COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION

of 11.12.2025

on the financing of the Specific Programme implementing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation – and the adoption of the work programme for 2026-2027

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union 1 , and in particular Article 110(1) thereof,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, laying down its rules for participation and dissemination, and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1290/2013 and (EU) No 1291/2013 2

Having regard to Council Decision (EU) 2021/764 of 10 May 2021 establishing the Specific Programme implementing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, and repealing Decision 2013/743/EU 3 , and in particular Article 13(2), point (b), thereof,

Whereas:

(1)In order to ensure the implementation of Council Decision (EU) 2021/764 (‘the Specific Programme’), it is necessary to adopt a multiannual financing decision, which is to constitute the multiannual work programme, for 2026 and 2027 for the Horizon Europe Programme, in accordance with Article 110(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 (‘the Financial Regulation’).

(2)The work programme 2026-2027 covers the following parts: 1. ‘General Introduction’, 2. ‘Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions’, 3. ‘Research Infrastructures’, 4. ‘Health’, 5. ‘Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society’, 6. ‘Civil Security for Society’, 7. ‘Digital, Industry and Space’, 8. ‘Climate, Energy and Mobility’, 9. ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment’, 10. ‘European Innovation Ecosystems’, 11. ‘Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area’, 12. ‘Missions’, 13. ‘New European Bauhaus Facility’, 14. ‘Horizontal Activities’ and 15. ‘General Annexes’.

(3)The envisaged assistance is to comply with the conditions and procedures set out by the restrictive measures 4 adopted pursuant to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

(4)It is necessary to allow for the payment of interest due for late payment on the basis of Article 116(5) of the Financial Regulation.

(5)In order to allow for flexibility in the implementation of the work programme, it is appropriate to determine the changes, which should not be considered substantial for the purposes of Article 110(5) of the Financial Regulation.

(6)The activities should contribute to climate and biodiversity mainstreaming in line with the Commission Communication ‘The European Green Deal’ 5 and the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources 6 . Part 1. ‘General Introduction’ provides more detail on the work programme’s contribution to climate and biodiversity mainstreaming.

(7)Pursuant to Article 62(1), first subparagraph, point (c), of the Financial Regulation, indirect management is to be used for the actions specified in the work programme.

(8)The Commission is to ensure a level of protection of the financial interests of the Union with regard to persons and entities entrusted with the implementation of Union funds by indirect management as provided for in Article 157(3) of the Financial Regulation. To that end, and before a contribution agreement can be signed, such persons and entities are to be subject to an assessment of their systems and procedures in accordance with Article 157(4) of the Financial Regulation and, if necessary, to appropriate supervisory measures in accordance with Article 157(5) of the Financial Regulation.

(9)It is necessary to authorise the award of grants without a call for proposals and to provide for the conditions for awarding those grants in accordance with Article 198 points (b), (e) and (f) of the Financial Regulation.

(10)It is necessary to protect the security and public order of the Union or its Member States as provided for in Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.

(11)The maximum Union contribution for the implementation of the Specific Programme in 2026 includes part of the EFTA States contribution which is fixed for 2026 at 2.60% of the appropriations. The maximum Union contribution for the implementation of the Specific Programme in 2027 includes part of the EFTA States contribution which is fixed for 2027 at 2.60% of the appropriations.

(12)The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Programme Committee established by Article 14 of Council Decision (EU) 2021/764.

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The work programme

The multiannual financing decision, constituting the multiannual work programme for the implementation of the Specific Programme for 2026 and 2027, as set out in Annexes I to XV to this Decision, is hereby adopted.

Article 2

Union contribution

The maximum Union contribution for the implementation of the Specific Programme, as covered by the work programme set out in Annexes I to XV to this Decision for 2026 and 2027, is set at EUR 7 244 901 854 for 2026 and EUR 7 005 883 042 for 2027, and shall be financed from the appropriations entered in the following lines of the general budget of the Union: 

(a) budget line 01.020102:

EUR 1 196 863 977 for 2026

EUR 1 181 629 855 for 2027

(b) budget line 01.020103:

EUR 311 200 000 for 2026

EUR 406 700 000 for 2027

(c) budget line 01.020210:

EUR 732 002 923 for 2026

EUR 845 097 812 for 2027

(d) budget line 01.020220:

   EUR 360 300 000 for 2026

EUR 337 400 000 for 2027

(e) budget line 01.020230:

EUR 190 130 000 for 2026

EUR 203 621 000 for 2027

(f) budget line 01.020240:

EUR 1 308 970 000 for 2026

EUR 1 256 550 000 for 2027

(g) budget line 01.020250:

EUR 1 712 693 445 for 2026

EUR 1 384 285 673 for 2027

(h) budget line 01.020260:

EUR 918 711 509 for 2026

EUR 884 558 702 for 2027

(i) budget line 01.020302:

EUR 29 000 000 for 2026

EUR 36 100 000 for 2027

(j) budget line 01.020401:

EUR 410 875 000 for 2026

EUR 415 340 000 for 2027

(k) budget line 01.020402:

EUR 74 155 000 for 2026

EUR 54 600 000 for 2027

(l) the following budget lines (transferred resources used for the benefit of a Member State concerned in accordance with Article 15(5) of Regulation (EU) 2021/695):

–05.020900 — Horizon Europe — Contribution from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

–05.030700 — Horizon Europe — Contribution from the Cohesion Fund (CF)

EUR 0 7 for 2026 and 2027

The appropriations provided for in the first paragraph may also cover interest due for late payment.

The implementation of this Decision is subject to the availability of the appropriations provided for in the general budget of the Union for 2026 and 2027 following the adoption of that budget by the budget authority.

Article 3

Flexibility clause

Cumulated changes to the allocations to specific actions not exceeding 20% of the maximum Union contribution set in Article 2, first paragraph, of this Decision shall not be considered to be substantial for the purposes of Article 110(5) of the Financial Regulation, where those changes do not significantly affect the nature of the actions and the objective of the work programme. The increase of the maximum Union contribution set in Article 2, first paragraph, of this Decision shall not exceed 20%.

The authorising officer responsible may apply the changes referred to in the first paragraph. Those changes shall be applied in accordance with the principles of sound financial management and proportionality.

Article 4

Methods of implementation and entrusted entities or persons

The implementation of the actions carried out by way of indirect management, as set out in Annexes VI, VII, VIII, IX and XII to this Decision, may be entrusted to the entities referred to in those Annexes.

Article 5

Grants awarded without a call for proposals

Grants may be awarded without a call for proposals in accordance with the conditions set out in Annexes II, III, IV, V, VII, VIII, IX, XI, XII and XIII to this Decision.

Article 6

Security and public order

In accordance with Article 136(2) of the Financial Regulation, the actions set out in Annexes VII and VIII to this Decision have been identified as affecting the security and public order of the Union or its Member States.

In accordance with Article 136(3) of the Financial Regulation, the authorising officer responsible may set specific conditions for the award procedures and for the resulting legal commitments. The specific conditions shall be strictly limited to what is necessary to protect security or public order of the Union and/or its Member States.

Article 7

Financial instruments

The provision of financial support by means of blending operations under InvestEU for the amount set in Annex VII, may be entrusted to the entity referred to in the Annex VII.

Done at Brussels, 11.12.2025

(1)    OJ L, 2024/2509, 26.9.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/2509/oj .

(2)    OJ L 170, 12.5.2021, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/695/oj .    

(3)    OJ L 167I, 12.5.2021, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2021/764/oj .

(4)    See www.sanctionsmap.eu – Note that the sanctions map is an IT tool for identifying the sanctions regimes. The source of the sanctions stems from legal acts published in the Official Journal (OJ). In the case of discrepancy, the OJ prevails.

(5)    COM (2019) 640 final of 11 December 2019.    

(6)    Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources (OJ L 433I , 22.12.2020, p. 28, ELI:  http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_interinstit/2020/1222/oj ).

(7)    Without prejudice to the maximum Union contribution of EUR 7 244 901 854 for 2026 and EUR 7 005 883 042 for 2027 or budget flexibility covered by Article 3 of this Decision, the Union contribution may be financed from appropriations entered into these budget lines.

EN

Annex I

Horizon Europe

Work Programme 2026-2027

1.General Introduction

Key novelties

Simplification measures

The Commission is committed to making the Horizon Europe work programme even simpler, shorter and more impactful. This work programme introduces several measures aimed at simplifying processes, enhancing transparency and inclusiveness. The key simplification measures in this work programme are set out below.

·Less prescriptive topic descriptions. The average length of topic descriptions has been reduced, making these less prescriptive and thereby allowing applicants more flexibility in how they approach the topics. This includes more open topics 2 introduced across clusters in Pillar II. This also means that the overall length of the Work Programme 2026-2027 has been reduced by 33% compared with the Work Programme 2023-2024.

·Fewer topics. The number of topics has been reduced by 35% compared with the Work Programme 2023-2024. This streamlining is intended to focus resources on fewer but larger topics, thereby increasing the potential impact. Moreover, the number of topics funding only one project has been decreased by 50%.

·Increased use of lump-sum funding. 50% of the call budget of this work programme will be implemented through lump sums. This particularly concerns topics intended to result in grants below EUR 10 million. The use of lump sums simplifies financial management and reduces administrative burden for participants.

·‘Newcomer-friendly’ and SME-friendly topics. This work programme includes topics that are specifically designed to be newcomer-friendly, encouraging participation by SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups, civil society organisations and small public administrations. These topics can, for instance, use the Fast Track to Research and Innovation Scheme. Similarly, there are more topics that allow for financial support to third parties  than in previous work programmes.

·Use of two-stage calls. The programme includes 41 call topics with two-stage evaluation. These will allow applicants to submit a shorter summary proposal and only submit a full proposal if successful at the stage of the short proposal evaluation. Many of these short proposals will be evaluated blindly, thanks to anonymised applications, as a way to avoid potential risk of bias. By reducing the submission period for first-stage proposals and simplifying evaluation processes, the time to grant is shortened.

·Reduced complexity of proposal template. Standard templates for the most common type of actions have been updated, simplifying the requirements for the impact and implementation sections and reducing the overall page limits.

These measures collectively aim to make the work programme more efficient, accessible and impactful by reducing administrative burdens and promoting inclusivity and innovation.

Horizontal calls

A key novelty in this work programme is the introduction of horizontal calls, which are designed to connect different parts of Horizon Europe in support of key strategic areas. These calls ensure that Horizon Europe is more in tune with the EU’s evolving policies by tackling them in a consistent, cross-cluster, multidisciplinary way. By combining efforts and pooling resources, they aim to create critical mass and deliver greater impact. The horizontal calls are built around open, broadly defined topics guided by a shared strategic direction. The topics are intentionally non-prescriptive, giving applicants the flexibility to propose different approaches for achieving the expected outcomes.

R&I in Support of the Clean Industrial Deal

The horizontal call ‘R&I in Support of the Clean Industrial Deal’, set out in the ‘Horizontal Activities’ part of this work programme, is designed to implement the EU’s commitments under the Clean Industrial Deal through targeted research and innovation. With an indicative budget of EUR 540 million, this call aims to accelerate the market deployment of cutting-edge clean technologies and decarbonised industry solutions, with a focus on both technological excellence and market readiness.

The call takes a bottom-up, industry-led approach, facilitating cross-sectoral integration and market-driven R&I responses. It consists of two large, open topics focusing on: (1) decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries; and (2) clean technologies for climate action. The focus is on creating ‘fit-for-deployment’ projects that not only are technologically feasible but also have robust business and market readiness strategies.

As announced in the Clean Industrial Deal Communication , this call will foster synergies between Horizon Europe and the Innovation Fund by ensuring a continuous pipeline of R&I solutions ready for market deployment. Ultimately, the call seeks to accelerate the roll-out of clean tech solutions, boost European competitiveness, mobilise investments and reduce energy prices, thereby contributing significantly to the EU’s industrial decarbonisation and clean energy objectives.

AI in Science

The horizontal call ‘AI in Science’, set out in the ‘Horizontal Activities’ part of this work programme, is aimed at fostering trustworthy AI solutions to tackle significant societal and industrial challenges. It contributes to the implementation of the ‘Resource for AI Science in Europe’ (RAISE) pilot, as announced in the European Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in Science . This call supports safe, responsible, ethical and transparent AI applications across key sectors, such as advanced materials, agriculture, environment and food, and is in line with Europe’s broader digital transition goals. By embedding these innovations, this work programme seeks to enhance Europe’s R&I leadership, thereby having a substantial impact on sustainability, digital innovation and inclusive growth.

With an indicative budget of around EUR 90 million, this call includes open topics on thematic networks of excellence for AI in science, automated scientific discovery and RAISE doctoral networks for AI in science. These topics are designed to apply across different R&I areas within the work programme, ensuring a cohesive and comprehensive approach to advancing AI science in Europe. Through these initiatives, the call not only supports safe, secure and trustworthy technological advancement but also strengthens Europe’s strategic position in the global AI landscape.

In parallel to this horizontal call, at least EUR 775 million will be invested in AI in science through the rest of this work programme.

Choose Europe for Science

The Choose Europe for Science initiative is an important element of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 and is designed to make Europe a premier destination for scientific careers. The Choose Europe for Science initiative aligns closely with broader EU goals, emphasising the need to foster innovation by creating an environment where researchers can thrive. By offering stable funding opportunities and access to cutting-edge facilities, the EU enables researchers to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges. On top of the EUR 500 million announced in May 2025 for this initiative, this work programme brings in additional resources.

Building on the 2025 pilot aiming to promote research careers in Europe by funding postdoctoral programmes that go beyond project-based work, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCAs) part of this work programme allocates about EUR 50 million to improve long-term fellowships, ensure postdoctoral career stability and offer relocation incentives. By linking MSCA grants to competitions for long-term positions in universities and research organisations, this initiative underscores the EU’s commitment to providing excellent research opportunities, working conditions and long-term professional prospects, thereby ensuring that Europe remains a hub for top talent and groundbreaking scientific advancements.

In addition to the dedicated ‘Choose Europe for Science’ initiative under the MSCA, this work programme also supports these objectives through other actions across its various components. For instance, by strengthening Europe’s world-class research infrastructures – including through improving transnational access to their facilities and services, supporting training and upskilling, and reinforcing their international dimensions – the programme contributes to stimulate researchers and innovators to ‘Choose Europe for Science’. Such contributions represent nearly EUR 50 million in the Research Infrastructures part of this work programme. In addition, the ERA Chairs call, aiming to attract high-level researchers to a widening university or research centre, also supports the initiative with a budget of EUR 240 million. Moreover, in light of the adopted EU Startup and Scaleup strategy, the European Innovation Ecosystem supports the ‘Choose Europe for Science’ initiative by creating conditions favourable for the growth of global, technology-driven companies.

Delivering on EU policy priorities

Europe has made its choice. We are choosing to start a new age of invention and ingenuity. We are choosing to put research and innovation, science and technology at the heart of our economy. We are choosing to be the continent where science is a pillar of our society and our way of life.

Europe’s global competitiveness and leadership in the clean and digital transitions remain central to the future. These transitions hinge on a bold, coordinated approach to R&I which fuels scientific breakthroughs, accelerates the development of critical technologies and addresses pressing societal challenges.

With this work programme, the EU and the countries associated to Horizon Europe will invest over EUR 14 billion in research and innovation to enhance Europe’s sustainable prosperity and competitiveness. Building on the previous Horizon Europe work programmes, it introduces significant new initiatives designed to tackle the most pressing EU challenges and priorities, including the Clean Industrial Deal and advancements in AI. The EU’s shift to a circular economy is also integral to the work programme for 2026-2027, with a focus on systemic changes across sectors such as construction and textiles and promoting innovative, market-ready solutions through high-impact, cross-cluster actions. Alongside initiatives under the Clean Industrial Deal to help increase circularity in energy-intensive industries and clean tech, the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative will focus on local and regional authorities, fostering place-based innovation and experimentation. A further example of a key EU strategy supported by this work programme is the Strategy for European Life Sciences . 

Amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, including conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, this work programme will focus on initiatives that strengthen Europe’s security, reduce strategic dependencies and reinforce supply chain resilience. For instance, EUR 634 million is allocated to topics related to critical raw materials, and the programme also supports research on advanced materials and alternatives to rare earth. By investing in critical technologies – such as energy technologies, quantum and advanced manufacturing – the EU aims to safeguard its strategic autonomy while fostering economic growth and social cohesion. This work programme is a key step towards achieving the priorities outlined in the second Horizon Europe strategic plan (2025-2027) . The actions set out in this work programme are expected to substantially contribute to the three overarching, interlinked key strategic orientations: the green transition, the digital transition and a more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe. These orientations are fully aligned with the EU’s main policy priorities, as set out in the Commission’s Political Guidelines for 2024-2029 and expanded on in the  Competitiveness Compass for the EU , all of which require significant contributions from R&I to meet their objectives.

Knowledge valorisation is also a key priority of this work programme. Over EUR 870 million is allocated to valorisation topics on market, societal and policy uptake of research results. Other topics across the work programme also include valorisation elements.

To support the European strategy on research and technology infrastructures , the Research Infrastructures part of this work programme aims to strengthen research infrastructures so that they can support all stages of the innovation process – from basic research to real-world use in the market. This approach aims to ensure that Europe remains competitive on the global stage.

In particular, the Research Infrastructures part will contribute to enriching the European Open Science Cloud Federation with high-quality, FAIR 3 research data and scientific tools and services that support cross-disciplinary science cases.

