Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

A Postdoctoral Fellowship is an application you write yourself, with a supervisor and a host organisation, to the annual call. The host, which can be a university, research centre, company, public body, NGO or international organisation, submits the proposal and employs you if it is funded.

A Doctoral Network is a funded partnership of organisations that recruits doctoral candidates into paid positions. You do not write a proposal to the EU: you apply for an advertised vacancy, as you would for any job, and the network selects you. The EU rules still apply to you, above all the mobility rule and the requirement that you do not yet hold a doctorate.

European Postdoctoral Fellowships last 12 to 24 months at a host in an EU member state or a Horizon Europe associated country and are open to any nationality. Global Postdoctoral Fellowships send a researcher to a host outside Europe for 12 to 24 months, followed by a compulsory 12-month return phase in Europe; they are open to nationals or long-term residents of EU member states and associated countries, and to recognised refugees there. Either type can add up to six months in a non-academic organisation in Europe at the end, if this is requested and justified in the proposal.

Under the 2026 to 2027 Work Programme the EU contribution for the researcher is a living allowance of 6,350 euros a month, adjusted by a country correction coefficient, plus a mobility allowance of 710 euros and, where it applies, a family allowance of 660 euros. These are gross amounts that include the employer's and employee's social contributions and taxes. The host also receives 1,000 euros a month for research, training and networking costs and 650 euros for management, and there are allowances for long-term leave and special needs.

Fellows must be employed with full social security. Only where an employment contract is impossible may the host use a fixed-amount fellowship, and then the living allowance is halved. Fellows may work part-time, down to half-time, for personal or family reasons or for professional reasons such as founding a company, though not during the outgoing phase of a Global Fellowship.

A network brings together at least three independent organisations in three different EU member states or associated countries, at least one in the EU, often with partners elsewhere in the world. Networks can be standard, Industrial Doctorates, in which candidates spend at least half their time outside academia under joint academic and non-academic supervision, or Joint Doctorates, which lead to a joint, double or multiple degree under shared admission and supervision. Positions last between 3 and 36 months, or up to 48 months in a Joint Doctorate.

Recruitment must be open, transparent and merit-based, in line with the European Charter for Researchers, and vacancies are advertised internationally, including on EURAXESS. The notice should say whether the published pay includes employer and employee taxes and contributions. For networks funded from the 2026 call, the EU contribution per candidate is a living allowance of 4,250 euros a month before the country coefficient, a 710-euro mobility allowance and a 660-euro family allowance, again as gross amounts under an employment contract. Networks funded under earlier calls follow the rates set for their own call, which may differ.

Each candidate agrees a Career Development Plan with their supervisors at the start, covering research goals, training in transferable skills, teaching, publications and public engagement, and revises it within 18 months.

REA checks each proposal for eligibility and has it evaluated by independent experts against three criteria: Excellence, weighted at 50 percent, Impact at 30 percent, and Quality and efficiency of the implementation at 20 percent. Each criterion is scored out of five to one decimal place, with a threshold of 3 on each, and only proposals scoring at least 70 percent overall can be funded.

Postdoctoral proposals are ranked within one of eight panels: Chemistry, Social Sciences and Humanities, Economic Sciences, Information Science and Engineering, Environment and Geosciences, Life Sciences, Mathematics and Physics. Each panel keeps separate lists for European and Global Fellowships, and the budget is split between panels in proportion to the eligible proposals they receive. Ties are broken first by the Excellence score, then by Impact. Proposals that score 85 percent or more but cannot be funded receive a Seal of Excellence, which other funders can use to support them.

The Marie Curie Alumni Association, set up and supported by the European Commission and run largely by volunteers, is open to anyone who holds or has held MSCA funding, and counts more than 25,000 members. It runs regional chapters and working groups, career training, microgrants and policy work, and publishes job and funding opportunities. The Commission's own application guidance suggests asking alumni for feedback on a draft proposal.