Programme: Horizon Europe
Priority: Excellent Science
Objective: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Budget: 417,18 M€
Opening Date: 23-04-2024
Deadline: 11-09-2024
Call Documents: Call HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01-01
Link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-msca-2024-pf-01-01
The objective of the MSCA actions is to support excellence and innovative scientific training, as an opportunity for researchers to acquire new knowledge and skills, through transnational and cross-sectoral mobility within doctoral programmes, post-doctoral training and collaborative research projects.
The MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, in particular, aim to enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD, of any nationality, providing them the opportunity to diversify their individual competences through advanced training, international and intersectoral mobility, and to carry out research and innovation activities in a European context [EU Member States and Associated Countries] or outside Europe.
All domains of research and innovation can be freely chosen by the candidates, thanks to the bottom-up approach.
The researchers supported within this action must be qualified as postdoctoral researchers, i.e. researchers that at the time of the call deadline are in possession of a doctoral degree, with a maximum of 8 years full-time equivalent experience [FTE] in research from the date of award of the doctoral degree.
The Fellowships are divided into European Postdoctoral Fellowships and Global Postdoctoral Fellowships.
European Fellowships require the implementation of research activity in European Member States or Associated Countries.
The beneficiary of the Grant must be a legal entity located in a Member State or Associated Country and it must employ the researcher for the duration of the project, normally 12-24 months.
It is required the respect of the mobility rule, i.e. the researchers must not have resided or carried out their main work and training activities in the European country of the host organization for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the deadline of the call.
Global Fellowships support research and training activity in third countries [outgoing phase] foreseeing a mandatory 12 months return period [return phase] at a host organization in Europe.
The expected duration is 24-36 months [12-24 months for the outgoing phase plus 12 months for the return phase in Europe].
The mobility rule must be complied, at the deadline of the call, with reference to the third country. It is not required for the return phase.
Only nationals or long-term residents of the EU Member States or Associated Countries can apply.
Proposals will be evaluated by international experts according to the following criteria:
– excellence [50%]: assessment of the quality and pertinence of the objectives and research methodology proposed; analysis of the quality of the proposed training and transfer of knowledge between the research and the host institution; assessment of researcher’s professional experience, competences and skills;
– impact [30%]: evaluation of the credibility of the measures provided to enhance the career perspectives and to maximise the expected scientific, societal and economic impacts;
– quality and efficiency of the implementation [20%]: study of the quality and effectiveness of the work plan; evaluation of the quality and capacity of the institutions participating in the project.
The budget made available by the European Commission for this call amounts to 417,18 M€.
The EU contribution for the MSCA actions is based on unit costs expressed in person-months. For both types of fellowships, it covers the cost for the employment contract of the researcher, the research and training activities and an allowance for the management and the indirect costs declared by the host institution, as shown in the following table.
A country correction coefficient will be applied to the Living allowance, based on the cost of life in the country of the host institution. For Italy the coefficient to apply is of 95,3%.
Exception, for the Global Fellowships the country correction coefficients will be:
– for the outgoing phase, the coefficient of the country of the partner organization and,
– for the return phase, the coefficient of the country where the researcher returns to [i.e. the country of the beneficiary].