R&I activities under Cluster 1 ‘Health’ will support healthcare resilience, leverage biotechnology and AI and address key public health needs – including mental health, disease prevention, pollution- and climate-related health impacts and the development of critical medicines and medical countermeasures. These efforts will help improve health outcomes, ease the burden of disease and contribute to Europe’s sustainable prosperity and global competitiveness, supporting the goal of making the EU the most attractive place for life sciences by 2030, in line with the  Strategy for European Life Sciences .  This cluster will also develop innovative interventions to prevent the harmful effects of digital technologies on the mental health of children and young adults, in line with the Commission’s objective to protect their mental health in an increasingly digitalised world.

The mobilisation of social sciences and humanities and interdisciplinary R&I under the actions in Cluster 2 ‘Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society’ will help foster a democratic culture of participation and inclusivity and promote the values of equality, freedom, respect for human dignity and human rights and respect for cultural pluralism. Research will ensure that these EU values remain relevant in addressing contemporary challenges and in balancing technological progress with its societal impact. This will contribute to a more inclusive and equitable Europe, where innovation benefits all, particularly those at risk of being excluded or discriminated against by technological changes.

A new European partnership on social transformations and resilience, focusing on social sciences and humanities, will be launched under Cluster 2 of the work programme. The partnership will fund R&I activities in the following areas: the future of work, modernisation of social protection and essential services, education and skills development, and a fair transition towards climate neutrality. This is the last of the nine new European partnerships announced in the second Horizon Europe strategic plan (2025-2027) and it is aimed at combining national R&I efforts and increasing industry participation in Horizon Europe in key strategic areas.

Actions in Cluster 3 ‘Civil Security for Society’ will contribute to a safer and more secure Europe, a ‘Preparedness Union’ and stronger common borders, thereby protecting democracy and putting R&I at the heart of a resilient economy. This cluster will equip security practitioners, such as law enforcement and critical infrastructure operators, with modern tools consistent with EU values, while boosting European competitiveness and promoting innovation procurement. This cluster supports the  ProtectEU strategy  in addressing threats such as terrorism and cybercrime and will facilitate secure border crossings for people and goods. It also contributes to the European Preparedness Union Strategy  for better managing risks, developing a European Civil Defence Mechanism for crisis management, and strengthening the EU’s cyber resilience through advanced protective measures and international collaboration. Overall, this cluster focuses on ensuring people’s right to safety.

This work programme continues to support the digital transition to clean industry and autonomous access to space in a competitive, strategically autonomous Europe. In line with this, as key priorities, actions in Cluster 4 ‘Digital, Industry and Space’ will focus on ensuring a substantial and coordinated contribution by R&I to the Clean Industrial Deal, promoting emerging enabling technologies, such as AI in science, and achieving open strategic autonomy 4 in space-based infrastructure, services, applications and data. In doing so, this cluster operates in alignment with the previously mentioned horizontal calls focused on the Clean Industrial Deal and AI in Science. This cluster will also help build synergies and joint activities between partnerships.

Cluster 5 ‘Climate, Energy and Mobility’ will support R&I on decarbonising our economy and society, promoting a more sustainable approach to production and consumption, and advancing our knowledge on climate science. These actions will help identify effective and efficient pathways, cross-cutting technologies, and solutions to address climate change mitigation and adaptation, energy needs and mobility challenges. Efforts will focus on ensuring affordable, sustainable and secure energy supplies, the shift to more sustainable mobility options and transport modes, the decarbonisation of industry, and circularity in manufacturing and process industries. R&I will also leverage digital technologies to improve productivity and help to close the skills gap, thereby improving Europe’s competitiveness.

The Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector is supported through multiple actions in Cluster 5, including a flagship topic on large-scale demonstration of connected, cooperative and automated mobility. Further aligning with this action plan, the European Commission has launched a strategic Memorandum of Understanding with the European co-programmed partnerships linked to the automotive sector 5 to accelerate R&I in sustainable and smart mobility.

Cluster 6 ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment’ is pivotal for sustaining our quality of life, from food security to water and nature. Actions in this cluster are expected to support the implementation of the common agricultural policy and the vision for agriculture and food , among others. To protect our natural world, Cluster 6 is aimed at developing innovations to facilitate the effective implementation of the Nature Restoration Regulation , including by addressing the main drivers of biodiversity loss. This cluster also addresses pollution and various water-related challenges in support of the European Water Resilience Strategy  and helps protect and restore ocean health to deliver on the  European Ocean Pact .  It pursues climate adaptation and mitigation by helping land- and water-based sectors to transition towards climate neutrality by 2050, as required by the European Climate Law.

Actions in Cluster 6 are expected to accelerate the transition towards a more circular, nature-positive and resilient economy and bioeconomy and to foster bio-based products and value chains in support of the Competitiveness Compass, the Clean Industrial Deal, the Strategy for European Life Sciences and the bioeconomy strategy.

The European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) programme enhances interconnected innovation ecosystems across the EU. It contributes to boosting Europe’s innovation capabilities, notably in the deep tech sector, and improving the commercialisation of research. By fostering synergies among diverse innovation actors, the EIE programme contributes to the EU’s goals of achieving a green and digital transition, enhancing competitiveness and fostering social cohesion. It also aims to support startups and scaleups within the EU to strengthen economic resilience and strategic autonomy.

To help European deep tech startups to scale into global champions, the European Startup and Scaleup Hubs initiative under the EIE programme aims to create a network connecting Europe’s leading and emerging startups. This pilot action, which is part of the Startup and Scaleup Strategy , will promote a transnational network of hubs rooted in strong research and higher education systems, bringing together research facilities, companies, entrepreneurs and investors and providing dedicated support to deep tech spin offs, startups and scaleups.

As outlined in the European Research Area (ERA) Policy Agenda 2025-2027 , the ERA is envisaged as an integrated and competitive environment for research and innovation across the EU, driven by excellence and openness. The ‘Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area’ work programme part supports the ERA’s goals by addressing fragmentation of R&I, reducing geographical disparities between countries and enhancing R&I capacity 6 , thus helping to achieve the target of spending 3% of GDP on research and development in the EU. Notable initiatives include ERA Chairs, which attract top scientists and innovators to countries with a lower R&I performance to foster excellence and institutional reforms, thereby enhancing competitiveness and talent retention. Given the increased budget for this work programme, these actions now also include recruiting leading research managers to boost research management capacities, thereby supporting effective resource allocation and strategic planning. Additionally, under this work programme part, the ‘Talent ecosystems for attractive early research careers’ topic promotes the new European framework for research careers, contributing to better working conditions and stability for researchers, aligning with the ‘Choose Europe for Science’ initiative and enhancing the EU’s appeal to both European and international talent.

EU Missions address by definition major global challenges through ambitious, time-bound objectives rooted in transdisciplinary research and innovation. They encompass various disciplines and policies, supporting key EU priorities such as the European Clean Industrial Deal, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the EU industrial strategy and the digital transition. The EU Missions work programme part fosters synergies with other Horizon Europe funding instruments and includes actions for all five EU Missions:

·Adaptation to Climate Change: helping at least 150 European regions and communities to become climate resilient by 2030;

·Cancer: improving the lives of more than 3 million people by 2030 through prevention and cure, and helping those affected by cancer, including their families, to live longer and better;

·Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030: protecting and restoring aquatic ecosystems, eliminating pollution, and making the blue economy circular and carbon-neutral;

·Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities: delivering 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030;

·A Soil Deal for Europe: setting up 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030.

In particular, this work programme aims to enhance local and regional climate risk preparedness, provide solutions to restore EU waters, establish Climate City Contracts with 100 cities, create a unified framework for soil-health monitoring and innovative tools for land managers, and support cancer prevention through clinical trials for treatments and biomarker-guided medicines. The Commission is further launching a Mission integration award and a Mission engagement award to encourage and recognise national and regional authorities in their efforts to implement and engage with EU Missions.

As a cross-cluster issue, the New European Bauhaus Facility leverages the power of inclusion, sustainability, and arts and culture in R&I to advance the Green Deal and clean transition in neighbourhoods and their communities. More specifically, it fosters R&I solutions aimed at connecting the green transformation, social inclusion and local democracy and advancing circular and regenerative approaches to the built environment, while also developing innovative funding and new business models for the transformation of neighbourhoods.

This work programme emphasises the crucial role of international cooperation in addressing global challenges and advancing EU policy priorities, including those under the Global Gateway , particularly in the areas of climate, health and digital transition. In line with the political guidelines prioritising a global Europe that leverages its power and partnerships, this programme underscores the EU’s commitment to leading the green and digital transitions and tackling health and environmental challenges at the right level, in accordance with agreements such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework . By working together with international partners, the EU can more effectively address its strategic dependencies in critical sectors. The second Horizon Europe strategic plan (2025-2027) further emphasises that international cooperation remains the foundation of the EU’s efforts to make Europe more resilient and stronger in the world. All sections of this work programme actively encourage international collaboration, with a particular focus on initiatives involving Africa, the Mediterranean, Latin America and the Caribbean countries, and increased collaboration with India and South-East Asian nations.

The association of third countries to Horizon Europe is a significant component of this approach. Currently, 22 countries are associated to the programme. Ongoing discussions with other nations highlight the political, economic and scientific importance of association to Horizon Europe. For example, association is strategic for strengthening our partnerships in the EU’s neighbouring regions and, in the case of candidate countries, paves the way for accession by helping to align R&I efforts. Several topics in this work programme contribute directly or indirectly to the reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine’s R&I sector, Ukraine’s integration into the European Research Area or the reconstruction and recovery of another R&I related sector. More generally, association provides a robust framework for deepening science and technology cooperation with external partners, in line with the European Economic Security Strategy .

(1)

See Council Decision (EU) 2021/764 .

(2)

Open topics are topics for which the expected outcomes or impacts are clearly defined, but the pathways and methods to achieve them remain open-ended. This flexibility allows for diverse approaches and outputs. Open topics are subject to the same evaluation criteria as the other topics.

(3)

Findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable.

(4)

 Open strategic autonomy’ refers to the term ‘strategic autonomy, while preserving an open economy’, as reflected in the Conclusions of the European Council of 1/2 October 2020 .

(5)

These partnerships are: 2Zero (Towards zero-emission road transport), CCAM (Connected, Cooperative and Automated Driving), and BATT4EU (European Partnership for an Industrial Battery Value Chain).

(6)

 Notably, Outermost Regions as well as Overseas Countries and Territories are particularly encouraged to take part in Pillar II dedicated actions to boost researcher participation, focusing on their R&I expertise in areas such as climate change, energy transition, biodiversity and ecosystems restoration, agriculture and life sciences, marine sciences, metabolic and emerging diseases, earth and space sciences, social sciences and innovation. Since 2021, the nine Outermost Regions have access to the “Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence” instrument, which supports high-quality European funding proposals through free of charge tools like pre-proposal checks. This work programme thereby aligns with the objectives of the future strategy for Outermost Regions, announced in the 2025 State of the European Union address.

(7)

This calculation takes into account only the ‘EU-voted budget’ and does not include contributions by associated countries. The EU-voted budget makes up 89.7% on average, varying between 79% in Cluster 1 and 91.5% in Cluster 2, as a result of earlier effective participation of UK entities in the domains of clusters that shall guide the use of UK provided funds.

(8)

Clusters 4 and 5 also finance the clean industrial deal call under the Horizontal actions.

EN

Annex II

Horizon Europe

Work Programme 2026-2027

2. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Table of contents

Introduction    

MSCA Doctoral Networks    

Call - MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026    

Conditions for the Call    

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-DN-01-01: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026    

Call - MSCA Doctoral Networks 2027    

Conditions for the Call    

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-DN-01-01: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2027    

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships    

Call - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026    

Conditions for the Call    

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-PF-01-01: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026    

Call - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2027    

Conditions for the Call    

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-PF-01-01: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2027    

MSCA Staff Exchanges    

Call - MSCA Staff Exchanges 2026    

Conditions for the Call    

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-SE-01-01: MSCA Staff Exchanges 2026    

Call - MSCA Staff Exchanges 2027    

Conditions for the Call    

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-SE-01-01: MSCA Staff Exchanges 2027    

MSCA Co-funding of regional, national and international programme    

Call - MSCA COFUND 2026    

Conditions for the Call    

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-COFUND-01-01: MSCA COFUND 2026    

Call - MSCA COFUND 2027    

Conditions for the Call    

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-COFUND-01-01: MSCA COFUND 2027    

Call - MSCA Choose Europe for Science 2027    

Conditions for the Call    

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-COFUND-02-01: MSCA Choose Europe for Science 2027    

MSCA and Citizens    

Call - MSCA and Citizens 2027    

Conditions for the Call    

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-CITIZENS-01-01: MSCA and Citizens 2027    

Other Actions not subject to calls for proposals    

Grants not subject to calls for proposals    

1. MSCA Irish Presidency event 2026    

2. MSCA Lithuanian Presidency event 2027    

3. Support to the Marie Curie Alumni Association    

4. MSCA Special needs Allowances to Horizon 2020 legacy projects    

Procurements    

1. Public Procurement for Events and Outreach    

Other budget implementation instruments    

1. External Expertise    

Budget    

Specific conditions for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions    

DEFINITIONS    

1.    MSCA DOCTORAL NETWORKS    

1.1.    Applicable unit contributions    

1.2.    Admissibility    

1.3.    Eligibility    

1.4.    Award criteria    

1.5.    Procedure    

1.6.    Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements    

2.    MSCA POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS    

2.1.    Applicable unit contributions    

2.2.    Admissibility    

2.3.    Eligibility    

2.4.    Award criteria    

2.5.    Procedure    

2.6.    Legal and Financial set-up of the Grant Agreements    

3.    MSCA STAFF EXCHANGES    

3.1.    Applicable unit contributions    

3.2.    Admissibility    

3.3.    Eligibility    

3.4.    Award criteria    

3.5.    Procedure    

3.6.    Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements    

4.    MSCA COFUND    

4.1.    Applicable unit contributions    

4.2.    Admissibility    

4.3.    Eligibility    

4.4.    Award criteria    

4.5.    Procedure    

4.6.    Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements    

5.    MSCA CHOOSE EUROPE FOR SCIENCE    

5.1.    Applicable unit contributions    

5.2.    Admissibility    

5.3.    Eligibility    

5.4.    Award criteria    

5.5.    Procedure    

5.6.    Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements    

Table 1: Country correction coefficients (CCC) for Doctoral Networks and Postdoctoral Fellowships living allowances    

Introduction

The European Union needs a strong, resilient, flexible and creative workforce, with the right combination of skills to match the future needs of the labour market, to innovate and to convert knowledge and ideas into products and services for economic and social benefit. The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted once more the importance of the Union’s reliance on a highly skilled research-based human capital that is able to detect and tackle upcoming challenges, to communicate scientific evidence to policymakers and the public at large, and to work across disciplines.

In this context, and in line with the Union of Skills strategic framework, the Union must reinforce its efforts to encourage more young women and men 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. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) are the main instrument at Union-level to do so. Since their launch in 1996, they have become the Union’s reference programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training. Between 2014 and 2020, in the context of Horizon 2020, the MSCA have supported 65 000 researchers in Europe and beyond, both doctoral candidates and more experienced researchers, and have funded over 1 000 excellent international doctoral networks.

The MSCA strongly contribute to excellent research, boosting jobs, growth and investment by equipping researchers with new knowledge and skills, including transferable ones 1  and providing them with an international as well as inter-sectoral exposure (including through academia-business collaboration), to fill the top positions of tomorrow.

The MSCA do not only have a positive impact on individual researchers, they also contribute to the development of excellent doctoral programmes, postdoctoral training programmes and collaborative research projects. They have a structuring impact on higher education institutions and other entities way beyond academia by widely spreading excellence and setting standards for high-quality researcher education and training, not only across the European Research Area (ERA), but also worldwide. Positive structuring effects on organisations include:

1.increasing the quality of researchers’ training and supervision offered;

2.strengthening research capacity (e.g. ability to attract funding);

3.improving human resources practices and procedures, and providing fairer and more attractive working conditions for researchers, including through career guidance and development;

4.building new and sustainable international and inter-sectoral partnerships and networks; better transfer of knowledge between sectors and disciplines, enhancing their global reputation and visibility.

Main principles applying to the MSCA

Excellence

The MSCA focus on excellence in various aspects: excellence does not only apply to the individual fellows supported or the collaborations fostered and knowledge transferred, but also to the R&I methodologies applied, the research conducted as well as the training, supervision and career guidance provided. Long-term investment in people pays off, as indicated inter alia by the number of Nobel Prize winners who have been either former MSCA fellows or supervisors.

Mobility

The MSCA are based on the principle of physical mobility: researchers who receive funding have to move from one country to another to acquire new knowledge, skills and competences, and develop their research career. Researchers are also strongly encouraged to move between sectors and disciplines.

While virtual mobility does not have the same multifaceted impact on the development of individuals and sustainable cooperation among organisations as physical mobility, it can however complement it, facilitate long-distance collaboration and be an effective means to faster achieving research and training objectives. In this regard, all MSCA proposals are encouraged to explore opportunities offered by e-infrastructures and related services, in particular those provided through GEANT 2 , the pan-European research and education network.

Bottom-up and open to the world

The MSCA are open to all domains of research and innovation, chosen freely by the applicants in a fully bottom-up manner, addressed under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In addition, Postdoctoral Fellowships can also address domains covered by the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom Research and Training Programme). All MSCA will complement top-down collaborative research activities, notably contributing to the EU Missions.

The MSCA have also a strong international dimension: international cooperation is particularly encouraged as it allows institutions to set-up strategic collaborations worldwide, attracts foreign talents to Europe and provides European researchers with access to unique expertise, facilities, testing environments or data available only outside Europe. At the same time, it is essential to ensure the protection of the European Union from undesired technology leakage or transfers that impact security, problematic dependencies and foreign interference, by implementing targeted security safeguards in line with the 2023 European Economic Security Strategy and the 2024 Council Recommendation on enhancing research security.

