Funding for MSCA Seal of Excellence holders available in Italy, Cyprus, Poland, Czechia and Romania
Postdoctoral Fellowships applicants holding an MSCA Seal of Excellence certificate can now apply for alternative funding in these five countries.
Five schemes are offering grants for MSCA Seal of Excellence holders who applied for Postdoctoral Fellowships under Horizon Europe or MSCA Individual Fellowships under Horizon 2020 to carry out research in
The European Commission recently announced the results of the 2022 call for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships. Applicants with an evaluation score equal or above 85%, but whose proposal could not be funded due to insufficient budget, will be soon awarded an MSCA Seal of Excellence to support them in securing alternative funding from national or regional authorities.
Seals of Excellence under the 2022 Postdoctoral Fellowships call will be awarded in the coming weeks. Eligible applicants will receive a notification in the Funding and Tenders Portal, and the Seal of Excellence certificate will be available in the “Process documents” section.
Italy
The Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation has launched a new round of the call “TRAPEZIO – Paving the way to research excellence and talent attraction” to support MSCA Seal of Excellence recipients who applied for MSCA Individual Fellowships under Horizon 2020 or to Postdoctoral Fellowships.
The scheme offers MSCA Seal of Excellence holders the opportunity to develop their research project at a host institution in Piedmont or Liguria.
Applicants to the 2022 Postdoctoral Fellowships call can also apply even if they did not receive their MSCA Seal of Excellence yet. They will have to submit the certificate at a later stage in the application process.
The deadline for applications is 31 March 2023.
Cyprus
The Cypriot Research and Innovation Foundation has launched a new call within its RESTART programme to support to support MSCA Seal of Excellence recipients who applied to European Postdoctoral Fellowships with a host organisation based in Cyprus.
Selected projects can last up to 24 months and up to 30 if they include an industry placement in Cyprus.
The deadline for applications is 27 April 2023.
Poland
The Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) had launched a new call of the Ulam Programme – Seal of Excellence to support MSCA Seal of Excellence recipients.
The scheme is open to researchers who applied for European Fellowships in the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 call with a host institution based in Poland.
The deadline for applications is 22 May 2023.
Czechia
The Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) launched a funding strand under the Operational Programme John Amos Comenius.
This national initiative supports international mobility of
- researchers leaving Czechia for a host institution in an EU Member State / Horizon Europe Associated Country and vice-versa
- researchers choosing their host institution in Czechia MSCA Postdoctoral Global Fellowships submitted under Horizon Europe with a host institution in Czechia
The deadline for applications is 31 August 2023.
Romania
The Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization created a new scheme in 2022 for MSCA Seal of Excellence holders who applied to Postdoctoral Fellowships under Horizon Europe or Individual Fellowships under Horizon 2020.
The scheme will allow EU researchers to put in place outstanding projects in Romanian research institutions. Grants will be awarded on a first come, first served basis.
The deadline for applications is 31 December 2023.
About the MSCA Seal of Excellence
The MSCA Seal of Excellence is a quality label awarded to applicants of Postdoctoral Fellowships and COFUND who achieved a high score in their applications (85% or more) but unfortunately were not awarded funding due to budgetary constraints.
The MSCA Seal of Excellence
- underlines the value of these projects, which may use it to help find alternative funding
- allows other funding bodies such as national, regional and university-level schemes to support MSCA proposals holding the label and take advantage of the Horizon Europe evaluation process