Co-funding of regional, national and international programmes (COFUND) supports new or existing doctoral programmes and postdoctoral fellowship schemes.

The aim of the action is to spread 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.

Proposed programmes can cover any research disciplines ("bottom-up"), but exceptionally, can also focus on specific disciplines. Notably, this focus can apply when the programmes 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 the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) are strongly encouraged.

COFUND takes the form of Doctoral Programmes or Postdoctoral Programmes.

Career development plan

Upon recruitment, a Career Development Plan must be jointly established by the supervisor and each recruited researcher.

In addition to research objectives, this plan is comprised of 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.

Indicative timeline

• 10 October 2023: Launch of the call for proposals
• 8 February 2024: Deadline for submitting proposals
• July 2024: Notification of call results to applicants (TBC)
• October 2024: Grant agreement signature for successful projects (TBC)
• December 2024: First EU-funded projects start (TBC)

Indicative budget

EUR 96.57 million

How to apply

Learn about the next steps to apply for funding under this call

Full call details

For full details of this call, visit the call page on the EU Funding & Tenders portal