Recruitment, working/employment conditions and inclusiveness

The principles of the European Charter for Researchers ( Charter ) promoting open, merit-based and transparent recruitment and attractive working and employment conditions are a cornerstone of the MSCA and all funded host organisations must put effort into applying them. The MSCA pay particular attention to equal opportunities and inclusiveness. In line with the Charter, all MSCA-funded projects are encouraged to embrace diversity and take measures to facilitate mobility and counter-act gender and disability-related barriers to it.

MSCA projects are also encouraged to facilitate access by researchers at risk 3 , through tailored support and career services, including job search assistance in the researcher’s new geographical area.

Supervision

The MSCA promote effective supervision, which contribute to creating a supportive environment for the researchers to conduct their work. In line with the principles set out in the Charter, MSCA beneficiaries must ensure adequately supervision or mentoring and appropriate career guidance. Supervision is one of the crucial elements of successful research. Guiding, supporting, directing, advising and mentoring are key factors for a researcher to pursue their career path. In this context, all MSCA-funded projects are encouraged to follow the recommendations outlined in the Guidelines for MSCA supervision 4 .

Open Science and Responsible Research and Innovation

The MSCA endorse Open Science and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) through engaging society at large, integrating the gender and ethical dimensions, promoting Open Science practices through targeted training activities, ensuring open access to research outcomes, including FAIR 5 data handling, supporting methods that enhance research reproducibility, encouraging formal and informal science education and feeding back research results into teaching and education.

The European Commission has also signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment 6 , which establishes a common direction for research assessment reforms, while respecting organisations’ autonomy.

European Green Deal

The MSCA support bottom-up and frontier/applied research contributing directly to the European Commission’s commitment to tackling climate and environmental-related challenges. Under Horizon Europe, the MSCA will significantly contribute to promote sustainable research in line with the European Green Deal, the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. All MSCA-funded projects are encouraged to address the principles of the MSCA Green Charter 7 and implement measures to minimise the environmental footprint of their activities.

Synergies

The MSCA promote the creation of strong links with the cohesion policy funds 8 and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) 9 , notably by creating synergies through its COFUND action and enabling complementarities via awarding a Seal of Excellence 10 certificate to proposals submitted to mono-beneficiary MSCA calls. The Seal is awarded to proposals that exceed all the evaluation thresholds set out in this work programme but cannot be funded due to lack of budget. The MSCA also encourage complementarities with other parts of Horizon Europe, such as the European Innovation Council 11 and European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) 12 , and synergies with other Union programmes, notably Erasmus+ 13 , including its European Universities Initiative.

MSCA intervention areas

There are five main MSCA intervention areas as set out in the Council Decision establishing the specific programme implementing Horizon Europe (Annex 1, page 11-13). All individual Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions contribute to these intervention areas to one extent or the other:

1.Nurturing Excellence through Mobility of Researchers across Borders, Sectors and Disciplines;

2.Fostering new Skills through Excellent Training of Researchers;

3.Strengthening Human Capital and Skills Development across the European Research Area;

4.Improving and Facilitating Synergies;

5.Promoting Public Outreach.

The following Actions within the MSCA are implementing these intervention areas:

MSCA Doctoral Networks

The MSCA Doctoral Networks aim to train creative, entrepreneurial, innovative and resilient doctoral candidates, able to face current and future challenges and to convert knowledge and ideas into products and services for economic and social benefit.

The MSCA Doctoral Networks will raise the attractiveness and excellence of doctoral training in Europe. They will equip researchers with the right combination of research-related and transferable competences and provide them with enhanced career perspectives in both the academic and non-academic sectors through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility combined with an innovation-oriented mind-set.

Expected impact

Proposals under this Action should contribute to the following expected impacts:

1.Strengthen Europe's human capital base in R&I by training highly-skilled doctoral candidates;

2.Improve the attractiveness of researchers’ careers notably through better working and employment conditions of doctoral candidates in Europe;

3.Enhance talent and knowledge circulation across the R&I landscape, through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility;

4.Increase Europe's attractiveness as a leading research destination;

5.Enhance the quality of R&I contributing to Europe's sustainable competitiveness;

6.Establish sustainable collaboration between academic and non-academic organisations;

7.Foster the culture of open science, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The following call(s) in this work programme contribute to this Action:

Call - MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-DN-01

Conditions for the Call

Indicative budget(s) 15

Proposals are invited against the following topic(s):

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-DN-01-01: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For supported doctoral candidates

1.New research and transferable skills and competences, leading to improved employability and career prospects within and outside academia;

2.New knowledge allowing the conversion of ideas into products and services, where relevant;

3.Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations

1.Improved quality, relevance and sustainability of doctoral training programmes and supervision arrangements;

2.Enhanced cooperation and transfer of knowledge between sectors and disciplines;

3.Increased integration of training and research activities between participating organisations;

4.Boosted R&I capacity;

5.Increased internationalisation and attractiveness;

6.Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations.

Scope: MSCA Doctoral Networks will implement doctoral programmes, by partnerships of universities, research institutions and research infrastructures, businesses including SMEs, and other socio-economic actors from different countries across Europe and beyond. MSCA Doctoral Networks are indeed open to the participation of organisations from third countries, in view of fostering strategic international partnerships for the training and exchange of researchers.

These doctoral programmes will respond to well-identified needs in various R&I areas, expose the researchers to the academic and non-academic sectors, and offer training in research-related, as well as transferable skills and competences relevant for innovation and long-term employability (e.g. entrepreneurship, commercialisation of results, Intellectual Property Rights, communication). Proposals for doctoral networks can reflect existing or planned research partnerships among the participating organisations.

The selection procedure for doctoral candidates must be open, transparent and merit-based, in line with the European Charter for Researchers. The vacancy notice (to be widely advertised internationally, including on the EURAXESS 16 website) must mention if the published rates include all employer and employee's taxes and contributions. If possible, the gross salary (net salary + employee’s taxes and contributions) should be published.

MSCA Doctoral Networks are encouraged to lead to Industrial or Joint Doctorates.

Industrial Doctorates

Through Industrial Doctorates, doctoral candidates will step outside academia and develop skills in industry and business by being jointly supervised by academic and non-academic organisations, both of which can be established in the same EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Joint Doctorates

Joint Doctorates represent a highly integrated type of international, inter-sectoral and multi/interdisciplinary collaboration in doctoral training. They lead to the delivery of joint, double or multiple doctoral degrees 17 recognised in at least one EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Supervisory Board

Each MSCA Doctoral Network should have a clearly identified supervisory board co-ordinating network-wide training, research and in particular supervision activities in line with the Guidelines for MSCA supervision, while establishing continuous communication and exchange of best practice among the participating organisations to maximise the benefits of the partnership.

Training activities

MSCA Doctoral Networks should exploit complementarities between participating organisations and foster sharing of knowledge and networking activities for example through the organisation of workshops and conferences. Proposed training activities should respond to well identified needs in various R&I areas, with appropriate references to inter- and multidisciplinary fields and follow the EU Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training 18 . They should be primarily focused on developing new scientific knowledge through original research on personalised projects.

Inter-sectoral secondments of researchers to other participating organisations, including in third countries, are encouraged when relevant, feasible and beneficial for the researchers and in line with the project objectives. This will increase the employability of the researchers outside academia.

Doctoral Networks should develop substantial training modules, addressing key transferable skills and competences common to all fields, including digital ones (e.g. generative AI) and foster the culture of Open Science, knowledge valorisation 19 , and when applicable innovation and entrepreneurship as well as good scientific conduct such as research integrity. In particular, Doctoral Networks should adequately prepare doctoral candidates to pursue a career in research and for increased research collaboration and information-sharing made possible by new (digital) technologies (e.g. collaborative tools, opening access to publications and to other research outputs including data, FAIR data management, societal engagement and citizen science, etc.).

Supervision

Particular attention is paid to the quality of supervision and mentoring arrangements as well as career guidance. Joint supervision of the researchers is mandatory for Industrial and Joint Doctorates.

Career Development Plan

A Career Development Plan must be established jointly by the supervisor and each recruited doctoral candidate. In case of joint supervision, such a plan should be established involving all supervisors. In addition to research objectives, this plan comprises the researcher's training and career needs, including training on transferable skills, teaching, planning for publications and participation in conferences and events aiming at opening science and research to citizens. The plan, established at the beginning of the recruitment, should be revised (and updated where needed) within 18 months.

RAISE Doctoral Networks

The RAISE Doctoral Networks, implemented through Work Programme Annex 14, Horizontal Activities, provide specific support to networks with primary focus on the use of AI in science.

Call - MSCA Doctoral Networks 2027

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-DN-01

Conditions for the Call

Indicative budget(s) 20

Proposals are invited against the following topic(s):

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-DN-01-01: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2027

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For supported doctoral candidates

1.New research and transferable skills and competences, leading to improved employability and career prospects within and outside academia;

2.New knowledge allowing the conversion of ideas into products and services, where relevant;

3.Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations

1.Improved quality, relevance and sustainability of doctoral training programmes and supervision arrangements;

2.Enhanced cooperation and transfer of knowledge between sectors and disciplines;

3.Increased integration of training and research activities between participating organisations;

4.Boosted R&I capacity;

5.Increased internationalisation and attractiveness;

6.Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations.

Scope: MSCA Doctoral Networks will implement doctoral programmes, by partnerships of universities, research institutions and research infrastructures, businesses including SMEs, and other socio-economic actors from different countries across Europe and beyond. MSCA Doctoral Networks are indeed open to the participation of organisations from third countries, in view of fostering strategic international partnerships for the training and exchange of researchers.

These doctoral programmes will respond to well-identified needs in various R&I areas, expose the researchers to the academic and non-academic sectors, and offer training in research-related, as well as transferable skills and competences relevant for innovation and long-term employability (e.g. entrepreneurship, commercialisation of results, Intellectual Property Rights, communication). Proposals for doctoral networks can reflect existing or planned research partnerships among the participating organisations.

The selection procedure for doctoral candidates must be open, transparent and merit-based, in line with the European Charter for Researchers. The vacancy notice (to be widely advertised internationally, including on the EURAXESS 21 website) must mention if the published rates include all employer and employee's taxes and contributions. If possible, the gross salary (net salary + employee’s taxes and contributions) should be published.

MSCA Doctoral Networks are encouraged to lead to Industrial or Joint Doctorates.

Industrial Doctorates

Through Industrial Doctorates, doctoral candidates will step outside academia and develop skills in industry and business by being jointly supervised by academic and non-academic organisations, both of which can be established in the same EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Joint Doctorates

Joint Doctorates represent a highly integrated type of international, inter-sectoral and multi/interdisciplinary collaboration in doctoral training. They lead to the delivery of joint, double or multiple doctoral degrees 22 recognised in at least one EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Supervisory Board

Each MSCA Doctoral Network should have a clearly identified supervisory board co-ordinating network-wide training, research and in particular supervision activities in line with the Guidelines for MSCA supervision, while establishing continuous communication and exchange of best practice among the participating organisations to maximise the benefits of the partnership.

Training activities

MSCA Doctoral Networks should exploit complementarities between participating organisations and foster sharing of knowledge and networking activities for example through the organisation of workshops and conferences. Proposed training activities should respond to well identified needs in various R&I areas, with appropriate references to inter- and multidisciplinary fields and follow the EU Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training 23 . They should be primarily focused on developing new scientific knowledge through original research on personalised projects.

Inter-sectoral secondments of researchers to other participating organisations, including in third countries, are encouraged when relevant, feasible and beneficial for the researchers and in line with the project objectives. This will increase the employability of the researchers outside academia.

Doctoral Networks should develop substantial training modules, addressing key transferable skills and competences common to all fields, including digital ones (e.g. generative AI) and foster the culture of Open Science, knowledge valorisation 24 , and when applicable innovation and entrepreneurship as well as good scientific conduct such as research integrity. In particular, Doctoral Networks should adequately prepare doctoral candidates to pursue a career in research and for increased research collaboration and information-sharing made possible by new (digital) technologies (e.g. collaborative tools, opening access to publications and to other research outputs including data, FAIR data management, societal engagement and citizen science, etc.).

Supervision

Particular attention is paid to the quality of supervision and mentoring arrangements as well as career guidance. Joint supervision of the researchers is mandatory for Industrial and Joint Doctorates.

Career Development Plan

A Career Development Plan must be established jointly by the supervisor and each recruited doctoral candidate. In case of joint supervision, such a plan should be established involving all supervisors. In addition to research objectives, this plan comprises the researcher's training and career needs, including training on transferable skills, teaching, planning for publications and participation in conferences and events aiming at opening science and research to citizens. The plan, established at the beginning of the recruitment, should be revised (and updated where needed) within 18 months.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships

The goal of MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility. MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships will be open to excellent researchers of any nationality. The scheme also encourages researchers to work on research and innovation projects in the non-academic sector and is open to researchers wishing to reintegrate in Europe, to those who are displaced by conflict, as well as to researchers with high potential who are seeking to restart their careers in research.

Through the implementation of an original and personalised research project, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships aim to foster excellence through training and mobility and to equip researchers with new skills and competences in order to identify solutions to current and future challenges. Postdoctoral researchers are encouraged to engage with society at large to make the results of their research visible to citizens and to involve citizens, civil society and end-users in co-creation of research content when relevant.

Expected impact

Proposals under this Action should contribute to the following expected impacts:

1.Enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and wishing to diversify their individual competences and skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility while implementing excellent research projects across all sectors of research;

2.Strengthen Europe's human capital base in R&I with better trained, innovative and entrepreneurial researchers;

3.Enhance the quality of R&I contributing to Europe's competitiveness and growth;

4.Contribute to Europe's attractiveness as a leading destination for R&I and for good working conditions of researchers;

5.Facilitate knowledge transfer and brain circulation across the ERA;

6.Foster the culture of open science, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The following call(s) in this work programme contribute to this Action:

Call - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-PF-01

Conditions for the Call

Indicative budget(s) 25

Proposals are invited against the following topic(s):

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-PF-01-01: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For supported postdoctoral fellows

1.Increased set of research and transferable skills and competences, leading to improved employability and career prospects of MSCA postdoctoral fellows within academia and beyond;

2.New mind-sets and approaches to R&I work forged through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary experience;

3.Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations

1.Increased alignment of working conditions for researchers in accordance with the principles set out in the European Charter for Researchers;

2.Enhanced quality and sustainability of research training and supervision;

3.Increased global attractiveness, visibility and reputation of the participating organisation(s);

4.Stronger R&I capacity and output among participating organisations; better transfer of knowledge;

5.Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations.

Scope: Fellowships will be provided to excellent researchers undertaking international mobility. Applications will be made jointly by the researcher and a beneficiary in the academic or non-academic sector.

Postdoctoral Fellowships either can take place in Europe (i.e. in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country) or in a Third Country not associated to Horizon Europe:

1.European Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe. The standard duration of these fellowships must be between 12 and 24 months.

2.Global Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to European nationals or long-term residents 26 who wish to engage in R&I projects with organisations outside EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries. These fellowships require an outgoing phase of minimum 12 and maximum 24 months in a non-associated Third Country, and a mandatory 12-month return phase to a host organisation based in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Specific eligibility conditions apply to MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships in the research areas covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme 27 .

Secondments

Researchers receiving a Postdoctoral Fellowship may opt to include a secondment phase, within the overall duration of their fellowship in any country worldwide. The secondment phase can be a single period or be divided into shorter mobility periods.

For European Postdoctoral Fellowships, secondments cannot exceed half of the requested duration of the action (excluding from the duration of the action any additional period for a non-academic placement) and should be in line with the project objectives, adding significant value and impact to the fellowship.

For Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, optional secondments are permitted for up to half of the outgoing phase. A maximum of three months of such secondments can be spent at the start of the project at the beneficiary (or associated partners linked to the beneficiary), allowing the researcher to spend time there before going to the associated partner in the Third Country. This period of maximum three months will be considered as part of the outgoing phase.

Secondments cannot take place during the mandatory twelve-month return period to the host organisation in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Placements in the non-academic sector

Postdoctoral Fellowships can provide an additional period of up to six months to support researchers opting for a placement at the end of the project to work on R&I projects in an organisation from the non-academic sector established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country 28 . While this possibility is also available to fellows recruited in the non-academic sector, such a placement must be implemented at a different non-academic host organisation established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country 29 . The request for such a non-academic placement must be an integral part of the proposal, explaining the added-value for the project and for the career development of the researcher, and will be subject to evaluation. This incentive aims at promoting career moves between sectors and organisations and thereby stimulate innovation and knowledge transfer while expanding career opportunities for researchers.

If the placement does not meet the requirements (taking place in an academic organisation or in a Third Country), the proposal will be evaluated without taking into account the placement. This might affect the final score.

Training activities

The training activities implemented under the Postdoctoral Fellowships should integrate key transferable skills and competences common to all fields, including digital ones (e.g. generative AI), and foster the culture of Open Science, knowledge valorisation 30 , and when applicable innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as good scientific conduct such as research integrity. In particular, the Postdoctoral Fellowships should empower fellows to pursue a career in research and adequately prepare them for increased research collaboration and information-sharing made possible by new (digital) technologies (e.g. collaborative tools, opening access to publications and to other research outputs including data, FAIR data management, societal engagement and citizen science, etc.).

Career Development Plan

In order to equip MSCA postdoctoral fellows with skills that enhance and expand their career opportunities inside and outside academia, a Career Development Plan should be established jointly by the supervisor(s) and the researcher. In addition to research objectives, this plan should comprise the researcher's training and career needs, including training on transferable skills, teaching, planning for publications and participation in conferences and events aiming at opening science and research to citizens. The Plan will have to be submitted as a project deliverable at the beginning of the action and can be updated when needed.

