MSCA Doctoral Networks 2025 receives 1616 proposals

Through this call, the European Union (EU) is expected to fund over 150 projects, with an indicative budget of €597.8 million.

The European Research Executive Agency (REA) received proposals from coordinators based in 36 countries.

The proposals submitted include the participation of organisations in 92 third countries, among them USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Africa.

Funding for excellent doctoral programmes  

Through this call, the EU will fund doctoral programmes with the prospect of  

• training highly skilled doctoral candidates in and outside academia
• stimulating their creativity
• enhancing their innovation capacities
• boosting their employability in the long-term  

These doctoral programmes are implemented by international partnerships formed by organisations (from universities and research centres to the private sector and small and medium-sized enterprises) in the EU and countries associated to Horizon Europe and beyond.  

Industrial Doctoral programmes will train PhD candidates to develop their skills in organisations outside academia, including in industry, businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises but also NGOs, charities, hospitals, government departments and more. They will benefit from joint industry-academia supervision.  

Joint Doctoral programmes will set up highly integrated doctoral programmes promoting joint selection, training and supervision, leading to joint or multiple doctoral degrees.  

Indicative timeline