 percent of beneficiaries under the MSCA are higher education institutions. They therefore have access to other EU funding targeting the higher education sector, such as Erasmus+. The aim of the new note is to improve awareness about the additional opportunities Erasmus + presents to people working in the higher education sector.

Findings from large-scale MSCA questionnaires indicate that the actions create a significant positive impact on professional development and careers. Launched at the beginning of Horizon 2020, the evaluation questionnaire (answered at end of their fellowship) and the follow-up questionnaire (two years after) have been answered by 15,000 and 1,800 fellows respectively.

Funding from the European Commission is playing a key role in the all-important COVID-19 pandemic-related research. A large part of that funding comes through the MSCA, together with the European Research Council (ERC) and the Health Programme, according to the new report that identifies 2 700 COVID-19 relevant publications to which the EU research and innovation funding has contributed.

Two recent studies analysing ethics issues in MSCA grant proposals suggest the need for further training in the area to be provided to researchers at all career stages. Both highlight a gap between applicant’s understanding of ethics issues and that of experts.

Following the recent Staff Exchanges Info Day, an information flyer was produced, summarising what is unique about this MSCA programme. Key partners from academia, business and other non-academic organisations have often highlighted the Action’s added value for them. Hence, seize the opportunity and send in your application by 9 March 2022. If you have missed the Info Day, you can watch the recording.

COFUND action provides organisations established in the EU or Horizon Europe Associated Countries with complementary financial support for new or existing regional, national and international training programmes. The action is open for applicants managing training programmes for researchers at doctoral and postdoctoral level.

The award is a recognition prize for EU-funded projects that advance the Industry 5.0 vision. Projects should be able to present a convincing and inspiring solution, addressing Industry 5.0's three main pillars: sustainability, human-centricity and resilience, while also being clearly applicable in industry. MSCA projects can apply.

The award recognises and celebrates outstanding projects that have used their results to provide value for society with 6 awards of €25,000 each and wide publicity for winners. These projects must have been funded by FP7 and/or Horizon 2020 funding programmes, including the MSCA, and they must be closed by the time of application.

The plans will be required for all public bodies, higher education institutions and research organisations from EU Member States and associated countries wishing to participate in Horizon Europe, including the MSCA. Learn more about the requirements and training available.

The new European Commission’s open access publishing platform venue accepts articles in all fields of science stemming from EU-funded research, including by the MSCA. The platform covers all costs upfront, there is no author fee, which means also no administrative burden.

Are you managing an MSCA project? Would you like to receive expert support free of charge to disseminate effectively and/or boost exploitation potential of your project's research results? The Horizon Results Booster can help you prepare your business plan, increase your project results’ exploitation potential and improve your access to markets.

The toolkit published by the Commission includes best practices to support EU higher education institutions and research organisations in safeguarding their fundamental values, including academic freedom, integrity and institutional autonomy, as well as to protect their staff, students, research findings and assets.

The She Figures publication is the main source of pan European, comparable statistics on the state of gender equality in research and innovation. The data presented follow the 'chronological journey' of women from graduating from doctoral studies to participating in the labour market and acquiring decision-making roles, while exploring differences in women and men's working conditions and research outputs.