Euratom

Aiming to enhance nuclear expertise and excellence as well as synergies between Programmes, organisations active in nuclear research established in one of EU Member States or countries associated to the Euratom Research and Training programme, are eligible to participate 31 . MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships in this area of research will be supported by the Euratom Research and Training Programme through an indicative annual financial contribution of EUR 1 million to the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call 32 .

ERA Fellowships

The ERA Fellowships implemented through Work Programme Annex 11, Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area, provide specific support to researchers to undertake their fellowship in a widening country 33 . This will help spread excellence and contribute to fostering balanced brain circulation in widening countries.

Call - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2027

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-PF-01

Conditions for the Call

Indicative budget(s) 34

Proposals are invited against the following topic(s):

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-PF-01-01: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2027

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For supported postdoctoral fellows

1.Increased set of research and transferable skills and competences, leading to improved employability and career prospects of MSCA postdoctoral fellows within academia and beyond;

2.New mind-sets and approaches to R&I work forged through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary experience;

3.Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations

1.Increased alignment of working conditions for researchers in accordance with the principles set out in the European Charter for Researchers;

2.Enhanced quality and sustainability of research training and supervision;

3.Increased global attractiveness, visibility and reputation of the participating organisation(s);

4.Stronger R&I capacity and output among participating organisations; better transfer of knowledge;

5.Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations.

Scope: Fellowships will be provided to excellent researchers undertaking international mobility. Applications will be made jointly by the researcher and a beneficiary in the academic or non-academic sector.

Postdoctoral Fellowships either can take place in Europe (i.e. in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country) or in a Third Country not associated to Horizon Europe:

1.European Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe. The standard duration of these fellowships must be between 12 and 24 months.

2.Global Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to European nationals or long-term residents 35 who wish to engage in R&I projects with organisations outside EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries. These fellowships require an outgoing phase of minimum 12 and maximum 24 months in a non-associated Third Country, and a mandatory 12-month return phase to a host organisation based in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Specific eligibility conditions apply to MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships in the research areas covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme 36 .

Secondments

Researchers receiving a Postdoctoral Fellowship may opt to include a secondment phase, within the overall duration of their fellowship in any country worldwide. The secondment phase can be a single period or be divided into shorter mobility periods.

For European Postdoctoral Fellowships, secondments cannot exceed half of the requested duration of the action (excluding from the duration of the action any additional period for a non-academic placement) and should be in line with the project objectives, adding significant value and impact to the fellowship.

For Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, optional secondments are permitted for up to half of the outgoing phase. A maximum of three months of such secondments can be spent at the start of the project at the beneficiary (or associated partners linked to the beneficiary), allowing the researcher to spend time there before going to the associated partner in the Third Country. This period of maximum three months will be considered as part of the outgoing phase.

Secondments cannot take place during the mandatory twelve-month return period to the host organisation in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Placements in the non-academic sector

Postdoctoral Fellowships can provide an additional period of up to six months to support researchers opting for a placement at the end of the project to work on R&I projects in an organisation from the non-academic sector established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country 37 . While this possibility is also available to fellows recruited in the non-academic sector, such a placement must be implemented at a different non-academic host organisation established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country 38 . The request for such a non-academic placement must be an integral part of the proposal, explaining the added-value for the project and for the career development of the researcher, and will be subject to evaluation. This incentive aims at promoting career moves between sectors and organisations and thereby stimulate innovation and knowledge transfer while expanding career opportunities for researchers.

If the placement does not meet the requirements (taking place in an academic organisation or in a Third Country), the proposal will be evaluated without taking into account the placement. This might affect the final score.

Training activities

The training activities implemented under the Postdoctoral Fellowships should integrate key transferable skills and competences common to all fields, including digital ones (e.g. generative AI), and foster the culture of Open Science, knowledge valorisation 39 , and when applicable innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as good scientific conduct such as research integrity. In particular, the Postdoctoral Fellowships should empower fellows to pursue a career in research and adequately prepare them for increased research collaboration and information-sharing made possible by new (digital) technologies (e.g. collaborative tools, opening access to publications and to other research outputs including data, FAIR data management, societal engagement and citizen science, etc.).

Career Development Plan

In order to equip MSCA postdoctoral fellows with skills that enhance and expand their career opportunities inside and outside academia, a Career Development Plan should be established jointly by the supervisor(s) and the researcher. In addition to research objectives, this plan should comprise the researcher's training and career needs, including training on transferable skills, teaching, planning for publications and participation in conferences and events aiming at opening science and research to citizens. The Plan will have to be submitted as a project deliverable at the beginning of the action and can be updated when needed.

Euratom

Aiming to enhance nuclear expertise and excellence as well as synergies between Programmes, organisations active in nuclear research established in one of EU Member States or countries associated to the Euratom Research and Training programme, are eligible to participate 40 . MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships in this area of research will be supported by the Euratom Research and Training Programme through an indicative annual financial contribution of EUR 1 million to the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call 41 .

ERA Fellowships

The ERA Fellowships implemented through Work Programme Annex 11, Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area, provide specific support to researchers to undertake their fellowship in a widening country 42 . This will help spread excellence and contribute to fostering balanced brain circulation in widening countries.

MSCA Staff Exchanges

MSCA Staff Exchanges promote innovative international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration in research and innovation through exchanging staff and sharing knowledge and ideas at all stages of the innovation chain. The scheme fosters a shared culture of research and innovation that welcomes and rewards creativity and entrepreneurship and helps turn ideas into innovative products, services or processes. It is open to research, technical, administrative and managerial staff supporting R&I activities.

Expected impact

Proposals under this Action should contribute to the following expected impacts:

1.Increase international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility of research staff within Europe and beyond through collaborative research networks and activities;

2.Strengthen the R&I human capital base in Europe and beyond;

3.Increase Europe's attractiveness as a leading destination for R&I;

4.Contribute to Europe's competitiveness and growth through high-quality R&I;

5.Foster the culture of open science, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The following call(s) in this work programme contribute to this Action:

Call - MSCA Staff Exchanges 2026

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-SE-01

Conditions for the Call

Indicative budget(s) 43

Proposals are invited against the following topic(s):

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-SE-01-01: MSCA Staff Exchanges 2026

Expected Outcome:

Scope: MSCA Staff Exchanges involve organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors (including SMEs) from across the globe. International cooperation through the participation of organisations from non-associated third countries is strongly encouraged.

Support is provided for international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility of R&I staff leading to knowledge transfer between participating organisations.

Mobility through secondments

The organisations constituting the partnership contribute directly to the implementation of a joint R&I project by seconding and/or hosting eligible staff members. Such a project must explore activities that can be based on previous work but should go beyond and generate or strengthen long-term collaborations. Secondments must involve physical mobility 44 of the eligible staff members and must always take place between legal entities independent from each other.

MSCA Staff Exchanges can address different dimensions of mobility: international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary 45 . Exchanges between organisations within EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries should mainly be inter-sectoral, but same-sector exchanges are also possible. Interdisciplinarity is particularly encouraged for secondments between academic organisations.

The collaborative approach of MSCA Staff Exchanges should exploit complementary competences of the participating organisations and create synergies between them. The secondments should be essential to achieve the joint project’s R&I activities. The project should inter alia 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.

Skills’ development

For participating staff members, the project should offer new skills acquisition and career development perspectives. Participating organisations must ensure that the seconded staff are adequately mentored. Proposals should clearly describe how planned international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary secondments will expose seconded staff to different skills, working cultures or career trajectories.

Call - MSCA Staff Exchanges 2027

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-SE-01

Conditions for the Call

Indicative budget(s) 46

Proposals are invited against the following topic(s):

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-SE-01-01: MSCA Staff Exchanges 2027

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For staff members

1.Increased set of research and transferable skills and competences, leading to improved employability and career prospects within and outside academia;

2.More knowledge and innovative ideas converted into products, processes and services;

3.More entrepreneurial mind-sets, testing new and innovative ideas;

4.Increased international exposure leading to extended networks and opportunities;

5.Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations

1.Innovative ways of cooperation and transfer of knowledge between sectors and disciplines;

2.Strengthened and broader international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaborative networks;

3.Boosted R&I capacity.

Scope: MSCA Staff Exchanges involve organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors (including SMEs) from across the globe. International cooperation through the participation of organisations from non-associated third countries is strongly encouraged.

Support is provided for international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility of R&I staff leading to knowledge transfer between participating organisations.

Mobility through secondments

The organisations constituting the partnership contribute directly to the implementation of a joint R&I project by seconding and/or hosting eligible staff members. Such a project must explore activities that can be based on previous work but should go beyond and generate or strengthen long-term collaborations. Secondments must involve physical mobility 47 of the eligible staff members and must always take place between legal entities independent from each other.

MSCA Staff Exchanges can address different dimensions of mobility: international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary 48 . Exchanges between organisations within EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries should mainly be inter-sectoral, but same-sector exchanges are also possible. Interdisciplinarity is particularly encouraged for secondments between academic organisations.

The collaborative approach of MSCA Staff Exchanges should exploit complementary competences of the participating organisations and create synergies between them. The secondments should be essential to achieve the joint project’s R&I activities. The project should inter alia 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.

Skills’ development

For participating staff members, the project should offer new skills acquisition and career development perspectives. Participating organisations must ensure that the seconded staff are adequately mentored. Proposals should clearly describe how planned international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary secondments will expose seconded staff to different skills, working cultures or career trajectories.

MSCA Co-funding of regional, national and international programme

MSCA COFUND co-finances new or existing doctoral programmes and postdoctoral fellowship schemes with the aim of spreading the best practices of the MSCA including international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary research training, as well as international and cross-sectoral mobility of researchers at all stages of their career.

In practice, MSCA COFUND provides complementary funding for doctoral or postdoctoral programmes managed by entities established in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries. Those co-funded programmes must follow MSCA’s good practice in terms of international recruitment and minimum standard of employment for the recruited fellows as described in the European Charter for Researchers.

MSCA Choose Europe for Science co-funded programmes additionally aim to address brain drain and precarity of researchers' careers in order to make Europe more attractive to the most promising young talents. The scheme will allow applicants to link MSCA grants to competitions leading to long-term attractive positions in universities and other research performing organisations.

Expected impact

Proposals under this Action should contribute to the following expected impacts:

1.Enhance talent and knowledge circulation across the R&I landscape, through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility, including by supporting regional or national smart specialisation strategies when appropriate;

2.Align practices with MSCA policies based on the European Charter for Researchers;

3.Improve the attractiveness of researchers’ careers notably through better working and employment conditions as well as access to concrete long-term career prospects;

4.Strengthen Europe's human capital base in R&I by training highly-skilled researchers;

5.Increase Europe's attractiveness as a leading R&I destination;

6.Enhance the quality of R&I contributing to Europe's sustainable competitiveness;

7.Establish sustainable collaboration between academic and non-academic organisations;

8.Foster the culture of open science, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The following call(s) in this work programme contribute to this Action:

Call - MSCA COFUND 2026

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-COFUND-01

Conditions for the Call

Indicative budget(s) 49

Proposals are invited against the following topic(s):

HORIZON-MSCA-2026-COFUND-01-01: MSCA COFUND 2026

Expected Outcome: Projects results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For supported doctoral candidates or postdoctoral researchers

1.Deeper and more diverse set of research-related and transferable skills and competences;

2.Improved employability and career prospects both within academia and beyond;

3.New mind-sets and approaches to R&I work forged through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary experience;

4.Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations

1.Enhanced quality and sustainability of research training;

2.Increased global attractiveness, visibility and reputation of the participating organisation(s);

3.Stronger R&I capacity and output among participating organisations;

4.Increased contribution of the participating organisations to the local, regional and/or national socio-economic ecosystems;

5.Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations

Scope: Applicants submit proposals for new or existing doctoral or postdoctoral programmes with an impact on the enhancement of human resources in R&I at regional, national or international level. These programmes will be co-funded by MSCA COFUND.

Proposed programmes can cover any research disciplines ("bottom-up"), but exceptionally can 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.

Funding synergies with Cohesion Policy Funds and other EU funding sources are strongly encouraged.

A Career Development Plan must be jointly established by the supervisor and each recruited researcher upon recruitment. In addition to research objectives, this Plan comprises the researcher's training and career needs, including training on transferable skills, teaching, planning for publications and participation in conferences and events aimed at opening science and research to citizens. The Plan must be established at the beginning of the recruitment and should be revised (and updated where needed) within 18 months.

COFUND takes the form of:

A) Doctoral 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 in at least one EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. The training activities should be based on the EU Principles on Innovative Doctoral Training .

The doctoral programmes should develop substantial training modules, addressing key transferable skills and competences common to all fields, including digital ones (e.g. generative AI) and fostering the culture of Open Science, knowledge valorisation 50 , and when applicable innovation and entrepreneurship as well as good scientific conduct such as research integrity. In particular, doctoral programmes should adequately prepare doctoral candidates to pursue a career in research and adequately prepare them for increased research collaboration and information-sharing made possible by new (digital) technologies (e.g. collaborative tools, opening access to publications and to other research outputs including data, FAIR data management, societal engagement and citizen science, etc.).

On top of compulsory international mobility, applicants are encouraged to include elements of cross-sectoral mobility and interdisciplinarity into their programmes. Collaboration with a wider set of associated partners, including from the non-academic sector, will be positively taken into account during the evaluation. These organisations may provide hosting or secondment opportunities or training modules in research or transferable skills.

Particular attention is paid to the quality of supervision and mentoring arrangements as well as career guidance. The selection procedure for doctoral candidates must be open, transparent and merit-based, in line with the European Charter for Researchers. The vacancy notice (to be widely advertised internationally, including on the EURAXESS 51 website) must mention if the published rates include all employer and employee's taxes and contributions. If possible, the gross salary (net salary + employee’s taxes and contributions) should be published.

B) Postdoctoral Programmes

Postdoctoral programmes fund individual advanced research training and career development fellowships for postdoctoral researchers. The programmes should offer training to develop key transferable skills and competences common to all fields, including digital ones (e.g. generative AI), and foster the culture of Open Science, knowledge valorisation 52 , and when applicable innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as good scientific conduct such as research integrity. In particular, the postdoctoral programmes should empower fellows to pursue a career in research and adequately prepare them for increased research collaboration and information-sharing made possible by new (digital) technologies (e.g. collaborative tools, opening access to publications and to other research outputs including data, FAIR data management, societal engagement and citizen science, etc.).

Postdoctoral programmes should have regular selection rounds following fixed deadlines or regular cut-off dates, allowing fair competition between researchers. The selection procedure for postdoctoral candidates must be open, merit-based and with a transparent international peer review, in line with the European Charter for Researchers. The vacancy notice (to be widely advertised internationally, including on the EURAXESS website) must mention if the published rates include all employer and employee's taxes and contributions. If possible, the gross salary (net salary + employee’s taxes and contributions) should be published.

On top of compulsory international mobility, applicants are encouraged to include elements of cross-sectoral mobility and interdisciplinarity into their programmes. Researchers will be able to freely choose a research topic and the appropriate organisation to host them, fitting their individual needs.

Call - MSCA COFUND 2027

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-COFUND-01

Conditions for the Call

Indicative budget(s) 53

Proposals are invited against the following topic(s):

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-COFUND-01-01: MSCA COFUND 2027

Expected Outcome: Projects results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For supported doctoral candidates

1.Deeper and more diverse set of research-related and transferable skills and competences;

2.Improved employability and career prospects both within academia and beyond;

3.New mind-sets and approaches to R&I work forged through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary experience;

4.Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations

1.Enhanced quality and sustainability of research training;

2.Increased global attractiveness, visibility and reputation of the participating organisation(s);

3.Stronger R&I capacity and output among participating organisations;

4.Increased contribution of the participating organisations to the local, regional and/or national socio-economic ecosystems;

5.Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations.

Scope: Applicants submit proposals for new or existing doctoral programmes with an impact on the enhancement of human resources in R&I at regional, national or international level. These programmes will be co-funded by MSCA COFUND.

Proposed programmes can cover any research disciplines ("bottom-up"), but exceptionally can 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.

Funding synergies with Cohesion Policy Funds and other EU funding sources are strongly encouraged.

A Career Development Plan must be jointly established by the supervisor and each recruited researcher upon recruitment. In addition to research objectives, this Plan comprises the researcher's training and career needs, including training on transferable skills, teaching, planning for publications and participation in conferences and events aimed at opening science and research to citizens. The Plan must be established at the beginning of the recruitment and should be revised (and updated where needed) within 18 months.

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 in at least one EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. The training activities should be based on the EU Principles on Innovative Doctoral Training .

The doctoral programmes should develop substantial training modules, addressing key transferable skills and competences common to all fields, including digital ones (e.g. generative AI) and fostering the culture of Open Science, knowledge valorisation 54 , and when applicable innovation and entrepreneurship as well as good scientific conduct such as research integrity. In particular, doctoral programmes should adequately prepare doctoral candidates to pursue a career in research and adequately prepare them for increased research collaboration and information-sharing made possible by new (digital) technologies (e.g. collaborative tools, opening access to publications and to other research outputs including data, FAIR data management, societal engagement and citizen science, etc.).

On top of compulsory international mobility, applicants are encouraged to include elements of cross-sectoral mobility and interdisciplinarity into their programmes. Collaboration with a wider set of associated partners, including from the non-academic sector, will be positively taken into account during the evaluation. These organisations may provide hosting or secondment opportunities or training modules in research or transferable skills.

Particular attention is paid to the quality of supervision and mentoring arrangements as well as career guidance. The selection procedure for doctoral candidates must be open, transparent and merit-based, in line with the European Charter for Researchers. The vacancy notice (to be widely advertised internationally, including on the EURAXESS 55 website) must mention if the published rates include all employer and employee's taxes and contributions. If possible, the gross salary (net salary + employee’s taxes and contributions) should be published.

