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The goal of the postdoctoral fellowships under the European Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) program is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of young PhD graduates who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training and international, cross-sectoral, and interdisciplinary mobility.
The program also encourages researchers to work on research and innovation projects in the non-academic sector and is open to those who wish to return to Europe, those displaced by conflict, and high-potential researchers seeking to resume their research careers.
Grants are awarded to outstanding researchers undertaking international mobility, whether to or between EU Member States or countries associated with Horizon Europe, as well as to non-associated third countries. Applications must be submitted jointly by the researcher and a beneficiary organization from either the academic or non-academic sector.
There are two categories:“European Fellowships” and“Global Fellowships.”
The“MSCA Global Fellowships” program is aimed at researchers who are European nationals or long-term residents of the European Union and who wish to participate in R&D&I projects with organizations located outside the EU Member States and the countries associated with Horizon Europe.
These grants require an outbound phase lasting a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 24 months in a non-associated third country, followed by a mandatory 12-month return phase with a host organization located in an EU Member State or a country associated with Horizon Europe.
Secondments may be undertaken within the total duration of the grant in any country in the world. This secondment phase may take place as a single period or be divided into several shorter periods of mobility.
In the case of Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, optional stays of up to one-third of the outbound phase are permitted. A maximum of three months of these stays may take place at the start of the project at the beneficiary organization (or at partner organizations affiliated with the beneficiary). This maximum period of three months will be considered part of the outbound phase. Stays are not permitted during the mandatory 12-month return period to the host organization in an EU Member State or a country associated with Horizon Europe.
In addition to these placements, placements in the non-academic sector may be considered. A placement of up to six months in a business sector institution may be undertaken, always at the end of the grant period, and provided that this placement was included in the application phase.
The call for proposals has a budget of 59.86 million euros for this type of grant.
Requirements:
- The host institution, which enters into the employment contract with the researcher for the duration of the project, must be located in a Member State of the European Union or an Associated Country.
- A partner from a third country that hosts the candidate during the first phase of the grant (“outgoing phase”) must include a letter of commitment in the proposal to ensure its active participation in the action.
- Applicants must be postdoctoral researchers; that is, they must hold a doctoral degree by the application deadline. Candidates who have defended their doctoral dissertation but have not yet formally received their doctoral degree will also be considered postdoctoral researchers and will be eligible to apply.
- As of the application deadline, candidates must have a maximum of 8 years of full-time postdoctoral research experience (counted from the date the Ph.D. degree was awarded). Years of experience outside of research and career breaks (e.g., maternity or paternity leave) will not count toward the years of research experience. For nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or countries associated with Horizon Europe who wish to return to pursue their research careers in EU Member States or associated countries, years of research experience in third countries will not be considered in the above calculation.
- Comply with the mobility rule: not having resided in or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the applying or host institution during the first phase (“outgoing phase”) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately preceding the call deadline. Researchers who wish to return from a third country to a European or associated country must be based in the third country as of the application deadline or must have moved directly from a third country to a Member State or associated country within the 12 months prior to the call deadline.
- Applicants must be nationals or long-term residents of an EU member state or a country associated with Horizon Europe. Researchers who are not EU nationals but have resided in an EU country under a research contract for 5 consecutive years are considered long-term residents.
Resubmission: Researchers who participated in the 2025 MSCA-PF call and received a score below 80% may not resubmit the same proposal through the same institution.
How to apply
Proposals are submitted electronically through the Funding and Tender Portal ( select “Start submission”). To use the proposal preparation and submission service, you must have an EU Login / ECAS account.
Applications consist of two sections:
-Part A (to be completed online) contains administrative information related to the applicant entity or entities and specific details regarding the call for proposals.
-Part B (a template is filled out, which can be downloaded from the Commission’s portal once we begin the application;the “Standard Application Form (HE MSCA PF) ” contains the scientific and technical portion of the project.)
Submission deadline.
The deadline set by the Commission is August 31, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.