Published: 23 Apr 2024

MSCA opens €417 million call for Postdoctoral Fellowships

Postdoctoral Fellowships offer researchers holding a PhD the opportunity to gain new skills and experience while carrying out their own research project abroad. The deadline to apply is 11 September 2024.

The 2024 call for the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships is open as of today.

The grants, which have a budget of € 417.18 million, aim to improve the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD.

They will help researchers acquire new skills,develop their careers, and gain international, interdisciplinary, and inter-sectoral experience by working in another country.

These prestigious fellowships are also a stepping stone in researchers’ careers. They allow them to strengthen research cooperation with leading scientific teams and figures worldwide.

The call will close on 11 September 2024 and is expected to fund over 1,400 projects.

Research in all fields

The call is open to applications in any scientific field, including Euratom research.

Fellowships include

European Postdoctoral Fellowships, open to researchers of any nationality to carry out a personalised project in the European Union (EU) or countries associated to Horizon Europe for up to 24 months
Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, open to EU and Horizon Europe associated countries nationals or long-term residents wishing to work with organisations in third countries for a period of 12 to 24 months, before returning to Europe for 12 months

The scheme encourages researchers to gain experience beyond academia by giving them the opportunity to request an additional six months at the end of their fellowship to undertake a placement in a non-academic organisation in Europe.

Conditions for researchers and organisations

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to postdoctoral researchers from all over the world, of any nationality and at any career stage, with a maximum of 8 years of research experience after their PhD.

Some exceptions and specific conditions apply, for instance for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships.

Researchers must develop an application with their prospective supervisor and apply together with their future host organisation, which can be

a university
a research institution or facility
a company, small or medium-sized enterprise
a government, public institution, or body
a museum, hospital, or NGO
any other organisation

based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe associated country.

As of January 2024, the United Kingdom is associated to the Horizon Europe programme. United Kingdom organisations will therefore be able to apply and receive funding under this year’s call under the same conditions as EU Member States and other countries associated to Horizon Europe.

In addition, researchers applying to Global Fellowships will need to seek the commitment of an organisation based in a third country, as they will carry out their research there for a period of between 12 and 24 months.

The call 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.

ERA Fellowships

Researchers applying for a standard European Fellowship with a host organisation in a “widening country” (i.e. a country with lower participation rates in Horizon Europe) can opt in to be considered for the ERA Fellowships call.

Around 50 ERA Fellowships will be awarded to excellent applicants who were not selected under the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call due to budget constraints. The eligible host countries for ERA Fellowships can be found in the following list.