Call - MSCA Choose Europe for Science 2027

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-COFUND-02

Conditions for the Call

Indicative budget(s) 56

Proposals are invited against the following topic(s):

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-COFUND-02-01: MSCA Choose Europe for Science 2027

Expected Outcome: For supported researchers:

1.Concrete career prospects and increased career stability;

2.Deeper and more diverse set of research-related, academic and transferable skills and competences, leading to greater autonomy.

For participating organisations:

1.Better alignment of research and Human Resources practices, including recruitment, career accession and progression systems, at participating organisation(s) with the European Charter for Researchers and the Council Recommendation of 18 December 2023 on a European framework to attract and retain research, innovation and entrepreneurial talents in Europe and the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment;

2.Increased global attractiveness, visibility and reputation of the participating organisation(s);

3.Stronger R&I and teaching capacity and output;

4.Increased contribution to the local, regional and/or national socio-economic ecosystems;

5.Stronger synergies across institutional research, management and teaching structures.

Scope: The objective of this scheme is to tackle brain drain and precarity of researchers' careers to make Europe more attractive to the most promising young talents. Applicants submit proposals for talent recruitment programmes that will provide researchers holding a doctoral degree with excellent research and academic opportunities, potentially coupled with management activities, to lead them to concrete and attractive career prospects. This will have an impact on the enhancement of human resources in R&I at institutional, regional, national or international level. These programmes will be co-funded by MSCA Choose Europe for Science.

The programmes will be divided into two phases. An EU-funded phase (24-36 months) in which the EU funding will cover direct and indirect costs related to the implementation of the programme and a phase funded fully by the beneficiary (24 months) in which the applicant is expected to set salaries attractive at a national level and ensure availability of the necessary internal or external funds to implement the project. Applicants should specify the order of the two phases in their proposals.

Proposed programmes can cover any research disciplines. The selection procedure for candidates must be open, merit-based and with a transparent international peer-review in line with the European Charter for Researchers 57 . Alignment with the principles outlined in the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment 58 is also encouraged. Selection criteria should be based primarily on excellence. Additional selection criteria require clear alignment with local human resources needs identified in the relevant institutional, regional or national strategies. These must be described in the proposal and must be listed in the vacancy notice (to be widely advertised internationally, including on the EURAXESS website 59 ) alongside the gross salaries applicable to the two programme phases (net salary + employee’s taxes and contributions). Selected fellows will be able to define their own research topic at their host institution(s) and take on teaching or management tasks where relevant. The programmes should aim at offering excellent working conditions to researchers, including salary, professional resources, and career development.

The career development should incorporate transversal skills but also job-specific skills and, where relevant, language courses to ensure that the training is in line with the career opportunities offered following the fellowship. These opportunities must include concrete and attractive long-term career prospects, such as pathways towards open-ended contracts, which can be subject to assessment and evaluation. There must be a fair, equal, inclusive, transparent, structured career accession and progression system providing access to these opportunities in line with the Council Recommendation of 18 December 2023 on a European framework to attract and retain research, innovation and entrepreneurial talents in Europe, the European Charter for Researchers in its annex and the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment.

A Career Development Plan must be maintained throughout the period of the Choose Europe for Science programme. This Plan comprises the researcher's career development needs, including training on languages, transferable skills, teaching, planning for publications and participation in conferences and events. The Plan should outline the projected career progression paths in the host institution.

MSCA and Citizens

MSCA and Citizens aims to bring research and researchers closer to the public at large, to increase awareness of research and innovation activities and to boost public recognition of science and research education. It will show the role of the researcher for the society and economy, as well as the impact of researchers’ work on citizens’ daily lives. It also aims to raise the interest of young people in research and scientific careers.

MSCA and Citizens will address the general public, attracting people regardless of the level of their scientific background, with a specific focus on families, pupils, students, and notably those who do not have easy access to, and thus are less inclined to engage in, STEAM fields (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) or research activities. Inclusiveness should be key, in view of broadening access to science and research to all.

MSCA and Citizens should also promote gender balance and inclusiveness in science, Open Science, and Responsible Research and Innovation.

These objectives will be pursued through the organisation of the European Researchers’ Night and the implementation of the Researchers at Schools initiative.

The European Researchers’ Night is the largest research communication and promotion event taking place across EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries. A wide geographic coverage that reflects the European nature of this initiative is key.

The Researchers at Schools initiative aims to strengthen the connection between research and education. It brings school classes to research facilities and researchers to schools or other pedagogical and educational centres, encouraging interaction with pupils at all levels of education. Researchers and pupils will meet to talk about current and future challenges of our societies and the related key role of research. Pupils will learn directly about research projects and activities addressing the EU priorities and main orientations.

Expected impact

Proposals under this Action should contribute to the following expected impacts:

1.Enhance engagement with citizens on R&I;

2.Increase awareness among the general public of the importance and benefits of R&I, especially EU-funded research, and its concrete impact on citizens’ daily life;

3.Contribute to the diffusion and the promotion of excellence research projects across Europe and beyond by reaching citizens in as many participating countries as possible;

4.Raise the interest of young people in science and research careers;

5.Support school teachers and educators by showcasing real-life applications of research projects and creating a learning opportunity for pupils through a direct interaction with researchers.

The following call(s) in this work programme contribute to this Action:

Call - MSCA and Citizens 2027

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-CITIZENS-01

Conditions for the Call

Indicative budget(s) 60

Proposals are invited against the following topic(s):

HORIZON-MSCA-2027-CITIZENS-01-01: MSCA and Citizens 2027

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For researchers

1.Enhanced opportunities to interact with citizens and local, regional and national authorities;

2.Improved communication skills and competences to interact with a non-research audience, notably with pupils and students.

For organisations

1.Increased reputation and visibility of participating organisations in terms of hosting excellent research projects towards the general public and possible future students;

2.Researchers’ work made more tangible, concrete, accessible, and thus opening research and science to all;

3.Improved outreach to all audiences across Europe, and notably those who do not have an easy access to science and research activities;

4.Better communication of R&I results and activities to society, increased and strengthened opportunities for citizens’ engagement.

Scope: Proposals should cover both the organisation of the European Researchers’ Night and the implementation of the Researchers at Schools initiative.

The European Researchers' Night takes place every year, on the last Friday of September. It supports events that can last up to two days: they can start on Friday and continue the following day. Pre-events, prior to the main event, and related post-events, such as wrap-up meetings or small-scale follow-up events, can also be organised. It is the occasion for a Europe-wide public and media event for the promotion of research careers.

The European Researchers’ Night targets the general public, addressing and attracting people regardless of the level of their scientific background, with a special focus on young people and their families, pupils and students, and notably those who do not have easy access to, and thus are less inclined to engage in STEAM fields (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) or research activities.

The Researchers at Schools initiative brings school classes to research facilities and researchers to schools or other pedagogical and educational centres. This allows researchers to interact with pupils on societal challenges and on the key role of research to address them. Pupils will thus learn directly about research projects.

Types of activities

European Researchers’ Night activities can combine education with entertainment, especially when addressing young audiences. They can take various forms, such as exhibitions, hands-on experiments, science shows, simulations, debates, games, competitions, quizzes, etc. Where appropriate, engagement with educational institutions should be sought in order to encourage formal and informal science education with the aim of improving the scientific knowledge base. The European Researchers’ Night should be highlighted as a European and Europe-wide event. Additionally, each proposal should promote the European Union, EU-funded research and its impact on citizens’ daily life in the most appropriate way, according to the set-up and the configuration of the event, its location and its activities.

Researchers at Schools activities will allow researchers to showcase their work and interact with pupils. They can take various forms, such as presentations, discussions, speed-dating, citizen science, science shows, summer schools, nature walks or visits to research facilities. Where appropriate, researchers should receive training ahead of the activities on science communication, especially targeting a young audience. The Researchers at Schools activities should take place at any time during the project duration and should be subject to a dedicated promotion, particularly towards schools and other pedagogical and educational centres.

Involvement of researchers funded by Horizon Europe or previous Framework Programmes, notably by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, is highly encouraged.

Both the European Researchers’ Night and Researchers at Schools initiative should promote gender balance, diversity and inclusiveness in science in terms of planned activities and researchers involved.

Partnerships and coordination at regional, national or cross-border levels will be strongly encouraged aiming at a good geographical spread and avoiding overlaps.

Where appropriate, synergies should be sought with the newly created Science Comes To Town initiative, implemented through Work Programme Annex 11, Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area.

High-quality applications not retained due to lack of funding may be granted the status of associated events.

Eligible costs will take the form of lump sum contributions as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

The maximum requested EU contribution per proposal should not exceed EUR 350 000. All proposals are encouraged to bring additional sources of funding. The budget will be evaluated under the criterion 3 “Quality and efficiency of the implementation”. Proposals that exceed this maximum EU contribution might be penalised during the evaluation unless a strong justification is provided.

Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals covering activities for both 2028 and 2029, including the organisation of two successive editions (2028 and 2029) of the European Researchers’ Night and implementation of Researchers at Schools activities during the project duration. Applicants should clearly state how they will communicate and promote the European nature of this action.

Other Actions not subject to calls for proposals

Grants not subject to calls for proposals

1. MSCA Irish Presidency event 2026

On the 30th anniversary year of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Programme, this conference will explore the impact of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and how the MSCA can evolve to support resilient, attractive, and future-proof research careers amid growing global uncertainty. With geopolitical tensions and shifting global alliances, Europe’s ability to attract, develop, and retain top research talent is more vital than ever. This conference will work towards building cohesion and collaboration within the European research ecosystem as well as across the global system.

Key themes will include:

1.Building research careers that can withstand external shocks and systemic volatility

2.Ensuring and strengthening mobility and collaboration across borders

3.Enhancing the attractiveness of European research careers to global talent

4.An inclusive research environment that supports European innovation and competitiveness

5.Strengthening institutional support systems to empower researchers in uncertain times

6.Recognising the realities of precarity and the need to strengthen long-term career pathways across academia and industry.

The event will bring together policymakers, MSCA fellows and alumni, institutions, and international partners to shape a talent strategy that not only responds to today’s challenges but positions Europe as a global leader in research excellence and career development for the decade ahead.

Legal entities:

Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland, Three Park Place, Hatch Street Upper, Dublin 2, Ireland, D02 FX65

Form of Funding: Grants not subject to calls for proposals

Type of Action: Grant to identified beneficiary according to Financial Regulation Article 198(e) - Coordination and support action

Indicative timetable: Fourth quarter 2026

Indicative budget: EUR 0.20 million from the 2026 budget

2. MSCA Lithuanian Presidency event 2027

As the European Research Area (ERA) Policy Agenda 2025–2027 advances and Horizon Europe enters its final year in 2027, this is a timely opportunity to engage in strategic dialogue on how the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) can continue to support and shape the future ERA.

This high-level conference will bring together policymakers, research institutions, and key stakeholders to reflect on the achievements of the current ERA framework and explore MSCA’s critical role in implementing the ERA Pact and realising renewed ERA priorities.

The event will emphasise MSCA’s longstanding contribution to Europe’s global competitiveness in research and innovation. In a rapidly evolving global environment, the MSCA remains a cornerstone of EU efforts to attract and retain top talent, promote research excellence, and support systemic capacity building across Member States and Associated Countries. The scheme’s bottom-up, researcher-driven approach ensures that curiosity-led research continues to thrive, fostering innovative solutions to current and future societal challenges.

The conference will serve as a policy-focused forum to assess the strategic alignment between MSCA and ERA goals, particularly in relation to balanced talent circulation, brain gain, and institutional excellence. It will explore how MSCA can further reinforce the ERA Pact’s shared values, commitments, and monitoring tools, and how it can remain a central instrument in the next Framework Programme for supporting an open, cohesive, and competitive European Research Area.

Legal entities:

Research Council of Lithuania (RCL), Gedimino pr. 3, Vilnius, 01103, Vilniaus m. sav., Lithuania

Form of Funding: Grants not subject to calls for proposals

Type of Action: Grant to identified beneficiary according to Financial Regulation Article 198(e) - Coordination and support action

Indicative timetable: Second quarter of 2027

Indicative budget: EUR 0.20 million from the 2027 budget

3. Support to the Marie Curie Alumni Association

This grant will be awarded without a call for proposals according to Article 198(e) of the Financial Regulation and Article 24(3)(b) of the Horizon Europe Regulation. The use of a grant to identified beneficiary is justified by the particular role and purpose of the MCAA, its unique nature and the fact that the association gathers around 20.000 MSCA alumni.

This action should support the MCAA in achieving the following objectives:

1.Supporting the functioning of the MCAA, foster its expansion and growth on the European and international stage;

2.Facilitating professional networking and career development of former and current MSCA fellows;

3.Encouraging networking and cooperation among members from different countries, sectors of the economy and across scientific disciplines;

4.Enabling alumni to act as MSCA ambassadors and promoters within the global research and innovation community, but also for the European Commission and EU Delegations throughout the world;

5.Provide feedback to the European Commission on the MSCA to constantly improve its success, relevance and impact; and provide feedback on relevant EU policies.

The beneficiary may provide financial support to third parties (including individual members of the MCAA as well as Working Groups and Chapters). The support to third parties can be provided in the form of grants, prizes or similar forms of support. The support should be at least 30% and no more than 50% of the maximum grant amount for activities such as travel, development and production of media materials related to the MCAA. The condition for financial support to third parties outlined in General Annex B requiring that all calls for third parties must be published on the Funding & Tenders Portal, does not apply.

Eligible activities under this grant include inter alia:

1.Organisation of physical and virtual MCAA governance body meetings according to the need of the MCAA;

2.Organisation of General Assembly meetings of the MCAA and annual MCAA Conference;

3.Support for Alumni, Chapters and Working groups;

4.Maintenance and continuous development of the MCAA’s IT infrastructure and website, including the membership database;

5.Data collection and provision of structured feedback on the MSCA, including online surveys, in agreement with the Commission, to obtain feedback on EU policy topics, on the MSCA, on the development of the network or any other topic of interest to both parties.

The following deliverables will have to be submitted:

1.Yearly work plans on the functioning and growth of the MCAA submitted at month 12 and updated at month 24;

2.A long-term plan for the evolution of the MCAA submitted at month 15, and updated at month 28;

3.A communication plan to be submitted 10 months after the beginning of the grant;

4.A progress report at month 14 and month 26.

The expected duration of the action is 36 months.

The evaluation committee will be composed fully by representatives of EU institutions. The evaluation committee can be assisted by external experts if required.

The general conditions, including admissibility conditions, eligibility conditions, award criteria, evaluation and award procedure, legal and financial set-up for grants, financial and operational capacity and exclusion, and procedure are provided in parts A to G of the General Annexes.

Eligible costs may take form of lump sum contributions as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

Legal entities:

MCAA-Marie Curie Alumni Association, MCAA, c/o Inovamais, Avenue des Arts, 24, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium

Form of Funding: Grants not subject to calls for proposals

Type of Action: Grant to identified beneficiary according to Financial Regulation Article 198(e) - Coordination and support action

Indicative budget: EUR 4.00 million from the 2027 budget

4. MSCA Special needs Allowances to Horizon 2020 legacy projects

The MSCA pay particular attention to accessibility and inclusiveness and foresee financial support for the additional costs entailed by recruited or seconded researchers/staff members with disabilities whose long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments 62 are as such that their participation in MSCA would not be possible without extra financial support.

Beneficiaries of Horizon 2020 ITN, IF, RISE and COFUND grants can continue to apply for a dedicated special needs grant. This grant will cover the additional costs that researchers/staff members with disabilities face due to the increased costs of their mobility. It can also be used to ensure necessary assistance by third persons or for adapting their work environment 63 . It cannot cover costs which are already covered by another source, such as social security or health insurance.

The support will be granted based on the request submitted by the coordinator of the MSCA grant (Horizon 2020 ITN, IF, RISE and COFUND grants) to the granting authority. The request can be submitted at any moment during the implementation of the MSCA grant, when the need arises. The request should contain a description of the special needs, the type of support and the budget requested. The request will be evaluated by the granting authority and, if needed, an assistance by external experts may be requested.

Once agreed, the MSCA grant agreement will be formally amended and the requested amount for the special needs will be covered by the increase of the budget in the Management cost category. This extra amount will be paid together with the payment of the balance. The support will be limited to a maximum of EUR 60 000 per researcher/staff member.

Form of Funding: Grants not subject to calls for proposals

Type of Action: Grant to identified beneficiary according to Financial Regulation Article 198(e) - Coordination and support action

Indicative timetable: Throughout 2026 and 2027

Indicative budget: EUR 0.20 million from the 2026 budget

Procurements

1. Public Procurement for Events and Outreach

During 2026 and 2027, the Commission will organise several events (conferences and workshops) dedicated to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and to contribute to leading research conferences. Moreover, a dedicated campaign will be organised to ensure the visibility of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and funded projects to the general public.

Form of Funding: Procurement

Type of Action: Public procurement

Indicative budget: EUR 0.50 million from the 2026 budget and EUR 0.50 million from the 2027 budget

Other budget implementation instruments

1. External Expertise

This action will support the use of appointed independent experts for the monitoring of ongoing actions (grant agreements, grant decisions, public procurement actions, financial instruments) funded under Horizon Europe and previous Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation and where appropriate include ethics checks, as well as compliance checks regarding the Gender Equality Plan eligibility criterion.

Form of Funding: Other budget implementation instruments

Type of Action: Expert contract action

Indicative budget: EUR 0.50 million from the 2026 budget and EUR 0.50 million from the 2027 budget

Budget 64

Specific conditions for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

DEFINITIONS

The following definitions apply:

'Academic sector' means public or private higher education establishments awarding academic degrees, public or private non-profit research organisations 65 and International European Research Organisations (IERO) 66 .

'Non-academic sector' means any socio-economic actor not included in the academic sector and fulfilling the requirements of the Horizon Europe Rules for Participation.

'Associated partners' are entities which participate in the action, but without the right to charge costs or claim contributions. They contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the grant agreement. Associated partners may not employ the researchers under the action 67 .

'Associated partners linked to a beneficiary' are organisations with an established capital or legal link with the beneficiary, which is not limited to the action nor specifically created for its implementation. These entities implement action tasks described in Annex 1 of the grant agreement, i.e. hosting and training of researchers in Doctoral Networks and Postdoctoral Fellowships and hosting and seconding staff in Staff Exchanges. The associated partners linked to a beneficiary do not have the right to claim unit contributions and may not employ the researcher under the action. In addition, they must fulfil the eligibility conditions 68 for participation and funding applicable to the beneficiary they are linked to. The type of link and involvement of such entities must be clearly described in the proposal and will be assessed as part of the evaluation.

'Beneficiaries' are the legal entities that sign the grant agreement (either directly or through an accession form) and have the responsibility for the proper implementation of the action. They contribute directly to the implementation of the research, transfer of knowledge and training activities. Depending on the type of MSCA action, this involves recruiting, supervising, hosting, training or seconding researchers/research staff or managing and/or funding programmes.

‘Implementing partners’ means third parties implementing the MSCA COFUND doctoral or postdoctoral Programmes and MSCA Choose Europe for Science Programmes by recruiting researchers. Implementing partners can receive financial support from the beneficiary.

For MSCA COFUND, implementing partners that are identified in the proposal must include a letter of commitment before the signature of the grant agreement to ensure their active participation in the action. The involvement of any implementing partner for which no such evidence of commitment is submitted will not be taken into account.

For MSCA Choose Europe for Science, all implementing partners must be identified in the proposal. All implementing partners identified in the proposal must include a letter of commitment before the signature of the grant agreement to ensure their active participation in the action. If such evidence is not submitted, this may put into question the award decision and may lead to the termination of the grant agreement preparation phase. Any change in the composition of the implementing partners after evaluation and grant signature will be accepted only in duly justified very exceptional circumstances.

‘Interdisciplinarity’ means the integration of information, data, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts or theories from two or more scientific disciplines. The term discipline refers to the first level of MSCA keywords 69 .

1.MSCA DOCTORAL NETWORKS

1.1.Applicable unit contributions

The EU contribution for MSCA Doctoral Networks will take the form of unit contributions, as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme 70 .

The following budget categories apply:

A country correction coefficient applies to the living allowance in order to ensure equal treatment and purchasing power parity for all researchers. This coefficient is the one applicable to the country of the recruiting beneficiary (see Table 1 at the end of this Work Programme part). The living allowance is a gross amount, including compulsory deductions under national law, such as employer and employee social security contributions and direct taxes. The beneficiary must recruit each eligible doctoral candidate under an employment contract or equivalent direct contract, including an instrument of appointment (e.g., for permanent staff and/or officials), with full social security coverage (including sickness, parental, unemployment and invalidity benefits, pension rights, benefits in respect of accidents at work and occupational diseases). An exemption from this rule can be accepted only in cases where national legislation or the equivalent internal regulations of International European Research Organisations (IERO), entities created under Union law, or an international organisation, prohibit this possibility and subject to the prior agreement of the granting authority.

When an employment contract or instrument of appointment cannot be provided, the beneficiary may exceptionally recruit the doctoral candidate under a 'fixed-amount fellowship'. In this case, the living allowance will be halved, and the beneficiary must ensure that the doctoral candidate enjoys minimum social security coverage (including sickness, parental and invalidity benefits, and benefits for accidents at work and occupational diseases).

The beneficiary must pay to the doctoral candidates at least the amount of the living allowance (minus all compulsory deductions under national legislation). A top-up may be paid to the researchers in order to complement this contribution. In addition to the living allowance, all doctoral candidates must receive a mobility allowance. This allowance covers their additional, private mobility-related costs (e.g. travel and accommodation costs), not their professional costs under the action, which are covered by the research, training and networking contribution.

If the recruited doctoral candidate has or acquires family obligations during the action duration, i.e. persons linked to them by (i) marriage, or (ii) a relationship with equivalent status to a marriage recognised by the legislation of the country or region where this relationship was formalised; or (iii) dependent children who are actually being maintained by the researcher, the family allowance must be paid to them as well.

The long-term leave allowance contributes to the personnel costs incurred by the beneficiaries in case of the researchers’ leave, including maternity, paternity, parental, sick or special leave, longer than 30 consecutive days. The special needs allowance contributes to the additional costs for the acquisition of special needs items and services for researchers with disabilities, whose long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments 72 are certified by a competent national authority, and of such nature that their participation in the action may not be possible without them (e.g. assistance by third persons, adaptation of work environment, additional travel/transportation costs). These special needs items or services must not have been funded from another source (e.g. social security or health insurance). Both long-term leave and special needs allowances should be requested when the need arises. The research, training and networking contribution should cover, for example, costs for training and networking activities that contribute directly to the researchers’ career development (e.g. participation in conferences, trips related to work on the action, training, language courses, seminars, lab material, books, library records, publication costs), research expenses, visa-related fees and travel expenses, additional costs arising from each secondment of six months or less, which require mobility from the place of residence (e.g. travel and accommodation costs).

The management and indirect contribution should cover the beneficiary’s additional costs in connection with the action (e.g. personnel costs for project management/coordination, indirect costs).

The above rates apply to doctoral candidates devoting themselves to their project on a full-time basis. Researchers may, in agreement with the supervisor and beneficiary and with prior approval by the granting authority, implement their project on a part-time basis. Such a request is limited to personal or family reasons. In cases of part-time work, the doctoral candidates must work at least 50% of the full working time in their recruiting organisation for the action funded by the MSCA 73 . The recruiting beneficiary should report costs as pro rata of the applicable full-time unit contributions. 

1.2.Admissibility

The following exception to the General Annex A applies:

·The page limit of the application is 30 pages (excluding annexes).

1.3.Eligibility

Given the specific nature of MSCA Doctoral Networks, the following exceptions and additional eligibility criteria apply. This section also contains eligibility conditions for unit contributions, which apply during action implementation but cannot be verified at proposal stage.

·All proposals must indicate if they are resubmitted from the previous MSCA Doctoral Networks call under Horizon Europe.

·Proposals submitted to the previous call of MSCA Doctoral Networks under Horizon Europe and having received a score of less than 80% must not be resubmitted the following year.

·Any proposal involving 70% or more of the same recruiting organisations as in another proposal submitted to the previous call of the MSCA Doctoral Networks under Horizon Europe that has received a score of less than 80% will be assessed for whether it is a resubmission, irrespectively of the applicants’ self-declaration.  The assessment will be carried out by external expert evaluators based on the similarity of objectives as well as on the similarity of the scientific approach proposed to reach such objectives.

1.3.1.Participating organisations

·Applications must be submitted by a consortium including at least three independent legal entities, each established in a different EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country and with at least one of them established in an EU Member State. Should none of them be entitled to award a doctoral degree, a university or a consortium/grouping of academic/research institutions entitled to award a doctoral degree must be added to the project as an associated partner or an associated partner linked to a beneficiary.

·Not more than 40.0% of the EU contribution may be allocated to beneficiaries in the same country or to a single International European Research Organisation (IERO) or international organisation.

·International organisations with headquarters in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country will be deemed to be established in this Member State or Associated Country.

·Affiliated entities are not allowed to participate as they cannot claim costs in MSCA Doctoral Networks.

·All beneficiaries must recruit at least one doctoral candidate. They are required to host at their premises and supervise recruited researchers, or use associated partners linked to them to do so 74 .

·In order to reach the objectives of Joint Doctorates, at least three independent legal entities must be entitled to award doctoral degrees. At least one of the institutions conferring a joint, double or multiple doctoral degree must be established in an EU Member State and/or Horizon Europe Associated Country. An applicant from the academic sector, which has transferred the right of awarding a doctoral degree to a consortium/grouping of academic/research institutions to which it belongs to, is also eligible. Applicants must provide, at the time of the submission of the proposal, a pre-agreement to award a joint, double or multiple degree to the doctoral candidate(s). The proposal should indicate from which institutions a researcher is expected to receive the degree(s).

·Joint Doctorates must set up a joint governance structure with joint admission, selection, supervision, monitoring and assessment procedures.

·Eligibility to participate is also subject to the ‘Restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ and ‘Participation of Chinese universities linked to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)’ eligibility conditions (see General Annex B of the General Annexes).

1.3.2.Recruited researchers 75

·Supported researchers must be doctoral candidates, i.e. not already in possession 76 of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment. 

·Researchers must be enrolled in a doctoral programme leading to the award of a doctoral degree in at least one EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. By way of exception, where researchers are recruited by beneficiaries established in non-associated third countries, enrolment may take place solely in a doctoral programme offered in the country of the beneficiary.

·Recruited researchers can be of any nationality and must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity 77 (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date.

For 'International European Research Organisations' (IERO), 'international organisations', or entities created under Union law, the researchers must not have spent more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment in the same appointing organisation.

·Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, time spent by the researcher as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention 78 and time spent for obtaining EU temporary protection 79 are not taken into account.

·Researchers who, at the date of their recruitment date have refugee status under the Geneva Convention, or benefit from the EU temporary protection are exempt from the mobility rule.

·Secondments are eligible for up to half of the actual months spent implementing the research training activities under the action. This limitation does not apply in the case of Industrial Doctorates and Joint Doctorates.

·In case of industrial doctorates, doctoral candidates must spend at least 50% of their fellowship duration in the non-academic sector.

1.3.3.Duration of the action

·The duration of the action must not exceed 48 months from the starting date set out in the grant agreement (including the time needed to recruit and select the doctoral candidates), except in the case of joint doctorates where this maximum duration is 60 months.

·The duration of each fellowship (on the basis of full-time employment) is minimum 3 and maximum 36 months, except in the case of joint doctorates, where this maximum duration is 48 months.

·The overall EU contribution for MSCA Doctoral Networks actions is limited to a maximum of 540 person-months.

1.4.Award criteria 

·Proposals will be evaluated by experts on the basis of the award criteria 'excellence', 'impact' and 'quality and efficiency of the implementation'.

·Evaluation scores will be awarded for each of these criteria, and not for the different aspects listed in the table below. Each criterion will be scored out of 5. Scores will be awarded with a resolution of one decimal place and will be subject to a weighting factor as indicated in the table below.

·The threshold for individual criteria will be 3.

·Proposals scoring equal to or above 70% will be considered for funding — within the limits of the available call budget. Other proposals will be rejected.

1.5.Procedure

·Proposals must be submitted to only one of eight 'main evaluation panels': Chemistry (CHE), Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC), Economic Sciences (ECO), Information Science and Engineering (ENG), Environment and Geosciences (ENV), Life Sciences (LIF), Mathematics (MAT), Physics (PHY). Industrial and joint doctorates will be ranked in the scientific panel of submission. Each panel will establish a ranked list.

·The distribution of the indicative budget of the call will be proportional to the number of eligible proposals received in each panel. If the budget allocated to any panel exceeds the requirements of all proposals positively evaluated 80 in that panel, the excess budget will be reallocated to the other panels based on the distribution described above. Equally, if the allocated funding to a panel is insufficient to fund the highest ranked proposal in that panel, the necessary budget will be transferred from the other panels based on the distribution described above, in order to ensure that the highest ranked proposal can be funded. In order to ensure budget optimisation and an equitable success rate across panels, the excess budget remaining after the initial allocation of funding to the proposals in the panels may be transferred between panels.

·Ex-aequo Proposals

·When the total scores of two or more proposals are equal (ex-aequo cases), the priority order will be established as follows:

1.The proposals will be prioritised according to the scores they have been awarded for the criterion ‘Excellence’. When these scores are equal, priority will be based on scores for the criterion ‘Impact’.

2.If necessary, the gender balance among the supervisors named in the proposal will be used as a factor for prioritisation.

3.If a distinction still cannot be made, the panel may decide to further prioritise by considering other factors such as environmental considerations in line with the MSCA Green Charter, gender and other diversity aspects in the research activities, participation of the non-academic sector (including involvement of SMEs), geographical diversity 81 , international cooperation, favourable employment and working conditions or relationship to the Horizon Europe objectives in general. These factors will be documented in the panel report.

1.6.Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements

The following exceptions and additional conditions apply:

·Eligible costs must take the form of unit contributions, as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

·When associated partners are involved, beneficiaries are encouraged to sign a partnership agreement with them to regulate the internal relationship between all participating organisations. The partnership agreement(s) must comply with the grant agreement.

·Beneficiaries must ensure full access — on a royalty-free basis — for the recruited researchers to background and results needed for their activities under the action.

·The following deliverables will have to be submitted for grants awarded under this topic:

-establishment of a supervisory board of the network;

-progress report submitted within 30 days after one year from the starting date of the action;

-mid-term meeting organised between the participants and the granting authority;

-mobility declaration submitted within 20 days after the recruitment of each researcher and updated (if needed) via the Funding & Tenders Portal Continuous Reporting tool;

-career development plan: a document describing how the individual Career Development Plans have been established (listing also the researchers for whom such plans have been put in place), submitted before the mid-term meeting; 

-evaluation questionnaire completed by each recruited researcher and submitted at the end of the research training activity; a follow-up questionnaire submitted two years later;

-data management plan submitted at mid-term and an update towards the end of the project if needed;

-plan for the dissemination and exploitation of results, including communication activities, submitted at mid-term and an update towards the end of the project.

2.MSCA POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS

2.1.Applicable unit contributions

The EU contribution for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships will take the form of unit contributions, as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme 82 .

The following budget categories apply:

A country correction coefficient applies to the living allowance in order to ensure equal treatment and purchasing power parity for all researchers 84 . For European Postdoctoral Fellowships, this coefficient is the one applicable to the country of the beneficiary. For the Global Postdoctoral Fellowships two different country correction coefficients apply:

-For the outgoing phase: the coefficient of the country where the postdoctoral researcher is hosted (i.e. the country of the associated partner hosting the outgoing phase);

-For the return phase: the coefficient of the country where the postdoctoral researcher returns to (i.e. the country of the beneficiary).

The country correction coefficients are listed in Table 1 at the end of this Work Programme part. The living allowance is a gross amount, including compulsory deductions under national law, such as employer and employee social security contributions and direct taxes.

The beneficiary must recruit the postdoctoral researcher under an employment contract or equivalent direct contract, including an instrument of appointment (e.g., for permanent staff and/or officials), with full social security coverage (including sickness, parental, unemployment and invalidity benefits, pension rights, benefits in respect of accidents at work and occupational diseases). An exemption from this rule can be accepted only in cases where national legislation or the equivalent internal regulations of International European Research Organisations (IERO), entities created under Union law, or an international organisation, prohibit this possibility and subject to the prior agreement of the granting authority.

When an employment contract or instrument of appointment cannot be provided, the beneficiary may exceptionally recruit the postdoctoral researcher under a 'fixed-amount fellowship'. In this case, the living allowance will be halved, and the beneficiary must ensure that the postdoctoral researcher enjoys minimum social security coverage (including sickness, parental and invalidity benefits, and benefits for accidents at work and occupational diseases).

The beneficiary must pay to the postdoctoral researcher at least the amount of the living allowance (minus all compulsory deductions under national legislation). A top-up may be paid to the researcher in order to complement this contribution. In addition to the living allowance, the postdoctoral researcher must receive a mobility allowance. This allowance covers their additional, private mobility-related costs (e.g. travel and accommodation costs), not professional costs under the action, which are covered by the research, training and networking contribution.

If the postdoctoral researcher has or acquires family obligations during the action duration, i.e. has persons linked to them by (i) marriage, or (ii) a relationship with equivalent status to a marriage recognised by the legislation of the country or region where this relationship was formalised; or (iii) dependent children who are actually being maintained by the researcher, the family allowance must be paid to them as well.

The long-term leave allowance contributes to the personnel costs incurred by the beneficiary in case of the researcher’s leave, including maternity, paternity, parental, sick or special leave, longer than 30 consecutive days. The special needs allowance contributes to the additional costs for the acquisition of special needs items and services for researchers with disabilities, whose long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments 85 are certified by a competent national authority, and of such nature that their participation in the action may not be possible without them (e.g. assistance by third persons, adaptation of work environment, additional travel/transportation costs). These special needs items or services must not have been funded from another source (e.g. social security or health insurance). Both long-term leave and special needs allowances should be requested when the need arises. 

The research, training and networking contribution should cover, for example, costs for training and networking activities that contribute directly to the researchers’ career development (e.g. participation in conferences, trips related to work on the action, training, language courses, seminars, lab material, books, library records, publication costs), research expenses, visa-related fees and travel expenses, additional costs arising from optional secondments (e.g. travel and accommodation costs).

The management and indirect contribution should cover the beneficiary’s additional costs in connection with the action (e.g. personnel costs for project management, indirect costs).

The above rates apply to postdoctoral researchers devoting themselves to their project on a full-time basis. Researchers may, in agreement with the supervisor and beneficiary and with prior approval by the granting authority, implement their project on a part-time basis. In addition to the possibility to request part-time work for personal or family reasons, postdoctoral fellows may opt to work part-time for professional reasons. These might include creating a company, pursuing another research project 86 , or engaging in advanced studies not related to the MSCA grant. Part-time work for professional reasons is not allowed during the outgoing phase of the Global Postdoctoral Fellowships. Any professional activities carried out part-time in parallel with the MSCA action must be agreed upon by the researcher and the beneficiary and approved by the granting authority.

If the action is implemented on a part-time basis, the researcher must dedicate at least 50% of their working time to the action funded by the MSCA 87 . The beneficiary should report costs as pro rata of the applicable full-time unit contributions.

2.2.Admissibility

The following exceptions to the General Annex A apply:

·The page limit of the application is 10 pages (excluding annexes). 

2.3.Eligibility

Given the specific nature of MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, the following exceptions and additional eligibility criteria apply. This section also contains eligibility conditions for unit contributions, which apply during action implementation but cannot be verified at proposal stage.

·All domains of research and technological development are eligible for funding (including areas of research covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme).

·Proposals involving the same recruiting organisation (and for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships also the associated partner hosting the outgoing phase) and individual researcher submitted to the previous call of MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships under Horizon Europe and having received a score of less than 80% must not be resubmitted the following year.

·Only one proposal per individual researcher can be submitted. In case of several proposals involving the same individual researcher, only the last submitted one will be considered eligible.

·If proposals with the same research objectives and work plan are submitted for different researchers, only the first submitted one will be considered eligible.

2.3.1.Participating organisations

·Applications must be submitted by a single independent legal entity, established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. This is a mono-beneficiary action.

·The associated partner hosting the outgoing phase in Global Postdoctoral Fellowships must include a letter of commitment in the proposal to ensure their active participation in the action.

·Applications in the research areas of research covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme must be submitted by a single independent legal entity, established in an EU Member State or a country associated to the Euratom Research and Training Programme. Nuclear-related proposals submitted by entities established in other countries will be ineligible 88 .

·Affiliated entities are not allowed to participate as they cannot claim costs in MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships.

·International organisations with headquarters in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country will be deemed to be established in this Member State or Associated Country.

·The beneficiary must employ and supervise the researcher during the action 89 .

·Eligibility to participate is also subject to the ‘Restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ and ‘Participation of Chinese universities linked to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)’ eligibility conditions (see General Annex B of the General Annexes).

2.3.2.Recruited researchers

·Supported fellows must be postdoctoral researchers at the date of the call deadline, i.e. in a possession of a doctoral degree 90 . Applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered as postdoctoral researchers and will be considered eligible to apply. The successful defence must be unconditional (no further requirements/corrections that need to be addressed) and take place before the call deadline. Supporting documentation may be requested.

·At the call deadline, supported researchers must have a maximum of 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research, measured from the date of award of the doctoral degree. Years of experience outside research and career breaks (e.g. due to parental leave 91 ), will not count towards the amount of research experience. For nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries who wish to reintegrate to pursue their research career in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries, years of experience in research in third countries will not be considered in the above maximum.

·Recruited researchers must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity 92 (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline.

Researchers wishing to reintegrate from a third country must either be based in a third country at the call deadline or have moved directly from a third country to an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country within the last 12 months before the call deadline.

For 'International European Research Organisations' (IERO), 'international organisations', or entities created under Union law, the researchers must not have spent more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline, in the same appointing organisation.

·Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, time spent by the researcher as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention 93 and time spent for obtaining EU temporary protection 94 are not taken into account.

·Researchers who, at the date of the call deadline have refugee status under the Geneva Convention, or benefit from the EU temporary protection are exempt from the mobility rule.

·Supported researchers can be of any nationality. However, researchers going to a third country (‘Global Postdoctoral Fellowship) or researchers who wish to reintegrate to Europe (i.e. in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country), must be nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries. Long-term residence means a period of legal and continuous residence within EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries of at least five consecutive years. Absences of less than six consecutive months and no more than ten months over the whole period are permitted when calculating the five years.

Researchers who are refugees in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country according to the Geneva Convention or beneficiaries of EU temporary protection 95 may also apply to both European and Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, irrespective of whether they are long-term residents or not, if they fulfil the other eligibility conditions.

·Applicants in the research areas covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme must recruit nationals or long-term residents of an EU Member State or a country associated to the Euratom Research and Training Programme.

2.3.3.Duration of the action

·European Postdoctoral Fellowships should last between 12 and 24 months. Global Postdoctoral Fellowships should last between 24 and 36 months, consisting of 12 to 24 months for the outgoing phase and 12 months for the return phase.

·If requested and justified in the proposal, an additional period of up to six months at the end of the project can be awarded to researchers who will spend that period in a non-academic organisation established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

2.4.Award criteria

·Proposals will be evaluated by experts on the basis of the award criteria 'excellence', 'impact' and 'quality and efficiency of the implementation'.

·Evaluation scores will be awarded for each of these criteria, and not for the different aspects listed in the table below. Each criterion will be scored out of 5. Scores will be awarded with a resolution of one decimal place and will be subject to a weighting factor as indicated in the table below.

·The threshold for all criteria (Excellence, Impact and Implementation) will be 3.

·Proposals scoring equal to or above 70% will be considered for funding — within the limits of the available call budget. Other proposals will be rejected.

2.5.Procedure

·In Postdoctoral Fellowships, proposals will be evaluated by one of eight 'main evaluation panels': Chemistry (CHE), Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC), Economic Sciences (ECO), Information Science and Engineering (ENG), Environment and Geosciences (ENV), Life Sciences (LIF), Mathematics (MAT), Physics (PHY). Each panel will establish two ranked lists, one for European and one for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships.

·European and Global Postdoctoral Fellowships will have separate budgets. The distribution of respective available funds will be proportional to the number of eligible proposals received in each main evaluation panel. If the budget allocated to any panel exceeds the requirements of all proposals positively evaluated 96 in that panel, the excess budget will be reallocated to the other panels based on the distribution as above. Equally, if the allocated funding to a panel is insufficient to fund the highest ranked proposal in that panel, the necessary budget will be transferred from the other panels based on the distribution as above, in order to ensure that the highest ranked proposal can be funded. In order to ensure budget optimisation and an equitable success rate across panels, the excess budget remaining after the initial allocation of funding to the proposals in the panels may be transferred between panels.

Ex-aequo Proposals

·When the total scores of two or more proposals are equal (ex-aequo cases), the priority order will be established as follows:

1. The proposals will be prioritised according to the scores they have been awarded for the criterion ‘Excellence’. When these scores are equal, priority will be based on scores for the criterion ‘Impact’.

2.If necessary, the gender balance among successful applicant researchers will be used as a factor for prioritisation.

If a distinction still cannot be made, the panel may decide to further prioritise by considering other factors such as environmental considerations in line with the MSCA Green Charter, gender and other diversity aspects in the research activities, participation of the non-academic sector (including involvement of SMEs), geographical diversity 97 , favourable employment and working conditions or relationship to the Horizon Europe objectives in general. These factors will be documented in the panel report.

Seal of Excellence

·Seals of Excellence will be awarded to applications with a total score equal to or higher than 85%, but which cannot be funded due to lack of budget available to the call.

2.6.Legal and Financial set-up of the Grant Agreements

The following exceptions and additional conditions apply:

·Eligible costs must take the form of unit contributions, as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

·When associated partners are involved, the beneficiary is encouraged to sign a partnership agreement with them to regulate the internal relationship between all participating organisations. The partnership agreement(s) must comply with the grant agreement.

·The beneficiary must ensure full access — on a royalty-free basis — for the recruited researcher to background and results needed for their activities under the action.

·The following deliverables will have to be submitted for grants awarded under this topic:

-mobility declaration submitted within 20 days of the start of the research training activities and updated (if needed) via the Funding & Tenders Portal Continuous Reporting tool;

-career development plan of the recruited researcher, submitted at the beginning of the action (not later than 6 months after its start) and updated if needed throughout the project;

-evaluation questionnaire completed by the recruited researcher and submitted at the end of the research training activity; a follow-up questionnaire submitted two years later;

-data management plan submitted within the first 6 months of the project;

-plan for the dissemination and exploitation of results submitted towards the end of the project.

3.MSCA STAFF EXCHANGES

3.1.Applicable unit contributions

The EU contribution for MSCA Staff Exchanges will take the form of unit contributions, as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme 98 .

The following budget categories apply:

The top-up allowance for the seconded staff member contributes to travel, accommodation and subsistence costs related to the secondment.

The special needs allowance contributes to the additional costs for the acquisition of special needs items and services for staff members with disabilities, whose long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments 100 are certified by a competent national authority, and of such nature that their participation in the action may not be possible without them (e.g. assistance by third persons, adaptation of work environment, additional travel/transportation costs). These special needs items or services must not have been funded from another source (e.g. social security or health insurance). The special needs allowance should be requested when the need arises. 

The research, training and networking contribution should cover costs for training, transfer of knowledge and networking activities, as well as research expenses.

The management and indirect contribution should cover the beneficiary’s additional costs in connection with the action (e.g. personnel costs for project management/coordination, indirect costs).

3.2.Admissibility

The following exception to the General Annex A applies:

·The page limit of the application is 30 pages (excluding annexes).

3.3.Eligibility

Given the specific nature of MSCA Staff Exchanges, the following exceptions and additional eligibility criteria apply. This section also contains eligibility conditions for unit contributions, which apply during action implementation but cannot be verified at proposal stage.

3.3.1.Participating organisations

·Applications must be submitted by a consortium including at least three independent legal entities in three different countries, two of which established in a different EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

·The consortium must include participating organisations from both academic and non-academic sectors.

·International organisations with headquarters in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country will be deemed to be established in this Member State or Associated Country.

·The European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding. 

·Affiliated entities are not allowed to participate as they cannot claim costs in MSCA Staff Exchanges.

·Only legal entities that are established in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries can be beneficiaries.

·For secondments from associated partners linked to a beneficiary, only the sector (academic or non-academic) of the beneficiary counts; the linked associated partners will be considered to belong to the same sector as their beneficiary.

·Secondments must be between different countries 101 ; secondments between non-associated third countries are not eligible. 102

·Secondments must be performed on a full-time basis102.

·Eligibility to participate is also subject to the ‘Restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ and ‘Participation of Chinese universities linked to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)’ eligibility conditions (see General Annex B of the General Annexes).

3.3.2.Seconded staff members

·Secondments are open for researchers at any career stage (from doctoral candidates to postdoctoral researchers 103 ), as well as administrative, managerial and technical staff supporting R&I activities under the action.102 

·After the period of secondment, seconded staff should return to their sending institution, thus maximising the impact of the action for knowledge sharing and long-term collaboration.102

3.3.3.Duration of the action

·The maximum duration of the project is 48 months from the starting date set out in the grant agreement. 

·The overall EU contribution for MSCA Staff Exchanges amounts to a maximum of 360 person-months per project.

·Secondments must last at least one month and cannot be longer than 12 months for the same staff member (independently of the number of organisations the staff is seconded to).102 

·The secondment of a staff member may be split into several stays with one or several beneficiaries or associated partners.102 

·Secondments beyond the project duration cannot be funded.

3.4.Award criteria 

·Proposals will be evaluated by experts on the basis of the award criteria 'excellence', 'impact' and 'quality and efficiency of the implementation'.

·Evaluation scores will be awarded for each of these criteria, and not for the different aspects listed in the table below. Each criterion will be scored out of 5. Scores will be awarded with a resolution of one decimal place and will be subject to a weighting factor as indicated in the table below.

·The threshold for all criteria (Excellence, Impact and Implementation) will be 3.

·Proposals scoring equal to or above 70% will be considered for funding — within the limits of the available call budget. Other proposals will be rejected.

3.5.Procedure

·Proposals will be evaluated by one of eight 'main evaluation panels': Chemistry (CHE), Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC), Economic Sciences (ECO), Information Science and Engineering (ENG), Environment and Geosciences (ENV), Life Sciences (LIF), Mathematics (MAT), Physics (PHY). Each panel establishes a ranked list.

·The distribution of the indicative budget of the call will be proportional to the number of eligible proposals received in each panel. If the budget allocated to any panel exceeds the requirements of all proposals positively evaluated 104 in that panel, the excess budget will be reallocated to the other panels based on the distribution as above. Equally, if the allocated funding to a panel is insufficient to fund the highest ranked proposal in that panel, the necessary budget will be transferred from the other panels based on the distribution as above, in order to ensure that the highest ranked proposal can be funded. In order to ensure budget optimisation and an equitable success rate across panels, the excess budget remaining after the initial allocation of funding to the proposals in the panels may be transferred between panels.

·Ex-aequo Proposals

·When the total scores of two or more proposals are equal (ex-aequo cases), the priority order will be established as follows:

1. The proposals will be prioritised according to the scores they have been awarded for the criterion ‘Excellence’. When these scores are equal, priority will be based on scores for the criterion ‘Impact’.

2.If a distinction still cannot be made, the panel may decide to further prioritise by considering other factors such as environmental considerations in line with the MSCA Green Charter, gender and other diversity aspects in the research activities, participation of the non-academic sector (including involvement of SMEs), geographical diversity 105 , international cooperation, favourable working/secondment conditions or relationship to the Horizon Europe objectives in general. These factors will be documented in the panel report. 

3.6.Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements

The following exceptions and additional conditions apply:

·Eligible costs must take the form of unit contributions, as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

·When associated partners are involved, beneficiaries are encouraged to sign a partnership agreement with them to regulate the internal relationship between all participating organisations. The partnership agreement(s) must comply with the grant agreement.

·Grants awarded under this topic might be linked to other actions funded by Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe.

·Beneficiaries must ensure full access — on a royalty-free basis — for the staff members to background and results needed for their activities under the action.

·The following deliverables will have to be submitted for grants awarded under this topic:

–mid-term meeting organised between the participants and the granting authority;

–progress report submitted within 30 days after one year from the starting date of the action;

–mobility declaration submitted within 20 days of the secondment of each seconded staff member, and updated (if needed) via the Funding & Tenders Portal Continuous Reporting tool;

–evaluation questionnaire completed by the seconded staff members and submitted at the end of their secondments; a follow-up questionnaire submitted two years later;

–data management plan submitted at mid-term and an update towards the end of the project if needed;

–plan for the dissemination and exploitation of results, including communication activities submitted at mid-term and an update towards the end of the project.

4.MSCA COFUND 106

4.1.Applicable unit contributions

The EU contribution for MSCA COFUND will take the form of unit contributions, as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme 107 .

The following budget categories apply:

The COFUND allowance contributes to:

-costs of the researchers including the remuneration payable to the individual doctoral or postdoctoral researchers recruited under an employment contract/equivalent direct contract with full social security coverage and complying with the applicable social security legislation, as well as the mobility costs and, if applicable, the family costs, and/or

-costs related to the training, research expenses, transfer of knowledge and networking activities of researchers, costs of managing the action and indirect costs.

The long-term leave allowance contributes to the personnel costs incurred by the employer in case of the researchers’ leave, including maternity, paternity, parental, sick or special leave, longer than 30 consecutive days. The special needs allowance contributes to the additional costs for the acquisition of special needs items and services for researchers with disabilities, whose long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments 109 are certified by a competent national authority, and of such nature that their participation in the action may not be possible without them (e.g. assistance by third persons, adaptation of work environment, additional travel/transportation costs). These special needs items or services must not have been funded from another source (e.g. social security or health insurance). Both long-term leave and special needs allowances should be requested when the need arises.

The beneficiary or implementing partner must recruit each eligible researcher under an employment contract or 'equivalent direct contract' with full social security coverage (including sickness, parental, unemployment and invalidity benefits, pension rights, benefits in respect of accidents at work and occupational diseases). An exemption from this rule can be accepted only in cases where national legislation or the equivalent internal regulations of International European Research Organisations (IERO), entities created under Union law, or an international organisation, prohibit this possibility and subject to the prior agreement of the granting authority.

When an employment contract cannot be provided, the beneficiary or the implementing partner may exceptionally recruit the researcher under a 'fixed-amount fellowship'. In this case, the COFUND allowance will be halved, and the beneficiary must ensure that the researcher enjoys minimum social security coverage (including sickness, parental and invalidity benefits, and benefits for accidents at work and occupational diseases).

In principle, researchers should be employed full-time. The above rates apply to researchers devoting themselves to their project on a full-time basis. Researchers may, in agreement with the supervisor and beneficiary and with prior approval by the granting authority, implement their project on a part-time basis. In addition to the possibility to request part-time work for personal or family reasons, postdoctoral fellows may opt to work part-time for professional reasons. These might include creating a company, pursuing another research project 110 , or engaging in advanced studies not related to the MSCA grant. Any professional activities carried out part-time in parallel with the MSCA action must be agreed upon by the researcher and the beneficiary and approved by the granting authority.

In cases of part-time work, researchers must work at least 50% of the full working time in their recruiting organisation for the action co-funded by the MSCA, whether they are working part-time for family or other reasons 111 . The beneficiary should report costs as pro rata of the applicable full-time unit contributions.

The EU contribution is limited to EUR 10 million per beneficiary per call. If an applicant submits two or more successful applications totalling more than EUR 10 million within one call, the applicant will be required to decide which of these proposals to implement.

The table above specifies the unit contributions for the co-funding of regional, national and international programmes. The EU contribution can be used to support any cost items of the programme (remuneration costs, mobility costs, family costs, research, training and networking costs, management and indirect costs). Individual cost items may be fully or partially funded through other resources including EU programmes other than Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe, such as the Cohesion policy funds, provided that double funding is avoided.

Applicants must specify in their proposal the total cost of their proposed programme and in particular the amounts that will be provided for the benefit of the researchers and for the organisation(s) that will implement the programme. This information will be needed to evaluate the adequateness of employment and working conditions of the researchers. The monthly gross remuneration, i.e. salaries, social security contributions, taxes and other costs or compulsory deductions under national legislation linked to in the remuneration, and the mobility costs for the benefit of the researchers must be:

-For researchers recruited under an employment contract: not lower than EUR 3500 (for doctoral candidates) and EUR 4980 (for postdoctoral researchers);

-For researchers recruited under a fixed-amount fellowship: not lower than EUR 1750 (for doctoral candidates) and EUR 2490 (for postdoctoral researchers).

4.2.Admissibility

The following exceptions to the General Annex A apply:

·The page limit of the application is 30 pages (excluding annexes).

4.3.Eligibility

Given the specific nature of MSCA COFUND, the following exceptions and additional eligibility criteria apply. This section also contains eligibility conditions for unit contributions, which apply during action implementation but cannot be verified at proposal stage.

4.3.1.Participating organisations

·Applications must be submitted by a single entity established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

·Affiliated entities are not allowed to participate as they cannot claim costs in MSCA COFUND.

·The conditions for financial support to third parties defined in General Annex B do not apply.

·International organisations with headquarters in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country will be deemed to be established in this Member State or Associated Country.

·The beneficiary will be responsible for the availability of the necessary complementary funds to implement the proposal.

·In each COFUND action, a minimum of three researchers must be recruited. COFUND proposals foreseeing research training for fewer than three researchers will be deemed ineligible.

·Implementing partners must be established in one of the countries eligible for funding listed in the General Annexes. 112

·Eligibility to participate is also subject to the ‘Restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ and ‘Participation of Chinese universities linked to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)’ eligibility conditions (see General Annex B of the General Annexes).

4.3.2.Recruited researchers 113

·Recruited researchers can be of any nationality (see also specific condition for COFUND postdoctoral programmes below) and must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity 114 (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary or implementing partner for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the deadline of the co-funded programme's call.

For International European Research Organisations’ (IERO), 'international organisations' or entities created under Union law, the researchers must not have spent more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the deadline of the co-funded programme's call, in the same appointing organisation.

·Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, time spent by the researcher as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention 115 and time spent for obtaining EU temporary protection 116 are not taken into account.

·Researchers who, at the date of their recruitment date have refugee status under the Geneva Convention, or benefit from the EU temporary protection are exempt from the mobility rule.

·Supported researchers must be either doctoral candidates or postdoctoral researchers, depending on the action:

oFor COFUND doctoral programmes, researchers must be doctoral candidates, i.e. hold a degree which qualifies them for enrolment in a doctoral programme and not be already in possession 117 of a doctoral degree at the deadline of the co-funded programme's call.

Recruited researchers must be enrolled in a doctoral programme leading to the award of a doctoral degree in at least one EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

oFor COFUND postdoctoral programmes, researchers must be in possession of a doctoral degree 118 at the deadline of the co-funded programme's call. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered as postdoctoral researchers and will be considered eligible to apply. The successful defence must be unconditional (no further requirements/corrections that need to be addressed) and take place before the call deadline. Supporting documentation may be requested.

·For COFUND postdoctoral programmes: researchers must be nationals or long-term residents of an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country, in case the main part of the research training activities is carried out in a country other than an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

·Limitations regarding the researchers' origin and destination should be avoided. Researchers who are already permanently employed by the organisation hosting them cannot be funded by COFUND.

4.3.3.Duration of the action

·The maximum duration of the action must be 60 months from the starting date set out in the grant agreement. It also includes the time that is needed to select and recruit the researchers.

·The minimum duration of each fellowship (on the basis of full-time employment) must be three months.

·For postdoctoral programmes where the main part of the research training activity does not take place in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country (i.e. outgoing phase), the researcher should carry out a mandatory return period of 12 months at the premises of the beneficiary or the recruiting implementing partner. A maximum of three months can be spent at the start of the action at the beneficiary (or any other organisation mentioned in the description of the action), allowing the researcher to spend time there before the outgoing phase. Secondments cannot take place during the mandatory twelve-month return period to the host organisation in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.112

·The duration of the secondments should be limited to a maximum of half of the actual months spent implementing the research training activities under the action or, if applicable, of the duration of the outgoing phase for postdoctoral programmes.112

4.4.Award criteria 

·Proposals will be evaluated by experts on the basis of the award criteria 'excellence', 'impact' and 'quality and efficiency of the implementation'.

·Evaluation scores will be awarded for each of these criteria, and not for the different aspects listed in the table below. Each criterion will be scored out of 5. Scores will be awarded with a resolution of one decimal place and will be subject to a weighting factor as indicated in the table below.

·The threshold for all criteria (Excellence, Impact and Implementation) will be 3.

·Proposals scoring equal to or above 70% will be considered for funding — within the limits of the available call budget. Other proposals will be rejected.

4.5.Procedure

·In 2026, the evaluation of the call HORIZON-MSCA-2026-COFUND-01 will be organised in two different panels, doctoral programmes and postdoctoral programmes, but a single ranking list will be produced.

·In 2027, the evaluation of the call HORIZON-MSCA-2027-COFUND-01 will be organised in a single panel, doctoral programmes.

Ex-aequo Proposals

·When the total scores of two or more proposals are equal (ex-aequo cases), the priority order will be established as follows:

The proposals will be prioritised according to the scores they have been awarded for the criterion ‘Excellence’. When these scores are equal, priority will be based on scores for the criterion ‘Impact’. If a distinction still cannot be made, the panel may decide to further prioritise by considering other factors such as environmental considerations in line with the MSCA Green Charter, gender and other diversity aspects in the research activities, participation of the non-academic sector (including involvement of SMEs), geographical diversity, synergies with Cohesion policy funds, support to Smart Specialisation Strategies, or relationship to the Horizon Europe objectives in general. These factors will be documented in the panel report.

Seal of Excellence

Seals of Excellence will be awarded to applications with a total score equal to or higher than 85%, but which cannot be funded due to lack of budget available to the call.

4.6.Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements

The following exceptions and additional conditions apply:

·Eligible costs must take the form of unit contributions, as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

·When implementing partners are involved, the beneficiary should sign a partnership agreement with them to regulate the internal relationship between all participating organisations. The partnership agreement(s) must comply with the terms of the grant agreement.

·When associated partners are involved, the beneficiary is encouraged to sign a partnership agreement with them to regulate the internal relationship between all participating organisations. The partnership agreement(s) must comply with the terms of the grant agreement.The beneficiary may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants, based on the MSCA unit contributions. Implementing partners are considered recipients of financial support to third parties.

·Grants awarded under this topic may be linked to actions funded under the Cohesion policy funds.

·The beneficiary must ensure full access — on a royalty-free basis — for the recruited researchers to background and results needed for their activities under the action.

·The following deliverables will have to be submitted for grants awarded under this topic:

–mid-term meeting organised between the participants and the granting authority;

–mobility declaration submitted within 20 days of the start of the research training activities, for each researcher, and updated (if needed) via the Funding & Tenders Portal Continuous Reporting tool;

-career development plan: a document describing how the individual Career Development Plans have been established (listing also the researchers for whom such plans have been put in place), submitted towards the end of the project; 

–evaluation questionnaire completed by each recruited researcher and submitted at the end of the research training activity; a follow-up questionnaire submitted two years later;

–data management plan submitted at mid-term and an update towards the end of the project if needed;

–plan for the dissemination and exploitation of results, including communication activities submitted at mid-term and an update towards the end of the project.

5.MSCA CHOOSE EUROPE FOR SCIENCE

5.1.Applicable unit contributions

The EU contribution for MSCA Choose Europe for Science will take the form of unit contributions, as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme 119 .

The following budget categories apply:

The monthly gross remuneration for the two phases 121 of each Choose Europe for Science programme, as well as the costs or compulsory deductions under national legislation, such as employer and employee social security contributions and direct taxes, must be clearly communicated in the vacancy notice.

Applicants must specify in their proposal the total cost of their proposed programme and in particular the amounts that will be provided for the benefit of the researchers in each phase. This information will be needed to evaluate the adequateness and attractiveness of employment and working conditions of the researchers.

The EU contribution is limited to EUR 5 million per beneficiary for this call. If an applicant submits two or more successful applications totalling more than EUR 5 million within this call, the applicant will be required to decide which of these proposals to implement.

Complementary funds to implement the project can be funded through other sources including EU programmes, such as the Cohesion policy funds, provided that double funding is avoided.

During both phases:

The beneficiary or implementing partner must recruit the researcher under an employment contract or equivalent direct contract, including an instrument of appointment (e.g., for permanent staff and/or officials), with full social security coverage (including sickness, parental, unemployment and invalidity benefits, pension rights, benefits in respect of accidents at work and occupational diseases). An exemption from this rule can be accepted only in cases where national legislation or the equivalent internal regulations of International European Research Organisations (IERO), entities created under Union law, or an international organisation, prohibit this possibility and subject to the prior agreement of the granting authority.

Both phases should contribute to the longer-term career prospects and employability of the recruited researcher after the project end.

During the EU-funded phase:

The beneficiary must pay to the researcher at least the amount of the living allowance (minus all compulsory deductions under national legislation). A top-up may be paid to the researcher in order to complement this contribution. In addition to the living allowance, the researcher must receive a mobility allowance. This allowance covers their additional, private mobility-related costs (e.g. travel and accommodation costs), not professional costs under the action, which are covered by the research, training and networking contribution.

A country correction coefficient applies to the living allowance in order to ensure equal treatment and purchasing power parity for all researchers 122 .

The country correction coefficients are listed in Table 1 at the end of this Work Programme part. The living allowance is a gross amount, including compulsory deductions under national law, such as employer and employee social security contributions and direct taxes.

If the researcher has or acquires family obligations during the action duration, i.e. has persons linked to them by (i) marriage, or (ii) a relationship with equivalent status to a marriage recognised by the legislation of the country or region where this relationship was formalised; or (iii) dependent children who are actually being maintained by the researcher, the family allowance must be paid to them as well.

The long-term leave allowance contributes to the personnel costs incurred by the beneficiary in case of the researcher’s leave, including maternity, paternity, parental, sick or special leave, longer than 30 consecutive days. The special needs allowance contributes to the additional costs for the acquisition of special needs items and services for researchers with disabilities, whose long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments 123 are certified by a competent national authority, and of such nature that their participation in the action may not be possible without them (e.g. assistance by third persons, adaptation of work environment, additional travel/transportation costs). These special needs items or services must not have been funded from another source (e.g. social security or health insurance). Both long-term leave and special needs allowances should be requested when the need arises.

The research, training and networking contribution should cover, for example, costs for training and networking activities that contribute directly to the researchers’ career development (e.g. participation in conferences, trips related to work on the action, training, language courses, seminars, lab material, books, library records, publication costs), research expenses, visa-related fees and travel expenses, additional costs arising from optional secondments (e.g. travel and accommodation costs).

Researchers receiving a Choose Europe for Science Fellowship may opt to include a secondment phase, within the overall duration of their fellowship in any country worldwide. The secondment phase can be a single period or be divided into shorter mobility periods.

The secondments cannot exceed half of the requested duration of the action and should be in line with the project objectives, adding significant value and impact to the fellowship.

The management and indirect contribution should cover the beneficiary’s additional costs in connection with the action (e.g. personnel costs for project management, indirect costs).

The above rates apply to researchers devoting themselves to their project on a full-time basis. Researchers may, in agreement with the beneficiary and with prior approval by the granting authority, implement their project on a part-time basis. In addition to the possibility to request part-time work for personal or family reasons, researchers may opt to work part-time for professional reasons. These might include creating a company, pursuing another research project 124 , or engaging in advanced studies not related to the MSCA grant. Any professional activities carried out part-time in parallel with the MSCA action must be agreed upon by the researcher and the beneficiary and approved by the granting authority.

If the action is implemented on a part-time basis, the researcher must dedicate at least 50% of their working time to the action funded by the MSCA 125 . The beneficiary should report costs as pro rata of the applicable full-time unit contributions.

During the phase fully funded by the beneficiary:

The monthly gross remuneration can differ from the EU-funded phase but must remain attractive and competitive at national level. The beneficiary will be responsible for the availability of the necessary funds to cover all costs during this phase including the monthly gross remuneration and research, training and networking costs.

The beneficiary should follow the applicable national legislation regarding remuneration of researchers on leave and provisions for researchers with special needs.

5.2.Admissibility

The following exceptions to the General Annex A apply:

·The page limit of the application is 30 pages (excluding annexes).

·Applications do not need to include a plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results, including communication activities.

5.3.Eligibility

Given the specific nature of MSCA Choose Europe for Science, the following exceptions and additional eligibility criteria apply. This section also contains eligibility conditions for unit contributions, which apply during action implementation but cannot be verified at proposal stage.

5.3.1.Participating organisations

·Applications must be submitted by a single entity established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

·Affiliated entities are not allowed to participate as they cannot claim costs in MSCA Choose Europe for Science.

·International organisations with headquarters in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country will be deemed to be established in this Member State or Associated Country.

·The beneficiary will be responsible for the availability of the necessary complementary funds to implement the proposal and ensure the coverage of the phase fully funded by the beneficiary as described in the proposal.

·In each Choose Europe for Science programme, a minimum of three researchers must be recruited. Proposals foreseeing recruitment for fewer than three researchers will be deemed ineligible.

·Implementing partners must be established in one of the countries eligible for funding listed in the General Annexes.

·When implementing partners are involved in an MSCA Choose Europe for Science programme, they must all be identified in the proposal.

·Eligibility to participate is also subject to the ‘Restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ and ‘Participation of Chinese universities linked to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)’ eligibility conditions (see General Annex B of the General Annexes).

5.3.2.Recruited researchers 126

·Recruited researchers can be of any nationality and must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary or implementing partner for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the deadline of the vacancy notice.

·For International European Research Organisations’ (IERO), 'international organisations' or entities created under Union law, the researchers must not have spent more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the deadline of the vacancy notice, in the same appointing organisation.

·Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, time spent by the researcher as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention 127 and time spent for obtaining EU temporary protection 128 are not taken into account.

·Researchers who, at the date of their recruitment date have refugee status under the Geneva Convention, or benefit from the EU temporary protection are exempt from the mobility rule.

·Researchers who are already permanently employed by the organisation hosting them cannot be funded by MSCA Choose Europe for Science.

·Researchers who are temporarily employed by the organisation hosting them and who adhere to the mobility requirement can be funded under MSCA Choose Europe for Science.

·Researchers must be nationals or long-term residents of an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country in case the main part of the activities is carried out in a country other than an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

·Limitations regarding the researchers' origin and destination should be avoided.

·Supported researchers must be in possession of a doctoral degree at the vacancy notice deadline. 129

5.3.3.Duration of the action

·The maximum duration of the action must be 60 months from the starting date set out in the grant agreement for a 48-month fellowship and 72 months for a 60-month fellowship. It also includes the time that is needed to select and recruit the researchers.

·Researchers must be recruited within the first 12 months of the action duration. 130

5.4.Award criteria 

·Proposals will be evaluated by experts on the basis of the award criteria 'excellence', 'impact' and 'quality and efficiency of the implementation'.

·Evaluation scores will be awarded for each of these criteria, and not for the different aspects listed in the table below. Each criterion will be scored out of 5. Scores will be awarded with a resolution of one decimal place and will be subject to a weighting factor as indicated in the table below.

·The threshold for all criteria (Excellence, Impact and Implementation) will be 3.

·Proposals scoring equal to or above 70% will be considered for funding — within the limits of the available call budget. Other proposals will be rejected.

5.5.Procedure

·For MSCA Choose Europe for Science, the evaluation will be organised in a single panel.

Ex-aequo Proposals

·When the total scores of two or more proposals are equal (ex-aequo cases), the priority order will be established as follows:

The proposals will be prioritised first according to the scores they have been awarded for the criterion ‘Excellence’ and if these scores are equal, priority will be based on scores for the criterion ‘Impact’. When these scores are equal, priority will be based specifically on the career prospects offered to the recruited researchers. If a distinction still cannot be made, the panel may decide to further prioritise by considering geographical diversity. This will be documented in the panel report.

Seal of Excellence

Seals of Excellence will be awarded to applications with a total score equal to or higher than 85%, but which cannot be funded due to lack of budget available to the call.

5.6.Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements

The following exceptions and additional conditions apply:

·Each Choose Europe for Science programme is made up of an EU-funded phase of 24 months for a 48-month fellowship or 36 months for a 60-month fellowship, and a phase fully covered by the beneficiary of 24 months.

·The minimum duration of each fellowship (on the basis of full-time employment) must be 48 months 131 and the maximum duration is 60 months 132 .

·Eligible costs must take the form of unit contributions, as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

·When implementing partners are involved, the beneficiary should sign a partnership agreement with them to regulate the internal relationship between all participating organisations. The partnership agreement(s) must comply with the grant agreement.

·When associated partners are involved, the beneficiary is encouraged to sign a partnership agreement with them to regulate the internal relationship between all participating organisations. The partnership agreement(s) must comply with the grant agreement.

·The beneficiary may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants, based on the MSCA unit contributions. Implementing partners are considered recipients of financial support to third parties.

·Grants awarded under this topic may be linked to actions funded under the Cohesion policy funds.

·The beneficiary must ensure full access — on a royalty-free basis — for the recruited researchers to background and results needed for their activities under the action.

·The following deliverables will have to be submitted for grants awarded under this topic:

–mid-term meeting organised between the participants and the granting authority;

-career development plan: a document describing how the individual Career Development Plans have been established (listing also the researchers for whom such plans have been put in place), submitted towards the end of the project;

–evaluation questionnaire completed by each recruited researcher and submitted at the end of the research training activity; a follow-up questionnaire submitted two years later;

–data management plan submitted at mid-term and an update towards the end of the project if needed.

Table 1: Country correction coefficients (CCC) for Doctoral Networks and Postdoctoral Fellowships living allowances    
For countries where the correction coefficient is not indicated, the Commission will decide on a case-by-case basis.